by Tina Martin
“You weren’t happy in Charleston.”
“I wasn’t broke either.”
“How soon do we forget? You don’t remember how you complained nonstop about that agency you used to work for? When you took steps to develop the plan for your own real estate firm, you were ecstatic. You know traffic is slow for new businesses. It takes years to build a name and a reputation – for people to seek you out as that go-to agent. You’ll get there one day, though. It’s definitely not going to happen overnight. Harding’s in the same boat. He’s starting over here in Asheville.”
“Yeah, but in the meantime, he’s working for The Champion Corporation making top dollar. Maybe I need to get a side job. I don’t know what to do.”
“First, you need to stop freaking out. Like I said, all you need is some marketing.”
“With what money?”
“Let me finish. I believe in you, Jemisha, and not just because you’re my best friend. You had the guts to go after your dreams and I admire that so much. I don’t have a problem supporting your dream.”
“Nope. No, ma’am. I appreciate it, but I have to work this out on my own. I’m not taking any money from anybody.”
“Are you sure? You know I don’t mind.”
No, she wasn’t sure, but she didn’t want Savannah to know how desperate she really was. “I’ll be okay. I only called you to vent. I’ll find a way to get through this somehow.” Shifting focus, she asked, “How’s my chubby cheeks doing?” Her chubby cheeks was baby Harley.
“Oh, girl, I’m feeding him right now. When you see him again, those chubby cheeks will be a lot chubbier. This boy can eat!”
“Aw…I miss him already. I might make another trip up there soon. It’s not like I’ll be busy here with anything. Put my baby on the phone.”
Savannah chuckled. “Sorry, he can’t babble with you right now. He has a mouthful of nipple.”
“Oh my gosh—I thought you were pumping?”
“I’m doing a combination of both since he’s a little bigger now. Plus, I didn’t have time to pump last night. Harding required my attention if you know what I mean.”
“You can keep your escapades to yourself.”
Savannah was laughing when she said, “That’s another one of your problems. You need to be having some escapades of your own instead of worrying all the time. When is your turn coming?”
“My turn?”
“Yeah. You heard me.”
“I don’t have a turn. I had one already, remember? It’s gone, over and done with. I’ve given up trying to understand men and why they do what they do. I refuse to waste years of my life on empty promises. Been there, done that. Don’t want to do it again.”
“Girl, you had one bad experience.”
“Don’t minimize the torture I went through by saying it was only one experience. I walked in on my boyfriend with another woman.”
“I know the story. I know it well. You bring it up every time I suggest you give another man a try.”
“Yeah, well I don’t have time to focus on a man, not that I would even if I had the time. I have a business to run into the ground.”
Savannah sighed. “Misha, Misha, Misha—girl, what am I going to do with you?”
“Who knows? I don’t know what to do with myself,” she said scribbling on her desk calendar. “Anyway, I’m about to get some lunch. I’ll check in with you later. Kiss Harley for me.”
“Will do, girl. Bye.”
Jemisha stood up, took her purse from the desk drawer and as she walked to the door, reaching for the knob to exit, the door opened.
A customer.
A customer!
She smiled, looked up, but that smile quickly fell from her face when she recognized who it was – Mordecai Champion – player extraordinaire.
Chapter 2
“What are you doing here?” Jemisha asked, trying with all her might to keep from frowning. From the tightness she felt in her forehead, it wasn’t working.
“Wow. Is this how you greet your clients? What are you doing here?” he asked, mimicking her voice, then flashed that blinding white smile.
“You’re not one of my clients.”
“Okay, then. Prospective clients. I’m in the market for a hizzouse.”
Jemisha rolled her eyes. Actually, they probably rolled automatically. He couldn’t be serious, could he? The smirk on his face told her he wasn’t. Still holding her purse, she asked, “How did you know about my office?”
“I have my sources, but nevermind all that. You’re a real estate agent. I’m looking for a house. I say we’re a match made in heaven.”
Her lips quivered in disgust. Why did everything have to be about him? Then again, if he was serious about a house, why wouldn’t it be about him, at least in this particular instance?
“Okay,” she said walking back to her desk, lowering her purse there. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, she took a seat, crossed her legs and asked, “How can I help you, Mr. Champion?”
“Aren’t you going to offer me a seat first?” he asked, eyeing up the chairs in front of her desk.
“I thought that was a given.”
He smiled.
She frowned then gestured toward the chairs, checking him out in the process. The dark jeans he wore seemed to make him appear taller. The solid, black shirt he had on hid the ample supply of muscles she knew he had because she’d seem them before – seen them in all their glory.
Okay, be professional about this, Misha, she told herself, but her lips were suddenly struck with that annoying quiver whenever she was in close proximity to the cocky male kind, especially one that reminded her so much of her ex, but at least she knew what she was working with upfront where he was concerned. Mordecai Champion oozed charm. Even she couldn’t dispute how fine he was and how he could work a room. He had that extra ‘it factor’ tacked on to his already stellar good looks – the hazel eyes, the dreamy complexion, dark curly hair on his head, the tall, muscular body – he had an agglomeration of fine qualities…for somebody. Most likely for those women he dealt with – not dated – dealt with for weeks at a time. Jemisha had never pegged him as the type to be a serious home buyer. You had to be serious about life to invest money in a home and from what she knew about Mordecai, he wasn’t serious about anything besides looking good, wearing nice clothes and keeping his physique on point.
Whatever the case, she wouldn’t let him come into her safe space and dictate her mood. It was bad enough she was already down in the dumps about the state of her business—her life—and here he comes with his pretty-boy swag. So, she sucked in a breath and asked, “Now that you’re comfortable, may I get you some coffee?”
“No. I don’t do drugs.”
Her brow raised. “Coffee isn’t a drug.”
“I believe anything that’s addictive can be a drug.”
“Well, there’s water over there, too, that is if you don’t consider that a drug.”
“I’m good,” he said, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees. “How long have you been in the real-estate game?”
“Almost ten years.”
“Really?” he asked, his voice laced with skepticism.
“Yes. Really…”
“Tell me more about your credentials,” Mordecai said. “That’ll help me determine whether or not I want you,” he said staring at her red quivering lips. Did her lips always quiver like that, or was it him who caused her to have such a negative reaction?
“Are you here to waste my time?”
“Not at all, gorgeous.”
“Don’t call me gorgeous. It’s impolite, actually.”
“Calling you ugly would be impolite, but it would also be a lie, so—”
“So you are here to waste my time…”
“I’m a business owner as well, Jemisha. I know your time is valuable. At the same time, if I’m going to hire you as my agent, I need to know you can get the job done.”
“I’ve been in busines
s for almost ten years. I moved from Charleston, South Carolina. I have over a hundred closings for the company I used to work for before deciding to go solo.”
“Okay, so that’s about ten a year…how have your sales been in Wilmington?”
“It’s been slow, but there are peaks and valleys in the market. Right now, we’re in a valley.”
“In other words, business hasn’t been good.”
“If that’s the way you want to put it.”
“Then you’d have no problem taking me on as a client,” he assumed.
“I’d need to review my schedule to see if that’s doable.”
He grinned. “If business is slow, what do you have to review exactly?”
“My schedule.”
“Okay,” he said sitting straight up.
“In the meantime, I’ll need you to fill out a form that’ll give me a better understanding of what you’re looking for.”
She stood up and walked over to a file cabinet.
Mordecai’s eyes took in her curvy frame. He leaned back in the chair to get the full view of her while she pulled a file cabinet drawer open. Usually, when he saw Jemisha, she was dressed casually. Today, she had on a black skirt that stopped just above her knees. The red heels she wore accentuated her impressive calves. Smooth, milk-chocolate calves. The black-and-white striped blouse she wore went well with the skirt and her lips were the same color as her shoes – cherry red. She had a sense of style and he liked that about her.
He also liked how she kept herself in shape. As a personal trainer, physical fitness was important to him. He considered health an important part of self-love. It was a true testament to one’s self-esteem. If a woman didn’t love and take care of herself, how could she love and take care of someone else?
“Here it is,” she said, her heels clicking as she crossed the floor to him. “Fill this out and get it back to me as soon as you can.”
He caught a whiff of her perfume when she handed him the paper. Man, she smelled good – like roses and candy. “Thanks.”
“Yep, and you don’t have to physically bring it back. Feel free to send it via email if you’d like. In the meantime, if you have any questions, here’s my card.”
“Nice,” he said looking it over. “Who designed your cards for you?”
“I did them myself and ordered a bunch online.”
“Cool. You’ll need to show me how you did that. I’m looking into rebranding my business.”
“What do you do?” she asked like she hadn’t known. She didn’t want him to know that he knew he was in fitness. Shoot, he could probably bench-press her…
“I’m a personal trainer. I own Champion Fitness.”
“Oh. I’ve heard of them.”
“Well, them is me.”
She nodded. As fine as he was, his profession of choice was to be a personal trainer.
I bet he uses those gyms as hunting grounds for women. He looked like the type to do something like that.
“Get that information back to me as soon as you can and I’ll see what I can do,” she said all the while assessing that Mordecai had no real interest in actually buying a house. He was here to annoy her. She was certain of it.
He stood up, all six-plus feet of him and said, “Thank you. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Hope you enjoy your lunch.”
“Yep.”
With that, he headed for the door and exited her office.
Jemisha collapsed into her chair, finally able to breathe and attempt to control the beats of her pounding heart. She hoped he didn’t come back, but something told her he’d be back. Maybe it was the smirk on his face or the fact that he was checking her out, the same way he’d been staring at her when they were at Savannah’s house a week ago. Whatever his motives, she wasn’t interested.
Chapter 3
Jemisha couldn’t dial Savannah’s number fast enough. When Savannah answered, she said, “I know you put him up to this, didn’t you?”
“Put who up to what?” Savannah asked. “I have no idea who you’re talking about.”
“Your bother-in-law just left my office, and yes, I said bother.”
Savannah’s chuckle reverberated through the speaker of Jemisha’s phone. “Look, I don’t know what Mordecai is up to.”
“Really, Savannah? One minute, I’m telling you my woes of not having much business here and ten minutes later Mordecai comes strolling into my office saying he wants to buy a house. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”
“I don’t know what it is, but I can assure you, I haven’t said a word to Mordecai about you or your business and I know anything about him wanting to buy a house. I assumed he was just fine in his bachelor pad.”
“He must not be if he’s in here bothering me.”
“Have you considered that maybe your word-of-mouth advertising is paying off? Somebody you worked with probably recommended you to him. He’s a fitness trainer. He knows a lot of people.”
“Yeah, he knows a lot of people—like you and your husband!”
“Well, obviously he knows us, I mean people he works with. Women more specifically.”
“I’m sure he knows beaucoup amounts of women. He flirts with everything in a skirt. Or blouse. Or heels. Or that has big ‘ol jugs.”
Savannah laughed again. “Girl, look—you said business was slow. If Mordecai wants to buy a house—”
“That man doesn’t want to buy a house. Buying a home is a big deal. A serious decision. Mordecai doesn’t have a serious bone in his body. Has he mentioned anything to Harding about wanting to buy a house?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to ask Harding when he gets home from work. In the meantime, relax. I know Mordecai acts a fool, but he’s really harmless.”
“I don’t care what he is. I just need him out of my way. He’s making me break a rule on my list.”
“Not the list…”
“Yeah. I still got it,” Jemisha said opening the top drawer of her desk, removing a neon-orange index card, studying it. She’d followed these rules for avoiding men. Two years later, they were still working like a charm. She didn’t have to deal with any men, especially since she’d been dodging them left and right. That was rule number one:
Avoid men whenever possible.
How was she supposed to avoid Mordecai and help him buy a home at the same time? It would be impossible.
“Misha, you can’t live your life avoiding men. That’s impossible.”
“No, it isn’t. I’ve done it for two years and I’ve been relatively happy with focusing on myself.”
“Yeah, but what kind of life is that? Come on, Misha. You can’t let the actions of one man dictate your entire life.”
“That’s not what I’m doing.”
“That’s exactly what you’re doing. You’re on this so-called hiatus from men, then you have these rules—how is any of this helping you grow as a person? As a woman?”
“You know what—I’m hungry and discombobulated thanks to Mordecai. I’ll talk to you later,” she said.
“Really? You’re just going to hang up?”
“I’ll call you later. I’ve had a rather stressful day.”
“Okay. Call me.”
“Yep.” She slid her phone into her purse the glanced down at the infamous list:
Avoid men whenever possible
Avoid eye contact. Men usually get the wrong idea
Don’t ever get too close. After all, you’re weak when a man knows he has your heart.
If you have to interact with a man, make him think he’s in control.
Never believe a word a man says. Remember, they all lie and cheat.
Were they childish rules? Yes. Elementary? Absolutely. Were they rules that needed to be written down? Probably not, but people handled broken hearts in different ways. When Carver broke her heart, Jemisha swore it would never happen to her again and she meant it. So far, the list had helped her keep her head on straight and not fall for the flattery of good
-for-nothing men. She wasn’t about to let Mordecai slither his way into her life. She had much more to do with her time and plenty more to worry about, like her livelihood. Her business goals. Her dreams. She had to prove that moving from Charleston to Wilmington was the right call. So far, it had been a disaster.
Chapter 4
Mordecai was on the fence about buying a home. That’s why he tossed the paperwork Jemisha had given him in the same bowl where he kept his bananas on the center of the kitchen table. They’d been there for three days. He’d look and avoid them. Reach to fill them out then hesitate. He had to make up his mind soon.
It’s not like he didn’t need the room. The townhouse he’d been leasing had served him well, but he was growing as a person. It was time to plant some seeds and find something he could actually call his. He already had the business up and running. He owned two successful gyms in the area and would soon expand to other avenues of personal training. His life was in Wilmington. Unlike Harding and Zoya, he wouldn’t up and move to another city. So why the hesitancy when it came to buying a home?
He sat down at the table with a bottle of water. Spent from working out, that was his usual routine – chugging water and resting, giving his muscles time to recover from a strenuous workout.
He picked up his cell, looking at missed calls – one from Davante, his gym manager, and the other from Harding. He called Harding back.
“What’s up, man?” Harding answered.
“Yo. What’s good?” Mordecai asked, then chugged more water.
“I heard you were over there causing problems.”
“Problems? You heard wrong. I’ve been laying low…minding my business. Trying to get my life together, you feel me?”