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A third one for good measure.
Bryce takes a sip of his. “This is good.”
I lift my cup. “Liquid courage.”
“Do you have enough liquid courage, or do you need a few more sips?”
I snicker. “I’m good to go.”
“How did Brad Hyler come into your life?”
I inhale.
Here goes nothing.
“I blame the Monopoly board game for my obsession with wanting to become a real estate agent. I did a degree in translation in college. It was an insurance policy—Plan B—since you get paid on commission as a realtor. I did a few internships, and knew I’d never become a full-time translator. It wasn’t for me. During my semester, I started taking the obligatory real estate courses. When I got my accreditation, I jumped into my career.”
“Was Brad an agent?”
“No.”
“We met at the New York Build Expo real estate summit two years ago. We were sitting at the same table at a sponsored lunch. One thing led to another, and he suggested we meet for dinner. He felt there was a partnership in the making.”
“What kind of partnership did he have in mind?”
“The real estate market in New York is cutthroat. Not only from one brokerage house to another, but within your own office.”
“Everything business related is cutthroat in New York. It’s eat or be eaten.”
I nod. “To remain at the top of the food chain—aka make a name for myself—I worked like a dog. In doing so, I sacrificed everything else in my life. I was a slave to my phone. It didn’t matter what time of the day or night, or if I was at a family function, I’d answer any client who had questions about a property. Every call was a potential commission. I was too exhausted to have a life outside of work. I had haphazard short-term relationships with men. My friends stopped asking me out because when I showed up, I was unwilling to go dark. I had developed a compulsion where I checked my phone every five minutes. I wasn’t living.” My heart drops in my throat. “I was an addict, but I didn’t know it.”
“You fell out of love with the career you wanted so bad.”
I sigh.
I drop my cup on the coffee table.
Bryce does the same.
“Yes. My mom suggested I explore other options before I developed an addiction to substances, aka cocaine or amphetamines, to keep me going at that frantic pace.”
“I can see where she was coming from. Drugs can become a destructive crutch.”
“I did some soul-searching, but I wasn’t sure what my next moves should be. I was lost.”
“And that’s where Brad comes in, preying on a woman who lost her way in life.” His conclusion is spot on.
I take a ragged intake of breath. “Yes. He assured me there was a way of leveraging my real estate and selling skills that didn’t require the kind of crazy hours I was putting in. I was all ears.”
“What was his grand plan?”
“He was conducting seminars teaching people how to get into the multiplex business.”
“How much was he charging for his seminars?"
“The first two-hour one is free—”
“To get bait.”
