by J A Fielding
“Clearly,” she sniped. Dana put her hands up in defense and smiled.
“Hey, I had absolutely nothing to do with all that,” she said.
“So, I just got eight properties…” her words trailed off when she saw Dana frowning. “Nine?” she asked, but Dana shook her head. “Ten?” she asked, but her boss shook her head again. “What? More than ten? Are we talking twelve?” Dana smiled and nodded. “Twelve?” By this time she was not even talking in her normal tone. She was almost shouting.
“Shhh….this is still an office,” Dana said as she put her arms around her and led her to her office.
“Yeah, an office that doesn’t pay me enough,” Julie grumbled as she sat down in one of the chairs in front of Dana’s desk. Dana looked at her and smiled.
“Okay, the thing is that some of the clients you’ve brought in are…how do I say this? They run in some pretty significant circles and they talk,” she started.
“So, they talked a lot about…what exactly?” Julie asked confused.
“Well, you mostly. How you have got them some pretty impressive properties. So they also want a piece of the pie. You know what Hollywood is like,” Dana said.
“Wait, so these are all high rollers?” Julie asked looking at Dana.
“Yeah, they all are,” Dana grinned.
“Do you have any idea how hard those guys are to deal with?” Julie groaned. Dana took a long, deep breath and nodded.
“That’s why you get a twenty percent commission rather than the usual ten,” she said. Julie’s jaw almost dropped. Compared to most real estate companies, Dana was extremely generous. Other companies mostly gave a mere five percent commission but now.
“I’m sorry, I must have heard wrong. It sounded like you want me to take home a twenty percent commission,” Julie gasped, still surprised.
“Well, most people would say I am crazy but if they had the same numbers you bring in, they’d probably do the same,” Dana said. Julie shrugged.
“Okay, I have to admit that twenty percent is a real tempting offer but twelve? Do you have any idea how hard dealing with two clients is?” she asked. Dana looked at her and nodded. “Then you are probably going to give me some help, right?”
“Well, I would get you some help. But last time I did that you didn’t talk to me for a week,” Dana said.
“Well, if you don’t, I will give you the cold shoulder for a year. And that’s if I don’t quit,” Julie joked. Dana smiled and then leaned back in her chair.
“Tell you what, I’ll let you have two people, but you have to pick them out. I don’t want to give you someone…you don’t like,” she offered. Julie smiled back and crossed one leg over the other.
“I know exactly who I want,” she replied.
“Perfect,” Dana exclaimed. “Now that work is out of the way, how are things on the Steven front?” she asked with a smile. Julie smiled and shrugged.
“You know sometimes I wonder whether it was the right thing telling you about me and him,” she said
“Well, the rules are that you should not be fraternizing with clients. So, since you two decided to get serious about each other, you had to tell me,” Dana said matter of factly. Julie looked at her and smiled.
“Well, yeah. I guess,” she sighed.
“So, how are things anyway? You are not getting out of this easily,” Dana asked again.
“Well, things are good. Really good actually. We were in London a few weeks ago,” Julie told her.
“London, huh? I heard about that,” Dana said. Julie raised an eyebrow.
“Heard about that? From who?” she asked, surprised.
“You can’t be surprised. News about you and Steven is on the grapevine,” Dana said. Julie frowned.
“What does that even mean?”
“Your boyfriend hangs out with Justin Timberlake. You best believe news about who he is dating will be a little more than office gossip,” Dana laughed.
“One, Steven doesn’t hang out with JT. Trust me, if he did, I would know. And two, he only gets the stars their high end homes,” Julie said. Dana smiled and then leaned forward.
“So, met the family, huh? How’d that go?” she asked.
“Good, great actually. But I also met the crazy ex, or were they two exes? I’m not even sure,” Julie said.
“You met Steven’s exes at a family event?” Dana asked surprised. “Man, this is like a VH1 show. I wish I was there,” she said almost sadly. Julie looked at her almost surprised.
“You do realize that this is my life and not some stupid reality show,” she snapped.
“Dinner with your boyfriend and his family, his two exes? I would pay top dollar for that show,” Dana said. Julie looked at her and couldn't help but smile.
“Okay, it still turned out okay…eventually,” she said.
“We need to have drinks. This is a story I need to hear,” Dana chuckled. Julie sighed and stood up.
“Now, I have to go and give some good news to two of your employees and get started on the twelve clients. Twelve,” she scoffed as she looked at her. “What were you thinking?” she asked as she walked to the door.
“Remember, more money for you,” Dana said.
“Easy for you to say. Do you have any idea how many listings it takes just when you have one client?” Julie asked.
“Like I said, more money for you,” Dana repeated before Julie walked out of the office. She walked over to her desk. When she looked at her desk, she just wanted to go back home. She walked over to two of her colleagues and gave them the good news. It did not take a lot of convincing to get them on the wagon, but the worst was not yet over. She still had to meet the clients and get the desired properties. Even though she had just five clients now, she still had a lot of work to do. Granted, five was way better than twelve, but she would have rather had just the one or two at most.
*****
By three, Julie was beat. All she wanted to do was just go home and have a quiet evening alone, probably over pizza. She had just managed to have five meetings and showed six houses, all between eight and three in the afternoon. At that point, she didn’t even think it was a good idea to drive. Just as she was getting into her car, her phone rang. She looked at her phone and smiled.
“Hi, Dad,” she said when she picked up.
“Hi, sugar. What’s wrong? You sound exhausted,” Michael said. Julie tossed her bag over to the passenger seat as she got in.
“Well, I am. I think I just did a three day job in seven hours,” she groaned.
“Okay, then maybe this is the worst thing I could tell you. Your cousin Tami is here,” Michael told her. Her father’s words were probably what she needed to get her energy back.
“Wait, what do you mean here? Here and not in Atlanta or here like where you are right now?” she babbled. Michael laughed.
“The second one,” he said. It was almost as if she had been recharged.
“Where are you right now?” she asked.
“Home. I actually just got here,” Michael answered.
“I’ll be there in half an hour,” Julie squealed. Her father laughed again. “Oh wait, is there anything you want me to get? From the store maybe?” She asked.
“Yeah, some bread. And maybe some vegetables. I have a feeling we will be using the big table today,” he said.
“Got it,” she said before she hang up.
Needless to say, Julie was excited. Even though she was an only child, Tameka, or Tami as they called her, had always been like a sister to her. Even though she lived hours away, the two always found a way to reconnect. It was like they had some kind of magnetic pull that only they could understand. After picking up the vegetables, she drove to her father’s place trying hard to keep under the speed limit. The half an hour drive seemed more like three hours. When she got home, she could not pick the groceries fast enough. Everything seemed to be going a bit slower than usual. All she wanted was to get in the house and see Tami.
“Oh m
y God, he wasn’t kidding,” she yelled excitedly when she got to the kitchen and saw Tami who was sipping on some water.
“Did you really drive all this way thinking that you may not find me?” Tami asked with a smile.
“There is always the possibility that he may tell me one thing or the other just so I can come over,” Julie teased as she walked towards her cousin.
“Hey girl,” Tami said flashing Julie a smile. A tear threatened to fall down Julie’s cheek as she wrapped her arms around her cousin.
“Hey yourself,” Julie said in a whisper. “Let me look at you,” she said when she pulled away. “You look good,” she said before she hugged Tami again.
“It’s been a minute, hasn’t it?” Tami asked.
“A minute? The last time I saw you was last year, during Thanksgiving,” Julie informed her when she pulled away.
“Well, it hasn’t really been that long, has it?” Tami asked with a guilty smile.
“Really? It’s almost September. Half the year is gone,” Julie said. “And you were supposed to be here for Christmas, that was the deal, remember? What happened?” she asked as she walked over to the door and removed her shoes before she walked back to where Tami was.
“This and that. It’s a long story,” Tami said, waving her hand dismissively.
“Oh, I have time,” Julie said with a smile. If Dana wanted VH1, Tami was it. Her life was almost always like some scripted show. What with the exes, the dramatic breakups and the everyday hustle.
“Not now,” she whispered gesturing at Michael, who was now walking into the kitchen.
“Judging by the screams I heard, I am guessing that you two girls already got the hellos out of the way,” he said with a smile. Julie and Tami looked at him and smiled back. “I swear, no one is ever that excited to see me,” he said, pretending to be disappointed.
“Hey, I’m a bit hurt by that statement,” Julie pouted as she walked over to him and gave him a hug.
“Well, you used to be that excited. But that was back when you were eight,” he said. She looked at him and gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. “I thought you were going home?”
“I figured I could just have a late start at work tomorrow,” Julie grinned. Michael gave her a disapproving look.
“Is that even a good idea?” he asked.
“You are still daddy’s little girl, aren’t you?” Tami asked with a smile. Julie walked over to the sink and washed her hands.
“Even when I own my own house, he still treats me like a kid,” she laughed. Tami looked at Julie and held her hands up.
“Wait, you moved out?” she asked almost surprised.
“Why do you look surprised? Did you think I was going to live here forever?” Julie asked as she dried her hands.
“Well, yeah,” Tami said matter of factly, like it was the most normal thing to say. Julie tossed the dish cloth at her. “No offense of course,” Tami added.
“Why do people do that? Say no offense while you already offended someone?” Julie asked, looking at her father and then at Tami.
“Hey, don’t look at me. I’m not the one who said it,” Michael said as he walked out of the kitchen. “Whatever you are making for dinner, count three more people at the table,” he called from the living room.
“Wait, I’m making dinner?” Julie asked loud enough for her father to hear.
“I can’t hear you,” Michael yelled even though it was so obvious that he was ignoring her. She smiled and looked at Tami.
“I’ll help you,” Tami offered.
“Don’t smile at me. You are not off the hook yet. I can’t believe you thought I would stay here forever,” Julie said. Tami looked at her and shrugged. But Julie saw something in her eyes. It was almost like she was hiding something. “What? What are you not telling me?” she asked. Tami shook her head. But her cheeks were flushed. “Tameka Elizabeth Harris, you had better tell me,” she demanded in a warning tone as she took a wooden spoon from one of the cabinets and waved it at her cousin.
“Fine. No need for weapons here,” Tami laughed.
“Then tell me whatever it is you are hiding,” Julie ordered. Tami took a long, deep breath and leaned against the counter. “Tami,” she repeated in yet another warning tone.
“We had a wager on it,” Tami finally said.
“On what? Me moving out?” Julie asked surprised. Tami gave her a guilty look and nodded. “Seriously?” she asked almost angrily. “Who was in it?” Tami shook her head.
“Oh, you don’t want to know that, Julz,” she said.
“Actually, I do,” Julie said as she looked into her deep brown eyes. “Your life right now depends on it,” she added, moving even closer to her.
“Fine, there was me, my brother…” “Tino was in on it? He’s so dead,” Julie cut her short.
“Crystal, Denise and Patrick. Oh, and Nana,” Tami whispered. Julie’s jaw almost dropped for the second time that day.
“My Nana?” she gasped.
“In her defense she was on your side. She said you’d move out when you finally got some good guy to settle down with,” Tami said. Julie was relieved but only for a second.
“Wait, what?” she asked looking at Tami. “I was serious with guys,” she added avoiding eye contact with Tami.
“Really? You can’t even look me in the eye as you say that,” Tami said smiling.
“Oh shut the hell up,” Julie snapped as she took out the groceries from the bag. “I can’t believe you bet on that…was my life so pathetic?” she asked looking at Tami.
“There is no right way of answering that question,” Tami said. “But thankfully, you clearly have a life now,” she said. Julie looked at her and laughed.
“I hate you,” she said in a whisper. Tami smiled and shook her head.
“No you don’t,” she winked as she walked over to the sink and washed her hands. “So, what are we making?”
“Pot roast. You can defrost the beef,” Julie said as she started on the carrots.
“So, I hear we are nowadays dining British. No longer all American,” Tami said. Julie looked at her and smiled. “What, did the accent just melt you?” she asked. Julie shrugged and then nodded.
“Among other things,” she winked.
“Oh please tell me I am going to meet him,” Tami pleaded. Julie smiled and nodded.
“Most definitely,” she promised. “Anyway, how come you are here? Not that I’m complaining,” she added quickly. Tami looked at her and smiled before she put the meat in the microwave.
“I have a job interview,” she said.
“Here?” Julie asked as she turned to look at her. Tami smiled and nodded. “Oh my god, that is awesome! Where?”
“Quinn and Associates,” Tami said. Julie’s eyes grew wide. Quinn and Associates was the law firm if you were out for a good lawyer. She could only imagine what working for such a place would mean.
“That’s great,” Julie said. “God, I hope you get it. Where are you staying by the way?” she asked. Tami looked at her and blushed. “Oh my God, there is a guy, isn’t there?” Julie asked excitedly. Tami smiled even more and nodded. “Details, don’t leave anything out,” Julie ordered..
“He is a lawyer at Allan and Avery, actually he is a senior partner,” Tami described.
“And you were telling me about settling down. Look at you, all grown up,” Julie teased. Tami looked at her and shook her head.
“I’ll give you that because you are maybe you are getting back at me for the wager,” she said. Julie laughed and nodded. “Well, since I won’t be moving back to Georgia, maybe we can double date one of these days,” she added.
“I’d love that,” Julie said.
“Oh shit,” Tami suddenly cried. Julie looked at her and then turned to see what she was looking at.
“Oh shit,” Julie echoed when she saw who Tami was looking at. It was their distant cousin Melina Cobbs. She was the kind of person people usually tried hard to avoid and last time
Julie checked, Melina was living the high life in Miami or somewhere in South Beach. “What the hell is she doing here?” Julie whispered to Tami.
“I have no idea,” Tami whispered back as Michael walked into the kitchen.
“Hey girls, look who dropped by. Melina,” he said with an uncomfortable smile. Julie was just about ready to sprint right out of there.
“Hi guys,” Melina said in a cheerful voice. Julie and Tami forced smiles.
“Julz, remember to set that extra place at the table for Melina, would you?” Michael said as he led Melina into the living room. Julie looked at Tami and sighed.
“I don’t think I am hungry anymore,” she admitted.
Chapter 3
Dinner was…tense to say the least. Unlike the case with Tami, Melina was the black sheep of the family. First off, she walked like the whole world revolved around her. It was always about her and no one else. If Melina was in the room, it was in your best interest to pay attention to only her. Apart from that, she was also a serial gold digger. She had been married six times by the time she turned twenty eight and it was always to high profile people: professional athletes, heirs…she always had a type. Plus, she was a handful. She was the kind of person who always took sparkling water and not regular tap water.
After a lot of convincing, Julie got Tami to spend the night at her place.
“I need some kind of out after last night’s dinner,” Julie had told her cousin.
The sleepover only got better when Meg dropped by after taking her son to her mother’s for the night. It was a bitch bashing night as far as the girls were concerned and Meg was not impressed at the fact that Melina was in town. The two never got along even back when they were kids. Even at breakfast the next morning, the three had not gotten used to the idea.
“So, your interview is today?” Julie asked as she served scrambled eggs to Tami and Meg.
“Yeah, at eleven. I am not looking forward to it,” Tami said and took a fork from Julie.
“Why? That company is like the Harvard of legal firms,” Meg gushed before taking a bite of her eggs. She noticed the way the other two looked at her and smiled. “I know Harvard is the Harvard of law colleges. You don’t need to give me that look,” she added quickly before taking a sip of her juice.
