Chapter 3 #3
In my surprise I moved abruptly and bumped into a chair.
The noise startled Camilo, making him look up.
When he saw me all the blood seemed to drain from his face.
The flutter of excitement in my chest at seeing him again didn’t go unnoticed, but I had to think fast. He was probably freaking out and thinking this would somehow affect the project I was here to talk about.
I walked up to him and extended my hand. “It’s nice to see you again, Camilo. This is a very pleasant surprise. Are you the shelter director?”
He nodded slowly like he was trying not to make any sudden movements.
“Hi. Yes, I manage all the housing-related programs for the agency. It’s nice to see you again as well.
” I could see red creeping up his neck. The impulse to touch him and get closer was intense.
He had his hair in a half knot today and was wearing skinny jeans, with a very slim fitting dark green corduroy jacket over a purple button-down shirt.
His style was so different than what usually caught my attention.
But there was no denying I found him very intriguing.
“Excellent, I’m excited to hear your ideas on how I can help with the great work you’re doing here.
” I sounded a bit more enthusiastic than necessary, but I really wanted to put him at ease.
He swallowed visibly and then exhaled like he was realizing I wasn’t going to make what happened on Friday a thing.
“Okay, yes, I’m excited. too.” He still looked a little startled but seemed to be coming around. “What you’re doing is incredibly generous, so thank you.”
“Not necessary but you’re welcome.”
As we stood there in an awkward silence, the door opened again and we both turned to see Melissa walking into the room with some water bottles in her hands.
“Camilo, you’re here. I see you met Mr. Hughes. Excellent.” She extended a hand towards a small table near the door. “Let’s sit at the table where we can talk more comfortably. Tom, I didn’t know what you liked so I brought flat water and seltzer.”
“Flat is fine.” She passed me a bottle, gave Camilo a seltzer, and took another for herself. Once we were all seated, Melissa passed me a packet of papers, and we got to the business at hand.
She gestured towards Camilo and smiled. “So this is Camilo Briggs, our residential programs director. He’s been with New Beginning for almost five years.
He started as the program coordinator for residential.
Working with advocates who support our clients in preparing for the job market and securing permanent housing among many other things.
He did such an amazing job and developed such wonderful initiatives there, we had to give him a raise and a lot more work!
” Melissa and I chuckled at Camilo’s mortified face.
“He’s been in the position for two years and he’s been killing it there, too. ”
She waved a hand over the folder in front of me.
“As I mentioned when we spoke on the phone. Our agency has a strengths-based, client-centered approach. We meet our clients where they’re at in every way and walk with them as they figure out how they want to move forward after finding safety.
Camilo is an amazing advocate and leader, and his programs have thrived because of it.
I couldn’t have wished for a better person to head the renovation of our Harlem site.
” Melissa stopped talking suddenly and gave Camilo a funny look.
He lifted his eyebrows and she laughed. “I’m sorry, it’s just you’re so quiet! You’re usually a lot more opinionated than this.” The look of astonishment on her face was so genuine I almost laughed, too.
“Maybe it’s me.” I winked at Camilo, hoping I didn’t scare him if I mentioned we’d met. “Camilo and I actually met at a gala on Friday. We were both kind of surprised at the coincidence.”
“Really?” Poor Melissa sounded like this meeting was turning out to be a lot more of a roller coaster than she’d planned for. “That’s wild! New York City can be like a small town sometimes, huh?”
I laughed with her, but just nodded silently, hoping Camilo could tell I had no intention of divulging any more information about our first encounter.
After a moment his shoulders seemed to relax, but not by much.
I looked from Camilo to Melissa, hoping I looked harmless enough to get them to relax a bit.
“Thanks for the introductions, Melissa. Camilo sounds like the perfect person to lead this project.” I turned around so I could speak to him directly and on impulse I decided to switch to Spanish.
“Me dice Melissa que tú hablas espanol. Eso será de mucha ayuda para mí.”
At this Camilo’s eyebrows shot up and he blurted out, “Wait, why’s your accent Dominican?” The suspicious look on his face was so endearing, I almost had to sit on my hands to keep from touching him.
Melissa’s eyes widened like she hoped Camilo would not open his mouth again, which for some reason made me laugh.
“I’m Dominican. Born and raised.”