2009

Where to start. I was a principal of design build firm. It was the recession. My business was crumbling. My business partner was unfortunately a drug addict. Picked up shooting coke during the 80's artworld of Andy Warhol. Good times. He would get so paranoid he would remove the toilet and hide his drugs then go roof hooping in the then dangerous nights of Fort Greene Brooklyn. I am amazed he never fell through a skylight.

I had to finish my projects in fear of lawsuits but needed to make ends meet. As an architect I thought Real Estate was a brilliant option. One morning, while my Hungarian boyfriend, (have a mentioned I am Hungarian) was scratching himself on my sofa, I jumped on my desktop mac and found a boutique real estate in SoHo. There were two names listed on the add, and yes I think this was on craigslist back then. The names were Karla and Marlon. I was like "hmmm Marlon, that's a sexy name." so I called and he answered. We discussed mine transition into real estate and set up the interview for a few hours later that day.

I remember what I was wearing. Tight blue slacks, a blouse and nice blazer. I looked fit. I get to SoHo office, sit and wait for Marlon. The office was cool, hip, and a lot of hustle and bustle.

So there he is, big smiling head of his. I thought oh, he's tall, handsome, may need some work but workable. I sit down with him for my interview. I can tell he's attracted to me. He has a hard time making eye contact. I asked him what his background was, he answered "Portuguese and Japanese". Not exactly a lie but he's fucking Ecuadorian. Portuguese and Japanese my ass.

Of course the interview went well and I was to start as soon as I passed my RE exam.

Over the next few months I trained under a women, let's call her Cherice - important to note for later. I was miserable and really wished the Marlon was the one training me. I didn't have much opportunity to flirt with him until one day he took the newbies out to a rental building to give us a tour.

I had my chance. I flirted and asked him out for a scotch. A few days later he took the bate. It wasn't more than 5 minutes that we were at the bar and his hand was already on my leg and he started kissing me. I didn't think twice about it. It felt so natural. We left teh bar hand in hand and walked from Soho all the way to Union Square. It was magical. We sat at the fountains amongst the Harikrishnans. His feet in the fountain and me straggling him. He told me we would be married in 3 months. The one lie he did not tell.