Insecurity and a Bottle of Merlot (9 page)

She adjusted her shorts, pulling them down a bit, then ordered a glass of sparkling water. “May I have a lime with that, please?” she asked, as the bartender popped the bottle top and poured the Perrier into a rocks glass. Sasha nonchalantly turned her head to take another peek and was startled to find Josh standing right next to her. She jumped. He laughed.

“Hi, gorgeous. Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Am I that hard on the eyes?” He was fishing for a compliment which Sasha had no intention of handing out.

“I’m waiting for someone,” she replied coolly. She took a long, deliberate sip of her Perrier.

“I don’t think we’ve met. I’m sure I’d notice someone as beautiful as you if I’d seen you here before. My name is Josh Redmond. I own one of the real estate agencies here in town. So hot stuff, what’s your pleasure? Let me buy you a drink.”

“No thank you, I have one.” Sasha played it very cool as she turned away and looked in a different direction.

“Let me give you my business card. You can call me anytime day or night if you want someone to show you the ropes.”

“The ropes? What does that mean?” she asked, dryly.

“Well, if you have to ask,” he said, with a laugh. “I meant, if you want to get to know me, I’m well known around town. People like hanging out with me, plus I have connections.”

“You mean the women like hanging out with you? Why do you think I’d want to get to know you anyway? I’ve got plenty of friends. What kind of connections do you have that I would need, Mr. Redmond?”

Sasha enjoyed taking his ego down a few notches. He clearly wasn’t used to being on the defensive side of any conversation. She put Josh in his place, which was something that probably didn’t happen to him often. He fumbled with his words, not knowing how to respond.

“Okay then. Oops, I’ve got to go. I have an appointment in a few minutes. Nice talking to you, but I didn’t get your name,” he said, deflated and not willing to waste anymore of his time on an unresponsive woman.

“I didn’t give it.” Sasha took another sip of Perrier and watched as he turned and walked away. She glanced at her watch again: 12:18.
I’ll make him wait for a few more minutes. He needs to squirm a little.
At twelve twenty-five, Sasha rose from the barstool and walked toward Josh. His eyes lit up.
He probably thinks I’ve reconsidered. I’m sure he assumes a man like him is hard to resist.

“Well… hi again, beautiful. Looks like your friend didn’t show up, huh?” he said, as he looked Sasha up and down.

“Oh, he’s here. Actually he’s right in front of me.”

Josh turned around, but nobody was standing there. “Sorry, babe, you’ve lost me.”

“No, you’ve lost me. I’m out of here.”

“Wait. What’s your deal anyway? Having a bad day?” he asked, with a snicker.

“Really? How dare you! Aren’t you Josh Redmond from Redmond Brother’s Realty? The Josh Redmond I’m supposed to meet here at Tony’s? The alleged professional Realtor that offered to treat me to lunch as he goes over homes he wants to show me? Isn’t that you?” Sasha cocked her head as if she was totally bewildered.

“Son of a… ! I thought you were going to wear a yellow dress. Sandra Renade, right?” he asked, now exasperated.

“Excuse me? Not
even
close, and why does it matter what I’m wearing? What does that have to do with your ‘so called’ professional courtesy? You’re disgusting. I’ll look for another Realtor to work with. I’ve lost my appetite anyway.” Sasha headed for the exit.

Josh threw a twenty on the bar and ran after her as she walked out the door. “Wait, I’m sorry. I’m at a loss for words here.”

“Well, that’s a plus,” she sniped back at him.

“Not only are you beautiful, you’re feisty too. I like that,” he said, grinning.

Her heart fluttered for a split second. “There you go again, so unprofessional. How in the hell do any clients take you seriously?” she asked, as she stormed down the sidewalk with no place to go.
Where the hell am I going? I have to look like I’m heading somewhere, damn it. I’ll head toward the salon.

“Please, sit down and let me start over.”

Sasha stopped and realized they were at the town square. Several vacant park benches were directly in front of her. Josh apprehensively reached for her arm.

“Please, I have so many wonderful homes to show you on paper. If you don’t have any interest in them, you can write me off as a total loser and find some other buyer’s agent to work with. Give me thirty minutes of your time, and if you don’t mind, tell me your name again. I’d still like to buy you lunch.” This time, it looked like a genuine smile on Josh Redmond’s face.

Sasha took a deep breath, paused as she gathered her thoughts, and agreed to give him ten minutes of her time. If he didn’t have a decent portfolio of homes to show her on paper, she would leave Josh Redmond and his ego in the dust.

“Let’s go across the street to Amelia’s. At least we can sit where it’s air-conditioned. Let me buy you something, even a burger and iced tea while I show you the listings I put together. If you have any interest, I might be able to show you a few today. Several of them are empty.”

Sasha softened a bit out of nothing more than curiosity. She really wanted to see the vacant houses if they matched the style and location she was looking for. At this point she thought of Josh Redmond as nothing more than a slimy snail groping for a sale.

***

They walked together across the street to Amelia’s. The cool air took Sasha’s breath away when they entered. With only the tiny shorts and tank top on, goose bumps rose on her arms from the extreme temperature change.

“Here, let me give you my sports jacket to wear,” he said, trying to break the ice.

A snide comeback was on the tip of her tongue, but Sasha accepted the jacket only because she was freezing.

“May I please start over?” Josh opened his briefcase and pulled out the notes he scratched on a yellow legal pad earlier when he spoke to Sasha on the phone. He also had five folders filled with color photos and details about the houses he wanted to show her.
Yellow legal pad, yellow dress, wrong name. Wow, I’m batting a whopping zero right now,
he thought. He casually glanced down and saw the name Sasha Renaud. Single woman. Traditional houses, nice neighborhood. It all came back to him now. “Sasha, let me buy you something to eat and drink. Please, it’s the least I can do. I really was a jag earlier, I’ll be the first to admit that. Let me make it up to you. I promise I’ll work hard at finding you a house to fall in love with.”

Sasha liked that description.
A house I can fall in love with. That’s exactly what I want.
“Okay… I’ll take a chicken wrap and a club soda.”

Josh smiled from ear to ear and walked up to the counter to place their orders.

Sasha watched him. She wasn’t about to fall for any man’s sneaky tactics again.
I will admit, now that he’s out of his element of being the pickup artist, he isn’t that bad.

They went over the five home portfolios Josh brought along, and Sasha eliminated two of them right away. They just didn’t “do it” for her. The other three were nice enough that she wanted to do a walk-through of each one.

“Okay, the houses on Richwood Drive and Woodland Place are vacant. We can head over there as soon as you’re ready. The other one, we’ll have to set up an appointment for. As far as homes similar to the ones on Oak Terrace Lane, I have to tell you, they’re a bit pricey. There’s three for sale in that general neighborhood though.”

“What do you consider pricey, Josh?” Sasha asked.

“Well, let me pull them up on my tablet and show you what I mean.” Josh showed Sasha two of the three homes that ranged in asking price from $675,000 to $907,000. The most expensive home didn’t have a photo with the listing. The pictures looked nice, but the least expensive house had such a tiny backyard, there would be no chance of even building a deck on the back. She eliminated that one from her wish list. They planned to set up Saturday as the day to look at houses. The two near Aaron’s house and any others Josh could find that fit into Sasha’s parameters would be lined up. “Okay, if you’re ready, let’s check out the first two empty houses in today’s listings.” Josh paid the bill and led Sasha to his car.

They did a walk-through of the two houses. One was a maybe, and the other was very ordinary for the price. Sasha took detailed notes as Josh explained the pros and cons of each house.
He actually is good at being a Realtor,
she thought.
Now if he could only fall out of love with himself, he just might become a decent guy.

Chapter Thirteen

Josh dropped Sasha off at the salon after they finished looking at the houses. She didn’t want him taking her to Tina’s house and asking a lot of questions. For all Sasha knew, Josh was acquainted with Tina. It seemed like he was friends with all the single women in town. Right now, the less information he had about Sasha, the better she liked it. She hadn’t formed an opinion of him yet, either good or bad. For now, her focus was on buying the house of her dreams. She wanted a house to fall in love with.

Sasha bounded through the double doors of Hair Brained. It was after three o’clock.

“Why does that gray car you got out of look like Josh Redmond’s Infinity?” Vic asked, with her nose scrunched up.

“Seriously you guys, what’s up with the Josh Redmond bashing?”

“Oh no, he got to you, didn’t he?” Vic turned and winked at Tina who was positioning Mrs. Edwards under the hairdryer. “Sasha, I’m not bashing him. Actually, I wouldn’t mind a little piece of him myself, but he does have a serious reputation with the women in town. I’m just saying… ”

“So I’ve heard. Anyway, he’s my Realtor. That is, unless he goes all bullshit ego on me again. How gross. I had to take him down a few notches. It was kind of cool to watch him squirm. I told him I would hire a different agent if he didn’t start acting more professional.”

“How did he take that,” Vic asked, with a hearty laugh. She was surprised, but proud of Sasha for standing up to him.

“He behaved after that. That guy is on a long haul ego trip though. Is his brother like that too?” Sasha plopped down on an empty styling chair as Vic came over to examine the ends of her hair. Vic unbraided Sasha’s dark mass of humid frizz, and began a thorough search.

“Oh yeah. The Redmond brothers are Tarrytown’s tramps, in my opinion. You might need a serious body scrub after going out with one of them.”

“How gross. I get the picture though, thanks, Vic. Anyway, if you guys are free on Saturday, I’d love it if you’d tag along to look at houses. Josh is showing me at least three of them. I was pretty specific with the type of home I’m interested in, and where I want to live. There’s a couple in my price range within a few blocks of Aaron’s house.”

“No shit? You can afford that kind of house? When is the closing on your apartment?” Vic asked.

“It’s in three weeks, but I can put earnest money down on a house if I find something I like. I mean, wouldn’t that be cool to live in Aaron’s neighborhood? Soon enough Mia will live there too.”

“Do you have the 411 on something we don’t?” Tina walked over and grabbed a handful of Sasha’s hair. She joined in on the examination. Her small scissors were at the ready.

“Well, someday she and Aaron will get married. I’m just saying… that’s all. Anyway, will you guys come? I’m going to call Karen too, since she has a great eye for houses.”

“I’m free,” Vic said.

“Me too,” Tina added. “You and I can drive over to Raunchy Redmond’s office together in my car.”

“You two are so immature.” Sasha gave them both a snooty expression and huffed. “Are you finding any split ends?” she asked, hoping they’d say no.

“Nope,” Vic assured her. “And as a reminder, nobody better have anything planned for next Saturday, the 23rd. That’s the day of my party. Whoever is a no show will answer to me. I’m going to have two lists. A list for lucky souls, and a shit list for the people that better have a damn good excuse to give me. Consider yourself warned.”

Sasha looked toward Tina for safety. Tina rolled her eyes and laughed out loud. “Don’t worry, Vic, we actually want to live a long life. We’ll be there. Anyway, we need to help you get the party ready.”

***

Vic sat in bed with a notepad and pen that night. She listened as the much needed rain pattered against her bedroom window. The sound soothed her. She was putting together the menu for her party and trying to come up with a theme. The party in honor of Aaron and Mia becoming a couple didn’t really warrant a theme, but Vic did want something special for them. She decided on a cake with their pictures on it. Balloons and streamers would decorate the backyard. Vic’s mind wandered off as she took a sip of the wine she brought into the bedroom. She thought about the real reason for the party. A certain part of her felt ashamed to be testing Max, but the other part needed the truth. In her mind she imagined how Max might act around Mia.
Will he long for her when he sees her, or act like a casual friend? Will there be a twinkle in his eye when he glances her way?
Why the hell am I tormenting myself like this? I hope Max is really as interested in me as he seems. If he’s still fawning over Mia, then I guess we’re done. I wonder if Aaron knows Max and Mia are acquainted with each other.
Vic was sure Max and Mia hadn’t seen each other since the day Vic met him.
That’s been more than a month
, she thought. She drank the last gulp of wine to finish off the glass, then punched her pillow into the shape she liked for sleeping.
It will be what it will be.
She switched off the lamp on the nightstand and fell asleep.

Saturday morning’s breakfast was interrupted by the ringing doorbell. Tina and Sasha were just finishing their French toast. They laughed, and agreed it had to be Karen. Tina yelled out for her to come in.

“Where’s Mia and Vic?” Karen asked, looking at her watch. “We’re supposed to be at Redmond Brother’s Realty at ten o’clock. It’s already nine-thirty.”

“Should I see if Mia wants to come? I didn’t ask her,” Sasha replied, now worried that she did the unthinkable.