Dear Heart, I Hate You

The timer for my steak buzzed at the same time as my phone rang. It was Jules. My heart gave a little lurch at the sight of her name on my caller ID, but I ignored it as I answered.

“Hey.”

“Hi,” she said, sounding as if she was in her car.

Even with the traffic noise in the background, the sweetness of her voice came through. I hadn’t realized how much I enjoyed the sound of it until I heard it again.

“Damn, I miss your voice.”

She breathed into the line. “Me too. It’s ridiculous,” she said with a giggle.

“How was your day? How were the three-million-dollar clients?” I asked as I cut into my steak.

She groaned. “Ugh. They’re becoming increasingly difficult. I love them to pieces, but it’s hard to get people to be rational sometimes.”

I wasn’t sure what she meant exactly, but I wanted to learn more about what she did, day in and day out. “In what way?”

“When I first meet with clients, I ask them questions and make a list, like what are their must-haves as opposed to the things they want, but could live without. Basically, I find out what their deal-breakers are, like some people will insist on a three-car garage and an infinity pool. And if the property doesn’t have both of those things, they don’t even want to see it.”

I nodded my head as she talked. “Right. Okay. That makes sense. Go on.”

“Well, the property I showed them today had everything on their must-have list, but it wasn’t grand enough for them. They never mentioned wanting something grand or showy before, but now it’s a must-have. Which is fine, but they don’t really want to pay more than their budget. And it’s hard to explain to people that what you can get for three million in, say, Beverly Hills isn’t what you’ll get in Malibu. They’re not the same.”

“So now you have to find them other options in the same price range?”

“Yeah, but I’m also going to have to show them a couple that are beyond it, just so they can see the difference. Like, hey guys, if you spend half a million more, you can get all this and this. That usually pisses people off, but sometimes it’s the only way to make them understand.”

“I don’t envy you, babe.”

Dealing with people like that sounded like a pain in the ass. I worked with difficult clients too sometimes, but not very often. Since I was an expert in my field, most of them listened to my advice. But when push came to shove, the client was the boss, and I’d ultimately do whatever they wanted. It was their money, after all.

“How was your day?” she asked.

“Good. The market didn’t tank, so that’s always a plus.”

“Tell me exactly what you do again. I know you work in finance and you handle people’s money, but when you and the guys were discussing it that night, you were talking in Chinese, so I didn’t understand.”

I laughed. “Yeah, we were talking about investments. Technically, I’m a financial advisor, but I like to think that I do much more than that for my clients.”

“How so? Say I was your client. What would you do for me?”

“We’d start off sort of the same way you start off with your clients, going over their list of wants and needs.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’d probably start by asking you what your goals were for the future. Like, do you plan on purchasing any property in the next five years? Do you want to travel, and if so, where? Are you going to start a business? Will you want a new car? Are you going to be getting married or adopting a kid? Basically, I’d learn about your long- and short-term goals.”

“Okay. Then what?”

“Then I plan for it. I invest your money in different ways and get you set up for things you may not have thought about, like life insurance or a will. It all depends on the needs of the client and what they want from me. But I talk to them all the time, and I’m invested in their success. I want them to succeed so that I succeed.”

“That all sounds very fancy,” she said, sounding impressed. “And grown-up. And sort of awesome.”

I laughed. “Thanks. I love it.”

“It sounds like it.”

“I