As she spoke, she moved us into the office. It was one large room with a desk at one end and two tables against the back wall separated by a credenza covered in leafy green plants. She sat us down at the larger of the two tables where two stacks of glossy papers were waiting.
“Before we start looking at places, does anyone want anything?” she asked, handing out folded paper menus. “The coffee shop across the street makes amazing lattes, and its scones and muffins are super tasty.”
“I’ll never say no to mocha lattes!” Jina said, reaching for the glossy papers.
Jennifer nodded and looked at me. I ordered the same so it would be an easy order, and Jennifer stepped away to make a call.
“This is nice,” Jina said, shoving a sheet of paper in my face. I grabbed it and looked at a gorgeous storefront on the corner of a building with giant windows taking up most of two walls.
“It’s nice,” I said, then saw the rental price and shook my head. “Maybe something a little smaller.”
“Vie’s paying,” Jina reminded me with a smug look on her face as if challenging Vie to get upset.
“That’s true,” Vie said, missing her attempt to poke at him. “If you want something smaller so it’s more of an intimate shopping experience, then that’s fine. But the price shouldn’t be part of the conversation.”
“And that’s what I like to hear,” Jennifer said with a cheerful chuckle as she sat down across from us.
We spent about an hour going over both commercial properties and houses for sale. Jina kept viewing the houses as if both of us would be living there, but I knew I’d be spending my nights with Vie from now on.
I’d break it to her gently later because we wouldn’t be buying anything today. Even if Vie had the money, this type of thing took time.
We were starting to narrow down our selections when a phone buzzed. All the women checked their cells, but none of us had incoming calls. We all looked around and our gazes landed on Vie.
He looked confused for a moment, then realized what was going on. Sheepishly, he pulled a phone out of his hoodie pouch and answered it.
“Inola?” He nodded as he listened. “Remain inside, I’ll be there as quickly as I can. Don’t call the authorities.”
He shoved the phone back into his hoodie and stood up. “Inola needs…uh, my help.”
I nodded and stood up too. “Call me when you're done.”
I grabbed his head and pulled him down for a quick kiss.
“I don’t want to leave you,” he said when I pulled away.
“I know, but you’ll get to Inola faster without me,” I said, then flashed him a cheeky grin. “And any woman that gave you all that great advice is worth saving.”
He chuckled, then looked at Jennifer. “They get anything they want. Price isn’t an issue.” Then he looked at me one more time before striding out.
I watched until he disappeared out the door, then sat back down. I missed him already.
Jina got my attention. “Who’s Inola?”
“She’s a friend of his,” I said.
“You’re not worried or anything?" Jina asked.
I gave her my most confident smile. “Not even a little.”
We stepped out of Jennifer's building into the bright sunlight about twenty minutes after Vie left. I was glad we weren’t viewing anything today because I was feeling a little overwhelmed.
“That was intense,” Jina said as we paused outside. “Want to get some lunch?”
“Sure. How about at that—”
I couldn’t finish my suggestion because someone grabbed my hair from behind and shoved something hard against my back.
“I finally have you alone,” a horribly familiar voice said. “That fucker you replaced me with isn’t here to defend you.”
