Chapter 2

The Nemesis

When Josh woke up the next morning, Kiera was already out of bed. He rolled over and looked at the clock, then groaned. He'd overslept.

He gulped down a cup of not so fresh coffee in the kitchen, grabbed his things, and headed out to the car. As he expected, the for sale sign was still on the Haltons' front yard. On the bright side, though, Ben had already gone to work. Josh wasn't sure he was ready to face him yet.

As it turned out, that would be the last of the good news of the morning.

Things started going downhill on the way to work. Josh passed three more new for sale signs on homes, each with the same name as the one on the Haltons' lawn: Amy Deerham.

How is she doing it? Josh wondered. She seemed to be everywhere. At a time when nearly everyone seemed to be struggling in work and business, Amy Deerham was flying high. If anything, though, the signs served one purpose: They fed Josh's competitive spirit and he vowed to step up his game. He may have got off to a late start that morning, but there was plenty of day left and he had some big plans. Look out Amy Deerham. There's a new Josh in town.

When Josh reached the office he said a quick hello to Kelli at reception, then headed straight for his desk. It was time to get to work. He'd barely dropped into his chair, though, when his boss, Carl, knocked on the open door. “Can I talk to you for a second, Josh?”

“Sure,” Josh said absently, as he rifled through a stack of folders on his desk. “What's up?”

“Come on down to my office for a few minutes.”

Josh stopped rifling and looked up, but Carl was already on his way down the hall. He was a notoriously straight shooter, Josh knew, but a private conversation in his office? That meant a whole new level of forthright discussion. This couldn't be good.

And it wasn't.

“You're telling me I have to leave?” Josh asked in disbelief.

“No, I'm not, Josh. I'm telling you that there's not enough business coming in, and my costs keep climbing. You know the whole industry is changing. I can't keep doing business the same way forever.”

“So what are you telling me?”

“I'm telling you I need to make changes. I don't pay you a salary, but all this office space is killing me. Filling a building with anyone who has a business card in the hopes they'll drive some sales just isn't working. I need to lower my overhead, and surround myself with top performers.”

“That's pretty much the same thing as throwing me out,” Josh said testily. “I can't compete with some of these guys. They've got huge referral lists and heaps of experience—they've been at this for way longer than me.”

“I know, Josh. I know. But the industry is shifting under my feet. I need a new way to do business or nobody's going to be here. That new way is going to be surrounding myself with the best.”

Josh rubbed his face. The energy he'd felt coming into the office just minutes ago had vanished.

“Look,” Carl said. “I like you Josh. The staff likes you. Hell, even Wendy likes you and she doesn't like anybody.”

Josh smiled despite his anxiety. Wendy was the unhappiest agent in the place. And she did seem to like him, or at least dislike him less than she did everyone else.

Carl continued, “I'd love for you to be here. If I were picking based on personality, you'd be number one. But I have to go by performance right now, and number one you ain't.” Carl's phone buzzed. “Look, I've gotta get this,” he said. “You've got some time. I won't throw you out next week. But by the end of the month, I'm going to be making decisions about where we're going. And,” he picked up the handset of the phone, “who's coming with me. I already know who's productive, Josh. So do you. It's decision time. You need to change my mind. And soon.”

“Carl, the end of the month is only a week away! Besides, how can I be even close to number one with people like Amy Deerham scooping business from right under my nose? I don't know how she does it.”

“Maybe you should ask her,” Carl quipped.

“Funny guy,” Josh replied. “I wouldn't call her if my life depended on it.”

Carl looked at him for a moment. “Maybe it does, Josh.” Then he shrugged, picked up the phone, and the meeting was over.

Josh sat at his desk in a funk. This was trouble. He and Kiera were already struggling. How would they make it if his business failed? How would he break the news to Kiera? He could always move to a new brokerage, but he'd chosen this one because it was the best. Just moving down the street didn't feel like a step up.

Finally, unable to stay in the office any longer, he grabbed his coat and bolted for the door.

Josh drove aimlessly for an hour, his mind racing. The thought of finding new work was daunting, particularly in these slower times. He stopped for more coffee, then stopped again. At some point, he realized his hands were shaking, and he put the second cup down, unfinished. He needed some food. Before he made it a single block, though, he saw yet another Amy Deerham sign. He stopped the car.

“It's like I'm being punished,” he said aloud.

But then Carl's words came back to him.

Maybe Carl was right, he thought angrily. Maybe I should call her. I'll tell her off for stealing my business. She should stay out of my backyard.

Part of him knew this wasn't a smart idea, but it was a small part of him, and before he knew it, Josh was dialing the number on the sign. He was going to give Amy Deerham a piece of his mind.

A few minutes later, Josh realized he had indeed given Amy Deerham a piece of something. But if anything, it was his heart, not his mind.

Not only had she been gracious on the phone, but she was also contagiously cheerful and friendly. And she had suggested something that Josh couldn't believe: She offered to help.

He hung up the phone in a daze. Was he crazy, or was she? It had to be one of them. Helping your competition? For Josh it was unheard of. Or was it a scam? Maybe she knew he was in trouble and thought she could buy his meager client list. Or hire him as her gopher agent and take advantage of him while we was in a tough spot.

There was only one way to find out. Josh put the car in gear and headed for the address Amy had given him on the phone.

As he pulled up, he looked at the street, then at his map, then at the street again. He was sure this was the place, but he was parked in front of a retirement home, not the coffee shop or deli he had envisioned for a meeting spot. Autumn leaves tumbled through the air in the brisk wind that buffeted his car.

He was about to hit redial on his phone and ask Amy for directions again when he spotted her waving at him from the sidewalk. Even from the car, he could see the huge smile on her face. It was the same smile that had been dogging him from front lawns across the city.

Josh got out of the car, and walked toward her. Amy held a coffee cup in both hands. She's a lot smaller than I imagined, he thought briefly, then she nimbly stacked one coffee cup on top of the other, and took his hand.

“Hi Josh,” she said brightly. “Thanks for sharing your time with me.”

“No problem,” he said, then felt immediately foolish. Shouldn't he be thanking her?

“Here you go.” Amy handed him one of the cups. “I hope you're a coffee drinker.”

Josh took the coffee, grateful for the warmth of the cup, but even more grateful for having something to do with his hands and mouth. He was feeling increasingly uncomfortable. She's just so damn…nice, he thought.

“Let's have a seat,” Amy suggested. Josh followed her to the side of the building, where two small park benches bridged the gap between the sidewalk and the retirement home. Josh sat down, and turned slightly to face Amy. From his viewpoint, he could see several elderly people braving the fall winds to move slowly about the facility grounds on a paved pathway.

“You always meet at the old folks home?” he asked.

Amy grinned at him. “It's a good spot. Some great perks. Makes me feel younger, for one.” She laughed at herself.

Right now, Josh just felt weirder, not younger, but he nodded and smiled back. As he looked at her earnest face, though, Josh felt an unexpected sense of comfort. And he found himself doing something he hadn't planned on: confessing.

“To be honest, I called to…well, to give you a piece of my mind. I've had a rough day, and I kept seeing your signs, and…” He trailed off. How do you explain anything to your mortal enemy when they're sitting on a park bench smiling like it's Christmas Day?

To his surprise, Amy's smile got even brighter.

“It was great that you called, Josh. Good timing, really. And eerie, too.”

“How so?”

“I started in this business three years ago,” Amy explained. “I struggled terribly for the first year. And one day I had a day just like the one you seem to be having.”

Three years? She'd done all this in three years?

“Things weren't going that well at first, and I was becoming frustrated. One particularly bad day I did the same thing as you. I called a man who was…well, he was pissing me off.” She giggled. “I realize now that I was just taking out my frustrations on someone else. I was prejudging someone I never met, and not accepting responsibility for my own results. But it turned out to be the best phone call I ever made.”

Josh looked away, thinking back to his own prejudging. “Did he invite you to a retirement home?” he finally asked, to lighten the mood.

Amy laughed. “No. But we did go for a drive. And my life changed forever.”

Josh was skeptical. “A drive? Nice way to spend an afternoon, but it doesn't sound life changing.”

Amy smiled. “It wasn't the drive, of course, although that was unusual. It was the week that followed—and, obviously, the months after that. But it was what I learned in that one week that changed everything.”

“That's it? You called him up, and…everything changed?”

Amy grinned. “Not exactly. After I calmed down, I confessed that I was struggling and I resented his success.”

“What did he do?”

“He laughed, in an is that all? kind of way. Then he…well, he fixed me.”

“A guy who took you for a drive made you successful?”

Amy laughed. “No. I did the work. But he gave me the tools. And more importantly, he helped me use them. He helped me become accountable for what I needed to do.”

Josh squinted at her in confusion.

“He gave you connections? Or…I don't know…referrals? What kind of tools?”

Amy turned to face Josh head on. “That's why I was glad you called. Do you really want to know? I mean, really?”

“Sure. Why wouldn't I? But…” He trailed off.

Amy giggled again. “But why would I tell you?”

“Well…yeah. Why would you tell me?”

“If you'd asked me that a few years ago, I wouldn't have known the answer. Now I know it's just part of putting the tools to work.”

Josh didn't quite understand. It all seemed very mysterious. Was it some kind of marketing system? Whatever the tools were, surely she needed them to keep working, didn't she?

“I know this must seem strange, Josh. I think for now you'll just have to trust me.”

This is getting weirder by the minute, Josh thought. But then he thought about his last 12 hours—the mortgage, the Haltons, the conversation with Carl—and decided that going with the flow was about the only choice he had at the moment. And, truth be told, he did trust her. He just couldn't quite put his finger on why.

“That seems very generous,” Josh said. “How can I see these…tools?”

“Interesting choice of words. Seeing is exactly what you need to do.”

Before Josh could even try to digest what that meant, she continued, “And to do that, we'll need to go to the source.”

“Where's that?”

“It's not a where. It's a who. If you're serious, then I'll take you to meet the man who gave them to me.”

This was all getting too strange for Josh. But at this point, what did he have to lose? “It sounds great,” he said. “How do we set up a time?”

“Hold on. I should warn you. It'll be more than just a simple meeting. You'll need to block some serious time this week.”

Josh's eyes widened. “This week?” He thought back to what Carl had told him that morning. “Of all the weeks, this is not the one,” he said. “I've got some important things on my plate this week. I don't think I can do it.” He explained the bind he was in.

Amy was silent for a moment. Then she turned to Josh and said, “Just my two bits, but it sounds like there's nothing else on earth more important for you to do this week.”

Josh looked at her in disbelief. But she wasn't joking. He looked past her, into the grassy yard of the retirement home where a shawl wrapped elderly woman was being wheeled slowly around the concrete path. This is nuts, he thought. I can't spare this kind of time. As he watched, the woman in the wheelchair looked up and a huge grin spread across her face. Josh didn't think he'd ever seen anyone so happy. And was she looking at him?

She wasn't. Josh nearly dropped his coffee as a small boy, no more than five years old, ran right in front of him, his arms and legs spinning like windmills.

“Grandma!” he yelled. “Grandma!”

The old woman's grin transformed even further, into an expression of absolute bliss, as the boy skidded to a halt, and climbed right into her lap. She wrapped her thin arms around him, and closed her eyes, burying her face in his hair.

Josh felt the wind ripple through his own hair. Amy's words came back to him. Nothing more important.

He turned to look at Amy. She'd been watching him closely. She smiled kindly. “That's the other reason I come here, Josh,” she said softly. Then she turned to face the woman and her grandson, and sipped her coffee in contented silence.

Josh found himself smiling as he watched.

You just bounced your mortgage payment, found out your livelihood is in jeopardy, and you're spending time with the woman who just scooped your next commission check from right under your nose. And you're smiling?

He felt a small tickle of excitement in his stomach. Maybe he was crazy, but right now crazy was better than anywhere else he could go. He turned toward Amy. “Let's go see your friend.”