23. Chapter 23
”You want me to lead the Rhodes Miami Beach hotel project?” I asked, my eyes wide as saucers when Nina told me that Nola Jolly could not take the project on because she was working on a new corporate park development in Las Vegas, which was her expertise.
”Can you work with Gabe?”
Nina Davenport wanted me to be the lead architect on a project!I was going to be promoted; that”s what this meant. I wouldn”t be a junior architect who supported a senior one; I”d be theSenior Architect.
”I can work with him.” I can work with Satan.
”Excellent. Obviously, you know this means you”re now a lead architect.” She slid a file in front of me. ”Here”s your amended work contract.”
With shaky hands, I opened the file and felt my throat close up at the raise. It was substantial. I”d never expected to make this much money so soon.
”Your work is impeccable, Aurora; that”s the only reason you”re getting this project. You earned this,” Nina pressed.
”Thank you. I won”t disappoint you,” I promised.
”You never have.”
There was a knock on the door, and Luna peeked in.
Nina sighed. ”Yes, I told her. Y”all are so impatient.”
Luna barged in, followed by Nova and Stella Hunt, a landscape designer who”d been with Nina since the start of Savannah Lace, screeching, ”Congratulations.”
Lyla Cruz, our indomitable Chief Financial Officer, came in and flung her arms around me. ”I”m so happy for you.”
Nina hired mostly women at Savannah Lace with pride—and the fact that we were considered the best boutique architecture and design firm this side of the Mississippi meant that we were competing with the big guns with their old family names and good ol” boy network.
I grinned when they opened champagne and threw confetti around my office and on me.
Nina took us all out for dinner to celebrate. Since I came to Savannah Lace, I”d slowly started to let my guard down and allow people in. Luna was difficult to resist. She was so open and vibrant that I fell in love with her. But sitting here with these women, toasting my success, I felt like I”d found my tribe. These women were supportive of one another, not tearing each other down as I”d experienced in my previous company. Here, I felt genuinely appreciated for the first time in my life.
I was going to lead a project. I was going to build a hotel. I couldn”t believe it.
”This is a full-service project, so you need to put your team together,” Nina told me as we drank coffee after our meal. ”Construction, interior design, restaurant design, spa design…lots of things to bring together.”
”I know. I can”t wait.” I could hardly contain my excitement.
”Rhodes already has a hotel in Miami Beach, and I believe the family has a home there. You can stay at either place when you”re there for the project.”
”The hotel,” I blurted. No way was I going to stay in the family home where Gabriel had probably been with his ex-wife. I didn”t need that juju messing me up.
”Your call,” Nina suggested. ”I”m always here for you, so if you need anything, you have a question, just reach out.”
”I know. Thank you so much, Nina.”
”Hey, it”s my pleasure, and trust me, I may be CEO, but I don”t promote on my own; it”s a team decision, and the team thinks very highly of you.”
The team she was talking about was her leadership team. Lyla Cruz was on it as the chief financial officer, Nina was both CEO and head of interior design, Luna was the recently promoted head of architecture, Stella was responsible for landscape designing, and Ginny Montague who was head of construction. Ginny was away on a project in Huntsville.
We were a small company with about twenty-five people, and we were close knit despite the fact that many of us were out of the office for days and weeks on end at times when we worked on a project.
”Nina, does Gabriel know that I will be heading this project?” I asked.
”No,” she said. ”I don”t need him to approve who I appoint to a project.”
”I just…you think he”ll be okay with it?”
”If he”s not, he can go fuck himself.”
I grinned; for a prim Southern lady, Nina had one hell of a potty mouth.
”You”re going to be alright.” She put her hand on mine. ”You”re a tough cookie.”
”I am that.”
”You have reserves most people don”t have, Aurora. Keep that in mind. And remember to have fun.”
”I will.”
I loved working at Savannah Lace.
Nina had built a company where management genuinely cared about employees. When Luna was promoted and became my boss, I”d been thrilled. She deserved to lead the architecture team. She was highly skilled and a great leader. Best of all, she was one of my closest friends, and she always had my back. For someone who hadn”t grown up with many people who cared about me, Savannah Lace had given me a work family that supported me and was there for me when I needed them.
”You”re going to be okay working with Gabe?” Luna asked as we walked to the parking lot outside the restaurant to get to our cars.
”I think so. I hope so.”
She patted my shoulder. ”In any case, you”ll probably be spending a lot of time with his Vice President of Brand.”
”That”s Devon Parker,” I recollected.
”Yeah. He”s responsible for the Rhodes Hotel brand, and this is his baby. He”s good people and a whole lot of fun. And definitely not the society set that you don”t like.”
”I don”t know; I did date Gabriel for a whole year, who”s the epitome of Savannah society,” I remarked.
”Devon is down to earth. Would rather go surfing and kayaking in the Keys than attend a party,” Luna told me. ”He wasn”t born with a silver spoon in his mouth like the rest of us.”
”So, you don”t think I”ll be seeing Gabriel much?” I asked and kept the disappointment from my voice.
Luna laughed. ”I have a feeling he”s going to be very involved, so don”t worry, you”ll see plenty of him if that”s what you want.”
”I don”t know what I want,” I grumbled.