Page 15 of Up All Night
I shrug."Because now I need to know why it's odd."
She rises and is facetious."The boy inside the man.How fun."
I ignore her and open the door."Hey, Luce.Go to lunch.I'll come back to see you in a couple of hours."
Lucy smiles.We've got a history together.She knows that I'm not going anywhere.She's the best in the business, and I'm a little superstitious, so I can't help but think that part of my success is because of her.The properties that she's sold me so far have been like gold, and she's also fixing to hook me up with a fantastic second home out here in North Carolina, so there's another reason why she doesn't look rattled that I'm leaving with her colleague."I'll see you shortly, Stone.Take good care of him, Lark."
"I'll try my best."Lark says, widening her eyes, somewhat unimpressed.
"My car or yours?"I ask.
"Mine.That way I can write everything off."
I chuckle."You don't think I can write anything off?"
"Fine.We'll take your car.Arrogant much?"
I snort a laugh."Man, am I glad that Lucy's my realtor and not you."
"That makes two of us."She scoffs a self-righteous laugh, as we get inside my truck."Wow, they say that when a man drives a large truck, that he's compensating for something."
I laugh out loud maniacally, as I buckle up."You are something else, Lark.Jesus Christ.Did you ever think that maybe I might need a larger vehicle being in the hotel business?"
"I don't imagine you transporting linens and furniture from place to place.I think you probably have hired help for that."
I roll my eyes."What's the address?"
"Um, Diesel Street?"She says it like I'm a fucking idiot.
"Diesel Street is very long.Unless you want to go joyriding for a half an hour looking for it, you should probably tell me exactly where it is."
"I thought you said that you didn't live in North Carolina."She scoffs like a spoiled brat, finding the address on her phone.
"I don't.But a lot of my family do, and I come out here often enough that it doesn't matter, in case you were wondering."
"Fine."She places her phone up on the dash, dialed into the maps app."Happy?"
"Yes."If I were a little girl, my nose would be in the air.What is with this chick?I've never met a girl that got under my skin in this way before.She is totally unimpressed, and it feels like she's got some preconceived notions about me or something.She says nothing more as we pull up to the large, sandwich-board style sign, toting the previous owner, and indicating trespassing is prohibited."This was previously owned?"
"Looks that way."Her voice is condescending.
"Fuck this.It's nothing but a vacant lot and we can't even take a closer look.I'll wait for Lucy to find out what's going on."I'm annoyed, and I want to unload this chick as soon as possible."I'll take you back to the office and head out for lunch."
She's already pulling her phone off the dash mount, but I watch her key something into the map app, before she replaces it on the stand."There.This is the property I was telling you about."
“I think I’ll just take you back to the office.“
She rakes a hand through her hair.My cousin Stevie once described what this type of cut is called.It’s called a long shag.And the way that her hair feathers back and falls perfectly into place makes her look like a model.I will myself to look back at the road, so that I don’t appear to think that she’s even the least bit attractive, despite the fact that she is a knockout.“Indulge me, will you?Look, I’m not usually this bitchy, I promise.Just let me show you this place, so that we can both keep in Lucy‘s good graces."
I detect a certain something in her expression.Her face is softer, like she’s let her guard down slightly.I want to ask her if there’s something bothering her, but God forbid.She’s liable to just point out the fact that I really am the nosy type.“Fine."
I pull away from the curb and head back towards the highway, following the directions that the map is giving me."So, what’s the deal with this place?Is it like a big haunted mansion or something?"
“If I tell you then there’s no point in me taking you there.Just humor me.It’ll be worth it."
Her phone pings with several text messages as we drive, but she ignores them.“Shouldn’t you check your phone?"
“It’s none of my clients and it’s not Lucy, so they can wait."
