Billionaire Blaze, page 10
I tilted my head to the side, and it finally dawned on me what was wrong. The cushions on the sofa clashed too much. I needed more neutral colors. They shouldn’t draw attention to themselves in and of themselves. Stand out a little without being the central focus.
Considering the options, I went back to my portfolio and the ones I had easy access to and placed an order for a more toned-down color.
“Okay,” I said aloud, even though I was alone. The cushions could be easily replaced in the morning, then this project was done. Until then, I simply removed the offending items so the client wouldn’t see the wrong ones, and I could just tell them the cushions were delayed. I made the call to let the client come back.
It took another hour for them to show up, the couple an older one who never rushed anywhere. I had been nervous about taking on their redesign because the two made more money than a year’s worth of my usual clients put together, but they’d been a lot more accommodating than I’d expected, and I’d had a big project to do for them. More money certainly made the budget more fun.
“Oh, this is wonderful,” the woman declared as she walked in, a small Yorkshire terrier hurrying after her, its little legs moving so fast it looked like it was sprinting to keep up. I hadn’t forgotten the dog, and there was a matching dog bed in one corner. Elevated, with a ramp that circled the post to get up to it.
One of the strange but more creatively fun elements of this design involved making sure the dog could be near the owner when they were watching TV but not be on the sofa.
The woman exclaimed in delight when she saw the solution, her cry so ear-piercing that I had to fight not to visibly wince.
I finally relaxed a little. They loved the design, and that was all that mattered. I never noticed how stressed out I got in creating a new design until this moment was over and I had happy clients. Of course, I didn’t always, but it was growing more common as I figured out how to read people along the way better and when they knew what they wanted or only thought they did.
This couple was superbly happy, and I had done a good job.
“We should have a small party when we’re back from Italy,” the woman said to her husband before looking at me. “How soon could you do the dining room, and can you do kitchens and bathrooms as well?”
I frowned, knowing I had an issue with that statement. They were going to pay good money, and I would normally have bitten their arm off for more work. Most people didn’t want more than one room at a time, and the most I got were a few recommendations to friends.
To be asked to do the majority of the house confirmed one thing for sure. These two had money, and they didn’t have a problem spending it on my skills.
“I’ve got to check my schedule and make sure I have time for the other jobs I’ve already committed to, but I could get back to you with a time frame and quote,” I replied, falling back on the answer I gave if I didn’t want to do a job but didn’t want to actually say that out loud.
This seemed to irk them, but eventually, they nodded and insisted on showing me the rooms and having me write them down.
I tried to be professional and make the few notes I would definitely need if I was going to quote for it, and then let them know I had to run and would invoice them for the final amount.
Thankfully, I had been running my business long enough to know to invoice for all costs before they were actually paid for, so I had more than enough money from this project already. It boded well for getting paid quickly that they wanted more work from me if nothing else.
By the time I was back in my car, I was exhausted and had a headache. They were nice enough people, but they required a lot of attention and thought, and I was done for the day. I drove to the other side of town, finding the couple had paid the final bill before I’d even gotten there.
As I pulled into the parking lot by the parade of restaurants, I spotted the familiar car of a good friend and relaxed even more. It was payday, and I had some good friends to share the celebratory feeling with. Even if they didn’t entirely understand what I did, my friends were always pleased for me when I got paid and everything went well.
“Kit!” I heard my name as soon as I came in the door. Two of my favorite friends were already there—Emily and Helen. Both of them were beaming and happy about their own news as well, a bottle of wine to share already on the table and several bowls of snacks.
“Are the others coming?” I asked, hoping to get the full house and really have some fun.
“Yup. Stacy and Matt, too.”
I smiled. Although they were the newest couple and happy together, they were a strange pair and argued a lot over little things. Yet, as quickly as the fights began, they subsided, and no one else seemed to mind. I knew I could tolerate them now, and I was more than happy to relax and drink and eat dinner with them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
By the time we’d all eaten and a third bottle of wine was running low between the seven of us, we were all laughing and talking happily. Stacy had received a promotion and a raise, and we were all happily celebrating her, something that was easy enough to do.
Everyone was always genuinely happy for everyone else, and it made a difference to know good news could be shared without hesitation. I hadn’t always had that, and I appreciated it now.
“What about you, Kit?” Stacy asked after everyone had congratulated her. “You’ve been jet-setting lately, haven’t you? One of the lucky few to go to Juno’s wedding.”
“She did say she missed the rest of you, but there was only so much space on the island.”
“On the island.” Emily sighed as if she wished she was there. They spent the next few minutes bombarding me with questions about the wedding, how Juno was, and whether she was as happy as she seemed. I answered them as best as I could to satisfy their curiosity, but I made no mention of Lukas at all.
“Did you have fun?” Emily asked a moment later, so emphatic and demanding that I was taken aback. “You’ve told us about everyone else and what they thought. How happy Juno was. But what about you?”
“It was good,” I said, not really sure what else to say. It was vague enough that it did the opposite of what I’d hoped and drew even more attention to me.
“Only good? You were on an island in the Bahamas or something, and it was only good?” Emily looked at me as if I had grown another head.
“Did someone upset you?” Helen asked.
“Was there a cute guy who didn’t want to talk or something?” Stacy leaned in closer, and it made me blush.
How did my friends know exactly what to ask?
“There was a guy, wasn’t there?” Emily looked like she’d uncovered the world’s biggest secret as I fought not to look too uncomfortable.
“He was nice enough at first, but he’s gone back to Chicago, and I’m not there. I’m here.”
Matt tilted his head to the side and turned to look at me better, the only one who hadn’t commented on it so far. “You can work just as well in Chicago, can’t you?”
“I have a lot of work here. I just got offered the interior design for most of a house. By rich people. That could set me up for the rest of the year. Not to mention the recommendations to friends and what that would get me.”
“You’re talented enough to get work in Chicago, too, and we all know it.” Emily waved her hand as if it was all an excuse and a non-issue. “I bet there would be plenty of people near a big city like that who would hire you. You could go after him. It worked for Juno.”
Although I didn’t want to talk about it, I knew there was a good chance I would have to do that now. Not only had I been offered work, but it had been from people this guy and Juno both knew. My friends seemed to be trying to persuade me to take it before they even knew the job existed.
“So, tell us about the guy. Did he snub you or imply he wanted something, too?” Helen pulled me from my racing thoughts, but there was only one answer I could honestly give.
“Both.”
This only caused more confusion, and I found myself having to explain how Lukas had seemed very interested at some times but, in the end, had implied that his work was important to him.
“Oh…silly. He was trying to tell you he wanted you to go to him because he couldn’t leave his company to come to you. And he’s kind of right. You can work anywhere. Just like Juno could. If he’s as rich as he sounds and an architect, he probably has a contact you could work for, to begin with. Someone to get you started over there.”
“I may already have a job offer from someone else at the party. Not necessarily right in Chicago, but…close enough.”
Their mouths fell open, and they all looked between each other. This conversation wasn’t going in the direction I’d expected. I shrugged, not sure what else to say.
“What are you worried about?” Matt asked, cutting through all the noise and thoughts for me and asking me a question I could handle.
“That it will all be too much. I know what to do for interior design in the UK, but the US is a different market, and they have different needs and wants. I might accidentally screw it up.” I exhaled, pushing some of the worries out toward them and feeling my body relax as I spoke some of the fears and emotions I had been bottling up.
It made me feel a lot better, and to my relief, none of them mocked me or made any more unhelpful reactive gestures. They were seriously considering what I was worried about.
“Could this guy help you with that? If he’s an architect, surely he has some idea of what people need and want over there and isn’t entirely oblivious to your part of the design process?”
Although I wasn’t completely sure if he did or didn’t, I knew he had complimented my work as if he had. Could going and taking the job from Sarai and Richard be a way that I could reach out to Lukas and at least message him about one thing? Not that I had his contact details. Perhaps I could get Juno to give them to me. Or get them from Jack.
Suddenly, I had a sort of plan coming together. My friends went through everything with me while we consumed another few bottles of wine and celebrated the successes I already had.
Slowly, they put every fear I had to rest, especially when they learned that Sarai had asked me based on seeing my other work and then hearing what I would already have thought to do.
“If she came to you and got enthusiastic like that about just hearing your ideas, they want your style over there. They want what you can create.” Emily smiled as if it was obvious.
“But it’s not that simple. I could do it differently from how they’re picturing. People can hear the same word and imagine two different things.” I still shook my head, not able to completely let go of this fear as I had the others.
“What about the other options you showed her, photos of examples, and other things like that?” Matt asked. “You showed her what was in your head in a different way, if what you told us is correct.”
I nodded. That was exactly what I had done, and I could see where he was going with this, but I was still worried. Something about the fear just wasn’t rational.
As the others tried to convince me to do it, take the job, and go and enjoy Chicago and being in a new place for work, all my resistance melted away. They had a point. I hadn’t been traveling much, and going to see Juno had worked out well enough. Would it be so bad to go back?
By the end of the evening, my friends had made sure I’d emailed Sarai and let her know that I was more than willing to take the job and was wrapping everything up. Emily and Helen even volunteered to help me get the last of the projects I had in the UK done and dusted, making sure I could be done when I said I would so I could go to the US.
I couldn’t refuse after that, and on some level, I didn’t want to. Lukas was amazing, and I wanted to see him again. I wanted to see how he would feel about us if he knew I was willing to go to him and work in his country, too. To be flexible where he couldn’t be.
If that wasn’t enough to let a guy know I wanted to be with him, I didn’t know what was.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Lukas
Walking toward the office was calming. The traffic wasn’t great—one of the reasons I was walking—but the atmosphere was everything I had missed.
I’d missed saying hello to the usual people I went past. The guy on the corner with his stand selling newspapers and candy bars. The kids on their way to get school buses who waved and asked me if I’d play basketball with them again after school. Sometimes I did, but only when I went home early and happened to pass the court. It happened often enough they kept asking.
I loved the smell of my favorite bakery, and there was always a coffee and brownie waiting for me if I wanted it. Today, I just got the coffee. The brownie was tempting, but I didn’t mention having another good one recently. I wasn’t going to upset people I considered friends.
Then, there was the short walk to the office building itself. It was one of the most beautiful buildings in a city of beautiful buildings. At least, if you liked this sort of architecture. And I did. It was my work.
Admittedly, I liked variety. There was nothing fun in doing yet another office project, but I had enough of a business that I was able to bring on others and move the projects around. I got to work on anything I wanted and delegate enough of the rest that life was interesting and fun, and no one stopped me from doing what I wanted. For the most part.
The reception area was already busy, staff moving back and forth into different parts of the building. Security knew me well enough I walked right in and was soon getting into the elevator at the end of the corridor. Before the doors shut, Lucy hurried in behind me.
“I hoped to catch you. I’ve totally had it with this project,” she declared. I held my hand up immediately.
“They’re a pain in the ass, and they don’t like that you’re female. I know. But it’s slowly working. I’ll step back in if I need to, but I think it will do more for your gender if they see everything working with you handling it. I believe in you. You’ve got my full support to make them believe in you too.”
Lucy closed her mouth over everything else she was going to say and paused to think about it some more.
“You think they’ll let this go ahead?”
“What choice do they have? I’m telling them you’ve got this and keep handing it back to you. They’ve sunk too much money in at this point. They have to see it through.”
My words seemed to have the impact I hoped on Lucy. She lifted her head and straightened the papers and documents she was holding before tucking them under her arm.
“I’ll let you know if we need you anymore, but you’re right. I’ve got this, and they’ll just have to suck it up and move on.”
I smiled and gave her a quick nod. The doors were already opening on her floor, and she was soon off. I had the elevator to myself up to the top floor.
Although I wasn’t much for lording it over everyone, no one in the company had let me have an office anywhere else. And I wouldn’t lie and say the view wasn’t worth it. My office had one of the best views in the city, and I started my work day the same way, walking over to the windows and getting a good look.
The city seemed smaller from up here, people more like ants scurrying below. And everything was put more into perspective. I might be good at what I did, but I was one of many people in this city alone. It kept me humble even as it gave me a vantage point few others enjoyed.
No one in this city was any less than me. Many of them worked even harder than I did. And all of them deserved to be healthy and happy.
I was still looking out over the city and drinking my coffee when the phone rang. I frowned, knowing that I didn’t usually take calls this early. I didn’t like to be forced to begin work before I was ready. Before I had the time to mentally process and figure out what I needed to do most.
Still, I went over to my desk and took it.
“Lukas!” Sarai’s enthusiastic voice sounded so loud, I could have sworn she was in the room with me.
“This is early. Did you need me for something?” I asked, not sure how she had gotten this number.
“I want your definite answer. Everything else is ready. Are you in on this project of mine? We want to start as soon as we can.”
Although I had been fairly enthusiastic about the idea in principle, I hadn’t given it much thought since I had left the island and Jack and Juno’s wedding behind. Kit had occupied a lot of my thoughts while I had been there, and I wasn’t sure I wanted much of a reminder that she had been in my life.
I’d also not entirely expected a random business suggestion at a party to be fully serious. But having something different to get my teeth into with people whom Jack trusted might be exactly what I needed to make my job fun for a while. If Lucy really did have the Grintock project handled, I could spare the time.
I already knew that much. It would make me busy, but I liked being busy. Especially with the schedule that Sarai and Richard wanted.
“I can’t promise anything,” I said, something I always started these discussions with once they got serious. “But I’ll definitely look it over and see what might work and if I’m the best fit for the job.”
“We all know you are, and this is right up your avenue. It’s a quirky build with character and gets you away from those boring office blocks. You know you want to do it.”
“Send me everything. I have a clear morning. I’ll look it over.” I knew there was a chance I didn’t have a clear morning, but it would be the only way I could get Sarai off the phone quickly and keep her off it for a few hours. She was eager, that much was clear.
As soon as she let me, I gave her the details of where to send the information and then hung up on her. I grabbed my now significantly less warm coffee and returned to the window. Fifteen minutes had gone by, but I was going to finish my thoughts and my ritual before my PA came in if I could.
