The Property Brokers by Sandi Lynn
Chapter 12
Bella
“Hi. Can I help you?” Lawrence Quill asked as he stood in the doorway of his apartment on the seventh floor.
“Hi. I’m Bella Marcus with The Roman Group.”
“You’re not Grant. I had an appointment with Grant.”
“I know. He asked me to come in his place because something came up. I can assure you Mr. Quill that I can do just as good a job as Grant can.”
“We’ll see. Come on in.”
I entered the foyer to his 2,028 square foot home that housed three bedrooms and four bathrooms.
“How long have you lived here?” I asked as I looked around.
“Five years.”
“And you’re selling, why?”
“My wife and I are moving to Los Angeles.”
“Oh!” I smiled. “I just moved here from L.A. Great city. You’ll love it.”
“If it’s so great, why did you move to New York?”
“My parents passed away and my boyfriend and I broke up. I just felt it was time for a change of scenery.”
“I’m very sorry to hear that.”
“Thank you.” I gave him a genuine smile.
I looked around the space and complimented him on all the work he’d done.
“How much are you thinking about asking for it?” I asked.
“$5.5 million.”
“That’s a good price, but you won’t get it. Especially with the way the market is right now. If I list it at that price, everyone who sees the listing will keep scrolling.”
“What are you suggesting then?” he asked.
“$4.995 million. It’s just under five and enough to make people think they’re getting a deal. It’s a numbers game, and I play numbers really well. Listen, I know you wanted Grant here and I’m sorry that something came up he needed to attend to, but I am committed to bringing you the maximum value of your property. I’m sure you can find another broker or agent and they’ll list it for $5.5 and tell you it’s no problem. But I’m not in the business of lying. I tell it like it is. You will in no way get $5.5 million for this apartment. So, I’ll head back to my office and put everything together and get it listed for you ASAP.”
“I haven’t hired you yet.” His brow arched.
“You will.” I smiled. And you know why?”
“Why?”
“Because you trust me. Plus, if you want, I can help you find a place in L.A.”
Suddenly, his phone rang, and he answered it.
“Terry, thanks for calling me back. I’m going to hold off on looking right now. I want to get my apartment in New York sold first. I’ll call you another time,” he spoke as he stared at me and ended the call.
“That wasn’t by any chance Terry Cavalier, was it?”
“Yes. It was. You know him?”
“I do. He’s a great broker.”
“He may be, but I like you. We have a deal. While you’re finding buyers for this place, I want you to find me a house in Los Angeles. I’ll send over a list of what we’re looking for.”
“Really?” I grinned.
“Really.”
“Thank you, Mr. Quill.”
“Call me Lawrence, and tell Grant I said thank you.”
“For?”
“For having something else to do.” He gave me a wink.
When I got back to the office, I walked in and saw Grant sitting at his desk.
“Well. How did it go?”
“I got the listing.”
“I knew you would.” He grinned.
“And he wants me to find him a house in Los Angeles.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“Nope.” I smiled.
“This calls for a celebration. I bought you something today.”
He picked up a small white box from his desk and handed it to me. Opening the lid, I saw a chocolate cupcake with white buttercream icing sitting inside.
“I hope they’re still your favorite,” he said.
“They are. Thanks. But why did—”
“Because I knew you’d get the listing and it’s kind of a little congratulations gift.”
“Thanks, Grant.” I stared into his eyes and all the memories came flooding back.
“You’re welcome. When I was at the bakery with my Dad, the owner, Cassandra, was flirting with him and stuck a piece of paper in the bag with the cookies with her phone number on it.”
I let out a laugh.
“No way.”
“She did. I swear.” He held up his hand.
“Your father never remarried?”
“God no.”
The way he said that was alarming.
“I figured a handsome man like him would be snatched up in a second.”
“There have been many women over the years who have tried, trust me.”
“Ah, so he’s another love em and leave em type.” I smirked.
“Something like that.”
Suddenly, my phone rang, and Ian’s name appeared. I instantly declined the call. A second later, it rang again, so I declined the call and caught Grant staring at me with a strange look on his face.
“Aren’t you going to answer that?”
“It’s no one important,” I said as I took my cupcake over to my desk.
I knew why Ian was calling me and I didn’t want to deal with it. I just wanted to put all of it behind me and move on. It’s what I did. It’s what I’ve always done since…
* * *
Grant
The look on her face when she stared at her phone told me it was someone she didn’t want to talk to. Perhaps it was her ex-boyfriend back in L.A. I’d found myself liking the fact that she was single. As I stared at her from my desk, the same feeling swept over me that I’d felt the first time I saw her sitting by the pool in Hawaii. And the same feeling I’d felt the moment I saw her at my open house.
“Hey,” I said. “Are you doing anything tonight?”
She turned her head and looked at me.
“I’m going to dinner with my best friend, Ami. Why?”
“I was going to ask if you wanted to go out for a drink.”
My phone rang before she could say anything.
“I have to take this.” I got up from my chair and walked out of my office.
When I stepped back inside, Bella wasn’t at her desk, but her phone that was sitting there began to ring. Walking over, I glanced at it and saw the name “Ian” appear on the screen. Quickly, I sat down behind my desk before she caught me. A few moments later, she walked back in.
“Your phone was ringing,” I spoke.
“Okay. Thanks.”
She sat down, picked up her phone, took one look and set it back on her desk. My gut told me it was her ex.
“About that drink,” I said.
“I already told you I’m having dinner with my friend tonight.”
“Then tomorrow night.”
“Listen, Grant.” She turned to me. “There will be no drinks, no dinners, no going out, nothing. The only reason I agreed to meet with you before was to hear what you had to say. This, right now, is strictly a professional working relationship. I want to make that very clear to you.”
“Okay. I just thought maybe we could catch up.”
“I think we’ve already done that,” she said.
“Yeah. You’re right. I guess we did.”
I got up from my seat and grabbed my suitcoat.
“I have a showing I have to get to,” I snapped as I walked out of my office.
Fuck. Maybe I’d made a grave mistake hiring her. No. No, I didn’t. She was an excellent broker and I just needed to focus my attention elsewhere. As I was on my way to the showing, my phone rang, and Lamar’s name popped up. With a smile, I answered it.
“Are you back in New York?” I asked.
“You bet. I just landed. Let’s hit the town tonight.”
“Definitely. I could use a few damn drinks.”
He let out a laugh.
“Bad day?”
“Yeah. Something like that. I’ll tell you all about it tonight. Where do you want to go?”
“Let’s start at Coco Pazzo for dinner and then we can hit up a couple bars after. Tasha is working tonight, and I need to have her sign some financial papers before she leaves for her trip tomorrow.”
“Sounds good. What time?”
“I’ll call Tasha and have her put us down for seven-thirty.”
“Alright. I’ll meet you there.”
Lamar Neil was my best friend. We’d been best friends since we were twelve years old when my dad sold his parents their apartment two floors down from ours. Lamar’s father had just gotten a new job in the city, and they’d just moved from Georgia. The move was hard for him because the last thing he wanted was to leave all his friends behind and move to a new city. So, my dad introduced us, and we’ve been inseparable ever since. We’d been through a lot of shit together over the years. He was supposed to come to Hawaii with me back in the day, but instead, he ended up in the hospital with appendicitis two days before we left. Maybe if he’d came, I wouldn’t have met Bella and saved myself a whole lot of heartache.
