Selling it All by Josie Daleiden Page B

you?” He nodded for her to follow him, as
he strolled down the secluded flagstone pathway that led back to
the street. He was still holding her bag and with it, any chance
for her to exit this conversation on her own terms.
    Sarah tried her best not to follow him. As if
that was some small way that she could regain control of this
little exchange. “You make it sound like I'm some kind of
property.” She said in a defensive tone.
    As they made it to the street, Joseph
instinctively strolled over to her car and waited for her to unlock
the rear hatch. Her little Nissan Leaf was the first big purchase
of her life. The zippy little electric car was the reason she was
able to save so much money on her commute. Every last penny she had
went into promoting herself as a high-end realtor, and she loved
the image that the little electric car gave off as well. Very clean
and modern. As the back hatch silently swished open, Joseph placed
her bag carefully inside and shut it. With a polite nod, he
strolled over to her driver's side door and opened it for her. It
had been ages since any man had done that for her, and she didn't
quite know what to make of this gesture.
    Once she swung herself into the driver's
seat, Joseph gently closed the door and leaned down close to talk
through the open window. “If you'll notice, you only work with
other girls about your age, about your height, and with your same
hair color. Hell, I bet you all even come from the same....,” there
was a pause as he went to the back of her car to read something, “
ah, UCSB! I knew it!” He proclaimed, as he bent down to read her
license plate frame.
    Sarah didn't know what to make of this
assault on her life. This man, whom she had known for all of one
minute, professed to know everything about her, about her life, and
about her job. She was getting riled up, and she wasn't even sure
why yet. Well, besides the fact that this guy was making her sound
like some kind of stable animal.
    Sarah leaned her head out the window to talk
back to him. “Is there something I can help you with Mr. Blake?”
She asked in an annoyed tone.
    “Everyone who knows me calls me Joe. The
'Joseph' is to filter out the zombies.” He said casually, as he
made his back to her window.
    “Uh, zombies?” She asked incredulously.
    “Yep. All of my ad postings have my full,
given name. That way, I can tell right at the beginning of a call
if it's somebody I know or not.” He fished his sunglasses out of
his shirt pocket and slid them on with a casual grace that Sarah
wished she could have.
    “Do you call all of your prospective clients
zombies?” She chided.
    “Not the ones with deep pockets.” He shot
back. “Look, I have to run. I just wanted to put names to faces and
say,” he stepped back from her car and held out his long arms to
the sky, “Welcome to the neighborhood!”
    As he pivoted on his heel to walk to his car,
Sarah rolled her eyes and went to push the start button. A little
window popped up on her dash display. Her heart sank as she
realized that she had forgot to charge the car. She was going to ,
but she was panning the open house and got sidetracked. She pulled
out her phone to see if there was a charge station nearby. She
could maybe have Jessica come and give her a ride home...
    Joe's car sparked to life behind her, and she
now envied gas- powered cars more than ever. He eased the black
Porsche 911 slowly up and yelled through the passenger window to
her.
    “Car trouble?”
    Sarah shook her head. “No, just a drained
battery. You go on, I have a friend coming to pick me up.”
    “Tell her not to. I have a guy who can get
you car charged while we go have dinner.” He said casually.
    “Excuse me, Mr. Blake?” His forward move had
caught her off guard.
    “Unless you want to sit in your car and wait
for your friend. Its your choice.” He said. “And I told you, my
name is Joe.”
    She weighed her options. Jessica was most
likely out on a date, and she