She was gone when I woke up Thursday morning. I can't say that I was disappointed, since I didn't remember anything about the night before after we left the bar. That being the case, I knew nothing had happened. Falling asleep on a woman was a little rare, but I had done it before, so I didn't go looking for a shrink.

What I did go looking for was breakfast. A chrome and glass waffle joint came to mind. I hate those chain monstrosities most days, but that morning it seemed to fit my hangover mood. After the waffle and lots of black coffee, I felt more like myself.

Back home in Monkey Junction I was on the prowl for a new home. I had looked at several houses and found them far from acceptable. They were all just plain and small, but worst of all they were mostly landlocked. Not locked away from the ocean. I accepted that since I already knew that was the required life style for at least a couple of more years. No these little houses just couldn't be renovated so that they were acceptable. There was just no room to add onto them. Even property 20 miles from the ocean was at a premium. I just couldn't justify the expense on paper.

What I could justify was another business expense. I passed a deserted motel about ten times every day. It was on the same bypassed road as my shop and showroom. The building was concrete block with a flat roof. I would have bet all my money that the roof was leaky and probably rotten. There were twenty units and the office each with a single large window and a door.

I stopped one day to take a closer look. Other than finding one small window per unit in the rear, the inspection was a waste of my time. Someone had kept the weeds down, so that the abandoned building didn't appear to be in ruins. Still it was pretty ratty looking.

The small sign in the office window had the name of a realty company and a phone number. I used my cell phone from the parking lot of the motel.

"Mabe realty," the female voice on the phone informed me.

"Good morning, I'm standing in the parking lot of an abandoned motel in Monkey Junction. Since your sign is in the window I decided to give you a call. Can you hook me up with someone who can give me the asking price please." I had expected the phone to be answered by a receptionist.

"I can do that, the price for that piece of property is 200k as is." she informed me.

"Well I own the bike shop down the street. I can tell you that it is going to be sitting there a long time at that price. Thanks for taking my call though."

"What kind of price did you have in mind?"

"I don't have one until I get a look at the interior. But I can tell you right now it isn't 200K. It wouldn't be any more than half of that, so no since wasting each other's time.

"Can't hurt to look," she suggest