Page 19 of Hexes From Exes

From what Rick could see, this date was going just as swimmingly as the first one.

Stephanie was at another bar restaurant – Rick wondered why every date had to involve food and alcohol – in the busy district near her condo. Rick was sitting close enough to eavesdrop on the entire conversation with his enhanced demon hearing, but far enough away that it wouldn’t be obvious. He considered ordering another of the mo-jito’s that he’d had last time, but the headache that came the next day was not one he wanted to repeat. He looked at the menu without a lick of understanding, instead deciding to order whatever Stephanie did. Except she was ordering wine again, and he’d decided that he did not like it.

William was not one of the men that summoned Rick, though he easily could have been. From what Rick was gathering, he was a local real estate mogul who owned his share of rental properties as well as flips. He capitalized on the high inventory and low mortgage rates in Phoenix a few years prior, and then when the mass move to Phoenix happened, he jacked up his prices and made a killing.

He’d been talking about it for – Rick checked his watch – forty-five minutes uninterrupted. In his defense, Stephanie didn’t even try to interject, and if Rick wasn’t getting to know her, he would have thought she was interested in what he was saying. But she had little tells, just like everyone else, and she wasn’t watching him the same way she watched Rick when he spoke. This guy thought she was enamored with the breakdown of interest rate hikes by the feds…what an idiot. Didn’t this fool see the way her eyes constantly roamed the restaurant? Or the way she nearly jumped with joy when the waitress came to interrupt?

Stephanie definitely dressed up for the date. Rick couldn’t keep his eyes off her when she first entered the restaurant. She wore a plunging shirt that showed off her nice, full breasts and a tight pair of jeans that highlighted all her curves. She wore her hair the way Rick liked it – pulled back and off her face. It showed off her expressive eyes, which he tried to catch and throw meaningful looks at whenever they met his. It was clear she was trying to pay attention and failing horribly.

Even Rick was having trouble following William’s rambling.

“Sir?” The waiter was standing inches from Rick, trying to get his attention. It was Friday night, and the place was clearly trendy, he’d nearly been escorted from the premises when he said he didn’t have a reservation. They allowed him a seat at the bar if there was an open one, which Rick would have had to wait for if it weren’t for his persuasive nature. He wasn’t breaking any rules by using his magic to have a glass of wine spill all over someone’s very clean, very white outfit. He needed that spot to do his job.

The council would never find out.

Stephanie ordered something called pasta, and when it arrived Rick thought he was looking at worms. He took a tentative bite and found that it was actually very good. The more time he spent in the human realm, the more he was enjoying their little things – mostly the food. And the weather. Phoenix was a temperate 108 degrees that day. It felt like vacation weather.

“So, you see, the feds try to curb inflation by increasing interest rates, so the sellers that missed the low mortgage rate window are now sitting on property that’s not meeting the comps in the neighborhood,” William continued.

Rick rolled his eyes. Did anyone find this sort of information interesting?

“A savvy buyer right now may be able to get a good deal on a home in a higher priced neighborhood because of it, though who knows when or if it’ll rebound. Remember 2008?” he said with a laugh.

“We were just out of high school,” Stephanie countered. “I don’t think we could conceptualize being a real estate agent in 2008,” she added.

William paused, and Rick turned his head to watch the man blink at Stephanie, his face changing quickly from the congenial smile he wore while blabbering on to one akin to rage. Rick had to do a double take.

“Are you calling me stupid?” William asked.

Stephanie raised her eyebrows. “No, I’m just saying that you can research something all you want, but if you weren’t a buyer or seller in 2008 there’s no way you could understand.” She took a long sip of her wine then, her eyes never leaving William’s face.

“I remember it,” William shot, crossing his arms over his chest. “And I understood it at the time. Don’t project your lack of knowledge onto me.”

Stephanie’s fork dropped with a clatter onto her plate, her eyes boring into William with an intensity Rick had never seen. No wonder she was a CEO of a successful business with a look like that.

“In 2008, I was two years out of high school, living on my own. My parents were dead and left me their house and their trust, which I was struggling to get access to because of some bullshit lawyer. When the crash happened, the house had a half-million dollar mortgage, but the bank wouldn’t pay more than $100,000 for it. I was upside down, couldn’t go to school and pay the bills, and having to reconcile with selling my childhood home that had all my memories of my dead parents. I’m not projecting anything.” Her voice was low, cold, and angry.

Rick was now full on staring at the scene, his fork full of the worm-looking pasta paused half way to his mouth.

William was not cowed. “Sounds like your parents made a poor investment,” he said with a shrug.

“Not nearly as bad as the one your parents did,” Stephanie countered, standing and collecting her purse.

“Oh, c’mon, calm down. It’s just a joke, don’t get all crazy,” William said, waving his arms.

Stephanie said nothing as she gathered her purse and speed walked out of the restaurant. Rick was hesitant to leave his unfinished meal, but he needed to keep a tail on Stephanie. With a sigh, he left the bar area to weave through the crowd after Stephanie.

He found her making her way down the street at a fast clip. From behind, Rick couldn’t help but be drawn to Stephanie’s curves in her fitted jeans. He shook his head, picking up to a jog to catch up with her.

“Ugh, I forgot how awful William was,” she said. He thought he saw her swipe at her eyes as if she were crying, but he couldn’t be sure, so he asked.

“Are you crying?” he asked.

Stephanie stopped and turned on him, the fury from before plain in her eyes, except now it was directed at Rick. “So what if I am? You going to call me crazy too?” she asked. People nearby were staring, either stopping to openly watch or pretending to be on their phones.

Rick winced, nodding for them to keep walking. “That’s not what I meant, I was just surprised,” he offered.

“Surprised?” Stephanie asked, falling into step next to him. He watched her swipe at her eyes a few times from the corner of his vision before she shook her head and straightened her shoulders.