Sold. Blair Denholm

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СКАЧАТЬ on a construction site in Southport. Building some units I think. Anyway, he’s been kind enough to spare me the drive down to Robina and agreed to meet here.’ She took a sip of her wine and squinted. ‘Ooh, that’s a bit shit.’

      ‘Yeah, this place isn’t renowned for its wine list. But the beer’s always cold. I’ve been drinking here for years.’ He felt no need to apologise on behalf of his local. It was what it was.

      ‘Doesn’t matter. I’ll manage.’

      A third of the fresh schooner’s contents disappeared down his throat. Dawn’s presence disrupted his thought process. The alcohol also exerted an increasing influence, but as a seasoned drinker he was still coherent and capable of conversing at a social level. He decided to keep talking business so he could stop picturing her naked on the bar stool.

      ‘When you say customer, what do you mean?’

      ‘I’m in real estate. Been selling property here on the Coast for a couple of years now, three and a half to be exact. I used to be a hairdresser but thought I’d try something more challenging. It was bloody hard at first but now I love it. That Audi I bought from you – it was all my own money. No loan. If I’d stayed cutting hair I’d still be driving the crappy Berlina I had since high school. Surely I mentioned that when I bought the car.’

      He must have been hungover as hell that day. How else could he have forgotten those details? Bit of a worry: he was too young for alcohol-induced memory loss.

      Gary just wanted to flirt and fantasize about having sex with Dawn. Now he was intrigued about Dawn’s job.

      ‘That’s impressive.’ Gary pursed his lips in admiration.

      ‘Not at all.’ She shook her head. ‘One of the guys where I work made two hundred thousand in commissions last year. And if they’re motivated, agents can also build up passive income from rent referrals.’ She went to have another sip of her wine, screwed up her nose and put the glass down.

      Gary looked at his watch. When’s that bastard Foss getting here? If he didn’t show soon, Gary would ask Dawn to take him to the park for a blow job, which might just get him slapped in the face. Or it might get him a blow job. Hard to tell.

      ‘You’d be good at it,’ Dawn added, staring him right in the eyes.

      He gave her a blank look. Good at what? She must mean selling real estate.

      ‘You sold me that Audi when I wanted something much cheaper. You convinced me that I needed it.’

      ‘Nah, I dunno,’ Gary replied with false humility. ‘Max’s cars are that good they sell themselves.’

      ‘I promise you, it was your selling ability that made me buy it. The fact that it’s a great little car doesn’t mean much. Lots of dealers have quality cars. And there’s the private sales. But I wanted to buy a car from you, Gary.’

      Bloody hell, I think she’s trying to hypnotise me. He drained the last of his beer.

      ‘Well, I do love my job; most of the time,’ said Gary. ‘To tell you the truth, the last couple of months have been a bit hit and miss. But I’ve got some big sales coming through next week. I’m a bit like a kid though, ‘cos one of the best things about the job is getting to drive fancy cars every day.’

      ‘My client just walked in the door.’ Dawn dropped her red purse into her handbag and snapped it closed. ‘It’s been great to see you again. Take care and good luck with the car sales.’

      She eased herself off the barstool and headed towards a stocky bald man in a high-viz singlet.

      ‘Hang on a sec. That stuff you said about real estate. Sounds interesting. I’d love to chat a bit more, if you don’t mind.’ Gary dropped his card on the bar. ‘Maybe a career change is just what I need.’

      Dawn took the card, leaned in and pecked Gary on the cheek. ‘See ya.’ She took a card from her pocket and handed it to Gary. ‘You may as well take mine too.’

      Her perfume was subtle, musky – unlike any scent he’d ever smelled on a woman – he found it intoxicating. He hoped he’d be seeing Dawn again soon, either to discuss a possible new career or to… no, that would have to be the only topic of conversation. No indiscretions. He’d managed to cover up a one-night stand, long ago, and had kept his nose clean since. And he wanted to keep it that way.

      He resumed his examination of the form guide. Clapper Belle – a longshot in the next race at Sandown. He liked the name, and decided to throw $30 on the nose for a win, which left him a tenner for another schooner. The selection method was a departure from his usual approach: analyse past win ratios, weight handicaps, state of the track, jockey’s mother’s maiden name, run it all through the horse racing algorithm in his head and pick a loser anyway.

      On the way to the betting counter, he saw Foss swaggering into the pub. Foss waved hello and headed for the bar.

      ‘Grab me one too, will ya?’ Gary called.

      ‘Fuck me.’ Foss placed Gary’s beer on a coaster. ‘I thought you were going to stop chucking money away on the horses. Mate, if you’ve got cash to spare, I can point you in the right direction with sound, high-yield investments.’

      Foss undid his top button, loosened his yellow and black power tie, ready for a relaxing session on the piss. He was six foot three, lean and angular, with a BMI at the lower end of the scale in a third world country and limbs that stuck out like a praying mantis. Deep brown eyes peered at Gary from behind frameless glasses perched on wingnut ears. In a pub filled with tradies, the two friends looked as out of place as snowboarders in Darwin. But they were regulars and accepted by all.

      ‘I’ve got it all under control.’ Gary waved a hand in the air. ‘Let’s just have a quiet beer without any lectures, okay?’

      ‘Sure thing.’ Foss took a long draught from his pot. ‘Don’t bite my head off. I’ve always got your best interests at heart, you know that.’

      ‘Yeah, mate, sorry. Just got a lot of shit happening. You might be feeding me grapes at the Southport hospital next week.’

      ‘Bloody hell, mate. What have you got yourself into this time?’ Foss burst out laughing.

      ‘It’s not funny! I owe this bookie nearly four grand. Bastard’s threatened to send one of his thugs around to bash me if I don’t settle by close of business Monday.’ He sucked in a big breath. ‘Thankfully, Max advanced me the money, which I’ll pay back when I sell four cars to one customer. But don’t say anything about this to anyone, especially about Max lending me the money. Promised I wouldn’t breathe a word to anybody.’

      ‘You are a complete fuckwit, seriously.’ Foss shook his head ‘You haven’t sold a car for weeks and now you reckon you’re going to offload a bunch of ‘em?’

      ‘It’s a certainty. I’ve got a Russian businessman primed to make the deal on Monday morning.’ Gary beamed hopefully. ‘One car for each member of the family.’

      ‘Mate, that sounds like a fairy story to me.’

      ‘He’s for real, I know it. I’ve had deals fall over at the last minute but usually I get a feeling if things are going sour. This time, I dunno, something tells СКАЧАТЬ