Chapter 3
Three
Tremaine "Trey" Houston
I smiled at the young, vibrant woman in front of me as she shared her exciting news.
"I'm happy to hear that. I knew you could do it," I said to her.
"Thank you, Mr. Houston! I'm so excited! You inspired me to take a leap of faith!"
"You're welcome," I replied to Susanna.
After many months of studying, Susanna had passed her real estate exam.
Five years ago, I hired her after she graduated from college to work at my real estate company.
She applied to be my assistant/office manager.
Susanna wasn't sure what she wanted to do after graduation.
All she knew was that she needed to make money.
After two years of being exposed to commercial and residential real estate, she studied to become a real estate agent.
"Now I've got to get started on finding some listings," she excitedly replied.
"Actually, I was looking for someone to add to the firm. Before I outsourced, I wanted to offer you the position, if you are up to it."
I knew I was going to hire Susanne. I witnessed how hard she worked to get where she was. There was no way in hell I was letting her go work at another firm. She had already built a name for herself with my clients.
"Oh, thank you so much, Mr. Houston! This is so exciting!" she squealed.
"You're welcome. You can start next week. Take some time off and enjoy this big accomplishment. I'm sure you and your boyfriend got some celebrating to do!"
Her eyes lit up when I mentioned her boyfriend. He was all she talked about. She was head over heels in love with him, and from the looks of things, he was just as in love with her.
She squealed again. "Thank you so much! See you bright and early first thing Monday morning!"
"Love to hear it. Now go enjoy yourself. I'm going to close the office early today and head out. I need to stop by Ari's boutique and check on something."
Susanna's excitement disappeared, and I knew what she was thinking.
Despite being sweet and innocent, she didn't mind telling a person how she truly felt.
The petite, light-skinned, big curly-haired, bright-eyed young woman had me fooled in the beginning.
However, as time passed, I found out she was small but mighty.
I owned many properties, ranging from storefronts to apartments and homes all over the city. I was the biggest real estate/property owner in the area. I was very hands-on with my clients. It was my goal to make sure I kept all the clients happy and satisfied, even if it meant doing personal visits.
"Why can't she send you an email like the rest of your clients? She knows what she's doing. She's trying to get on your good side, then weasel her little way into your life for good. I swear she thinks she's the next Mrs. Houston! Don't let her fool you. She knows exactly what she's doing!"
I laughed. "Calm down, Susanna. Ari just enjoys face-to-face conversation, that's it."
She rolled her eyes. "I'll give her ass a face-to-face conversation," she mumbled.
I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. A shocked expression covered her face when she realized her intrusive thoughts had taken over.
"Oh shit, did I say that aloud?"
I nodded.
"I'm so sorry. I'm going to take that as my cue to get out of here and enjoy my new job opportunity before I lose it."
I chuckled. "Yeah, you do that."
"Bye, Mr. Houston! See you Monday."
I didn't have time to respond because Susanna was out the door in seconds.
I got all my stuff together before I sent Ari a text to let her know I was on the way.
Ari had called earlier, panicking that there was a leak and if I didn't come look, she wasn't paying her rent for the month.
Ari never followed the protocol of calling the third-party maintenance company I offered to my renters.
She always skipped the middleman and reached out to me.
Ari was one of my tenants who rented a storefront from me.
I locked down the office and headed to my Mercedes SUV.
It was a sunny day. The wind blew softly, and the trees were budding.
This was my favorite time of the year because business usually boomed around this time.
People had a bit more money during this time, so they would invest their money in something, whether they were looking to start a new business, take a vacation, or rent a home.
Either way, they were lining my pockets.
Turning on my music and cracking the window to let some of the cool breeze in the car, I was en route to Ari.
It was 3:45 p.m., and I knew that by the time I made it over to Ari's store, it would be close to 4:30.
I had no intention of staying long because I had plans to meet up with my boys to watch basketball at the local diner.
It was our weekly tradition. Work hard all week, watch basketball at the diner, and order rounds of alcohol.
Tip-off started at 8 p.m. If Ari allowed me to, I would be in and out in no time, but with her track record, I knew it wasn't promising.
With Ari, it was always something else besides the initial problem she called for.
I gave myself a pep talk and set a timer on my phone. In and out was the goal.
While I drove down the busy streets on my way to Ari's boutique, I thought about my and Ari's history.
We never dated, but we spent plenty of time pleasing each other.
Ari was the first and only client I'd ever engaged with in that way.
She came on strong. She applied pressure consistently, and eventually, I gave in.
We had been going at it for a year now, yet over the last few months, I'd been trying to place distance between us.
Ari wanted more, but I didn't. The situation between her and me should've wrapped up months ago when she showed up at a house viewing that I hosted, crying in front of my potential clients.
Ari screamed and cried because she wanted a relationship with me.
I had to beg her to leave and even offered her a band to stop from making a scene.
She happily took it and left as if nothing had happened.
She was the reason I placed a relationship-client clause in my contracts.
We had not had sex in three months, and I planned to keep it that way.
I gave myself a pep talk as soon as I parked my car in front of her store.
The goal was to look at the leak and, if I couldn't fix it, call my maintenance company.
I shut off my car and made my way inside, with the goal of making things quick.
"Fuck, Trey! Damn!" Ari screamed.
I smacked her ass harder.
"Fuck!" I muttered, biting down hard on my lip.
I knew I was close to coming. I didn't care if the people currently shopping in the boutique heard us. The harder I dove into Ari, the louder she screamed. I had Ari bent over her desk with papers sprawled everywhere. The sight of her round, juicy ass thrown back at me sent me into overdrive.
As soon as I walked into the store, I knew what type of time Ari was on by the look she gave me.
She bit her lip and winked at me. She led me to the back of the store to show me where the leak was.
I couldn't help but study her switch as she walked through the boutique.
She wore a pink skintight skirt with a matching top.
Her nipples were on high beam, letting everyone entering the store know she was braless.
She had bone-straight hair flowing down to her butt.
She wore black, red bottom heels. She had caramel skin with a light tint to it, but her face was full of makeup, and it didn't look out of place.
Ari was a true Instagram model from head to toe.
She had the perfect BBL I had ever witnessed, and she made sure she let people know she paid good money for it.
Once we made it to her office, she locked the door and threw herself onto her desk. She opened her legs, exposing her bare, wet honeypot. Next thing I knew, we were going at it.
"I'm cumming, Trey! Don't stop, harder!"
On her command, I dove in harder, deeper, and faster until my nut surfaced.
I let out a deep breath and wiped the sweat from my forehead.
Ari adjusted her skirt, pulling it over her ass.
She watched me the entire time as I rolled the condom off and flushed it down the toilet of the en suite bathroom.
She sucked her teeth as I pulled my pants over my waist.
"What is it, Ari?" I asked, exhausted.
She folded her arms across her chest. "You know what it is."
"I don't because I'm not a mind reader," I countered, sitting down in the chair to catch my breath.
"I don't get why you keep wearing condoms with me. I told you I'm on the pill. Plus, you're the only nigga I'm dealing with."
I looked at Ari as if she had two heads.
She must've thought I was one of these young ass boys that didn't know how the game went.
Ari lived a lifestyle I knew the boutique wasn't paying for.
When she came into my office to rent from me, she had an older man with her.
She swore he was her great-uncle, but I was no fool.
Ari was fucking him. She drove the latest BMW, and she always wore name-brand clothes.
Never the cheap shit she sold in her store. Ari had a man for everything.
"Ari, don't start this shit. You already know what it is."
"No, Trey, I don't. You've been fucking with me for a year now. I want more."
Ari would be ideal for many men. She was gorgeous and an entrepreneur, but it was something about her spirit that bothered me.
She wasn't someone I saw myself spending the rest of my life with.
The pussy and head were good, but there was nothing else there.
She lacked substance. My future wife had to give me more than a nut every now and then.