All's Fair In Love & Business

Chapter 2

Xavier Sterling

My driver pulls into Wheeler's Reality and I close my Laptop. Now more than ever I need a home that I can escape to. I haven't slept well in days and my focus at work is slipping because of it. Opening the car door, I didn't hesitate before walking to the large dark stained oak door. Just as I hit the first step, the door opens to a very pregnant Elizabeth.

She smiles. "You look exactly the same." She says, greeting me warmly.

"So do you reply," I replied.

"Minus the belly, of course."

She closes the door and I see Aaron walking towards us.

"Xavier, long time no see. How are you, man?"

"Great. You?"

"Never better, my friend. Come on in. I pulled out a couple of properties you may like. It's mostly upper New York. I've got some city, rural and lake fronts. I thought you'd like to know what your options are."

I nodded. "Like I said on the phone. I want something fast."

"I hear you. All the properties I'm about to show you are from motivated sellers. Obviously, with money not being an issue, we can get you into a house within a couple of days, possibly even days." He replied, confidently.

"I didn't know you both worked together on the properties. I thought Elizabeth was the primary realtor and you ran the day-to-day operations." I said, looking behind me, noticing Elizabeth hadn't followed us.

He shuts the door to the office and gives me an awkward smile.

"Yeah, she usually does. But, she and Piper are still really close friends." He gave me an awkward shrug.

I nodded. "Piper didn't want her working with me." I stated, knowingly.

"Oh, no. Piper wouldn't ask her to do that. It's just a loyal thing, you know?"

I scoff. "I didn't get much loyalty when Piper slept with my brother. I doubt she knows the meaning of the word." I stated, unable to keep the venom from my voice.

He laughs uncomfortably and shakes his head.

"You can't be serious. Our Piper? A cheater. No, way. Where'd you hear that?"

He questions, finding the idea laughable.

"A friend of mine saw her leave a bar with my brother the same night she called to break up with me. A little coincidental, don't you think?" I asked, my jaw tight.

He shakes his head.

"Listen, I know you're not here to rehash the past and neither am I. So, let's find you a house."

He responds, clearly wanting to move on.

Spending the next half hour narrowing down the list of houses I want to see isn't easy. My irritation with the Realty couple is growing. If Elizabeth didn't want to work with me, I would've sought out a different realtor. Aaron is trying his best, but it's obvious that he's not familiar with the house listings and has no idea what he's doing. Finally, my patience runs out when he pulls up a house that I asked to see, only to find that it had been sold two days ago.

"Aaron, I know you're trying, but if Elizabeth doesn't want to work with me I'll find someone else." I stated, standing up ready to leave.

"Wait, hold on. Let me talk to Elizabeth. I mean it was years ago, everyone moved on. There's no reason for there to be any hostility between anyone." He motions for me to sit as he stands up to leave.

I sat as he exited the room. What did he mean? Everyone moved on? Has Piper moved on? Not that I care...

Minutes later, Elizabeth comes into the office. "I hear Aaron's doing a crap job. I told him he needed to start learning the system, but of course, he thinks he knows everything already. He is, after all, male." She jokes.

"Like I told Aaron, I can find someone else if you're not comfortable working with me." I reiterated.

"Its not that. Its just weird. Pip's my best friend." She replies, explaining her hesitation.

"Well, are you working for me or not?" I asked, not liking the way I felt hearing the nickname I myself gave Piper.

She sighs.

"Honestly, with the baby on the way, we need the commission. And if Pip's okay with it, so am I."

"You told her." I replied, wanting to hear more about her reaction to me coming back into her life, indirectly, of course.

"I did." She confirms, giving nothing away. Then she adds, " She's over it.

Over you. She's moved on with her life." She adds with a careless shrug. Irritating me beyond measure.

"I'm glad," I said, coldly.

Elizabeth picks up where Aaron left off and we are scheduled to see three houses tomorrow. I left without hearing another word about Piper. For some reason, I feel a slight loss because of it.