I move on to #201

{if DaynaDay2Text=true}I shake myself and put my phone away. For the moment, might as well head up to the second floor. {endif}I head up the stairs to #201. This, according to my list, is Mark and Claudia Thompson, a couple in their mid-30s, and their 13-year-old son Stephen. Given the scheduled e-learning day in this school district, it’s a fair bet that he and at least one of his parents will be home.

A busty brunette in a tight V-neck shirt that doesn’t quite cover her bra answers the door. She looks at me suspiciously. “Can I help you?” she asks.

“I’m Iain Roberts—I’m the new building manager,” I say. “I’m going around introducing myself to the tenants. According to my list, this is the Thompson residence; you must be the babysitter?”

The woman’s eyes go wide for a moment, then she laughs merrily. “No, I’m Claudia Thompson,” she says, “and please do call me Claudia. If that was a deliberate compliment, you’re very smooth. If it wasn’t, take the credit for it.”

It wasn’t, so . . . I nod and hand her my card. “My cell number is on there—it’s the best way to get a hold of me if you need me.”

Claudia takes it without looking at it; her eyes are elsewhere. “And it looks like you have quite a lot to get a hold of,” she purrs softly. At first I think she didn’t mean me to hear that. When she looks back up at me, the wicked gleam in her eye suggests otherwise. “May I call you Iain?” she asks, her voice suggestive. “Or are there . . . other things you prefer to be called?”

“You’re more than welcome to call me Iain,” I tell her. “Or whatever else you like, I suppose.”

“Oh, good.”

“Claudia, one of the things I’m doing is taking pictures of the tenants to help me keep everyone straight. Do you mind if I take yours?” I ask.

“I’d rather send you one, if you don’t mind,” she replies. I nod. “Maybe I’ll send you a few and let you pick.”

“However you want to do it is fine with me,” I say honestly.

“I would love to invite you in to get to know me better,” Claudia says suggestively, “but my son is home for an e-learning day. I told him I’d help him get through all his work this morning so we could go do something fun this afternoon. It’s too bad I didn’t plan to leave him to work on his own at first, or maybe we could do something fun right now; but that will have to wait.”

I’m gettting better at not blushing. I hold out my hand and say, “Well, Claudia, I’ll see you later.”

She takes it and responds, “I’ll look forward to it.”