by J A Fielding
“How is the restaurant downstairs? Luciano’s, is it?” Elena asked as she looked at Julie.
“Yeah Luciano’s. It is a five star restaurant and yes, they do deliver,” Julie said smiling.
“Good food I hope,” Carrie said.
“I’ve eaten there once or twice and while the place is a bit steep for my pocket, I have to admit that it serves some of the best food this side of town,” Julie stated.
“I guess Steven was right. This is amazing,” Carrie said.
“I know right? We should have started out with this property rather than check out the other three,” Elena agreed. Julie smiled and shook her head.
“Well, I just do as I’m told,” she said. “So ladies, are we closing this deal or what?” she asked. Carrie and Elena exchanged a glance and smiled.
“Definitely,” Elena said. “We just need to get a few logistical issues in place before we close the deal,” she added. Julie smiled and nodded.
“Great. Then you do that and then give me a call later okay?” she said.
“Sure. We just can’t wait to be home,” Carrie said. At that moment, Julie understood exactly what kind of partnership Carrie and Elena had. At first she had thought that it was some kind of business relationship between the two, but everything was slowly coming into perspective. She looked at the time and shrugged.
“Okay, I have to run, but I’ll have a talk with you two later today or tomorrow morning at the latest,” Julie promised as the three headed out. After exchanging pleasantries downstairs, the three walked out of the house. Julie could feel them looking at her strangely as Terrence opened the door for her. She had never been treated like royalty before, but if this was what it was like, then maybe, just maybe, she could get used to it. She rode in silence as she checked her phone over and over again for any kind of message from Steven but still there was nothing so far. It had been almost five hours since he left for Vegas and even though she didn’t know much about geography, she was sure that five hours was more than enough time for him to get there. She dialed his number again and took a long deep breath as she waited to hear it ring again.
“Darn it. Voicemail…again,” she thought as she waited for his message to play through. “Steven, this is my fourth message. I’m just checking to see if you landed safely. Call me,” she said before she hung up.
“We’re here, Miss Parker,” Terrence said as he pulled up in front of Julie’s building.
“Damn Terrence, how many times have I told you to call me Julie? Miss Parker makes me feel old,” she said. Terrence smiled at her.
“Whatever you say, Julie,” he said with a smile.
“That’s more like it,” Julie laughed as she opened the door. “By the way, I will be here until around six. So maybe you could find something to do. I’d hate for you to be cooped up in a car all day,” she added. Terrence raised an eyebrow and looked at her.
“But I am on the clock,” he said.
“Well, no one has to know,” she said winking at him. “I’ll call you when I’m about to leave. Just go out, see the world,” she said in a dramatic voice. Terrence chuckled.
“Will do, Miss...er…I mean Julie,” he said as she walked away. When she got to her desk, she found a file sitting on it. She put her purse down and looked through the file slowly. The file had a number of high end properties in around the city, the kind of properties that every real estate agent dreamed of handling. She was still looking at the file when she heard a soft knock on her door. She looked up and saw Meg standing at the doorway.
“Hey there stranger,” Meg greeted her as she walked into the office. Julie put the file down and smiled.
“Hey. I thought we were supposed to meet much later for lunch,” she said. Meg smiled and shrugged.
“It is way past lunch time, and this body doesn’t run on fuel you know,” she scoffed. Julie frowned.
“What?” she asked as she fished her phone out of her purse and looked at it. Meg was right. It was almost two in the afternoon. Lunch with Meg was always at twelve or twelve thirty. She looked up and gave Meg a guilty smile. “I’m sorry. I was showing some houses to a few of Steven’s clients,” she said as she sat down.
“Not to worry. I brought Mr. Wok’s Kung Pao chicken. Extra spicy, just the way you like it,” Meg said as she walked towards Julie’s desk. Julie smiled and pressed the intercom button on her office phone.
“Caroline, hold my calls for at least an hour,” she said with a smile.
“You got it, Miss Parker,” her assistant Caroline said. Julie shook her head as she sat down.
“I don’t know why she insists on calling me Miss Parker even though everyone else in the building calls me Julie. Even the janitor,” she said.
“Come on, it’s a respect thing,” Meg insisted, smiling as she sat down.
“Well, yeah. But seriously…that’s too much. You know, I had the same conversation with Terrence this morning,” Julie said as she watched Meg taking the food out of the paper bag.
“Who’s Terrence?” Meg asked.
“Steven’s driver,” Julie replied as she pulled a packet of wet tissues from the top drawer of her desk.
“Oh yeah, you are being chauffeured nowadays. How is the high life?” Meg joked with a smile. Julie shrugged and took a pair of chopsticks from the bag.
“It’s not like that and you know it,” Julie insisted.
“Come on, don’t be modest. You are living life in the fast lane and that’s what it is,” Meg chuckled and handed her one of the boxes. “So, what does Dana think about you and Steven Davenport being bed fellows?” she asked. Julie looked up at her, her eyes huge.
“Shhhh!” she suddenly said as she pushed her chair back and ran to the door. She shut it and leaned against the door.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Meg gasped surprised.
“Don’t judge me,” Julie pleaded and walked back to her seat.
“Oh honey, all I am thinking right now is how terribly sorry I am for him,” Meg sighed. Julie took a bite of her food and then shrugged.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said.
“Well, it’s almost like he is more serious about the relationship than you are. At least that is how it looks like to me,” Meg explained. Julie leaned back in her chair and shrugged.
“I seriously have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said.
“You know the way you’re always ditching the guys you date for one reason or the other?” Meg asked. Julie looked at her and nodded. She had no idea where she was headed with this. “Steven cannot be one of those guys,” she said. Julie shook her head and smiled.
“This is not like those other times and you know it,” she assured Meg.
“Really? Then, if you know that why are you so hell bent on keeping this thing between you and Steven a secret? Because for the time I have known you, one thing about you has been consistent,” Meg finished as she took another bite of her food.
“And what is that?” Julie asked as she toyed with her chop sticks.
“You only keep this guy a secret just so breaking it off with them won’t be so hard,” Meg answered. Julie shook her head and looked at her best friend, the one person who knew her better than she knew herself. “You know I’m right,” Meg added.
“Okay, you're tripping now,” Julie laughed lightly.
“No I’m not. Julie, this guy met your dad…wait, is that it?” Meg suddenly asked. Julie’s eyes darted back and forth before she reached for one of the water bottles Meg had brought with the food.
“I don’t know what you’re on about,” she protested. Meg smiled.
“Oh my God, that is it. I don’t know why I didn’t see it,” she laughed.
“See what? What the hell are you talking about?” Julie asked, pretending not to know what was going on.
“You are so busted, Julie Parker,” Meg said laughing.
“Okay, out with it,” Julie said, looking at Meg.
&nbs
p; “You are scared that if you admit to what is going on, it all becomes real,” Meg exclaimed. Julie let out a cynical laugh.
“Really, Meg. All this has been real and I know it has been because, like you said, he met dad. And you and I both know that I never introduce dad to just anyone,” she admitted.
“Exactly,” Meg agreed.
“Exactly what?” Julie asked.
“Exactly my point. You never introduce your father to anyone. And now that you have admitted that Steven is somewhat special enough to meet your dad, I know you Julie Parker have been heart fucked,” Meg smiled.
“What?” Julie asked, looking at Meg. “What the hell is being heart fucked?”
“Well missy, it is that state where you know you are in love with someone, that state you are in when you feel an ache in your heart when you don’t hear from him or the way your heart skips a beat when you see that he is calling,” Meg explained matter-of-factly. “That my dear friend, is when you know you’ve been heart fucked,” she added before she took a bite of her food. Julie looked at her and laughed.
“I may love him but being in love with him, that’s a whole other thing,” she divulged.
“Really?” Meg asked.
“Yes really. Why? Is there something you want to say?” Julie questioned.
“As a matter of fact there is a question I have for you,” Meg stated.
“What?” Julie asked.
“Well, it is real simple really. Yesterday was the last time you saw him, right?” Meg asked. Julie smiled and nodded.
“Actually, I was with him this morning. Why?” she asked, not knowing where Meg was heading with her probing questions.
“Because I was just wondering how many times you’ve called him today,” she said. Julie shrugged.
“What does that have to do with anything?” Julie replied puzzled.
“Just answer me,” Meg ordered. Julie shrugged and took a bite of her food.
“Four times,” she finally said.
“My point exactly,” Meg said as she leaned back in her chair. Julie felt her cheeks flush.
“We are not talking about this,” Julie warned Meg with an uncomfortable smile on her face.
“What would Dana do if she found out that you are with Steven anyway? Fire you?” Meg asked.
“No…not really…but then again…” Julie started to say before Meg put up her free hand.
“Then you have no reason not to disclose the information. At this point you are one of her best employees. She would be at a great loss if she got rid of you,” she said. Julie took a long, deep breath. She knew that Meg was right. And there was no law that forbade her being with Steven anyway.
“I’ll see what I can do. I mean I can’t just bombard her with the information now, can I?” Julie asked. Meg smiled and shrugged.
“Is there any other way to do it?” she asked. “I’m not suggesting sky writing or anything, but at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later, you are going to have to mention it. I mean the last thing you want to do is to make people think that there is some kind of special treatment going on,” she added. Julie looked up at her and raised an eyebrow.
“But there is no special treatment going on,” she insisted.
“I know that, but when the entire office hears about you and Steven, they are going to think that there was some kind of conspiracy to get you all of Steven’s business. And that maybe you slept your way to the…how much was it again?” Meg asked.
“Around thirty million dollars…but that’s a combined effort between me and someone else,” Julie replied modestly.
“Yes, but in the eyes of the rest of the office, you would have been way below a hundred thousand if it were not for Steven Davenport,” Meg said. Julie took a long, deep breath and took another sip of her water. This was turning out to be one hell of a day. She took another sip and then looked at Meg. “You need to have a talk with Dana, ASAP,” Meg demanded.
“I know,” Julie said, rolling her eyes. She was still lost in her own world when she heard her phone ringing. She looked at it and smiled. “It’s about time he called back,” she thought as she picked the phone up. “Hey there,” she said with a smile.
“It’s him, isn’t it?” Meg asked in a whisper. Julie gave her a dismissing wave.
“I’m sorry. My battery died so I sent you an email. Guess you haven’t had time to check your email yet,” Steven said.
“Yeah, your friends kept me real busy,” Julie informed him.
“Oh yeah, how did that go?” he asked.
“Good. We closed a deal,” she told him with a smile.
“Really? On which property?” he asked.
“The penthouse suite,” Julie replied as she watched Meg taking her share of chicken chunks.
“Really? I really thought they would go with the mansionette,” he said sounding surprised.
“Yeah, as it turns out, they liked the other one better,” Julie said.
“Alright. I am almost done here. I’ll call you before I leave,” he promised.
“Ok, cool. And Steven,” she said looking at Meg.
“I’m telling Dana about us,” she blurted out. There was a long silence before Steven finally spoke up.
“Really? Why the sudden change of heart?” he asked. Julie took a long deep breath.
“It’s just right,” she responded. “There is no point keeping all this secret,” she added.
“I miss you,” Steven sighed. Julie smiled.
“I miss you too,” she said in a whisper. Meg looked at her and smiled as Julie hang up.
“I told you, heart fucked,” Meg winked.
“Shut up,” she beamed as she put her phone back on the desk. “I saw you take my chicken chunks,” she added as she took one last bite of her food.
“Your food’s getting cold anyway. And I know you hate cold food,” she said. Julie shrugged and pushed her chair away from the desk. “Where are you going?” Meg asked as she watched her walking towards the door.
“I’m going to talk to Dana,” she said.
“Now?” Meg gasped surprised.
“Yes now. There is no time like the present,” Julie said as she walked out. As she made her way down the hall to Dana’s office, she could feel her heart pounding loud and hard in her ears. She had no idea how she was supposed to tell her boss that she was seeing one of her clients. When she got to Dana’s door, she knocked softly and poked her head through the doorway. “Hey Dana, can I talk to you?” she asked nervously. Dana looked up and smiled.
“Sure Julie,” Dana replied looking at her. “Everything okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, I just wanted to talk to you if that’s okay,” Julie said as she walked towards her desk.
“Okay, you are worrying me now,” Dana said looking at her. Julie smiled nervously and sat down.
“It’s nothing to worry about, really. I just wanted to know….is there like a rule…you know…about getting friendly with the clients?” Julie asked. Dana gave her one of those ‘what the hell are you getting at’ looks.
“Is there something that I should know?” Dana questioned.
“Well, I really need to know if there is any rule like that,” Julie replied.
“Well, there is no such rule really,” Dana said. “But I’m just wondering where all this is going,” she said looking at Julie.
“Well, I thought you might want to know that me and Steven…” she started saying before Dana shook her head.
“You are sleeping with Steven Davenport?” Dana asked in a whisper. Julie smiled and shook her head.
“It’s a bit more than just sleeping with him. We are in a relationship,” Julie confessed. Dana smiled and leaned back.
“Really? Since when?” she asked.
“It’s been going on for a while now and I just thought that you may want to know, and if you want to assign him to someone else, it’s okay,” Julie said smiling. Dana looked up at her and smiled.
“It’s fine, thank
s for letting me know,” she said. Julie looked at her surprised.
“That’s it?” she asked shocked.
“Frankly, I’m just happy to know you do more than work. I was beginning to get worried about you,” Dana remarked smiling. Julie just sat there looking at her, both surprised and confused.
Chapter 3
A few days after Steven’s trip to Vegas, Julie planned to have her father over to her place for dinner. Initially, she had thought of making something for him, but Michael insisted on them cooking together, just like they were used to. After Terrence dropped her over at her place from the grocery store, she took a shower and changed out of her work clothes and into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She had just walked into the kitchen when she heard the doorbell. She walked to the front door and opened it smiling.
“You found the place. I was just about to get started,” she greeted her father as he gave her a hug.
“Hey sweetie. Nice to see you,” he said as he pulled away. “Are you gaining weight?” he asked with a smile.
“Daddy, that is not nice,” she scolded him as she took the bag he had in his hand. He smiled as they walked towards the kitchen.
“I know honey, but it’s just nice to know that my girl is feeding right,” he said. He then looked around the big kitchen and smiled. “Is it too late to offer an exchange of houses?” he asked. Julie looked at him briefly before she went to unpack the grocery bags.
“It most definitely is. I have already fallen in love with this place,” she said with a smile. Michael looked at her.
“So, what about a tour of the house?” he asked.
“Okay,” she said before she walked out of the kitchen. “It’s pretty simple, really. Kitchen, dining area, living room…master bedroom, guest bedroom….” she said as she walked with her father.
“Nice place you got here,” Michael said smiling.
“Thanks dad,” Julie said smiling.
