Home Is Where the Heart Is

by J A Fielding

  “Oh and Julie,”

  “Uh huh?” Julie said looking at her.

  “Get yourself a louder alarm clock for Pete’s sake,” Dana demanded before walking away. Julie laughed and shook her head before she walked out of the office. Dana was right. She did deserve to leave early. As she walked out into the street, she almost felt guilty that all she could think about was Steven.

  “Get a hold of yourself, Julie. You just met him,” she scolded herself as she waved down a cab.

  Chapter 2

  When she left the mechanic shop on Thursday morning, Julie was feeling a little cheated. Whatever the deal was with her car, it had just cost her six hundred dollars. She hated the idea that she had paid this much just months after she paid almost two grand to have it fixed a second time. But she was happy that she had her car back. Subways and cabs were just not her cup of tea. Something always seemed to go wrong when she was supposed to be using public transport. When she arrived at the office, Dana had a few properties she wanted Julie to handle.

  “I’m guessing the deal with Steven opened a lot of doors,” Julie questioned Dana as she looked at the listings. They were all high end properties, almost the same as the one she had shown to Steven earlier that week.

  “You could say that or you could say that I have a little more faith in you than I did a few months ago,” Dana said smiling.“Speaking of Steven, he called me and he would like to see some other houses. Two of the three I have handed to you are actually houses that he would be interested in,” she added.

  “Okay,” Julie said puzzled, unsure of where Dana was going with this.

  “So, you are showing them to him at midday. You've got to hustle,” Dana concluded and walked away. For some reason, Julie found herself wondering if she was appropriately dressed. She didn’t know why her appearance was suddenly a big deal. She was sure that the royal blue sleeveless pencil dress was just fine. She looked under her desk and pulled out the nude shoes she had left there the night before and changed out of the strapped high heeled sandals she had on. She did not know why she felt like she had to look perfect now that she was going to meet Steven. God knows she had never felt this way with any other client. She felt a little silly as she walked to the elevator, but the feeling quickly disappeared when she caught a glimpse of herself in the elevator’s reflective doors. She looked stunning. The fact that she had chosen not to straighten her hair that morning only made her look even more attractive, exotic even. The first house she was supposed to show Steven was almost near her own house.

  “This is going to be a long day,” she thought as she drove to her first appointment. Getting to the other side of town was going to take her almost an entire hour. It was going to be a close shave, but she wanted more than anything to ensure that the day went smoothly. Two hours later, after she was finished with the first property which she thought was just divine, she set out back to the suburbs where she was to meet Steven. She got to the first property just minutes before Steven arrived. It was a beautiful condo which had a perfect view of the city in all its glory. By the time Steven got there, she had already taken a tour of the house and familiarized herself with every room in the property. She was looking out of the window when she heard the elevator bell. She turned around and walked towards the entrance and looked at Steven as he walked in. “You look perfect as usual,” she thought as she looked at him.

  “Miss Parker,” Steven greeted as he walked towards her.

  “I thought we were on first name basis by now,” Julie argued. She smiled and switched her tablet to her left hand so that they could shake hands.

  “I’m so sorry, Julie,” Steven said smiling. He looked her up and down before adding “You look stunning.”

  “And here I was feeling a little underdressed,” she muttered.

  “Why would you feel that?” he asked confused. She looked at him and shrugged.

  “I am wearing a simple dress and you, you have a full suit and everything,” she said. Steven laughed and removed his jacket before he loosened his tie and removed that also. He then undid the top two buttons on his shirt and looked at her.

  “Better?”

  “So much better,” she giggled. “Shall we start the tour?”

  She turned around and looked out the window.

  “Please,” Steven said.

  “I think the natural lighting and the view speak for themselves,” Julie started.

  “The view is something,” Steven admitted as he looked outside the window, feasting his eyes on the city below.

  “There is also a modern electric fireplace, perfect for those winter nights,” she informed him with a smile.

  “And do all condos come furnished?” Steven asked as he turned around.

  “Most of them. But most clients choose to furnish the newer models themselves,” she explained as she walked into the dining area. “The dining room connects to the kitchen, which as you said the first time is a major perk for you. It has all the counter space you may need as well as a high dining table for four.”

  Steven looked around the kitchen.

  “Really good,” he agreed as he followed her down the hallway to the bedrooms. “The bedroom is lovely,” he marveled, as he looked around the guest room complete with a forty inch TV that was mounted on the wall.

  “You haven’t seen the master bedroom yet,” Julie said as he led her out of the guest room and into the master bedroom. She was right. The master bedroom was a haven to say the least. It not only had its own TV mounted on the wall, but also a mini bar. In the bathroom was a huge black tub that complemented the black and white walls. The entire condo was perfect but the master bedroom was everything. She looked at him as he looked around the bathroom.

  “Are all your clients always this lucky?” he asked.

  “Well, I try,” she said smiling. She looked at him and shrugged. “Do we have a deal?”

  He looked around the bathroom and then walked out into the bedroom. He stood next to the window and smiled at her.

  “Yes we do,” he said still smiling. Julie returned the smile, and then shook her head.

  “Don’t get me wrong, Mr…er, Steven, but why do you need so many properties? I thought you had already found your ideal house on Monday,” she queried as she looked at him.

  “I never said that,” he said turning to look at her.

  “But you said…something about having a big family and…” her words trailed off as she felt suddenly confused. “Okay, I have no idea of what I’m saying anymore,” she admitted nervously, as she tucked a curly strand behind her ear. Steven laughed as he walked over to the bed. He sat at the edge and looked at her.

  “I did say that I have a big family and that a house with a pool would be perfect in case they visit, but I am not in the market for my house,” he said looking at her. She raised an eyebrow and looked back at him.

  “ Why are you checking out all these properties then?” she demanded as she looked at him.

  “Like I said, I’m a glorified realtor,” he replied with a smile. She looked at him and shrugged.

  “This time I have to ask, what exactly is a glorified realtor?”

  “Well, I cater to clients of a certain kind and having said that I need properties of a certain kind. Properties that a real estate company like Larson would consider a bit too shard to move,” he explained.

  “Talk about smart business,” Julie said grinning . “So you are not in the market for a house?” she asked. Steven shook his head and returned her grin.

  “No, I moved to the States some months back and by then I had already found myself a nice condo. But now that I have seen this one I feel like I might have been a bit too hasty in making a decision. The monochromatic color scheme in this one is amazing,” he said looking around.

  “Really? What is the color scheme at your place?” she asked.

  “Red and black. I went all bold,” he said. Julie smiled and nodded.

  “Bold indeed,” she replied in
agreement as she looked at her tablet. “We need to get going if we are going to look at the other property by two,” she urged as she looked up.

  “Sounds lovely, but I must ask, Julie. Are you always this serious?” he questioned as he looked at her. Julie smiled at him.

  “No, just when I am working with super-hot English men,” she thought as she looked at him. “Well, I do try not to get fired for fraternizing with the clients,” she blurted. As soon as she said the words, she almost wanted to slap herself. She looked at him and shrugged. “Sorry, I kind of just yap when I am nervous,” she apologized as she tried as hard as she could not to tug on a stray strand of her hair, something she always did when she was nervous.

  “Nervous? Do I make you nervous Julie?”

  “Kind of,” she admitted sheepishly as she avoided looking into his eyes.

  “Why?” Steven asked looking a little shocked.

  “I can’t really think of a reason right now…maybe it’s the fact that I am counting on you for my next paycheck,” she said with a smile. Steven looked at her and smiled back.

  “Why don’t you come here?” he said as he patted the bed next to him. “Maybe if you knew me a little more, then you wouldn’t be so nervous about being around me,” he said. She didn’t want to say it, but now, she was more nervous than ever. She looked at him and reluctantly walked over to where he was and sat down.

  “We still have another house to check out you know,” she whispered in a lower voice than she had originally intended to.

  “So what? The day is still young, isn’t it?” he asked as he looked at her. “Did anyone ever tell that you may be this nervous because you are always a bit too serious? Uptight even?”.

  “Uptight? Me? Never!” Julie retorted, almost annoyed.

  “Really? When was the last time you left the office early just to go home and chill out in front of the telly?” he quizzed.

  “Well…” Julie started and then paused when she realized that he was right.

  “Been a while, hasn’t it?” Steven grinned as he looked at her.

  “I guess so,” she sighed.

  “Tell you what, tell me two things I don’t know about you,” Steven said as he looked at her. She looked at him and shook her head.

  “I am not the most interesting person,” she admitted.

  “I’m confused. Is that a confession or one of the two things I asked for?” Steven asked.

  “A bit of both really,” she replied, unsure of why she would admit that to a perfect stranger. “And you were right. I haven’t had time to myself in forever.”

  “Well, you already know a whole lot about me. So I guess we are even,” he said.

  “Really? Like what?” she asked as she looked at him.

  “You know I am British obviously, you know what I do for a living and the fact that I like to cook. In my opinion, I am already one fact up compared to you,” he added. She looked at him and shrugged.

  “I guess you are,” she agreed.

  “Are you still nervous?” he asked. She let out a small laugh and looked into his eyes.

  “Actually, no,” she said. “What I really feel is something that would get me fired,” she thought as she looked at him. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Anything, Miss Parker,” Steven said as she put her tablet back in its cover. She looked at him and gave him a brief look of distaste. “First name basis, sorry,” he apologized quickly.

  “I have never had a client like you and I can’t help but wonder whether you are always this nice to all the people you work with,” she said. Steven smiled and looked at her.

  “What do you think, Julie?” he asked.

  “I don’t know what to think,” she said.

  “Well, I am not always nice to people I work with, only the ones I like,” he admitted. She felt her cheeks get hot and looked away. She didn’t understand why that kept on happening every time she was around him.

  “That’s really nice, Steven, but like I said, the anxiety is totally up.”

  He stood up and walked towards the door. A smile played on Steven's lips as he stood up and walked towards her. He held her hand,making her turn around. “What?” she asked as she looked at him.

  “I really meant that. I do like you,” he told her genuinely as he looked into her eyes. She felt a tingle on her arm where his hand was.

  “Steven you….” She started to say before he slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. She looked up at him “Steven…” she whispered as he lowered his head slowly. Her heart was pounding in her chest so hard that she was struggling to breathe. She wanted to pull away from him but for some reason she couldn’t. She seemed to be almost stuck there. When their lips finally met, she was surprised she didn’t pull away from him. Julie had only known him for a collective period of three hours and now she was in a tight lip lock, one that she didn’t want to pull away from. When he pulled away, he looked into her eyes and smiled. She wanted to say nothing and everything at the same time, but she seemed to be tongue tied. “What…why did you do that?” She looked at him and waited for his reply.

  “I told you. I really like you,” he said in a whisper.

  “I am your realtor. This…this is wrong,” she cried as she pulled away from him. She already felt awkward and she still had another two hours to spend with him. It was a relief that she had her car fixed. That meant that she didn’t have to ride in the car with him. That would have been one long, uncomfortable ride.

  “If it’s so wrong, why didn’t you stop me?” he demanded looking at her. Julie looked up at him and shook her head. Again, she had nothing to say to him. She turned around to leave the room, but he slipped his arm around her again and pulled her close to him. She was breathing heavily as he held her against his strong muscular body.

  “What the hell is happening?” her inside voice seemed to scream, but all she could do was just stand there and look at him.

  “Tell you what,” he started in a soft whisper. “I will kiss you again and if you push me away, I will get the point,” he said as he brought his head down on her. She could feel herself shaking as she felt his warm breath on her cheek. She wanted to turn and leave, but somehow her body seemed to have a mind of its own. All she knew was that she couldn’t move at that moment. The only reality that was real to her at that moment was the fact that Steven’s lips were only centimeters away from her, and that she wanted him to claim her lips again. She moaned softly when she felt his lips on hers one more time. It was as if all reality around them shut down. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. She loved the way he kissed her softly, taking her upper lip and then her lower lip slowly and softly. She hated to admit it, but he was damn good at what he was doing. Without knowing it, she had already brought her hand up and she was now holding the side of his face. She slipped her arm around his neck and kissed him deeply. Steven began moving her towards the wall and she didn’t even resist. When they got to one wall of the room, he pinned her against it as he sought her out. He pulled away from her and looked into her eyes that were now glossy with desire. He smiled and leaned forward to kiss her neck. Julie closed her eyes as she felt him plant small kisses along the sensitive skin. Julie was not sure whether it was the fact that it had been a while since she had been intimate with anyone, but she was already feeling her body start to give in to her desires. Steven then traced kisses back to her lips and once again kissed her long and deep. When she finally found her inner strength, she put her hands on his shoulders and pulled away from him.

  “I can’t…I’m sorry but….I just can’t,” she stuttered before she quickly ran out of the room.

  “We still have another property to get to,” Steven called out after her. “Julie,” he called out again as he walked out trying to catch up with her. He knew that he had no chance of catching up with her when he heard her car speeding off. He smiled and shook his head. He’d met a number of women, but this one was different. He didn’t know why, but he
felt like they could be so much more than just professional. He smiled and looked around the room before he walked out. He decided he would give her a few hours and then make his move again. He needed to have her, he had to have her.

  Chapter 3

  “You made out with your client?” Meg Tyler, Julie’s best friend asked in surprise. The two were at Julie’s place catching up after what seemed like forever. Julie had just told Meg what happened between her and Steven when she was showing a house to him and Meg was ecstatic to say the least. In her opinion, Julie’s life could have used a little sprucing up since she seemed to ‘zombie’ through her life. It was a day after the kiss with Steven and Julie felt that she needed to vent.

  “Don’t judge me,” Julie groaned as she took a carton of milk from her fridge. Meg smiled and shook her head.

  “Oh sweetie, what I’m doing is so much more than judging,” she replied honestly.

  “What are you talking about?” Julie asked as she looked up at her friend.

  “Really, you don’t know? You, a person who has a rule worse than the 90 day rule kissed someone she had only known for an hour?” She then raised her hand and laughed. “Wait, the right term is made out,” she added, mischief in her eyes.

  “Now how is that not judgmental?” Julie asked.

  “Well, like I said, it is worse. It is what I like to call hypocritical,” Meg told her as she helped Julie transfer the freshly baked cookies onto a platter. Julie looked at her and shrugged.

  “One lump or two?” she asked as she poured coffee in two cups.

  “Honey, you’ve known me forever and I always take two lumps with my coffee. You are just trying to change the subject,” Meg said.

  “No, I’m not,” Julie argued, rolling her eyes as the two walked to the living room.

  “I am so glad your dad isn’t here right now. Because if he was, he would have taken my side of the argument,” Meg chuckled. Julie rolled her eyes again as she sat down.