She simply relaxed as Alex made her way through the book. Smartphones were a lovely thing, but sometimes they failed to catch the details the way a traditional camera could. Smartphones were great for at this very second things (such as say a Bigfoot sighting, and her mind sidetracked for a second wondering no matter what quality of camera a person had, all Bigfoot pix came out for ****-why is that? She had seen it several times in her travels.), but displaying your talents as art suggested a more proper medium to work in. The 35 mm she owned (salvaged from a thrift shop. cleaned and checked by a man who knew the cameras well along with other accessories also bought well below their original values) had earned its keep with flying colors.
Now it was time for one of the gypsy's favorite games. Haggling. The dazzling smile and the proper using of her title now suggested the woman was interested, but she too had a need to haggle. Zodiac nodded and spread her hands as she considered the notion. It was time to try and land a 'whale' of her own."...Mistress Zodiac."
"I think it will depend on the 'look' you are searching for. I will have to measure the place, see how the rooms are laid out and such, then see where I can save you some money, unless you want all brand new out of the box. That way is easier, but more expensive in the long term." she kept her tone totally professional now. "A lot of people want that. A status symbol of sorts. 'Look at me and what I have done' types. I have no qualms with people like that. We make a list and I tell them head to your fave mall and shop till ya drop. I'll be here putting up wall paper while you do all that."
"But there are some," she continued. "Who want the more personal touches. Something original, unique. Those items are more time consuming rather than open the box, slap it together and set into place, but they are more fulfilling to some. Rule one? IKEA sucks. Deal with it. That's when I go to work and begin tracking down things. I deal with various storage places, warehouses, buy box lots, work my way through junk shops and the like. There is always treasures out there that can and will form the base for something grand and wonderful, if you are willing to put the efforts into it all."
She pulled a pad and pen from her purse and flipped to a blank page. "So why not begin to describe what you will want your 'Gurl-Cave' to look like. What will you want someone to see when they walk into Alex's place. What will make you comfortable. That's the bottom line right there. Figure out what you'll be happy with, cause after all you will be the one living in it. Once I have an idea of that and can calculate the effort involved, then I can give you a ballpark figure on how much my time and effort will cost you when I have finished."
She dropped the word 'will' into her statements rather than the normal 'would' on purpose. A subtle suggestion to say the deal was already done and Zodiac was going to be doing the work. She had no intentions of cheating the woman at all, but it was suggestive wording from her days of working con jobs in action. She was also nodding her head slightly at certain points of order. A non verbal affirmation that sometimes caught people into following along with the idea and accepting it. 'Yes, you agree we should do this' and 'No, that is not a good idea' depending on how she moved her head. She was a salesperson and could not help it. It was in her blood, so to speak.
A larger folder was pulled from the depths of her purse and she quickly thumbed through the contents till she found the form she wanted. TERMS OF CONTRACT FOR SERVICES RENDERED it read at the top of the group of papers she handed to the allurist. She was in her element and was rolling with it. "It's all legal and protects us both." she explained.
