R is for Rope

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R is for Rope

A very nice couple had just left Mr. Ensley’s office at ‘E and F Realty’. He sat and digested what they had told him for a bit, then called Mr. Ferguson in. They sat and talked the situation over. They were both saddened by the news the couple had brought. Mr. Nichols had been with the Realty company for over ten years and was one of their best realtors. Now, they knew why.
“Maybe it was just a one time incident,” Mr. Ferguson said, while shaking his head.
“Hopefully, you are right,” replied Mr. Ensley, “I think I will have a talk with him, just to find out if there is something going on at home; his son needing a car, his wife’s sickness bringing in more hospital payments, etc…”.
Before Mr. Ensley had a chance to talk with Mr. Nichols, he had received 3 phone calls and another visit on the same subject. He was really alarmed. He asked his secretary to please check and see if Mr. Nichols was in his office.
“Yes,” she replied.
Mr. Ensley, nonchalantly, walked around the outside offices, stopping to talk here and there. Finally, he made his way to Mr. Nichols office.
“Good Morning, Fred. How are things going?” he asked
“Fine, fine. How are you, sir?”
Mr. Ensley sat down in a chair across from Fred.
“I’m good,” he said. “Houses are selling and business is booming.”
“Yes, sir. Yes, indeed,” Fred replied.
“Everything going good at home? How’s your wife?”
Fred paused for a moment gathering his thoughts.
“My wife’s health is declining rapidly.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“No, but thank you, sir. The doctors say it is just a matter of time.”
Mr. Ensley shook his head.
“What about the kids? How are they handling it?”
“Fairly well. They are teenagers. They have a lot going on to distract them.”
Mr. Ensley stood up.
“Well, Fred, let me know if you need anything.” Mr. Ensley spoke with a few more employees, then went back to his office. He knew which house Fred would be showing the next morning. He picked up his phone and made a call.
Fred was very excited about the house he was showing this morning. It was a gorgeous home with lots of potential. He grabbed the house key from his desk and left for his 9:00 a.m. appointment.
Fred arrived just in time to open the house and do a walk through to make sure everything was in order. The couple arrived and Fred began his sales pitch as he showed them all the potentials. They stood on the back patio and talked, once they were through looking everything over.
“I know you want this house,” Fred said to the couple.
“Yes, we have looked at several houses over the past couple of months and this one seems to have most everything we are looking for.”
Fred rubbed his chin to give the appearance of deep thought.
“Well, I’ll tell you what we can do. E and F Realty has a special going on this month. If you give me $1,000.00 cash today, we will knock 20% of the total cost of the house.”
The couple looked at him in disbelief.
“It’s true. We are not advertising it, just telling our best customers about it,” Fred said with a smile.
“Can we have a moment to talk this over?”
“Of course, take all the time you need.”
Fred walked off exploring the backyard and the couple stepped back inside the house to discuss the offer.
About 10 minutes later, the couple stepped back out onto the patio. Fred saw them and walked back toward them. He smiled. “Well did you make a decision already?”
“Yes, we have, but first we would like to see some papers that state the 20% discount.”
“Of course,” Fred said as he walked into the kitchen and opened his briefcase on the table. He pulled out some papers, found the one he was looking for, and pulled it out for the couple to read.
They handed Fred $1,000.00, signed all the papers, and left. Fred put the $1,000.00 in his wallet, pulled the discount paper out to be shredded when he got back to his office, checked that everything was locked up in the house, then headed back to the office.
Mr. Ensley had lunch with Mr. Clark, the owner of the house Fred had shown that morning. After lunch, they walked down to the local police department, showed them the security tapes Mr. Clark had retrieved from his house, then he left Mr. Ensley to sort out what he wanted the police to do.
Mr. Ensley walked slowly back to the office. He had never liked firing anyone. He, especially, didn’t like firing Fred. He already had enough on him, but his illegal activity could not continue.
Once he reached the office, he called Mr. Ferguson in and told him everything he had found on Mr. Nichols.
“Good idea, Mr. Ensley. I like the way you gave him just enough rope to hang himself.”

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