Chapter 6 : Catty Crystal

Simone

As I walked into the office the next day, I felt like everyone was looking at me. It was like walking into a room and realizing that they'd just been talking about you. What could they possibly have to say? I'd been there less than a week, and I was already showing homes to two clients. Maybe I wasn't a candidate for Employee of the Month, but I wasn't doing a terrible job.

I looked at Mandy, who just rolled her eyes and shook her head, trying to communicate to me that whatever was going on wasn't a big deal. Of course, that meant that something was going on. There was a heavy weight in my stomach.

"Hey, girl," Crystal said in that snarky voice of hers. "So brave of you to show your face today!"

I rolled my eyes and sat down, shooting her a mean look.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked warily.

"Oh, just that you've been showing houses to the richest basketball player in the country, and you haven't sealed the deal yet."

I felt my blood run cold, but I knew there was no way she could know about our sexual tension. I'd only told Mandy, and I trusted her with my life.

"Michael is a picky guy," I answered with a shrug. "He wants to make sure he's putting his money to good use. A house is a big commitment, you know?"

I tried to keep my tone as light and casual as possible, but my heart was pounding out of my chest. There was an undercurrent of bitchiness buzzing through the office, though I wasn't entirely sure why.

"How picky could he be?" Crystal asked with a smirk. "After all, he picked the worst realtor in the entire firm to represent him."

There were snickers from some of the ladies, but Mandy slammed her laptop shut and put an end to it.

"That's enough, ladies," she said firmly. "You all remember what it was like trying to close your first deal. Crystal, you had at least a dozen deals fall through before you sold your first house. That took, what, six months?"

Crystal glared at her, but she was unbothered.

"At least I was able to book my own clients," Crystal quipped back. "How did you meet Michael again, Simone? Wasn't he Kelly's client?" She leaned back in her chair, looking up at the ceiling as if she were lost in thought. She pointed at Mandy without looking. "And wasn't that beachfront mansion your property, Mands?"

I cringed at the look Mandy was shooting her. If there was one thing in this world Mandy couldn't stand, it was someone calling her a cutesy nickname. And if there was one person she couldn't stand, it seemed to be Crystal. I was so grateful to have her on my side.

"Crys," Mandy said, echoing Crystal's stupid abbreviation, "didn't you have to give your last client a blowjob to get him to agree to take a lower offer?"

Crystal smirked and shrugged, not remotely bothered by this accusation. "If that did happen," she started, with a tinge of pride, "we both walked away from that deal satisfied."

I noticed this shut up most of the other girls in the office, though. Mandy knew everything about everybody. While she was usually the picture of discretion, she wasn't above using incriminating information to get what she wanted. No one wanted to test exactly what Mandy would share in front of the entire office.

"If you want to talk about salacious gossip, Mands," Crystal said after a beat, "we can bring up how you get all the best listings in the office."

Mandy laughed humorlessly and looked Crystal dead in the eye. "Is it because I work my ass off, and I'm willing to put aside my personal time to help a client?"

"Well, that's certainly what you and Jake always say, but it seems like being his former blow-up doll really worked to your advantage."

"Is that all you've got?" Mandy laughed again, knowing she was winning the verbal spat. "Jake and I were in a happy, consensual relationship for a year. It began and ended before he even started the firm. He doesn't give me any special treatment. But if you really want to test that, why don't you try to sleep with him and see what happens?"

Everyone was feeling the uncomfortable tension between the two now. There was something else though. From the way my fellow agents were looking at Mandy, it seemed like they sided with Crystal.

"You do get a lot of good listings," one of the younger girls grumbled from the back.

Mandy turned to look at her with a bit of sarcastic sympathy coloring her face.

"Well, bless your heart, Stephanie. I sold ten more listings than you in the last quarter. Of course Jake hasn't given you any good leads; you're barely keeping up with the listings you have."

Stephanie, for her part, looked humbled by Mandy's words.

"It doesn't hurt, though, that Jake introduces you to a lot of potential buyers," another agent said. I hadn't met her yet, but I could tell that she was Team Crystal all the way. What a toxic work environment!

"How did this become about me?" Mandy finally said, frustrated. "We are all one team, and what benefits one of us benefits all of us. And what hurts one of us hurts all of us. So maybe let's stop focusing on all these petty little thoughts and focus on bringing money to the firm."

There were several sighs and huffs from the other girls, but eventually, it was all quiet in the office. For a while, at least. Apparently, Crystal wasn't quite ready to give me a break. Twenty minutes later, she was back to her bullshit.

"Holy shit, Simone, did I hear right that you're also showing houses to Rob Christianson?" The thought seemed to come out of nowhere, but clearly, there was an agenda behind her question.

"That's right," I answered, a little smugly. "He was referred to me by one of my former clients."

"So, now you have two hot billionaires who won't buy homes from you?" Crystal asked, with a sick sincerity to her voice.

Suddenly, I was overwhelmed by this feeling that nothing I did was good enough. Crystal had found my weakness, and she wouldn't let it go.

"I mean," she went on, "how hard could it be to get a billionaire to drop a couple mil on a house? It would be like us buying a designer purse. The fact that you've got two whales who won't bite tells me a lot about your selling potential."

That was it. I was officially done. How dare she question my worth like this? I'd been dealing with mean girls like her for my whole life, and it was about time I learned to shut them up.

"What exactly does it tell you?" I asked through gritted teeth. "When I sell these two houses, I'll probably get a bigger commission than you've gotten all year. I'm not going to rush my clients on an important decision just because some bitch in the office thinks they should throw their money away."

"Oh, sweetie," Crystal said with condescension in her voice. "Nobody here really believes you'll close on these deals. Well, maybe Mandy, but she's obviously delusional. Maybe you should go back to modeling and leave the real work to the grown-ups."

"I don't have to listen to this," I said, gathering up my things and heading toward the door. I turned back to look at her. "I'm going to go do some actual work while you sit on your ass bitching about people. It's really pathetic, Crystal. I honestly feel bad for you."

I was proud of myself for having the last word, but I felt the tears forming at the corners of my eyes before I'd even pushed the door open. Rule number one–never let them see you cry. That was true in modeling, in real estate, and in life in general.

When I was in my car, I finally let the tears flow freely and sobbed my heart out. I knew logically that it was stupid to let Crystal upset me so much, but it was like she was reading my diary and picking out the things that made me the most insecure. I didn't regret my modeling career in the least, but I didn't like the way it made people look at me. I didn't care that I hadn't sold a house since I joined the new firm yet, but it did bother me to think that maybe I never would.

My phone buzzed to alert me of an incoming text.

"Don't mind her. She's always a raging bitch. Now go close some deals. XO."

There was also a lewd winky-face emoji. Classic Mandy.

It buzzed again with a message from Rob. He'd been looking at some of the listings we'd discussed and was ready to start looking at houses. He sent me links to some of the listings he was considering, and as I scrolled through them, I could feel my eyes nearly fall out of my head.

The first listing he was considering had a million-dollar commission. I'd end up taking home more from this one sale than I had for all of last year, and that was the lowest end of the properties he was considering.

I felt my heart lift a little bit, and I was able to calm myself down. That was always the way the universe worked. When crappy things happened, good things were sure to come along soon. And, of course, when good things were happening, crappy things would probably happen soon. At least, that had always been my experience. There was always a certain amount of balance to the chaos of life.

I felt at that moment that I was overdue for a lot of good things. Maybe I couldn't start a relationship with the most attractive man I'd ever met. Maybe I couldn't defend myself against Crystal without crying. Maybe people would always think of me as just another pretty face. But I sure as hell would be a phenomenal agent despite all of those things.

I pulled out of the parking lot and started the long drive back to my house. Life wasn't perfect, but something inside of me told me things were about to get a lot better. If I could just be patient for a little while, I knew that things would turn in my favor. First, I'd sell Rob a gorgeous home with a killer commission. Then, I'd do the same for Michael, and to celebrate we could screw each other's brains out.

Until then, I just had to avoid Crystal and focus on being the best me I could be.