Hi all, my apologies for the hiatus in my posting schedule. Work went completely cyclonic! And at the end of each day I had no creative energy left. Things have settled slightly so I hope to get back on track for my weekly posting. As always, thank you all for your reviews and support.

Sizing Up

Over the next week, I felt like my heart was singing. Knowing that Carlos was planning to come back soon gave me a huge boost. On my actual birthday, three bunches of flowers arrived at the Trenton office. A big bunch of multicoloured flowers from Marco and the Rangeman Miami team, a sweet bouquet of yellow roses from Lester, and an exquisite arrangement of two dozen red roses from Carlos.

I was meeting a group of friends for dinner and drinks that night at Rossini's. Tricia and Bobby, Mary Lou and her husband Lenny, Connie, and Hector. We were a lively bunch as we shared several bottles of wine and a delicious Italian feast. Tomorrow night, I was expected at my parents' house for a birthday dinner which would no doubt include my favourite pineapple upside down cake. But for tonight, the Tiramisu was more than enough to satisfy my palate.

When I got home from dinner, Carlos called me to wish me happy birthday and I thanked him and everyone for their lovely flowers. We chatted for about an hour until I started yawning and we said our goodbyes.

Dinner at my parents' can be a challenge sometimes. Mom was on at me about being single and, "Where is this so-called boyfriend of yours?". Dad was silent as always. Grandma was easier, she just told me funny stories and squeezed my hand when my mom nagged too much. Apparently, Louise Mancini's daughter didn't have a boyfriend who lived in Miami! Caroline Mancini is forty-six with three teenage kids, so this did not in any way surprise me.

At least I got pineapple upside down cake.

My gift from my parents was a nice fleece hoodie that I appreciated for the winter. Grandma gave me a gift certificate for Victoria's Secret with a sly wink that made me blush.

About a week later, I was working on the notes and drawings of the floor plans for the Haywood Street building. The attorney managing the purchase of the building had advised us that we should get at least two quotes on the renovations, and I was creating a brief for the architectural firms that Carlos had contacted, from the notes and drawings. This involved a lot of phone calls and faxes back and forth to Miami, and I was starting to feel a bit frustrated. It would have been just so much easier if Carlos were here!

The list of facilities at this point was for foyer, two connecting conference/meeting rooms, and large storage room on the entry level. Below ground level, there would be a carpark level, and the sub-basement would house the gun range, high-security storage room (weapons room), and a couple of other 'high-security rooms' (holding cells). The second floor above ground would have the gym taking up most of the floor, with a locker room and Bobby's infirmary. The third floor would be four studio apartments for short-term occupancy, the main technical workroom and equipment storage for Hector, and a couple of spare offices. The fourth floor would also be apartments; in total there would be two two-bedroom apartments, and seven one-bedroom apartments. There would also be a small common room on the fourth floor where the residents could socialise. The fifth floor was the main offices and monitor room if the structural engineer confirmed the weight-bearing capacity. Carlos had decided he wanted a live-in couple for housekeeping and maintenance, so the sixth floor would be a large apartment, an industrial kitchen and laundry, and an office and storage space. The top floor would mostly be Carlos' penthouse apartment, but he was considering having another, more luxurious studio apartment that Marco could use when he visited.

Originally, Carlos had intended for he to be the sole owner of Rangeman Trenton, with Ramon as the financial backer, however the recent discussions and revelations between Carlos and Marco seemed to have changed their dynamic. Carlos was viewing Marco as more of an equal partner in the business, and he had decided to continue the joint ownership of the business. Carlos would continue as CEO, but Carlos and Marco were going to jointly buy Ramon out over the next five to seven years. I was pleased that Carlos was opening up to his cousin like this. He had also offered Tank and Lester to buy into the business as junior partners, with five or ten percent shares of the business, and they were considering the offer and discussing it with their accountants.

Last night's conversation with Carlos had been enlightening and mind-blowing in equal measures. I had been thinking about buying an apartment with the fifty-thousand-dollar settlement. I had mentioned it to Carlos and his response was a long pause. "What's wrong, Carlos?" I asked.

"Babe…" he seemed hesitant, "I kind of hoped you would move in with me when I move into the Haywood Street penthouse."

I was shocked. We had only really been seeing each other for less than six months, and for several of those months we had been separated by distance. "Carlos, I…" I did not know how to respond. I didn't want to hurt him or our growing relationship, but my divorce had left me hesitant to commitment and a bit rabid about my independence. "You don't think it's too soon?" I asked eventually.

"Maybe," his voice sounded a little stiff now, "I just hoped we could start a life together in Trenton."

When he put it like that, my heart melted. "I… I will think about it, ok? It won't be for a while yet anyway, with the building renovations." I paused but then decided I needed to say more, "Carlos, I… I really appreciate that you want this with me. I love you, and I want to be with you. But I… I went through a rough time after my divorce, and I struggle with not feeling independent. You know?"

His voice relaxed at this, "I do understand, Babe," he said more warmly. "Maybe… Instead of investing in an apartment, you could invest in Rangeman?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know we offered Tank and Lester some shares. You could buy some too."

"How much would fifty thousand buy?" I wondered.

He thought for a minute or so, "Well not much, but you could pay fifty thousand up front and we could work out a plan to garnish part of your salary until you have purchased as much as you want to. Roughly, one hundred thousand might buy you one to two percent. If you wanted to buy five percent, the price we are asking of Tank and Lester is three hundred thousand."

I thought about it for a couple of minutes. I believed in Carlos and Rangeman, and the business plan I had developed was very solid. I knew this would be a sound investment, even more so as I would be investing in a future that I would be helping to make a reality. "It sounds good, Carlos," I said thoughtfully. "I will think about it, I promise." I still wanted time to really think it through, but secretly I was thrilled that Carlos was so committed to me being part of his future in every way.

We finished our conversation warmly, and I lay awake for an hour that night, thinking about what I wanted to do for my future. A future that seemed so vastly different from everything I had a few months ago. But in a good way!

On Tuesday night, Tricia and I had started our Spanish classes. It was a seven-week course called "Basic Conversational Spanish" and we had started with some basic phrases to introduce ourselves and then begun learning the alphabet and numbers. We were expected to practice for at least ten minutes a day, and had been given a sheet with the words, letters, and phrases on it, spelled out phonetically. I was trying to practice for at least ten minutes in the morning and night and Tricia and I planned to get together for an hour on Saturdays to practice on each other. Hector had also promised he would meet with us at a coffee shop for the hour to help with our pronunciation and accuracy. The classes were on Tuesdays and Thursday nights, so we hoped we could progress well with the help and practice.

The seven -week course was only the basic introduction, and the college also offered another seven-week follow up course of "Intermediate Conversational Spanish". I was thinking, even if Tricia did not want to continue, that I would continue. I was really keen to learn it. I knew Carlos would help me too when he finally came back to Trenton. He had not mentioned coming back again since that night, but I hoped he was still working on it.

My mother's cousin was an accountant, and I had called him this morning to make an appointment. I needed financial advice and I felt unqualified to decide for myself. Of course, I had done financial studies as part of my college degree, but the courses had not been my favourites, and I felt like I needed independent advice to make such significant investment decisions. Sandor Mazur was Shirley Gazzara's brother, and we had not been close growing up; he was about eleven years older than me; but I knew he would advise me fairly as family. I made the appointment for Thursday morning and felt a bit more confident I could deal with all this.

The living situation was harder. I knew I should be eager to move in with Carlos. I was concerned he would take my hesitancy as a bad sign for our relationship, but I could not help the slight panic I felt at moving in with anyone, even Carlos. The end of my marriage to Dickie Orr had left me emotionally and financially broken. I knew it was wrong to even begin to compare Carlos to the Dick, but I could not help it. It took me years to climb back out of that pit, and it scared me to take such a huge risk again. Still, I had to try and figure this out rationally; living with Carlos would mean I was dependent on him for housing security, but if I had an income and secure investments, that should be a fallback, right? Trying to reason it out was giving me a headache and I decided to wait until I had decided about the investment before I made any decisions about where I would live.

Wednesday afternoon brought another file from Connie. It seemed fairly straightforward; a hundred thousand bond on a man wanted for fraud and embezzlement, and no mob connections. I felt fairly safe beginning the research and tracing of the skip. Louis Monday proved easy to trace. He was hiding out with his sister in Hamilton Township. I set Bobby and Hector up on surveillance to establish his routine and decide the best time to pick him up. His file listed no weapons or history of violence, but I was done taking chances with my guys' health and safety. Already in Trenton, Lester, Tank, and Hector had all been injured once. We were going to do this by the book.

I had had Carlos send me through the terms of the offer for investment with Rangeman, and I had his permission to share the business plan, in confidence, with my cousin. So, Thursday morning saw me sitting down with Sandor, as we went through the proposal and business plan. Sandor had also requested a copy of my contract with Rangeman, and I had brought that with me as well. Sandor went through everything meticulously and asked a few questions for clarification. After about forty minutes, he sat back and looked at me carefully.

"Well Steph," he said with a small smile, "you seem to have landed on your feet here. The financial settlement from Newark is a good nest egg, and this investment opportunity looks pretty solid. Actually, I wouldn't mind contracting whoever wrote this business plan to research and update mine."

I blushed slightly, "Actually, Sandor, I wrote the plan," I explained. He looked slightly surprised and impressed. "I got of a lot of information from the staff and managers in Miami, but I did most of the research, interviewed the relevant people with Carlos Manoso, and wrote up the business plan."

"Well, I'm really impressed, Steph. I guess that makes sense then why you were offered the opportunity. And I repeat, if you're interested, I'd love to have you update my own business plan," he shook his head a little, "but that's getting off the point. Back to this investment offer, like I said, it's solid. And it's something you can take advantage of. What were you thinking yourself, in terms of eventual investment and how quickly you want to make it?"

I had been thinking this through, "Well, I would like to eventually have the five percent for three hundred thousand, I think. But I'm not sure about how quickly. I thought I might keep five thousand aside from the settlement to invest in a savings bond or something. Just in case, you know? Being laid off from E.E. Martin gave me a bit of a scare, financially."

Sandor nodded sympathetically, "I guess I can understand that. We could set you up with five thousand in Treasury Bonds or something. It's not the most lucrative type of investment, but it is very secure and safe. So that would leave you forty-five thousand for the initial investment and two hundred and fifty-five thousand to pay off. Your current salary is sixty-five thousand per year, well above average by the way, plus your bonuses."

I sis a double-take, "Bonuses?" I asked.

He frowned at me, "Didn't you read this before you signed it?" I nodded at him, puzzled, and he continued, "Well you must have missed this section." He handed over the copy of my employment contract and tapped on a paragraph.

I leaned forward to read it. Bonuses will be calculated for each financial year, on the basis of two percent of total income from bond enforcement captures in which Ms Plum is directly involved.

I was completely flabbergasted. My mouth opened and closed several times, and I must have looked like a stunned fish. Sandor looked at me in some amusement and then asked, "How much is that likely to be?"

I shook my head dazedly, "I've no idea…"

"How much have you brought in this month in the bond enforcement you have participated in?"

I thought for a few minutes. Monday was worth fifteen thousand to Rangeman; the bond for Berghofer had been two hundred thousand, so the fifteen percent for Rangeman was thirty thousand. Morrison and Turnbull had been forty thousand each. I thought there had been more than that too. "Maybe one-fifty thousand or so?" I said tentatively.

Sandor looked stunned. Eventually he said, "Well that's a lucrative business, for sure. No wonder your Plum cousin is a bail bondsman. Well, that means at least three and half thousand dollars in your bonus for this month alone, Steph. If that averages out, we could conservatively see at least thirty thousand a year in bonuses for you. On top of your salary. If you dedicated your bonuses alone to paying off the investment, you could do it in five to six years, easily. Given that your salary may increase and that's a conservative estimate on bonuses, you could set the terms for five years, with a clause to renegotiate for extension, if required due to unforeseen circumstances."

I nodded, still feeling dazed. My financial situation alone had changed so dramatically in the space of six months. "I guess so," I said eventually.

Sandor looked at me shrewdly, "I'm happy to act as your financial consultant here, Steph, but you should also talk to an attorney. Any kind of contract for these sums of money needs an attorney to write the terms in such a way that you are protected. I can give you a referral to my company attorney if you like."

I agreed, and Sandor dug out the contact details for me. Sandor smiled, "I was sorry to hear about the trauma you went through in Newark, Steph, but it looks like it had a silver lining for you." I smiled back at him and nodded ruefully. "And don't forget to contact me if you want to consult on my business plan. I was serious."

I said cautiously, "I'll ask Carlos. I don't think he'd mind, but I do work for him, so I should check."

Sandor looked at me shrewdly again, "This Carlos is the one from the elevator, right? And he's your boss now?" I nodded. He hesitated, then went on, "But he's more than your boss, Steph?"

I blushed again, "We're dating," I agreed. "I love him," I said quietly.

Sandor looked like he wanted to say something but checked himself. Eventually he just said, "Well, I wish you all the best with this investment and business opportunity Steph. And remember what I said about having the contract checked by an independent attorney."

I nodded again and we parted on good terms. I told Sandor I would contact him when I had made my decisions and seek his help with investing the five thousand dollars I was setting aside.

On the drive back to the office, I was thoughtful. I appreciated Sandor's obvious concern and reservations about investing in a company owned by my boyfriend. But his very concern made me realise that I trusted Carlos completely. His advice about consulting an attorney was sensible and wise, though I knew Carlos would never screw me over or set me up for a fall. Any contract he and Marco offered me to invest in Rangeman would be rock solid and impeccable.

And if I knew that about him as a businessman, didn't I know that about him as a man? Carlos would never screw me over personally, any more than he would professionally. If I moved in with him, and we didn't work out, I knew Carlos would never throw me out on the street or even throw me out of my job. I would be secure at Rangeman as long as I had a contract and wanted to honour it. Carlos would be more likely to move away or just distance himself from me if we broke up. The pain I felt at that thought was almost physical, but I knew it was true. I trusted Carlos. I had given him my heart. Shouldn't I trust him with our home too?

It only took us two days to establish Monday's routine and, since I was now authorised to sign for Rangeman FTAs, we set up a sting with Hector and Bobby to pick him up the next day as he left the house. Hector and Bobby did the apprehension; I drove us to the police station. We had him surrendered to the courts, got our receipt, and walked away. Three days' work; ten thousand for Rangeman. Not bad. Plus, no Morelli! Bonus!

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