KNOT: A Wake Family Novel (12 page)

To whom it may concern,

Please find attached the required forms and my references. The Lunar Building is beautiful, and I’d love to be considered for residency.

You’ll see on my application that I have no preferences in terms of size or location in the building. I’ll gladly accept any open units. I’m single, no children. I’m flexible.

Currently, I’m in Switzerland and won’t be returning to Chicago until after June 15. However, when I return, if my application is accepted, I’d like to move in before July.

I look forward to any questions you may have.

Thank you,

Nora V. Koehl

(323) 555-9401

Switzerland?

After reading her email, I was left with more questions than answers. I hadn’t opened the attachments. At first, I didn’t feel sure about sorting through her financials. Yet, it was part of what I was tasked with.

I knew she worked for Harbor Hotels, but was her job that lucrative? That wasn’t necessarily up to me. No. My job was to see if they were upstanding people and contact their references.

I poured the rest of the whiskey down my throat and sat back in my chair.

Was I invading her privacy?

Had she been a stranger, would it matter?

She wasn’t a complete stranger though, and the thought of her living in my building excited me. Through work, I’d have the means to look into her accounts, but decided I wouldn’t go that far. To be fair to her, I hadn’t done that with anyone else, so I only scrolled through them like I typically had with other applicants.

As I skimmed through her details, I noted that she actually had two Swiss accounts as well as one in the States. She had dual citizenship. I Googled the address she provided for her whereabouts in Zurich.

It was a large estate. Sprawling in fact. Massive.

I refilled my glass and couldn’t resist digging for more information online.

The house belonged to Hugo Koehl, her father. I found that bit of information when I stumbled upon his obituary. Shockingly, it was only a week old.

My heart went out to her. I wondered if they’d been close.

I wondered how she was.

By my third whiskey, I’d made up my mind to reply to her, but through my personal account.

From:
Reagan Warren

Subject:
Fresh Start

Date:
May 9, 2008 22:39 CDT

To:
Nora V. Koehl

Nora,

Please don’t be upset that I’m contacting you. It’s an honest coincidence. I recently moved to the Lunar myself, and while the person who usually handles new tenant applications is away, I’m receiving the incoming emails.

Imagine my surprise when I saw your name.

The property is great, as I’m sure you’re aware.

Please know that I have forwarded your information on to the appropriate channels, and as soon as your references come back, you should be hearing from the building manager.

I know him, and I’ll be sure to put in a good word for you.

Congratulations on getting the job at the Harbor. If I remember correctly, that’s what you wanted. See? Your party wasn’t lame after all. (That was a joke.)

Anyway, if you’re anything like me, you hate waiting to hear back with these types of things. I wanted to let you know I’m sure there won’t be any problems, and I wanted to be the first to welcome you to the Lunar and Chicago.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the units, need any help, or if you’d be interested in going to dinner when you get back into town in July.

Fresh start. What do you say? Do you still have my business card?

Thoughtfully,

Reagan

I hit send.

Surely, after a few months, she wouldn’t still be pissed about the cab. It was possible she’d forgotten about it. Yes. That would have been very nice. In addition, maybe she’d forgotten how I acted like an asshole at the party, too. I hoped she remembered me just
enough
. The good parts, had she noticed them? Were there any that night?

It wasn’t that big of a deal. I hoped that letting her know her application was moving along down the line would give her some comfort. Especially if she was mourning her father.

I couldn’t imagine.

Still, I probably could have left the dinner invitation off, at least until she replied, but I was impulsive and realized that was a trending behavior with her. Nevertheless, I had been tasteful.

I shut down my Mac and let my mind consider the possibilities.

I showered and relived our encounter at the
InformaTrade
party. It hadn’t been my best foot forward, but everyone has an off night. Right?

Though, I had to remind myself she wasn’t like other women I knew.

So what? She liked threesomes. I liked ketchup on my eggs. It wasn’t likely things would ever progress, but she did something for me. My past relationships had been fairly casual. It wasn’t like I had proposed marriage or anything. True, she was brash with me, and not my type whatsoever. Then again, I hadn’t been out in months, so it wasn’t like I had my-types knocking down my door.

Even when I had dated my-types, none of them ever consumed my thoughts like she had.

After I was showered and toweled dry, I stood naked as I brushed my teeth. The gym was paying off, but I could do more.

I wonder what she likes?

Big, strong men? Smart? Funny?

Was I funny?

Obviously she was adventurous, or she seemed so with the personal knowledge I had of her, which by all accounts wasn’t much.

The wood floor in my bedroom was cool on my feet as I walked to the television stand and turned it on to catch the news. Then, I noticed the light on my phone flash, indicating I had a message. I got under the sheet and picked it up.

She’d replied already.

What time was it in Switzerland anyway? I’d have to look up the difference.

From:
Nora V. Koehl

Subject:
re: Fresh Start

Date:
May 9, 2008 23:23 CDT

To:
Reagan Warren

You again? Great. So what you’re saying is: if I don’t accept your dinner invitation, you’ll sabotage my application?

Thoughtfully? Yeah right.

Nora

From:
Nora V. Koehl

Subject:
re:re: Fresh Start (THAT’S A JOKE!)

Date:
May 9, 2008 23:37 CDT

To:
Reagan Warren

FURTHERMORE, if I don’t hear from the building manager, I’ll call him myself. I don’t need your help. I can get an apartment without it. Thank you very much.

I don’t even know where your card is.

Nora

That one had come through only a few minutes earlier. The thought of an open line of communication thrilled me.

I guessed she was still pissed. I could work with pissed. I was a professional negotiator after all.

I hadn’t been funny before. She probably liked funny.

I could be hilarious, but first, she needed to get a few things straight.

From:
Reagan Warren

Subject:
re:re:re: Fresh Start (NOT A JOKE)

Date:
May 9, 2008 23:42 CDT

To:
Nora V. Koehl

Don’t you sleep? It’s late in Switzerland.

I didn’t mean you had to go out with me in exchange for an apartment. I’m pretty sure you know that. I don’t need to bribe women to go anywhere with me.

FURTHERMORE, they like me because I can be very funny.

And handsome. Some said that. Okay, my mom thinks I’m handsome and funny, but she’s never lied to me.

So now that you know I wasn’t trying to blackmail you, and you understand how funny
and handsome
I am, please let me know if you’d like to go out to dinner when you get back into town in June.

NO STRINGS ATTACHED. I’m not a dick. I was being helpful.

Reagan

PS If you need a reminder of what I look like, I’m happy to send a photograph for reference.

From:
Nora V. Koehl

Subject:
re:re:re:re: You’re NOT funny. Period.

Date:
May 9, 2008 23:57 CDT

To:
Reagan Warren

Mr. Warren,

You have my references regarding my credentials. They can confirm whatever you find necessary.

I do not need any documents, or photographic proof, regarding your attractiveness. Please provide me with your poor Mother’s email address. I believe she’s
your
reference.

My bedtime is none of your business.

Nora

I chuckled to myself. Maybe she was funnier than I was. I’d also be remiss to leave out how reading her call me
mister
left me half-hard.

There was definitely something about her I wanted to explore.

I didn’t email her back. I might have been compulsive, but I knew when to push my limits. I’d sit back. Let it sink in. See if she’d correspond with me on her own. The ball was in her court.

Not replying was better than anything I could have emailed her, but I didn’t sleep well that night.

Nora—Wednesday, May 21, 2008

I
’d barely slept since I’d arrived back in Switzerland.

Nobody had expected my father to ever last as long as he had in his debilitated condition. Being there in his last few days only gave me peace. He’d had two major strokes over the past few years, and the last one left him a complete invalid. Totally non-verbal, and for the most part he didn’t communicate at all.

When he’d first become ill, that’s when I’d grieved. I missed his calls, his voice. His character. But he’d been gone for a long time when he finally passed away.

In his last days, he didn’t even wake up, his organs finally wearing down. The strokes killed his brain, but it took much longer for his brain to kill his body.

I was with him when he died, and I cried and prayed and said my final goodbye.

My two older half-brothers loved him. Well, at least I imagined they did. We never spent much time together. When I was a teenager, I found out that when I was younger, their mother wouldn’t let them visit their dad if I was there.

Then after some time, I saw them more, but they hated me.

It wasn’t fair to me, but they didn’t really know any other way. My mother had broken up their family. I hated it, but I understood.

Yet in the few days before Papa died, they’d only visited him once. Even after I was called and we were told he was fading.

Maybe they’d already grieved, too. That’s what I would have liked to think, but reason told me it was because of the money.

My father was spectacularly wealthy, and because of that, we all were. He’d been successful in business. He owned properties all over the world. Including Aspen, where he’d met my mother. I’d never had to worry for anything my whole life.

My brothers and my dad had a falling out before his first stroke, and he made me his executor. I didn’t want it. Both Joel and Robin knew that, still it had been another way I’d messed up their lives.

It sucked not being close with them especially since I was dealing with the loss of our father, but I’d learned to deal with their bitter feelings toward me. It was something the money wouldn’t change, but I felt better knowing things were fair.

I was lucky to have Ives’ family there. His mother and father had been close to my dad. They, and especially Ives, had helped me with everything after my dad wasn’t able to make decisions anymore. And now that he was gone, Ives was helping me sort out the will with the lawyers.

I didn’t want it all and so as executor, and power of attorney, I was having things redistributed. It wasn’t fair that he’d given me the lion’s share—no matter how they’d grown apart. He’d most likely only made the change out of anger before he was sick. Despite never being close to my brothers, they were still my family. I’d see to it that they got their shares.

But that would take some time.