Crazy Seduction(erotica)

Stanley signed his PC out and followed her out of his office. Siobhan smiled and gave him a wave as he left. He waved back then followed Sigrid out of the building.

They took a subway and transferred to the path train to Jersey City. The building was apparently right on the Hudson and had a view of Manhattan. When they walked up to the building Stanley looked around at the neighborhood. He saw a lot of expensive looking cars and well-dressed people in them. He looked questioningly at Sigrid.

“What?”

“I might have lived in an old cottage with no electricity in a swamp but I’m not so sheltered that I can’t recognize real estate which I can’t afford,” he said. He was puzzled why Sigrid was taking him here as she knew how much he made.

“Normally, that would be the case but I had a talk with Camila last night. In light of your special circumstances and nature, if you find the unit satisfactory VRL will purchase the property as an investment. You will then be able to live in it at a reasonable rental rate you’ll pay back to VRL.” Sigrid explained.

Stanley stop dead and stared at the woman. She took two steps before noticing he wasn’t beside her. She turned to look back at him. “What?”

“A reasonable rental rate? Again, rental of a condo in this neighborhood would be way too expensive. Wait, is that how VRL intends to get my salary back?” Stanley said with a scowl.

Sigrid scowled back at him. “No! We don’t work like that!” She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “Ok, I get that it might look like that but when I said reasonable I meant a rental rate of $1500 a month. It can’t be free for legal and tax reasons and even at that rate we are going to have to do some clever bookkeeping.” She saw he was beginning to relax. “Look, VRL sees you as a major investment as well. We think you can help us in critically important ways. How we got into this mess is a black mark on us. We need you to help us back to a safe and secure position. We hope to build a long term relationship with you. That means we want you to be happy.”

Stanley was seriously flattered by her honest words and sincere tone and was trying his best not to look it. When she smiled, he knew he’d failed at keeping it from his face. He sighed. “OK, I get it and I appreciate it. I do. Seriously though I would be fine with a small studio apartment in a much lower scale neighborhood.”

“But VRL couldn’t invest in such a property unless we bought the whole building and that’s not really an option,” she explained. “And trust me, the apartments like that are still stupid expensive or way too far from the office. We’d prefer you to be closer to the office. Even this is farther than we’d like but there is just no availability within Manhattan.”

He nodded his understanding and they continued on. They followed a tenant into the lobby and went to the security desk. Sigrid let him know they had an appointment with the property manager.

A few minutes later a very short but stout man walked up to them. Stanley noticed he was old though he couldn’t exactly say how old he might be. The man was wrinkled and had moles and hair growing from them and- Stanley caught himself staring but noticed the man was staring right back at him.

“Hello, I’m Sigrid Gunderan from VRL. Camila Villamor set up our appointment?” she said, wondering if the man was going to acknowledge her. Old eyes flicked to her and the man nodded.

“My apologies. I am Johann Bruger, the property manager. Please follow me to my office.”

He led them down a hall to a tastefully decorated office and gestured for them to enter and take a chair in front of his desk.

Stanley saw the man run his hand over the door jamb as he closed the door, wondering at the gesture. Mr. Bruger made his way behind the desk and they heard the hum of the chair lift him up so they could see him.

“I’m very sorry but there seems to have been some misunderstanding about the availability. The unit in question is on the ninth floor,” he said, emphasizing the floor number as he looked Sigrid straight in the eye.

“Ah, yes. I see the confusion,” she smiled.

The man behind the desk relaxed and smiled.

“Mr. Garin is one of us. His protection is stronger than ours. It cannot be detected.” Sigrid said calmly and the man’s smile fell away and his eyes darted to Stanley and back to Sigrid.

“I don’t understand.” A nervous smile replaced the man’s earlier confused one.

“I can tell you’ve enabled a sanctuary rune as well as…” she paused momentarily to close her eyes. “… an integrity compulsion?” She frowned at the property manager. “What kind of people do you normally allow into the building?”

The old man’s brows came down in his own scowl. “If you can detect the rune you can obviously counter-act it. You also are aware that I cannot allow… the others to inhabit this unit!”

Stanley was looking between the two in confusion. He finally settled on just looking at Sigrid. “Is he saying… what I think he’s saying? I’m too human to live on the floor the unit is on?”

Sigrid sent him a warning look.

“What? You said he has a sanctuary rune in place. It’s safe to talk, right?”

She turned to face him. “Yes. The sanctuary rune is active. However, what you are is not something we will discuss.”

He caught the implicit warning in her eyes and nodded reluctantly. He turned to face Mr. Bruger and saw the man giving him an evaluating look before returning his gaze to Sigrid.

“Am I to take your word on this matter?” Mr. Bruger said carefully.

“Mine, Camila’s and VRL’s,” Sigrid stated.

The old man looked at Stanley closely one last time and nodded. “Ya.” His accent leaked out possibly indicating an emotional response to the mystery that sat in the chair across from him. The property manager looked back to Sigrid. “Shall we go to see the unit then?”

“Yes, please.”

They stood and followed Mr. Bruger to the elevators. The building was only nine stories so this unit was on the top floor.Exclusive © content by N(ô)ve/l/Drama.Org.

“Unit 901 is an 800 square-foot, one bedroom condo with a south and east view. Unfurnished. The asking price is $710, 000.” He glanced at Stanley who made a choking noise when he heard the price. Sigrid just nodded so the man opened the door and led them inside. The space was functional if not exceptional but the view made up for some of that. The floors were hardwood except in the kitchen and bathroom where it was a neutral grey slate tile. There was a good-sized balcony facing south and a mostly unobstructed sightline to the Hudson River to see some of Manhattan skyline. They looked at the kitchen, bathroom, laundry facilities, and finally the bedroom which was spacious enough to take up to a king-sized bed, Sigrid commented.

“But I only need a single,” Stanley insisted.

Mr. Bruger did his best to stifle his snort and hide his smile as Sigrid leaned in to speak softly. “You may one day have company in that bed so maybe a queen makes more sense.”

“Oh, right!” Stanley said, his face burning.