Selling it All by Josie Daleiden

Selling it all
    Published by Josie Daleiden at Smashwords
     
    Copyright 2013 Josie Daleiden
     
    Sarah reached down into the warm oven and
pulled out the tray of cookies. She balanced on her heels as she
bumped the over shut with her hip. This was the oldest realtor
trick in the book, but you still had to do it. Prospective buyers
had come to expect it by now. Fresh-baked cookies. The little gooey
blobs steamed and bubbled as they cooled on top of the stove. She
looked around the spacious, empty kitchen and straightened her
outfit once more. She felt constrained by the tight little blazer
as it hugged her shoulders, but she loved how it accentuated her
waistline... and her girls .
    “Hi! My name is Sarah. Sarah Bella. Yes, it sounds
like a fairy tale name. My parents were into Dungeons and
Dragons... ugh, like they'll know what that even is! Get is
together girl!” She chastised herself in the opulent, yet empty
house.
    Sarah had only been working at Nelson Realty
for about one year. In that time, she had managed to rise to the
top of the ladder at the prestigious, yet small, real estate firm.
As one of their top- selling realtors, she had been graciously
selected to lead the effort to sell the newly built Mcmansions at
the Verde Grande Estates. This upscale housing tract had all the
amenities that any upper class suburbanite could want. Besides the
stunning Mediterranean style houses, there was a rolling manicured
golf course, weight room, and main meeting hall. Sarah chuckled to
herself at the thought of the restless housewives that would
populate this tract home realm. How they would all stage elaborate
little coup attempts against one another. The shifting allegiances,
and the friendships shattered by trysts with one another's
husbands-
    A quiet knock at the open door shook Sarah
out of her day dream of lonely housewives.
    “Hey there my Bella! How are things here at the
Verde?” Asked her boss, Aaron Nelson, owner of Nelson Realty.
    He was a friendly, approachable man in his
late sixties who dressed in suits that looked like they were hand
tailored in 1955, and then sent to him via time machine. His retro,
impeccable style took a backseat to his savvy business sense.
Instead of acting like every other realtor in this shark-infested
business, he chose to portray an open, honest personality that
worked wonders on his clients. He was able to close sales like no
one else due to his disarming charm and grace. He was a single
widower, but he never really indicated whether or not he dated at
all. Sarah couldn’t imagine such a wonderful guy going through life
all on his own, but it wasn't something she could ever bring up to
him.
    “Hi Mr. Nelson. I'm just getting ready for
the early birds. I made a run through the house and touched up all
the counters like you said.” Sarah chirped happily. She hated brown
nosed suck ups, but she felt a bizarre need to cater to the kindly
Mr. Nelson in any way possible.
    “Atta girl Bella!” Did I ever tell you the
time I lost a sale because of one dirty counter top? It was a real
hard lesson to learn...” He preached in his fatherly way.
    Sarah had heard the story no less than ten
times. This was the reason she had gone through and tested each
counter with a white glove before he came. She knew he would be
dropping by for a surprise visit, and she wanted to impress him.
She smiled to herself as she thought back to the white cotton
gloves, and how they made her look like a character from an old
black and white movie.
    “I think you may have mentioned it once or
twice.” She said with a smile.
    Just as Mr. Nelson was making his goodbyes, a
young Indian couple arrived at the door and timidly looked inside.
Sarah read the couple as they walked inside the grand entry way to
the house. She waited to see who would be the decision maker. It
was a trick Mr. Nelson had taught her, “as you never know who
really wears the pants in the family ....,”
    After introductions, Sarah was able to