by CY Jones
I stay for another hour, watching Paige the whole time. As the night wore on she worked the room with more confidence, holding her head up high as she talked about the work she does. I don’t know how many business cards she collected, but I know it was a lot.
“She’s really something, isn’t she?” Jodie says, catching me staring at her friend.
“You can say that,” I murmur nonchalantly. I don’t want to give anything away.
“She’s had it hard, but she’s really special, and it takes a special person to see it.”
“Why are you telling me this?” I ask, confused.
“I see the way you look at her, the way she looks at you when she thinks no one is looking. I don’t know if there’s anything there or if it’s all my imagination, but look after her. I’ll be gone for months and besides me, she doesn’t have anyone else to lean on.”
“What about her family?” I inquire.
“She just has her mum and she’s pro Justin. She really treated her bad after they broke up and still does. She’s way too close to his mum, so Paige tries to ignore her as much as possible.”
“That’s really shitty of her, especially since the divorce was all Justin's fault,” I surmise.
“You know that, and I know that, mate, but her mum has blinders on when it comes to him.”
“You’re wrong about one thing, but if it makes you happy, I’ll look out for her,” I tell her.
“That’s all I ask for,” she says, moving on to talk to someone else.
Sabotage
Paige
Jodie’s party wasn’t all that bad, but God, my feet are killing me. Why can’t Chucks give you the same sexy edge as heels? I guess that’s the reason why someone made the horrible mistake of trying to combine the two. Digging in my purse, I pull out all of the business cards I collected from the party and am quite surprised by the size of the stack. In the beginning, I was super nervous to talk about myself, but by the end of the night I had finally found my groove and jumped right back into the real estate game. In a way, it was like riding a bike. I may not be a big time real estate broker like Justin, but I still knew my shit and designing was my passion.
First things first. I log into my computer and go onto Vistaprint to get some business cards made. I’ve decided to name my business Turning a Paige Design. It was cute, catchy, and represented a new beginning for me in my solo career. Tomorrow I’ll be walking around with another agent looking at office space. Once I find the right one, I need to look into hiring a secretary. I’ll be out of the office most of the time and I needed someone there to book new clients and keep an eye on the office. Before I laid it down for the night, I check my From Cupid account. I wasn’t surprised to not see a reply from Cynical H. Briefly I wondered if I scared him off. I really dropped a bomb with my last message. Hopefully I’ll hear from him again, but if not, I’ll know he’s not the man I thought he was and I’ll move on.
The next day was chaotic. While looking for office space, I also had to deal with material and delivery problems. The backsplash I ordered for Jodie’s kitchen was out of stock and the company wasn’t due for a new supply until three weeks after it was supposed to be delivered, so I had to order my second choice and change up some of my design. Then the refurbished wood I ordered for their sliding barn door in the kitchen covering the pantry was delivered early and was just sitting at the job site. When I leave here, I’ll have to stash it somewhere while they’re still doing demo. Wouldn’t want it to be thrown away on accident or something.
Two of the office spaces were in the downtown area and neither was right for what I wanted. The last was further out and the location itself was wrong, so I struck out on the first day. The agent I hired promised to look for other suitable options, so I leave her to it and head over to the salon where I got my hair done since I was in the area.
“Hey there, honey bunny,” Chaz says, greeting me as soon as I walk through the door. He hugs me, careful to not touch my clothes with the brush he had in his plastic gloved hands as he does a perm for some elderly lady sitting in his chair. “What are you doing here? It’s not time for a retouch yet.” He looks over my pink locks with a critical eye.
“I was in the neighborhood and wanted to see if you wanted to go to lunch.”
Tilting his head at the stylist with the white blonde bob, he replies, “sure, I’m helping Angel-locks over here out. As soon as I’m done with Miss Jenkin’s perm, I’m all yours." He wiggles his eyebrows and I laugh, knowing he’s teasing. I don’t have the right parts for him.
While I wait, I text Harrison and tell him about the door and then field through my emails. I got one from one of the men I met last night looking for a house in Long Beach and wanted to know if I know of any flipping opportunities in that area. I’m absorbed in listings when the alert on my phone pings letting me know I had a new notification. My heart jumps when I see it’s from Cynical H.
My Siren,
Let me start off by addressing the elephant in the room. I heard what you said and I’m taking it all in. I can’t deny how close I’ve grown to you. This new age of dating is pushing me over and getting to know you has me right on the edge. I’m starting to grow strong feelings for you, very strong feelings. Like you, I’m not in love yet, but I’m getting there. Who knows what the future will hold after we meet, but I want, no need, you to know I’m not running. I want to see how this plays out.
I’m always surrounded by people, but I feel like no one knows me. The real me. I believe I have shown you more of who I am than anyone else. You have had the pleasure of seeing the softer me, but I can be quite the asshole. I’m tough and not the one to back down. It’s ingrained in my soul to strive for the best and I don’t falter from that ,ever. Being with me can be difficult and no walk in the park. I’m not trying to scare you off, more like this is me being truthful.
As usual, it's a beautiful sunny day which is good for my business. I took a quick break to get a get message in so you weren’t over there worrying about what you told me. I have to go now but I hope to hear from you soon.
Cynical H
“What are you smiling about over here?” Chaz says, scaring the shit out of me.
“Geez, Chaz. You just added ten years to my life."
“Well, if you weren’t over here sexting, you would have heard me."
I laugh, not believing he just said that. “I’m not sexting anyone,” I protest.
“Well, you’re doing something with that guilty look on your face. Don’t worry, honey bunny, you’ll be telling me all about it over lunch."
I follow him out of the shop and we walk over to a little cafe close by. Cynical H was correct in his assessment over the weather, it is gorgeous out, but that’s one of the many pluses with staying in sunny California. We order our coffees and I get a delicious looking apple walnut salad with vinaigrette dressing while he impresses me by ordering the same.
“What?” He asks when he sees the look on my face. "One doesn't keep this sexy figure by eating greasy burgers all the time." I have to agree. Chaz does have a smoking body. All lean with muscles in the right places. If he was straight, I’d probably be all over him.
"You do have a nice body,” I tease, fanning myself, making him laugh.
“So, who was warming up your motor on the phone?” He asks casually and I almost spit out my coffee.
“Chaz,” I cry out.
“What? I call it as I see it and you were definitely heating up the corner of the shop. You probably drove poor Miss Danvers back into menopause.”
I’m quite sure my face is flaming right now.“God, what am I going to do with you?”
“Love me, but for now, spill.”
“Fine,” I relent. "My bestie told me about some dating site called From Cupid.”
“Ohh, I heard about that site. They say it’s really good.”
“Yeah, that's what my friend said. So I tried it and they’ve paired me up with this guy called Cynical H. You caugh
t me reading his message.”
“Cynical H doesn’t sound sexy, but with the way you were looking in the shop, I could be wrong."
“He’s a mystery' I can tell you that," I murmur.
While we eat, I share some details about myself, like Justin and the whole reason why I’m single. I even tell him a little about Cynical H’s messages. I’ve been dying to share with someone. I didn’t know how much I was starved for girlfriend time until now. Jodie has been way too busy getting ready to leave for her expedition and I didn’t want to intrude on any of her and Brian's quality time together.
“Girl, I knew when I first saw you, you had been through some heavy shit and I was like, Chaz, you’re going to adopt her. Forget about that ex of yours. The best payback is moving on. If he hasn’t already, I’m sure he’ll be regretting letting you go soon.”
“I’m not a puppy. And that’s the same thing my bestie Jodie said. Truthfully, besides today when talking about it with you, I haven’t really thought about him much,” I admit.
“Probably has something to do with the hot tamale you’re sexting,” he muses.
“Oh my god, stop saying that. We are not sexting.” I’m a little too loud and the couple at the table across from us gives us funny looks.
“Girlll, you are so too sexting, just undercover. He’s the teacher, you’re the pupil. That’s a porno waiting to happen.” If I thought my face was red before, it’s flaming hot now, but I have to admit he has a point.
After going over my dating life some more, Chaz says he has to get back to the shop. Like a sweetie, he pays and I give him a kiss on his cheek. Before we part ways, we trade numbers and I head back to my Range Rover and drive over to Jodie’s. When I pull up, I catch the tail side of Harrison chewing someone out.
“This is unacceptable, Tony. I don’t pay you to do shoddy work and not follow simple fucking directions. If this shit happens again, you’re out,” he yells. The guy, Tony, slowly nods his head and heads back inside looking like a kicked puppy.
“What’s up with that?” I ask, stepping out of my car. He glares at me, but then he takes a deep breath as he runs a huge palm down his scruffy face. I have to admit, the extra hair looks good on him, making him appear more rugged and sexy as hell.
“Fucking Tony tore down the whole wall in between the kitchen and living room instead of partial like he was supposed to,” he answers.
“Oh hell,” I mutter. Jodie wanted to keep part of it, but there's nothing we can do about it now. Plus, it’s just a wall, no big deal, but I don’t tell him that. Right now, he looks like a bull about to be released.
Walking inside, I walk over to the wall, analyzing the space. Harrison’s crew has already replaced the support beam, so I don’t have to worry about anything falling down on me. Running my hand over my chin, I think. Absentmindedly I say, “ We can still do what Jodie originally wanted. We can place one of the same beams from the vaulted ceiling here,” I tell him, pointing above my head. And then holding my arms out of either side of me, I add, "then order custom made built in shelves on either side of the entrance.”
“That can work,” Harrison replies, giving me an odd look.
I cock my brow before asking, “what?”
"I’m just shocked by how calm you are about all this.” I wince knowing it’s my fault he thinks I’ll fly off the handle about every little thing. I haven’t exactly shown him anything different.
Clearing my throat, I take a look around. The amount of work they have done in a couple of days is impressive. “This is starting to look great,” I tell him honestly.
“We should be done with demo by the end of the business day today, then the electrician will be here tomorrow to replace the wiring of this place. Oh, and I had your door put up at my warehouse so you don’t have to worry about it."
“Thank you for that. I don’t know how they mixed up the delivery dates so badly.” The whole time we talk, we move closer and closer to each other like magnets until he’s pressed right against my side. I love the way he feels and, even with the heat streaming through my body, goosebumps explode across my arms.
“Paige,” he says my name softly, almost like a prayer. Now he’s right in front of me. All I can see are his hazel eyes and the beautiful colors hiding within. Some pops of green and gold like freshly turned leaves in the fall. I take a step closer until our lips are mere inches from each other. All I have to do is tilt my head just the tiniest bit and I’ll know exactly what they’ll feel like.
“Boss, we have a problem here you need to take a look at,” Marco says, running into the room.
“Yeah, I’ll be there in a sec,” Harrison answers, never moving his eyes off mine.
“You should go see about that. He sounded panicked.” What am I saying? I should close the short distance between us and press my lips to his, tasting him. Feel for myself what that rough beard of his will feel like against my skin, but instead, I chicken out and take a step back. “I’m going to go,” my lips say as my mind screams at my legs for listening.
Harrison nods and turns to follow after his foreman. I don’t breathe until I’m back in my car, wondering what the hell that was. No dick for a year has me acting like I’m in heat. Pulling myself together, I drive off and go home where I can cool off.
Harrison
“What’s going on?" I grumble. I wasn’t happy with being interrupted. Another half a second and I would know exactly what Paige tasted like. She wanted to kiss me, just like I wanted to kiss her.
“It’s the Franko job. The crew over there locked up like usual and when they came to work the next morning, they found out someone damaged the tile that was just put down in the upstairs bathroom.”
“Fuck," I roar. “So it’s starting again?”
“Afraid so,” he nods solemnly.
For the last year, someone has been walking onto my jobs and vandalizing the work we’ve been doing. Even to go as far to leave a note threatening one of my interior designers. I’ve made the police aware of the situation and bumped up security, but no matter what I do, that asshole seems to be able to slip through. I know it’s personal, but I have no idea what I’ve done or who I’ve pissed off. I’ve fired many people and I’m known for being a perfectionist, so my enemy list is long.
“Are you sure it isn’t anyone on the crew?” I ask, trying to get to the bottom of this.
“I’m not sure, boss. Everyone has been vetted and criminal checks were made before they were hired.” I know all of this. I’ve been through every possibility, trying to figure this out.
“What did the security footage pull up?” I question.
“The feed has a five minute delay. Whoever did it knew about the cameras.” I pace the room, not happy to hear this. What if they find out about this job site? Paige, my crew, everyone is in danger because of this person. Besides leaving a threatening note, they've only been doing property damage, but that can escalate.
“We’ll just keep a visual eye out on the situation until this person is caught. There really isn’t anything else we can do.”
After that conversation, I leave and go to the Franco job to see the extent of the damage. Whoever did it, ran something sharp across the tile, leaving us with no choice but to rip everything up and start over. Fuck, they even fucked with the decorative tile in the shower. This is going to cost me, just like the other shit this person vandalized. Before I do something crazy, like punch a wall, I call my contact at the police station. As soon as he answers the phone, I lay it into him.
“Are you any closer to catching this asshole?” I bark.
“Well, hello to you," Eric’s sarcastic voice fills my ears.
“Eric, I’m not in the mood.”
“To answer your question, no, we are not any closer. This person is good. They come in and get out within minutes flat after disabling your systems like it’s child's play. You picked one hell of a person to piss off.”
“Don’t I fucking know it. I’m currently at the Fran
co home looking at at least a grand worth of damage.”
“I’ve been toying with an idea,” he replies and it piques my interest the way he says it.
“Go on,” I prod.
“Have you ever considered this could be a woman? We’ve been saying it’s a man because they are so good, but going by their crimes, they are acting like a woman scorned,” he answers.
“I don’t know. At this point, I’m not trying to rule anything out, but I still don’t know who could be behind all this. I’ve never even been in a long term relationship before.”
“Maybe that’s the problem. Some hookup getting revenge. One who knows where your jobs are and has the knowledge to disable security cameras.”
“You know, Eric, this phone call was supposed to make me feel better,” I sigh.
“Sorry, man. Don’t give up, we’ll figure this out,” he replies trying to help make me better, but it just leaves me feeling worse.
“I hear ya. I need to get back to work, I’ll call you again later for an update.” Hanging up, I get to pulling up the floor myself. We had enough left over to cover the floor, but I’m going to have to order some more of the mosaic tile for the walk-in shower. This little set back is going to cost me a week, but it could have been worse.
The whole time my mind is lost with thoughts of who in the hell could be doing this? Taking Eric’s suggestion, I ran through all the women I’ve been with. Most of them already knew what I did for a living, but I had no clue who would be vindictive enough to try to destroy my business. Everyone I go out with knows from the start I’m not looking for anything more than a good time. They all understood that or I would not date them at all, so who is doing this shit?