Page 3 of Magic & Mochas
“Then I will arrange a meeting with the real estate agent for you in the morning.”
“Tristan!”My mom protested, but he simply patted her shoulder.
“We will support your decision, as long as it makes you happy.Besides, it will be nice to see you more often—especially during the holidays.”His words seemed to ease mom’s worries.
“Always ganging up on me, you two,” she tutted.“But itwouldbe lovely to see you more often, sweetie.”
“Thank you.”I smiled, and for the first time in quite a while, it wasn’t fake.
The next morning, I knocked on the real estate agent’s door the very moment he flipped theclosedsign toopen.Though the centaur who answered the door looked none too happy about it.
“Good morning, Mr.Chevalier!I believe my father sent a raven to say I’d be stopping by to purchase the old café on main street this morning.”I’d been too excited to sleep, so I had stayed up most of the night imagining how to renovate the space and what to call my new business.After much deliberation, I had settled on a name I liked: The Broom & Bean.
“Is that what the letter says?”He tried, unsuccessfully, to cover a yawn, while glancing at a table behind him.
Beyond his bay horse’s hindquarters, I was just able to make out the letter sitting unopened on the table.He glared at me from behind his half-moon spectacles, and scratched at his long beard.
This was not going well.But fortunately, I had come prepared!
“Coffee?”I held out to him the second cup I had brewed like an offering.
“Thanks.”When he took a sip, his eyes lit up.“Hey, that’s not bad.Please, come in.”
He sidestepped so I could enter, before closing the door behind me.His receiving room was spacious and tasteful, with an oval table at standing height and a few stools on one side for two-legged guests.Scenic photos of houses and buildings he had sold lined the beige walls, and decorative plants stood in the corners.
I noticed with some amusement a bite had been taken out of a few of the leaves.
Mr.Chevalier clip-clopped over to the table, the sound of his horseshoes rapping sharply on the hardwood floors.It suddenly occurred to me why centaurs never even tried to sneak up on people—it was evidently an effort in futility.
“So, you are interested in purchasing Mrs.Virgil’s old café building?”he clarified as I took a seat on one of the stools.He slid the same flyer over to me that my parents had.
“Precisely.I have the twenty percent down payment check ready, and brought all of my relevant paperwork, including my credit score report and my financial statements.”I handed him the folder I had prepared after he took another long sip of his coffee.
After flipping through the documents for a few minutes, he nodded.“Everything seems to be in order.I can have my contact at the bank set up the mortgage with an interest rate slightly lower than the human market’s.”
“That would be much appreciated.”I had done the calculations around dawn, and so long as I earned a certain amount from the business each month, I should be able to make the monthly mortgage payments without too much trouble.“I would like to move in and open my coffee shop as soon as possible.”
“A coffee shop, eh?You’ll give the diner a run for its money—at least when it comes to the morning coffee rush.”He glanced up at me quickly, before looking down again and shuffling through a packet of documents with text so tiny it made my eyes hurt to try and read them.“I’ll just need you to sign here, here, and here, and check the box stating you wish to purchase the building as-is, sight unseen.”
“Sight unseen?”I asked, a bit nervously.“What does that mean?”
“Oh, it’s just legal jargon for buying the property without first inspecting it.”He waved a hand in the air, as if batting away my concerns.“Since you already know how you want to use the space, it’s not as if you need to figure out where to put the counter and the register.All of that is still in place from the previous business.”
“Right.”I nodded slowly.“I guess that makes sense.”
Why did I get the feeling there was a question I didn’t know I needed to ask?Or that I was missing something?The agent seemed like he was in a hurry to get me to sign on the dotted line.
But Ihadalready decided that nothing could stop me.Even if there were an infestation of pixies in the upstairs apartment that he thought would be a problem, I would deal with it.
I signed my name with a flourish, thrilled beyond words to finally be taking the first step in the direction of my dreams.The contract rolled itself up, and with a flash and a popping sound, teleported itself to the bank.
“Here is the key to the shop, the mailbox, and…the upstairs apartment.”Mr.Chevalier handed me three keys, the metal cold and solid against my skin.
“Thank you so much!I am going to get to work right away.Enjoy your coffee—once I open, I’ll charge you the friends and family rate,” I said as I stood and headed for the door.
But as I closed it with a wave of my hand, I could have sworn I heard him mutter, “Good luck.”
Chapter two
