Hanging Out a Shingle

Posted on Mon 11th Jun, 2018 @ 6:26am by Elizabeth Anderson M.D.

1,230 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Brushfires
Location: Riverside Village, Tivoli Gardens
Timeline: MD 14, 1030

Mr. Oto strolled up East Street, a copy of The Daily News in his hands. He had gone along with the idea of having an independent physician in the village -- he'd even helped arrange the details on the lease of the premises the doctor was to occupy. But a Romulan? He shook his head. He still regretted leasing that villa to the witch doctor, and now she'd moved her creepy relations in, as well. He wondered what would come of having Romulans in the neighborhood.

He looked up from the paper as he approached his destination. At least today's client had a nice, normal, human name that sounded European or North American. And the woman standing on the sidewalk in front of the property appeared to be waiting. "Doctor Anderson?"

"Yes," Elizabeth answered, extending her hand for a traditional shake. This was a man who appeared to be quite traditional. "Thank you for making time to see me today, and locating a possibly suitable building. I'm both excited and a little anxious to find a place for my practice. After that, I'll need to find a place to live, as well. I understand you handle both the commercial and the residential sides of real estate in this area." She waved a hand to indicate the village and surrounding areas.

It was quite a feat of engineering, Anderson supposed, but what she liked about it was how natural it seemed. It didn't bother her to get on the tram in what was clearly a starbase and step off again in what was clearly a natural setting for a river valley. She wondered how a biological species dealt with the dichotomy. She was sure she'd find out.

"What can you tell me about this property?" Elizabeth asked.

Oto turned and gestured at the building. "It's one of the taller buildings in the village. Three stories -- the roof of the third is actually part of the overhead. Bottom floor is leased by a Patty Goldwater as a dance studio. Top two floors are available. Would you care to see inside?"

Elizabeth looked at the building. There was a kind of charm about it, a sense of being established, the sort of thing where one might hang a sign that said 'Est. 2085', and one might be believed. Even knowing that its age couldn't be more than four or five years at the most, she almost believed it was that antique. What would this say about her business? Reliable ... trust worthy ... established ... steady? But second and third floor ... clients would have to climb the stairs or commit to getting inside a tiny box and coming up. They'd have to really want services.

"Is there an elevator in the building, or stairs only?" she asked, wondering about the dance studio as a neighbor.

Oto paused, watching a pair of girls on the cusp of being young women as they walked down the street toward them. The girls both wore crested blazers and tartan skirts, but where one of them had bog-standard Humanoid legs, the other had the body of an enormous snake emerging from the hem of her skirt. "Hmm? Oh, stairs. Nineteenth century architecture wasn't much on elevators. There are, of course, a variety of work-arounds for that, if you have a client who for one reason or another can't climb stairs."

As they headed up the said stairs, Elizabeth heard a muffled beat coming through the walls. It wasn't too bad where she was climbing, but sometimes things were worse above and below than out to the sides. "So all these buildings were built with standard architecture of the time?" she asked, thinking that was authentic, but not necessarily efficient.

"Architecture, yes. The materials, however, though they [i]appear[/i] to be nineteenth century Terrestrial materials, are in fact quite modern. Insulation, sound proofing, ventilation, and so forth are all up to the same standards you'd meet elsewhere on the station." They arrived at a landing, and Oto touched a key to the knob, opening the door and standing aside for Doctor Anderson.

Walking in, their noses were assaulted with the smell of lavender. Elizabeth analyzed it and discovered it was something in the very lightly lavender/gray tinted finish on the walls. It would fade over time, or if the door were left open for a while. The main room had a plush flooring of something light gray and dirt repellent, but it was a rather warm and appealing gray. The counselor proceeded to open doors into other rooms, all of which favored the same color scheme. At least while they were empty, the rooms seemed spacious and open. In all, there were 3 rooms, aside from the main one, and a short hall that led past bathrooms and into a kitchen area.

"Let's take a look upstairs," Anderson said. "Is it possible to live on one floor and use the other for my office, or is that against regulations?"

"Not only is it possible," Oto answered, going to the front of the building and opening one of the windows, "it's the common practice." He turned and smiled at the Doctor, then led the way up another flight of stairs.

As they ascended, Elizabeth noted that she no longer heard the dance beat. It hadn't been evident on the second floor, either, so it appeared that was not an issue of great concern. The realtor unlocked the door in the same way as he had the previous floor's entrance. As she entered, the counselor was surrounded by a feeling of peace. Here, the carpeting was a soft blue, and the walls began very light matching blue at the bottom, and gradually darkened to a deep indigo at the ceiling, which was also dark. She would have to analyze later why that made her feel calm and safe.

The rooms were laid out differently, but the size was the same, of course. "If I take these two floors, there's no one else in this building, no entrance to other buildings?" she asked. "Even the dance people have their own entrance from the street, is that correct?"

"Well, yes," Oto said slowly. "There's joint access to the utility hall and the back door, but no other tenants. Is security a concern for you?"

"Always," Anderson replied succinctly. "Are these floors for sale or only for lease? and if it's only a lease, what leeway do I have in decorating, painting, hanging things on walls, and so forth?" She was still concerned about having only stairs. What if a species which didn't actually walk needed her services? How would they get up the steps?

"Ultimately, all this space is leased from Starfleet," the Bajoran answered. "The Tivoli Gardens consortium is the legal lessor, and in turn sublets the space to Disney Interstellar and to individual tenants. After a year of residence, tenants are able to become consortium shareholders and see an ownership interest in the company, if not the property."

Elizabeth processed that, accessing associated records and incorporating them into her database. "I see." She looked around one more time on the third floor. "I guess there aren't a lot of choices, really. I think I'll take it. If something develops down the line ... well, we'll see what happens. For now, this will do quite nicely."

 

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