over herself the minute she stepped outside and bumped into a pedestrian. With a scalded chest, throbbing burn marks on her hands and decorated in coffee stains, Eden walked into Archer Realty with a dark cloud over her head. Ignoring the looks she received from nearly everyone in the large, open office space, she walked to her cubicle with as much grace as she could muster to grab the extra set of clothes from the bottom draw of her filling cabinet that she kept for emergencies like this. When she returned, it was to the frenzy of the entire staff panicking because some computer system error had screwed up clients deadlines. A call to IT told them all it would take a day or two to fix the error; until then they had to track down all their paperwork the old fashion way and make the necessary calls.
It was one thing after another after that. Eden was asked to take a set of appointments from another agent who'd called in sick last minute. The upside to that was she could now fill the blocked three hours that she'd reserved for Dominic's homecoming with these last minute showings. She'd skipped out on lunch because she was completely swamped. Running from one side of the city to the other just to meet her clients on time, didn't afford her a second to stop and grab something on the go. She did however have a granola bar in her glove compartment that would hold her over for a bit. It was while reaching for that granola bar that she got pulled over.
Twenty minutes she sat on the side of the road while the officer checked her license and registration. Two hundred and thirty dollars he fined her for supposedly rolling through a stop sign. Pissed couldn't even begin to describe Eden's sour mood and to top it all off, she was now late in meeting her next client. Apoplectic was how she felt when the GPS system began spazzing out on her. For some godforsaken reason it took her off the interstate once she'd paid the toll and had brought her to street roads. Every time she tried to navigate it would lead her to streets that weren't even there. Which was how she found herself in this current predicament. She ordinarily mapped out her routes and the properties in advance before she set out to meet her clients for a showing, but because this was one of Allison's clients, Eden hadn't had time to do much research.
The three beeps from the dashboard signaled that that the GPS system was back on. She pressed the microphone button on the console and slowly said the address of her destination when prompted by the automated voice.
"In eight hundred feet turn left."
"You better work this time, bitch or I swear to God I'm going to short circuit you with my bottle of water," Eden threatened, knowing fully that she sounded like a basket case at this point. She was however beyond the point of caring.
***
“I’m so sorry for being late..." Eden's words trailed into silence, her mouth falling shut at the gesture of the tall, sandy haired man standing by the open French doors. He held a phone to his ear with one hand while the other was used to indicate silence by holding his index finger up in the air in Eden’s direction.
It wasn't English he was speaking. German…maybe? The conversation appeared one sided, mostly from his end. And he wasn't so much as speaking to the other person on the line, but rather barking every other word. Deciding it prudent to give him the privacy he sorely needed, Eden turned to leave but was instantly stopped by the order of, "Stay where you are."
For a brief moment she was lost on how to respond, taken aback by the arrogance of that directive. But the shock quickly wore off, giving way to annoyance that was slightly tinged with anger. She stopped and turned back around not because he'd ordered it, but to better assess him. This was her first time meeting him. But she immediately knew the sort of man he was. It wasn't too hard to pick out the identifiers. He wore the cloak of conceit
It was one thing after another after that. Eden was asked to take a set of appointments from another agent who'd called in sick last minute. The upside to that was she could now fill the blocked three hours that she'd reserved for Dominic's homecoming with these last minute showings. She'd skipped out on lunch because she was completely swamped. Running from one side of the city to the other just to meet her clients on time, didn't afford her a second to stop and grab something on the go. She did however have a granola bar in her glove compartment that would hold her over for a bit. It was while reaching for that granola bar that she got pulled over.
Twenty minutes she sat on the side of the road while the officer checked her license and registration. Two hundred and thirty dollars he fined her for supposedly rolling through a stop sign. Pissed couldn't even begin to describe Eden's sour mood and to top it all off, she was now late in meeting her next client. Apoplectic was how she felt when the GPS system began spazzing out on her. For some godforsaken reason it took her off the interstate once she'd paid the toll and had brought her to street roads. Every time she tried to navigate it would lead her to streets that weren't even there. Which was how she found herself in this current predicament. She ordinarily mapped out her routes and the properties in advance before she set out to meet her clients for a showing, but because this was one of Allison's clients, Eden hadn't had time to do much research.
The three beeps from the dashboard signaled that that the GPS system was back on. She pressed the microphone button on the console and slowly said the address of her destination when prompted by the automated voice.
"In eight hundred feet turn left."
"You better work this time, bitch or I swear to God I'm going to short circuit you with my bottle of water," Eden threatened, knowing fully that she sounded like a basket case at this point. She was however beyond the point of caring.
***
“I’m so sorry for being late..." Eden's words trailed into silence, her mouth falling shut at the gesture of the tall, sandy haired man standing by the open French doors. He held a phone to his ear with one hand while the other was used to indicate silence by holding his index finger up in the air in Eden’s direction.
It wasn't English he was speaking. German…maybe? The conversation appeared one sided, mostly from his end. And he wasn't so much as speaking to the other person on the line, but rather barking every other word. Deciding it prudent to give him the privacy he sorely needed, Eden turned to leave but was instantly stopped by the order of, "Stay where you are."
For a brief moment she was lost on how to respond, taken aback by the arrogance of that directive. But the shock quickly wore off, giving way to annoyance that was slightly tinged with anger. She stopped and turned back around not because he'd ordered it, but to better assess him. This was her first time meeting him. But she immediately knew the sort of man he was. It wasn't too hard to pick out the identifiers. He wore the cloak of conceit
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