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“He does. You just haven't stayed long enough with him to notice. Trust me, all men have disgusting habits.” She gives me a conspiratorial look. “My ex-husband liked to stare at his boogers, can you believe it? He would sometimes pick his nose, and analyze his boogers for ages before he flicked them away. And I married that man.” She makes a gagging noise that nearly has me laughing despite myself, distracting me temporarily from my problem.
“And that’s not even the worst of it,” she continues. “That man must have been a magician because I ignored so much to be with him. Including the fact that he was attached to his mom at the tit.” She shakes her head as though she can’t believe it herself. “Thank god he cheated on me and finally broke the spell. Otherwise, I would still have been married to that to this day.”
I shake my head. “Thank god for little mercies, as my mom used to say.”
“Precisely,” The woman glances at me. “So, who has you here today, then? Looking like you want to give up on the world.”
I look away, depressed once again. I don’t want to talk about him, and as much as I’m enjoying our conversation, this is still a business conference. It wouldn’t do to bring up personal drama into it.
“No one,” I say. “Just some guy who I thought wanted more than he actually did.”
“Ah,” she says sympathetically.
“Yeah. It’s the classic story, isn’t it?" I attempt a weak smile to make light of the situation. "I’m not the first woman to be fooled by it and I won’t be the last.”
“Mm, I feel that. Well, keep in mind that you might not see it now, but he’s probably an idiot who stares at his boogers anyway.”
I smile. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. I’m Diana Roland, by the way. Owner of Roland real estate.
I take her extended hand. “Ava Lawrence.”
“No way,” Her eyes narrow. “Ava Lawrence of Clarkson Real Estate?’
My humor dies. I assume she's heard about me through the rumors Greg spread. I take a deep breath and remind myself that she doesn't know the truth.
"Yeah,” I say, “Except I left Clarkson construction a few weeks ago.”
"Oh. You left right before the big blow-out there, then."
I frown. "The blowout?"
"Yes. Oh, you didn't hear?" She shakes her head. “Apparently some anonymous person leaked a recording of their CEO Greg admitting to sexually harassing a few women. It was quite the scandal."
I gape at her for a few seconds unable to believe my ears.
"How?" I ask.
"No idea. Rumors are someone recorded a private conversation with another unidentified man. Greg admits to assaulting women while laughing. He even named a few of them, although I haven’t heard the recording myself, so I don’t know who was mentioned. The bastard. Of course it blew up, Greg said he was set up, but I don't know why anyone would go through the trouble."
I would, I think. I mean, what are the chances that after I leave the company, Greg suddenly gets caught for his crimes?
But something tells me it's not by chance at all.
I don't know why. And I don't know how. But I have a sneaking suspicion that Maddox has something to do with this.
"And that's not all," Diana continues. "The hacker leaked their bank statements too. Apparently, Clarkson is on the cusp of bankruptcy, and I think the rumors pushed them right into it." She sighs. "They were idiots to let you go.”
The compliment is so unexpected that I’m stunned. “Excuse me?”
“You sound surprised,” she says, amused. “You’re the same Ava Lawrence that won the Maxwell account, right?”
“Yeah.” The Maxwells were an older couple that I worked with in my last months at Clarkson. Very particular but super flamboyant. “I am.”
“That was epic," Diana says. "I was the agent on the other side and I couldn’t even be mad when I heard you got it, because it was so flawlessly them. How did you find the home?”
“An agent never reveals her secrets,” I joke. “But since I’m so flattered, I’ll tell you. Ebay.”
