This is based on a true story. Names and some situations have been changed in order to protect the innocent from the guilty, as the guilty walk the streets. The Prequel to this chapter is Part I & Part II.
Barbie Ross was having a bad day.
She was six months from having enough time to take the exam and get her broker’s license. The one industry her family had no business in so she was stuck working for Jo Blue. Her family had a cabinetry business, home contractors, owned the local hardware and building supply store, a couple chiropractors, and a dentist.
Today she lost her rotation in line to the new girl, Jeanie Thomas.
Her attitude about it almost got her boxed up.
“Jo, how can you give my rotation to that new girl. It’s Friday, one of our busiest days for travelers and investors. This isn’t fair!”
Jo Blue had grabbed her arm, pulled her outside and said, “Do you see that sign? That sign has my name on it. Do you see that door? Who’s the broker here? Do you see that stack of property signs over there with your name and number on them? Whose name is above yours? I am the boss. In six months you’ll be leaving and you have the couple months I invested in you in the beginning that just might get you to this level someday. Keep your trap shut or you may just walk in and find a box at the door!”
It was true. Jo Blue was excited to have Barbie as a protégé for about the first two months. Then one day, when Barbie wasn’t paying attention to a lecture on land trusts, Jo Blue erupted calling her a spoiled pretentious waste of time.
At the annual convention, Jo Blue was one of the most sought after speakers because of her knowledge. Real estate firms in Phoenix wanted her to relocate and merge with them. But she knew the money was in the desert.
After their eruption, Jo Blue had little to do with Barbie. She monitored Barbie’s deals and helped her maximize profits because that affected the firm. Other than that, Barbie had heard Jo Blue call her names like “screeching cat” and was not in the “in” group with Robert, Zeke, Bobbi, and occasionally Cari Anne and Ed.
Now there was Jeanie. Stiff competition that one would be! Jo Blue would be passing along sales and listings because Jeanie had “it”. She was Jo Blue twenty years younger.
Barbie had married for looks, not money. She had money. Barry was a strong good looking man. He was everything she wasn’t – sweet and kind. He cleaned up well and looked good in a suit. He could talk to people. Most of all, he could see the end game. He knew enough to hide the skeletons.
But those kids – the kids he wanted and she gave him. He wanted four to six kids. After two, she told him she was done. She had gone from a size zero to a size three and couldn’t that last 20 pounds. He could raise the snotty, screaming, messy kids and she would make the money.
Barbie headed for the mountains. She would let the treacherous road of twists and turns clear her head and reset her goals. That was better than going home.
