12. Kyle
12
KYLE
I t was good to be back in the States. It was good to be back in Chicago. The way Hong Kong changed every few months, I had almost expected Chicago to look completely different. All the time I was gone, it was almost as if the city was put on pause. I felt like everything was the same. I knew it wasn’t, but there was a certain energy here, and that hadn’t changed at all.
I felt Hong Kong was constant and pushing toward the future, while Chicago felt established and like the strong foundations of a building that would launch forward. Chicago wasn’t chasing after anything because eventually, everything would come to it.
I successfully managed to convince Alayna to come work for me in Hong Kong. She had agreed to only stay a couple of years. I wasn’t allowed to make her move around the world and expect her to stay forever. The second I mentioned thinking about moving back to the States, she began pushing for it. I didn’t think she particularly liked living abroad. It was an adventure that some people didn’t take to.
Alayna was invaluable to my company, and I didn’t think I could do my job without her supporting me. I could let her quit, but I didn’t want the struggle of finding another assistant.
“I’ve worked remotely before. I can do it again,” she reminded me. And then she booked herself a return flight. She came back a good three months before I even booked a plane ticket, but she still worked for me. Even from half a globe away, she still did an absolute amazing job of anticipating my every need. And that included scoping out architectural firms that might be interested in partnerships or selling.
I wasn’t surprised in the least that I had an appointment with the Stone Group within a few weeks of returning home. The Stone Group’s offices were close to where my last Chicago office had been located, so I knew the neighborhood. It had cleaned up a little bit. There had been some rehabilitation construction previously, but that was all done now. There were good restaurants, and it was conveniently located near pretty much anywhere in the city.
There was something very familiar about walking into the Stone Group’s offices. I don’t know if it was the way the receptionist smiled at me or even the building itself. There was something that seemed comforting about being there, like I belonged.
I stepped up to the receptionist desk, and she blinked at me a few times. She was quite lovely. “You must be Kyle Love to see James Stone,” she said.
I didn’t even need to introduce myself. Maybe she seemed so familiar because she was smart and anticipated my next moves much like Alayna did.
“I am. I believe he is expecting me,” I said.
“I will show you to the conference room.” As she stood up, an older gentleman stepped in the lobby and introduced himself.
“Mr. Love? James Stone.”
He held out his hand. His grip was firm, and I could tell that he had a history that included the actual construction of buildings and was not limited to only designing them.
“Come on back,” he said.
The receptionist returned to her seat, and I followed James. He asked me perfunctory pre-meeting types of questions as we strolled through the office. Was I acclimatizing back to life in Chicago after having lived abroad? Did I want something to drink, water, coffee? And other pleasantries that didn’t mean very much.
He led me into a large conference room, and we took the two seats at the head of the table. It was just the two of us, and while it seemed like excess in this room, I understood we were more on equal footing here than if we had gone into his office and I sat across his desk from him like I was at some kind of awkward job interview. I guess this was a job interview of sorts. He wanted to know if I was the right kind of architect and the right kind of boss to take over his company. After all, if I bought him out, I wasn’t simply handing him money for the purpose of using his office. I was taking on his employees and his clients. He needed to know whether he could trust me with all of them, but I was also interviewing him.
I needed to know if his employees and his clients were good enough for me. After all, I had a reputation to uphold, a certain level of design standard I expected to be allowed to do. I wasn’t in this business to redecorate Mid-Century kitchens or to create aesthetically pleasing additions onto houses that were built over a century ago. That’s not the kind of work I did.
I shouldn't have been worried. Alayna wouldn’t have set up a meeting with somebody who was in the business of house remodels when I was in the business of skyscrapers.
We ended up talking for several hours. At some point, his pretty receptionist brought in a deli order of subs, and we continued to talk. I tried not to stare at her while she was setting up our lunches, but I knew I knew her from somewhere. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. I expected that I would feel very foolish once I realized who she was.
The entire setup sounded to me to be a great fit. And he would be a great asset. I wished I had met him a few years earlier. He was the kind of person I would have liked to work with during my career. It was almost sad that I was only just now getting to know him.
Stone had a small, dedicated group that I felt would fit nicely in with the aesthetic of my design group. I would be integrating my current design group with his and taking on his existing client list. The type of work they specialized in was a good fit.
“I think it's safe to say this was a very informative meeting,” I said as we wrapped things up.
“What are your thoughts on continuing this conversation?” Stone asked.
It wasn't an unreasonable question, especially since this had been our initial meeting to see if business-wise, this would be a compatible transaction.
I chuckled. “I don’t know about you, but I originally had this down on my schedule for an hour. I’ve been here closer to three. To be honest, right now, this feels like a fit. I absolutely think we need to continue this conversation.”
“That’s what I like to hear. Have your assistant reach out, and we’ll get something on the books for next week.”
He walked me out after our meeting, and we shook hands again. I was impressed with the strength that he still held in his body. I could only hope that I would still be that fit when I reached his age.
As I said goodbye one more time, I caught a glimpse of something the receptionist did and suddenly, my mind was flooded by memories. My body instantly reacted. I had the smells of fruit and roses in my nose and the sensation of wind whipping around me as a storm rolled in.
“Clarissa, is that you?” I asked.
She looked up and bit her upper lip the way I remember she would. But this time, she wasn’t blushing. She nodded. “I didn’t think you recognized me, so I wasn’t going to say anything.”
“You should’ve said something. I didn’t recognize you. You’ve changed your hair.”
She reached up and touched her hair behind her ear. She had it in a bun style, and as far as I could recall, I had only ever seen her wear it cascading over her shoulders. How had I missed recognizing her? Had a simple hairstyle really changed everything about her?
“How long has it been? A couple of years, right?”
“Closer to six,” she said.
“You know each other?” James asked. He was still standing next to her desk.
“I spent a summer interning at his offices a while ago,” she admitted.
“I don’t remember your saying anything about it,” he said.
“It’s been a long time, and it was before I graduated. I don’t really include much on my résumé from more than five years ago. And I was a student,” she continued to explain.
I couldn’t stop staring at her. She no longer looked like the young college girl I remembered. Her lips were just as plump and kissable as I remembered, but there was a certain set to her mouth she didn’t have before.
“We should go out and get coffee sometime. You know, catch up.”
She smiled and nodded. She cast a quick glance over at her boss. “There’s nothing much to catch up on. I understand you’ve been in Asia. Singapore?”
“I’ve been in Hong Kong. And you’ve been in Chicago this whole time?”
“Of course. Where else would I go?” She glanced down when her phone started to ring. “If you’ll excuse me, Jenna is paging me. I’ll be right back.” She scurried out from behind her desk.
This time, I took a good look at her. She still had the same delicious curves, and she walked with a wiggle in her hips that did things to the blood supply in my brain. But she was dressed like a middle-aged librarian. That had to be why I didn’t recognize her. The Clarissa from the internship had been borderline quiet, almost shy, but she had a sense of style that spoke volumes. She hadn’t seemed to care about societal norms and wore combat boots with dresses.
Stone caught me staring.
“I’m surprised to see her here. But I was mostly surprised I didn’t recognize her right away. Is she as smart as I remember?”