Two weeks later, Olivia Green sat in her Beverly Hills, California office waiting on a client. She was a real estate agent with a special talent. She was hired to get to know the buyer and help find the perfect home for them.  She only sold homes over a million dollars and most of her clients were celebrities or ridiculously wealthy business types. She was oblivious to all of them. She got to know her client and what they were looking for in a living space. She also had a basic questionnaire for minimum requirements. Today she was meeting a client for what she hoped was the final time. She had shown him at least forty spaces and he was still undecided. She had seven places lined up for today.  She got paid a fee for her services as well as a commission, so she often provided lunch to her clients.  It was truly something she loved doing.  She enjoyed looking at different houses and such, but there was nothing quite like seeing someone’s face when they finally realized they were standing in their new home.  She usually knew before they did.  A few times a year, she would work helping out a friend and show smaller homes all over Los Angeles.  She thought it was fun.

 

Peter Franklin was a forty-something guy who came from family money and was newly divorced and looking for his own place.  And he was running late again. Olivia was about to call him to see if he needed to reschedule when he finally showed up in her office.  He was apologetic and offered her the cup of coffee he had brought for her. She took it somewhat reluctantly. She didn’t want to seem rude, but she really didn’t like coffee.

She drove and let Peter look over the information about each home on the way.  When they visited the fifth home that day, Peter finally had found what he felt was the perfect place for him.  It was a cozy four bedroom place with lots of windows and a great view. They headed back to Olivia’s office and worked up the paperwork for Peter’s offer to the seller.  Peter said he wanted to celebrate finding someplace finally and asked if he could take Olivia for a drink. Olivia didn’t date clients, but a celebratory drink was fairly routine. Most of her clients thought of her as a friend by the time she had found a home for them.

She took her own car and met him at a restaurant near her office. Everything was fine until he tried to get her to dance. She had tried to be nice and fend off what were becoming increasingly to familiar comments from Peter. She didn’t want to be rude. He was a very wealthy client and it was never good to burn bridges.

“Listen Peter, you are a super great guy, but I work for you. I don’t date my clients. Plus I think you are to newly divorced to get involved with me. I don’t do casual. I want the real thing and I just don’t see you being ready for that right now.”  She hoped that didn’t sound completely cold.

Peter took it very well and let her excuse herself for the rest of the night. He still tried to kiss her on the way out and grabbed her ass when he did. She was pissed but kept it from showing on her face.  She could play it off on the alcohol when they did the final paperwork for closing on the house. Then Peter Franklin was going into her “Do Not Represent” folder.

 

She drove home to her place in Pacific Palisades. She had a lovely view of the mountains in Topanga State Park from her bedroom and that was her sanctuary.  She intended to hide out there for the rest of the night. But first, she needed to work out some frustration.  She changed into workout clothes and  hit the road to run for a few miles. After that she had intentions of at least a mile in the pool. If she was still frustrated in the morning, she’d stop by for a Krav Maga session on the way to work.  As a part time Krav instructor, she had access whenever she wanted it…even if she did only teach every other week. She headed out of her driveway towards Palisades Drive and shut out the world.

 

 

 

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