Properties

I woke up in a luxury hotel between white sheets and the smell of fragrant flowers. The room was about the size of a house, plus refrigerators with food and a window with a view of the city. I could stay here for a week while I got organized, but I didn't know any middle-class neighborhoods where I could live in peace. I looked at the sunlight and noticed that it was quite weak, possibly a cloudy day.

Slowly I remembered that my life had changed, but I had to contact my friends and help him solve his problems. I only hoped that he would not waste this opportunity and not squander the money I would give him. I didn't have many friends, besides my partner at the store. Just acquaintances and people I sometimes talked to when they went shopping at the store where I worked.

I thought about moving to a safe part of town or going to a quieter place where I wouldn't have to encounter gang members.

I just looked at the check and felt happy. I just had to go out on the street and walk to collect the money. I was in the downtown area of the city and I had to be careful not to get robbed.

I decided to go and claim the money early and buy some clothes and contact my friend so that he could get out of that job in a week. 

I looked out the window and saw how the city was moving at this hour. There was a lot of movement, people and vehicles everywhere. The day was going to be as complicated as the previous one, it would take hours waiting in line at the bank to create an account and withdraw money. It was a pity to live like this, it was too tedious, a waste of time, but even if I didn't want to, I had to do it.

[...]

I didn't delay in getting dressed and went to the central bank and just as I thought a while ago, there was a huge line. There were maybe two hundred people and only five tellers were working. It was very stressful to have to wait. It was annoying just looking at the line to withdraw money. In the other line to open an account there were only a few people, I didn't know which one I should do first. I had little experience with these things, I only received the money every month in cash.

I figured I might be out by noon and would have to go back to open the account. 

The bank had four sections, and each for a different task I only knew two, the others I didn't know what they were for. The place was quite large, about 20 or 25 meters in front and at the back about 60 meters long, four floors, with several columns that supported the structure, but made it difficult to pass through. Any person could crash if it was unattended. The walls and the whole structure were white with some red lines to recognize the colors of the bank's logo. The tellers were in a small cubicle and were protected with a somewhat tinted glass window. There was only a wooden counter to count money or organize papers. 

I didn't know how to make my stay in that place less stressful, no cell phones were allowed there. The guard walked around all of us as if it were a jail.

I felt a person walk up and behind me. It was a woman, she was wearing a pretty strong lotion, it wasn't uncomfortable, but I could smell it a lot.

I saw some papers fall, and I tried to help her. I noticed that they were real estate and apartments. I picked them up off the floor and handed them to her.

I could see her face. She had green eyes and straight black hair, she was a little shorter than me. She looked at me suspiciously, though. I was dressed like a tourist, with a somewhat worn black pants, a shirt with the logo of a tree, while she was dressed like someone from an office, with a black skirt and a jacket of the same color. Try to talk to the woman.

"Uh... Excuse me, what company do you work for?" 

"At International Furniture."

"Uh, can I come with you to your office?"

She felt a little nervous listening to me.

"Uh... What do you need?"

"A middle-class apartment."

"Mmm, I see. I just looked at these places, and we can talk in a while about price and other site details."

He gave me some catalogs of various apartments in places I didn't know about. I had a hard time finding something worthwhile that was in a nearby location. I saw a place and showed it to the girl.

"This apartment."

"Well, we'll talk about this place in a bit."

It was unusual to do business this way, but being in this place was going to be boring. Maybe if she saw something I liked, I would do business with her and avoid going to a realtor.

The woman doubted I could afford such a place. I avoided doing something stupid, I couldn't tell her about the money I had earned, I had to be as simple as possible.

I took the magazines and started looking at each of the apartments. 

[...]

After 2 hours and it was finally my turn, my legs were already feeling very tired. When I got to the cashier, I handed over the check.

"All this we will not give it to you here, go down the hall, we will give it to you somewhere else. It's dangerous, it can be stolen outside."

"Eh... I'm going to take some of it out and some of it I'm going to put in an account, I'm just going to open it."

"Ah... Ok, just go on over there and with this one authorize all the bank movements, so I won't queue up again here."

The man printed out several documents and handed them to me.

I felt a little more relieved, but I felt a little strange, there were a lot of people in line who started to stare at me. I remembered that I was supposed to wait for the real estate woman and stayed to wait for her.

The watchman approached me, obviously I was suspicious for standing there.

"I'm waiting for the woman over there."

"You can wait for her outside."

"I can't, I have to talk to her. I'm going to get in another line, and it'll take a little longer."

"Mmm, I see, well, I'm going to watch you. If I see you do anything unusual, I'll have to restrain you and call the police."

That man thought I wanted to rob her or something, although he was right, I looked like a normal person and she was an executive. 

I just went to a wall and leaned against it to wait for her. I watched as more people arrived at the bank. It was almost full, it was very difficult to be calm in such a dangerous city, some people were dressed in a very suspicious way and their faces were a little scary, the best I could do was to wait for her.

[...]

More than fifteen minutes passed, and I watched as the woman walked away from the ATM. When she passed close to me, I didn't hesitate to speak to her.

"Uh, hi, it's me."

"Ah, you. The apartment is for you or a family member."

From what I had experienced recently, it was best to tell her it was for a relative, for my safety and hers. There were a few people listening to us on the bench, plus it was full, and they had already closed the door so no one else would come in. I just tried to be as simple as possible to 

"Ah... It's for an uncle, he's coming from Europe and needs an apartment."

"Well, if you want, we can have coffee and talk about it. We can also advise you on cars and other things he might be interested in."

I felt like I was being invited on a date, I didn't know if this was how high society people were treated or something like that, but I couldn't go out with a she to another place at that time. I had to explain the situation to her.

"Hey.. I have to get some money from an uncle, Can you wait for me?"

"Yeah, no problem, there's a café across the street."

"But if they let you waste so much time in your office?"

"They gave me the morning to do several transactions. No problem."

I got kind of curious, apparently maybe he overheard my conversation with the cashier and knew I was a potential customer, though I felt more at ease. I could get most of the things I needed in one place. It was not safe for me to be anywhere in the city. 

[...]

I went back to stand in line again, but for two people. It wouldn't take that long here. I thought about taking out a hundred thousand dollars to buy something and after talking to the woman I would go and buy a car and the apartment. Maybe in the afternoon. As I was thinking, the line moved forward and it was my turn.

There was an older man in front of me, he was sitting in a chair and next to him was a computer. Obviously, he looked me up and down. It was normal in this country, but he looked at the guard to do something, that made me a little nervous, and I didn't know what to do. I tried to calm down and sat down on a chair.

"I'm going to open an account to put all this money in."

"Mmm, okay."

"I'm also going to take out a hundred thousand dollars in cash."

"Ok, if it's nothing else I'll already give you that amount of money, but hand me your ID and the check. Ah, fill out this form for me."

It was a type of form in which there were several questions to answer. My cell phone number, my date of birth, my ID and other information. I wouldn't take too long on that, it made me feel more relieved. However, when I started to write, I heard some noises in that place. I turned my face and saw the guard pointing a gun at someone. It seemed to be an attempted bank robbery of a person.

I walked away from that place and tried to answer the form quickly, the bank was going to be closed, and the police would arrive, I didn't want to waste my time coming to this place and expose myself to this situation again.

I just heard some shots and turned to look. The offender had already been shot, I had already filled out the entire form. Somewhat nervously, I approached the cashier and tried to collect the money and make the bill.

The man looked me up and down. I thought he was going to scold me, but he took the form and in a matter of time I was given my account information and a card to withdraw money from the ATM. I didn't expect that, but as long as the hundred thousand dollars were there, I would be more relaxed.

I felt a peace in my heart, after so much stress I was finally free, and I could do everything I had thought of. Now I just had to go to the cafeteria and do the business with the woman.

[...]

The cafeteria the woman had told me about was lonely, but the place was organized. There were five wooden tables on the left side, the walls were beige, and there was a counter in front of the cashier, there were some coffee pots there. There were only two employees who were doing the accounts for today's earnings, and she was the only customer. She looked kind of bored. Maybe what happened a few minutes ago scared all the customers away from this place. I made my way over there and sat down at the front.

"Hey.. Sorry for the delay, some thieves broke in stealing, but they ended up badly."

"Mmm, I see I heard some gunshots, but I didn't think they were from there. Well, did you decide something along those lines?"

"Uh, yes, but I'd like the other proposal of the houses and cars."

"Ok, but we'd have to talk it over in the office with my secretary, that's up to another area."

"Ah... Ready, but can I go and see the apartment?"

"That's not up to me. There is a person in charge for that, and you can negotiate with her, even see more apartment."

I felt a little uncomfortable having to go there, but obviously it was the normal thing to do in this situation.

"Ah.. Ok, give me the address of the place and I will get there, I will go to that place in the afternoon."

"Ok, if you want, you can go see the apartment now and go at once to the office to do all the paperwork."

I got a little curious and wanted to ask him what his position in the company was.

"Excuse me, you are?"

"I am the manager."

I was a little confused to hear her talk about this. It was very rare for her to do that, maybe she did it because of my insistence. I was a little embarrassed. 

"Ah... Excuse me, I think I made you uncomfortable."

"I don't know, worried, it's my duty to see to the purchase of various properties. I was just making payment for some apartments."