Chapter 2 of The Winning Ticket

Chapter 2

         They stopped first at Tom Woods Lexus, even though David complained slightly. He wanted Paige to get her car first, but Paige wasn’t listening to his objections. As soon as they parked they were approached by a short balding man in an impeccable navy suit.
         “Welcome to Tom Woods Lexus” the man gave a side glance at David’s five year old Dodge Neon then looked back at them disdainfully “Are you looking for someone?” He asked as if he were really asking them if they were lost.
         Paige’s blood began to boil. No they weren’t dressed as if they were part of high society, and granted they probably didn’t look like the type who normally drove into the lot looking to buy a new car, but how dare this man insult them. How dare he insinuate that they didn’t belong there. Just then Paige noticed that David looked as mad as she felt, and was about to tell Mr. Impeccable Suit all about himself, so she jumped in before he could.
         “Yes actually we were looking for any other sales person than you, because we plan on buying any car we feel like on this lot, in cash.” Paige said with more attitude than she had ever spoken to with a stranger before. “And your boss will be hearing about how incredibly rude you were to us, Henry.” She finished looking at his name tag.
         With that David grabbed her hand and they walked away towards the building leaving Henry open mouthed and completely shocked.
         “Wow where did that come from?” David asked her smirking.
         “I have no idea.” Paige replied completely shocked at herself. She had not stood up to many people in her life, but the way that man had looked at them had just made her blood boil.
         “Well I liked it. In fact…” David said leaning close to her ear “it kind of turned me on.”
         Paige laughed and pushed David away “You’re funny.”
         Once they walked inside the building they found three more sales men one who looked as though he might be the boss, one guy who looked older than the rude one out front, and a young timid looking guy who only approached them after silent coaxing from his two co-workers.
         “Hello, welcome to Tom Woods Lexus, my name is Bailey, how may I help you?”
         “Yes Bailey we would very much like you to help us when we pick out our car, but first can you please tell your boss that we need to talk to him about a very rude salesman we just encountered.” David said
         Bailey looked extremely nervous “Oh yes sir, he’s right over there...” He pointed in the direction of the man Paige had assumed to be the manager. “Just one second.” The young man rushed over to the man he had pointed out and talked quietly with him for a moment. Then both men headed to where they were standing.
         “Hello, I am Tom Woods, the owner. Bailey tells me you have had a bad experience. I am terribly sorry about that and if you come to my office, we can discuss this matter in private.”
         “Thank you.” David said as he and Paige followed Mr. Woods into his office.
         When asked about what happened Paige preferred to let David do the talking. She was already feeling bad about what she had said to Henry, and was starting to hope he did not get fired over this incident.
         “I am very sorry about your experience with Henry. He is our best sales men hence the reason he was in the parking lot. I am sure you will have a much better experience with Bailey, and I assure you this matter will be dealt with.”
         Soon both she and David had both stopped thinking about Henry and Bailey was busy showing them a Lexus GX 470, which seated eight, and had all the upgrades available. Paige was falling in love with the SUV, and though they had originally come here for David she was beginning to think she would purchase one, while David had whispered to her that he wasn’t sure a Lexus was exactly what he wanted. The exterior was a dark meridian blue with pearl overlay, ivory leather inside a third row seat with personal air settings for all three rows, a rear DVD entertainment system, and about twenty speakers.
         “This vehicle comes with a Levinson audio system, which is one of the best, as well as the navigation system, and wireless headphones for the rear entertainment system.” Bailey told them as Paige and David looked over the car.
         “I’ll take it.” Paige said.
         David looked at her as if to say are you sure?
         “If you’ll follow me I will get the paperwork started for financing.”
         “Actually I am just going to pay for it out right. Do you take American Express?”
         Bailey was trying unsuccessfully trying not to look completely shocked.
         “Yes ma’am we do.”
         “Good then.”
         Bailey started to walk away and motioned for David and Paige to follow. He had enough good sense to walk slightly faster than normal because he had seen the look David had been trying to give Paige.
         “What are you doing? You didn’t even want a Lexus, and you haven’t looked at any other cars.” David whispered.
         “I like the car, plus I want to give this guy some commission. Paige saw David give her a look that said he was about to dispute her decision. “But seriously…” Paige said quickly before David could speak “I really like the car, and I really want to buy it.”
         “Well it is your money, so it’s your decision. I just worry that you’re doing this for the wrong reasons. Just because we said we would buy a car doesn’t mean we have to.”
         “I know that. But I really do want the car.”
         “It is pretty nice, and hell if tomorrow you don’t like it you could always sell it.”
         “I do definitely want to another car, and the next one I buy, I promise I’ll do my research.” Paige said smiling
         David smiled back.
         “It really is a nice car.”
         They followed Bailey back to his office where Paige signed all the necessary paperwork, and paid for her new car. When Bailey handed Paige the keys to her new Lexus she almost felt like she was dreaming. Paige had decided that since David hadn’t picked out a car today they were going to take his to the closest garage, have it fixed and then towed back to his house. After leaving the car at the garage, David and Paige took her new car to get some lunch.


         The next day Paige had an appointment with a realtor. She wanted her next big purchase to be a house. After arriving at the office, Paige was escorted to a large corner office by a short older secretary.
         “Hello, Ms. Bynes, I am Nicole Sayer. How are you today?”
         “I’m good thank you.” Paige said taking a seat in the chair Nicole pointed to.
         “Before we look at any houses or get into any detail, I always like to have new clients tell me what it is you’re looking for.”
         “Well I am actually looking for two different houses, one for me, and one for my boyfriend. For him I want four bedrooms, at least two baths, a finished basement, the garage doesn’t really matter, but definitely no more than a two car garage, and either a pool, or a yard big enough to dig one. For me I am a little more unclear. Six or seven bedrooms, at least four baths, no more than a two car garage, finished basement, gourmet kitchen, a study, I don’t know.”
         “Okay, so what is the price range for each of the houses?”
         “I was actually hoping you could help me with that part. Like what the normal range is, stuff like that.”
         “Are you looking for a house here in Kokomo?”
         “Yes, or the outskirts, but relatively close.”
         “Okay then a normal four bedroom in a good area of town is going to run between ninety and one hundred thirty thousand really depending on the area of town. Now a six to seven bedroom home is going to be a significantly larger amount simply because of the square footage required in a house with seven bedrooms. I doubt I could find a house that meets those requirements with anything under forty eight hundred square feet. The price range would probably be around two fifty to half a million.”
         “Wow real estate is cheap here. In my home town you couldn’t find a house like I want for under half a mil.”
         “Oh, where are you from?”
         “Jacksonville, Florida.”
         “Larger cities do come with larger price tags on homes.”
         “Well what I am going to do now is put in the specifications, and print out all homes with at least a ninety two percent match. Then you and your boyfriend can look over them, decide which that you like best, and we’ll schedule tours of those homes. If you can’t find any that leave you with interest, then just call me and we’ll broaden the specs.” Nicole smiled at Paige enthusiastically.
         “Okay sounds good.”
         Nicole started typing information into her computer, and a few minutes later pages started spitting out of her printer.
         “It seems we have a lot of matches, especially on the four bedroom.” Nicole said smiling.
         “That’s good because he’s pretty picky.”
         “Just as a formality I do need documentation of what you have been approved for by the bank or financial records if you haven’t gone to a bank yet. Just for your file.”
          “Oh yeah, your secretary told me I would need that information, but I am not getting financed through a bank, I’m paying cash” Paige said reaching into her purse. “I do however have an account statement from my financial advisor and one from my accountant as well, plus my rental agreement, my electric and cable bill. Is that what you need?”
         “Yes, just income verification, and a list of all your debts.”
         “I’ll just make copies of these. I’ll be right back.”
         When Nicole returned the printer had stopped printing.
         “Okay here you go” Nicole said handing Paige the printed papers, “I’ll be awaiting your phone call to set up some appointments.”
         “Thank you.” Paige stood, shook Nicole’s hand and left the office planning to go strait home and look through all the houses.