Chapter 4
I never got nervous when meeting with clients.
I’d represented politicians, dignitaries, celebrities, and one time a Saudi prince.
But this afternoon I was running around the property like a chicken with its head no longer attached.
Fussing with pillows, opening and closing doors, and I was torn between retracting the hideaway slider or keeping them shut as a mini surprise.
This could probably be considered normal behavior when one was about to tour a house with their ex.
Oddly enough this wasn’t the first time we’d walked through real estate together.
In college we lived on campus all four years.
But during our senior year, Aldridge drove up into the hills and stopped in front of a home with an open house sign out front.
Inside we pretended we were engaged and looking for our million-dollar starter home.
I don’t know who we were fooling because we stood out like sore thumbs among the real million-dollar bank accounts.
In the backyard of this well-appointed home, Aldridge vowed to buy me a house just as big as this one when he made it to the NBA.
This wasn’t an empty promise. Aldridge had a gift, and he was on the shortlist to be drafted in the first round.
Some people were even saying first pick.
It was at that moment in the type of yard I’d only seen online, I knew I needed to get off the Aldridge Mosley ride.
I didn’t want to be a basketball girlfriend and eventually a spouse.
The thought of spending the entirety of my life chasing his dream while deferring mine turned my stomach.
Looking back on it now, it felt a little silly.
I was a realtor, a profitable one, but still a realtor all the same.
Was this the life-changing future I’d envisioned for myself?
I’d graduated with a degree in business with the hopes of going to law school.
I ultimately wanted to work for the Innocence Project which worked to get individuals who were wrongfully convicted out of jail, but life had other plans.
A bell ringing brought me back to the present.
Before answering the door, I fussed with my hair and swept any possible eye boogers from the corners of my eyes.
Swinging the door open, my composure was shaken. Damn did this man not have an off day? He was outfitted in a white T-shirt, black shorts, and a baseball cap and he looked effortlessly pulled together.
“Is my car going to be safe out there?” Aldridge joked.
“I know what you’re thinking, but this is an up-and-coming neighborhood.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning, in a few years this place will be a hot commodity and you’ll be able to get three times what you paid for it.”
“Gentrification at work.” He entered the space and when he walked past me, I was greeted by the scent of him and it stirred my soul, causing a bit of longing to rise to the top.
“Is your assistant joining us?”
“No, she’s dealing with a moving truck crisis we thought was fixed but apparently the universe got jokes.”
“Who’s your moving company?”
“Uhm … I don’t know, something about a truck, a guy and his dog.”
“Rover’s Rover?”
Aldridge snapped his fingers. “Yep, that’s it.”
“I know the owner, I’ll put in a call.”
“Really?”
“Consider it done.”
“I’ll let Nori know.” Aldridge took note of the high ceilings.
Did he just wake up fine and ready to ruin some innocent woman’s life?
His deep flawless skin had to be the work of a dermatologist because there was no way this man had a better skincare routine than me.
And then there were his long lashes which I’d always been jealous of.
Men did not need full long lashes. What he had naturally; I was paying Natalia two hundred and fifty dollars a month to maintain.
“So what am I looking at? Because it looks like a Vegas lounge act.”
“It’s ultra sleek and modern. It’s also industrial. The architect was Bovine.”
“Is that name supposed to mean something to me?”
“If you had any culture it would.”
“Ouch.”
“He’s a renowned local architect. His properties rarely come on the market.”
“What I’m hearing is a bidding war.”
“Not with me as your realtor.”
“Cocky.”
“I’m just saying.”
“No, I appreciate it. Talk your shit.” He walked over to the kitchen. “Where are the appliances?”
“They’re hidden.”
“I do not want to play hide and seek in order to put away my groceries.”
“The fridge is right behind you.”
Aldridge reached for the handle opening the refrigerator door. “It’s big.”
“Sub zero. It’s considered an entertainer’s kitchen.”
“Okay,” he scoffed.
“You’re new to town you might make new friends. Or maybe your girlfriend likes to entertain.”
His head swiveled in my direction. “My who?”
“Your girlfriend, Amber … Alison … Alica?” I pretended like I hadn’t spent hours Googling him.
“Ashley.”
“Yeah I think that’s it.”
Aldridge flashed me a look that told me he wasn’t walking into my hastily crafted trap before entering the living room. “I hate the way this place is decorated.” Please note my question regarding a significant other was deflected.
“You’re not buying the furniture.”
“What is it about rich people and taste? It’s like the richer you get the shittier your sense of style becomes. Gold toilets, imitation Roman sculptures, and those ugly colosseum columns. It’s a home, not Caesar’s Palace for God’s sake.”
“You said you wanted something with character.”
“Yes, elegant, refined, not cartoonish.”
“The toilets can be changed and the column is not part of Bovine’s original design.”
“It feels like we stepped into a time machine. Is that why his properties are so popular because once you cross the threshold you are back in the seventies?”
“It’s not that bad.”
“The living room is sunken.”
“Okay tell me what you do like about the place?”
Aldridge looked around trying to come up with something nice to say. “I like that the sliding glass door slides all the way out of view. It makes the area feel open and extends the living space.”
“And the cons?”
“I bet if we did our research we could locate a porn movie from back in the day with this house featured in it. A housewife gets a knock at the door and it’s the horny repairman with tight pants and a handlebar mustache.”
“Wildly specific.” I laughed.
“And he’d say, ‘What seems to be the problem?’”
Aldridge looked to me like he was waiting for me to deliver the next line. I decided to play along. “My washer is on the fritz.”
“I have the tool that can fix that.”
“I bet you have a lot of useful tools.” My cheeks heated up at this silly game.
Aldridge took several steps in my direction, causing the heat to morph into a steady burn.
“Sweet cheeks, you have no idea.” His eyes were smoldering.
Was he still playing around? “And then the cheesy music would start up and the washing machine wouldn’t be the only thing getting a tune up.
” Aldridge’s face was normal and he appeared completely unbothered.
I, on the other hand was able to identify a distinct throb in my pleasure center. “Why was the music so corny?” I turned on my heels and walked out of his eyesight.
“Should we head upstairs?”
“Yeah, you go ahead and I’ll be right up.
” Aldridge brushed past me and took the steps two at a time.
Would you stop being ridiculous, I ordered myself.
It was just Aldridge. There was no need to get spun like a top.
He has a girlfriend which means the last thing he’s checking for is you.
My heart seized up with the realization I was selling him a house he was going to fuck another bitch in.
Not that it mattered because I was completely over him.
I hadn’t thought about Aldridge in years, and when I happened to see him on TV or online, I was just glad he was doing well.
He deserved to be happy. Just because we didn’t work out didn’t mean his life needed to go to shit.
I mean it would’ve been better in this moment if he’d gotten traded to Bulgaria rather than Vegas.
Was that possible, international trades?
Clearly this house was a bust. I needed to find him his forever home and close this deal and then I’d never have to see Aldridge again unless it was at a basketball game.
On second thought, I could just forgo basketball for the next three to five years or at least until he was traded to another team.
I made my way to the stairs but Aldridge was already heading down. “Save yourself the trip. The second floor is worse than the first.”
“That’s because you’re seeing how it is and not how it could be.”
“It has a smell.”
He wasn’t lying. I’d hoped the air fresheners I’d plugged in earlier would mask the distinct smell but no such luck. “It’s been loved.”
“How much is this monstrosity going for?”
I swallowed hard preparing myself for Aldridge’s dramatic reaction. “Four point five.”
“Million?” He tilted his head and shouted.
“Yes.”
“Is it crack? It has to be crack.”
“It’s a seller’s market.”
“For four point five I want all the amenities, an AI butler, and a happy goddamn ending every fucking night.”
“Are you done?”
“No. For four point five million I want Elvis himself to jump up out of the grave and sing ‘Love Me Tender’ between bites of a peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwich.”
“So what you’re saying is you’d like to pass on this property?”
“I want to erase the existence from my memory.”
I chuckled.
“Why did you show me this place?”
“To help you with your expectations. And to see if you could make out a diamond in the rough.”
“You’re saying this place is Aladdin?”
“Every home has potential. It just takes the right buyer to see it.”
“This home would take a considerable amount of money, a sanitation crew, and possibly a séance to make it livable.”
Fucking drama queen. I’d forgotten how over the top he was.“Okay, let’s check out the neighborhood.”