Chapter 21. Destination?
Lilly Bradley
I paced back and forth in my room, replaying the scene Jackson had made. A smile appeared on my lips as I remembered the genuine annoyance in his eyes. I sighed and then slowly shook my head.
"I hope that makes Oliver stop bothering me." There was a knock on the door. "Come in." It was my sister.
"Hey, what are you up to?" she asked, peeking her head through the door.
"Nothing, I was going to have dinner, read a bit, and then go to bed."
"Aren't you going to watch one of your shows?" I smiled.
"No, I'm not in the mood this time. What about you? It's a miracle you're home." I glanced at my watch. "It's early."
I could see Leah's expression change.
"I'll be leaving at my usual time. No more overtime or favors." I gestured for her to come into the room.
"Tell me about it." She sat on the stool at my vanity, then took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"It turns out they were taking advantage of my 'Newbie' status to make me do things that weren't my responsibility. I could have continued, but they were crossing the line. So, when I was defending myself from that abuse, the boss happened to be listening. He called them into the office and warned them that he wouldn't tolerate it and would investigate thoroughly if it had happened behind his back with other 'newbies,' which he suspected might be why employees didn't last and caused delays in previous projects." I sat on the edge of the bed, facing her.
"Oh, it's good he realized that," I said, surprised by everything she was telling me.
"Yeah, the good thing is I'll be able to have my normal schedule now. So we can watch movies, go out to dinner, explore the city," she pouted. "We haven't done that since we got here."
I sighed.
"I know," I cleared my throat. "By the way, I have to tell you something that happened before I came home."
Leah raised her eyebrows with curiosity, crossed one leg over the other, and folded her arms, attentive to what I was about to say.
"Speak." So I prepared myself.
"Oliver called me." Leah rolled her eyes for a moment and shook her head.
"I told you you should change your number. If you're going to adapt, do it completely. So, what did he want?"
"Well, I was walking out when he called from a number I didn't recognize. I thought it might be one of my friends, but it was him. He said he'd been looking for me to talk. I told him I wasn't in the country, and he started saying things, saying that because of him, I was living luxuriously. Can you believe it?"
"I hope you told him off." Leah was annoyed.
"Well, after he said all that, he apologized and wanted to get back together. I refused, and then he started threatening me. I didn't let him talk anymore and started responding when..." I stopped, remembering the scene with Jackson.
"Why are you turning red?" She widened her eyes. "What? Tell me!"
"My boss grabbed my phone and told Oliver off..." I couldn't help it and burst out laughing. My sister squealed with excitement.
"Give me more details!" I nodded, trying to control my excitement.
"Wait," I wiped the corners of my eyes. "He said something like: 'Listen up, idiot, stop bothering Lilly,' " I tried to imitate Jackson's voice, "then something about, 'I'll take one of my planes and beat you up so you remember not to threaten a lady. She's not alone.' And he ended with something about thinking carefully about what he was going to do from now on." Leah stood up and let out another squeal of excitement, accompanied by a little dance she does when she's excited.
"Oh my god! Oh my god! What a man! I want one of those!" Then I remembered I hadn't told my sister something.
"You could have had him, but I had to fill in for you that night." She stopped and slowly chewed over every word I said.
"No!" I nodded while she was almost in shock. "The dinner date?"
"The same."
"Oh my god, what a small world."
"Too small... It turns out that the one who defended me from Oliver is my boss and the one you could have met on that blind date."
Leah sat back on the stool and looked at me, narrowing her eyes.
"So, he seems like a good man."
"What's your point?" I asked, intrigued.
"Nothing, I was just saying he's a good man." She cleared her throat. "If he went to that blind date, it means he's single and not married. He's a good, hardworking man since he's a boss. I guess he doesn't depend on his family, and..." I immediately knew what she was getting at.
"No. No and no. You're not going to sell me the idea that one nail drives out another."
"I didn't say anything." Leah raised her hands in surrender, got up, and smiled. "I'm just saying that it seems fate works in mysterious ways."
"Go away," I emphasized the word, and she smiled more as she got up.
"I'm leaving..." Then she left the room, leaving me sitting on the edge of the bed. I just shook my head at her words.
"He's just my boss..." I murmured before getting back to what I had to do for the rest of the day to relax. "What fate? Leah and her things..." I sounded sarcastic.
For the rest of the week, we hadn't crossed paths or exchanged words, calls, or anything—zero contact. That didn't surprise me. After that night when he defended me from Oliver, he must have thought he got involved in a private conversation, but it was too late to go back. So, he avoided crossing paths with me out of embarrassment.
"Are you very busy?" I looked up from the documents and saw Maxima, who had a worried expression—there was a furrow in her brow—when something was bothering her.
"I'm almost done. Is something wrong?"
"I have a dinner with a very important client, but something came up that I can't postpone or reschedule. I know it's neither your job nor mine to be an agent, but our best agent quit last week. And it turns out her client just arrived in the city..."
"But what do you need?" I asked, wondering if I could help. It was Friday, and I had already finished my work for Monday, so I could stay up late.
"Go to the dinner, show her two properties." My eyes widened.
"But I don't know anything about the properties." She gave a half-smile.
"I have the information. You just need to tell her about them and sell the image of those two properties. If she's interested—and she better be—we'll schedule a viewing, and I can go with her personally."
"Oh, it sounds easy, but I have no experience selling anything and..."
"Come on, if she's not interested," she shrugged. "We'll just lose a valuable and important client. I know Johnson would be annoyed, but we don't have our best agent, so the blame won't entirely fall on you." I raised my eyebrows and crossed my arms, leaning back in my chair.
"Well, in that case, you should choose someone who has sales experience because it's clear I won't succeed without it. Besides, I don't want any problems with Mr. Johnson." She pouted, then sighed.
"I thought you'd say you'd try." I sighed at her words. She was about to leave when I stopped her.
"Okay, give me the information about the properties and where the dinner is." She smiled gratefully.
"Thank you, thank you," she pulled a folded sheet of paper from the pocket of her stylish pants and handed it to me.
"Is everything here?" I looked down at the paper and, unfolding it, saw two photos of large residential houses with gardens, along with their descriptions, addresses, and the names of the neighborhoods.
"Yes, everything. Here's the address of the dinner. Wear your best outfit; you have time to get ready." She handed me another sheet. I would have to ask my dad to lend me the car to get there on time.
"Alright then..." I looked up at Maxima. "...Is it just showing her this?"
"You need to learn this information. My secretary will give you the folder with the color photos."
"Okay, what time is the dinner?" Maxima smiled.
"At nine. You have to be punctual. This client hates tardiness. You should start gathering your things and get ready now."
"But there's almost two hours left."
"I authorize your early departure. Go and take your time to look your best. I'll ask my secretary to bring you the folder right away." She then left the office.
After leaving the office and arriving home, I finally found an outfit I hadn't worn in a long time but kept for emergencies. It was a white long-sleeved, high-neck blouse and black dress pants, my black high-heeled boots, and a long black trench coat. I curled the ends of my hair. Looking in the mirror, I looked very different from how I dressed for work.
I was on my way to the dinner with Maxima's client. I had memorized the details of the two properties, including the colors of the facades, and hoped not to mess up. Half an hour later, after asking for directions several times—it was obvious I wasn't from around here—people were wary and only helped me find the way somewhat. I entered a very elegant residential area with a few large houses, and at the end of the street was the client's majestic house, the only one that stood out for being twice as big as the others. There was a large gate and a guardhouse. I stopped and checked the address and number again. As I looked up, the guard approached me.
"Good evening," I began.
"Good evening. Are you Miss...?" The man looked at something on a clipboard he held. "Bradley?" Hearing my last name, I felt relieved that I had finally arrived.
"That's me."
"Go ahead, they're expecting you."
"Thank you." He went into the guardhouse to activate the gate, which slid open to let me in. I thanked the man and entered, nerves immediately setting in, but I had no time for that. I checked the clock and saw I was ten minutes early. "Good job leaving early, Lilly," I muttered under my breath. I grabbed the folder from the passenger seat, checked myself one last time in the rearview mirror, then got out of the car. I walked up the rustic stone steps; the entire facade of the house was like that. At the double doors, I paused to calm my racing heart. Feeling more composed, I reached out to ring the bell, but the door opened before I could. Standing there was a tall, broad-shouldered man—not just any man...
It was him, Jackson Johnson.