Chapter 26 Megan
MEGAN
Competition day arrived faster than I thought.
On the day itself, I was nervous as hell.
When I woke up, I had messages from Nina and Aunt Dana, wishing me luck.
I’d neglected poor Nina lately and felt bad about that but figured she understood.
I still regularly spoke to Aunt Dana, but she avoided mentioning Luke. Obviously, we’d agreed to disagree.
It was very early, so I made a coffee and went over my presentation at Luke’s kitchen counter. I was so lost in it that I didn’t even acknowledge him when he approached me, not until he kissed the side of my neck, wrapping an arm around my waist.
“Good morning, Meg.”
“Hey.”
I sank against him, loving how his body felt against mine. I was already dressed for the day in a gray office dress. I was going to pair it with white heels. He was still in pajama bottoms. His torso was naked and delicious.
I closed my laptop, turning around. His eyes were sleepy, and his hair was a mess.
The whiskers on his cheeks looked hot on him.
God, I loved this man so, so much. I wanted to jump his bones every second of the day and have a million babies with him.
But whenever I tried to think about the future, I simply couldn’t.
Besides, Luke hadn’t even talked about what would happen after my internship was over in December, so perhaps it was best if I didn’t visualize anything, lest I be disappointed again.
“You’re so beautiful after you wake up,” I murmured.
He moved his hands up to my shoulders. “You’re tense.”
“I’m nervous.”
“Want a relaxing massage?” He wiggled his eyebrows.
I laughed. “No, we don’t have time. Besides, it’s not bad to be a little nervous.”
Mentors were allowed and encouraged to participate in the presentation. I was happy Luke was going to be there.
“You’re going to nail it. You’re extraordinarily talented and hardworking.”
“Hmm… you are biased, though.”
He leaned in, kissing my shoulder. My skin tingled. “When it comes to you, yes. But not your work. I would do you a disservice otherwise.”
That was 100 percent true, and I appreciated it.
“But you can use all your techniques to relax me later in the afternoon if I don’t win.”
He straightened up. “That won’t be necessary. I’m confident in you, babe.”
“Thanks. Now hop in the shower. I don’t want to be late.”
We arrived at the presentation room on Wabash Avenue on time. Klaus joined us as well. I thought it was genuinely nice of him to come here and support me.
It was a whole day event. All presentations were in the morning.
Then, during lunch, the committee would decide the winners, and they would announce them in the afternoon.
In the evening, the committee would take the winners out to dinner.
I was glad for Luke’s company. I only needed ten minutes to present, and then I would just be listening to the others’ presentations the rest of the time, and I was sure it would be nerve-racking.
The presentation room was huge, with a hundred seats and a big stage.
The committee consisted of three people, and they were sitting at a table next to the stage.
They were all superstars in the architecture world.
Michael Jenkins was the youngest architect to have designed buildings on six continents.
Elsa Redford had twice won the Paris prize for architecture.
Valerie Black ran a very prestigious architecture office in London.
All the windows had been covered with shutters so no one could see the presentations.
We all had designated seats, and the competitors sat in a different area than the rest of the attendees.
Carson was sitting a few rows behind me.
Our eyes crossed once, and he flashed me an unpleasant smirk.
I was determined to avoid him today. My white heels were uncomfortable.
They pinched my toes, and I berated myself for not having broken them in last week.
I was number twenty to present, so I sat through nineteen presentations, waiting my turn.
It was excruciating because I couldn't help but admit that all of them were impressive.
I also couldn't help myself from comparing theirs to what I did, even though I was proud of my work.
I had gone above and beyond, designing it—even Luke had said so on more than one occasion.
Klaus said I was the most dedicated intern they'd had. Still, looking at the presentations in front of me, everyone had put in a lot of work.
When they finally called my name, I walked up to the stage with robotic movements. Lord, I need to loosen up.
My presentation came on-screen without me having to do anything; they had an assistant who handled the computer and the remote, and I was grateful for that.
I stood up straight, rolling my shoulders, looking at everyone in the audience.
I zeroed in on Luke, the pride in his eyes filling me with joy.
"Hello, everyone," I said. "First, I want to thank you for the opportunity to compete.
I am going to present today a luxury villa that I have worked on for the past few months.
" I couldn't be prouder of Charles’s villa.
It was a very modern structure, as he'd wanted, with many windows so light could come in.
He could easily admire his gorgeous view from every room.
I'd utilized a lot of windows and even glass ceilings in the design, and I'd also been careful to use proper shading so the building wouldn’t overheat.
I made a point of using all four elements.
Metal and stone made up the house's structure. Sunlight was the fire element. As for water, I’d included systems to both collect and reuse it.
It was also energy efficient, with solar panels covering the roof.
The air was being recirculated for cooling purposes in the summer.
I could see a shift in the committee once I started presenting the multipurpose rooms. It was a spacious house, but it was by no means huge, so each room was carefully thought over, from the layout to the furniture.
I had gone one step ahead of what was required by adding the interior decoration. Instead of using standard placeholders for the furniture, I’d done renderings of the actual furniture. For example, in Charles’s home office, the desk could be lifted up, disappearing into the ceiling.
I'd studied the projects that won in past years.
Almost all of them put in standard placeholders, but I wanted to show all possibilities.
It had taken a lot of extra hours to hunt down designers who offered exactly what I envisioned, then even more hours to be able to reflect that in our simulation program, but looking at the committee and their obvious approval, I knew it had been worth it.
Even if I didn't win, I liked knowing that I gave it my very best.
"All right, that's it. Thank you so much," I said as the last slide came up.
The committee nodded as a send-off, and I walked off the stage and back to my seat. Now more than ever I wanted to go sit with Luke and Klaus. I smiled at both of them before sitting down. They each gave me a thumbs-up.
I spent the rest of the morning watching the remaining presentations.
Carson’s project was good, but I didn’t think it had the “it” factor.
My feeling of unease sort of dissipated because a weight had lifted off my shoulders, since I'd already done my part.
I'd done my best. Now it was out of my hands, and whoever won would deserve it because they had put in a lot of work too, though I'd noticed I was the only one who had gone the extra mile.
By the time lunch came, I was exhausted, but I was happy for the break because I could spend it with Luke.
"You've done so well," he said, coming up to me as everyone around filtered out. Klaus was right behind him.
"It felt good to be up there and finally present."
We started walking toward the lunch room. "Oh, I'm so happy. I can finally spend time with you guys. I wanted to sit with you."
Luke was looking at me intently. His possessive streak was strong today.
The lunchroom smelled amazing. There were round bar tables everywhere, and people stood at them, eating.
"I'm going to fill my plate. I'm starving," Klaus exclaimed.
My stomach felt like I had a huge ball inside it.
"I'm just going to grab some coffee," I said. "I'm not hungry."
Klaus shrugged but pointed at me. "I wouldn't do that. You're going to faint when they announce you're the winner."
I shook my head. "Klaus, don't say that. You’re jinxing it."
"Fair enough." He headed toward the food tables.
Once he was out of earshot, Luke glanced at me intently. "You have to eat."
"I'm too nervous."
"But you didn't have anything this morning."
"I had a cracker."
"Half a cracker," he corrected.
He'd paid attention? That filled me with warmth. This man cared about me in ways I never knew possible.
“I'll eat afterward."
He tilted closer, fixating his gaze on me. "Meg…."
And he was using his bedroom voice.
I cleared my throat. "Why don’t you distract me, make me think about something else?"
A glint popped up in his eyes. "I'll do that later. It would be bad form to start it here when I can't finish."
That made me laugh. “You could talk about something that wouldn’t get us in trouble.”
“I could, but why do that when I have a better weapon?”
"It is a very good weapon," I agreed, looking to either side, but no one was within earshot. Besides, everyone minded their own business. The competitors didn’t mingle—they all stuck with their mentors. It was easy to tell who was who because we had badges. I wondered if others were weighing their chances to win or if they were discussing the other projects. I honestly couldn’t do that.
I couldn’t think about it anymore. I was nervous enough as it was.
Klaus returned a few minutes later, and his plate was full of goodies. I spied risotto with mushrooms, salad, and beef stroganoff.
"That looks amazing," I said. I put a hand on my stomach because suddenly I could feel a tiny bit of hunger. “What do you know? I am hungry.”
We all laughed.
"Come on, let's go fill our plates," Luke said.
We walked side by side to the buffet. It was huge, but then again, there were many people. The chafing dish with risotto was already empty, so that was off the table, but I did take some beef stroganoff, and I even saw polenta with baked tomatoes on top and took that too.
There was tension in the air. It was a good thing they were announcing the winners right after lunch because I didn't think I could take the stress of not knowing for weeks or even days.
Then again, it probably wouldn't be as exciting if we weren't all here together in one room. We’d all seen what our competition could do.
Klaus had already finished his plate by the time Luke and I returned to the table. "I'm going for seconds. This is great," he said. “
"I'm going to get some coffee. Who wants one?" Luke asked.
Klaus and I both raised our hands. "I'll just take it black,” Klaus said. “Thank you, boss. You're awesome."
And he was indeed. I loved that about him—that he didn’t think it was below him to bring coffee for the team.
I ate with small bites. Despite being hungry, I was still nervous. But I was happy that I was eating; otherwise, I might get sick later in the day.
The assistant came in, announcing that we had five minutes to finish up and head back to the auditorium.
I gulped down my coffee quickly after Luke brought it. I still had a few bites of polenta on my plate, but I couldn’t swallow any more food.
My stomach constricted as we walked back into the presentation room. This time, we could sit as we pleased. Everyone chose to sit with their mentors as far as I could tell. I was between Luke and Klaus.
Elsa Redford was up on the stage, and the crowd quickly quieted down.
"Welcome back, everyone. I think we're all more or less relaxed, with our stomachs full. I'm not going to keep you here for long. I know you're all nervous, and you want to know the outcome. I’ll announce the winners first and then the prizes. Remember that the top ten projects receive an award. You’re welcome to use the accolade on your résumés. It will open a lot of doors. So, without further ado, here are the seven projects that will receive an award but not a prize.”
She recited seven names. Carson was among them. Now I was downright stressed out. What if I didn’t get anything at all? If I wasn’t a prize winner, I got nothing.
“And now for third place. John Beurer. A round of applause, please.”
The whole room cheered, and a guy stood up a few rows in front of us, bowing slightly to the stage and waving to the room. He sat down quickly as the applause dwindled.
“Second place goes to Steve Wood. Congratulations.” We all cheered for him as well.
I was beyond nervous at this point. I couldn’t even think; it was more than likely that I wouldn’t win, and that was making me ill.
Elsa cleared her throat, and the room quieted down once more. “And this year’s winner is Megan Pierce. Congratulations.”
Oh my goodness. My entire body was rigid. My throat closed up. I couldn’t move.
Did she really say my name, or did I imagine it?
Luke leaned in, whispering, “Get up, Meg. Everyone is cheering for you. Congrats, babe.”
I turned to him. He was grinning at me. I wanted to kiss the living daylights out of Luke right here in this room, but I had to behave.
Dazed, I got up, soaking in everyone’s cheers and applause. I couldn’t believe it. I wanted it so much, but I hadn’t dared to dream that I’d actually win.
After I sat down, Elsa continued.
“Well done, all three of you. And now, I want to announce the prizes.
Third place will receive a one-year internship in New York, accommodations fully paid.
The second-place winner will be rewarded with a check for fifty thousand dollars.
As for the first-place winner, you will receive the grand prize of one hundred thousand dollars.
In addition, we are happy to announce that we have secured cooperation with an architectural firm in Shanghai, so the winner is going to spend two years there. "