Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Sixteen
Opposite the perimeter, Iris was greeted by a twelve-foot-tall blow-up rat with red eyes, painted teeth bared and Frankenstein arms extended as the machine inflating it whirred with an angry growl.
Iris was somewhat surprised that Jonathan would use nonunion workers, though she understood the tyranny of the bottom line.
Still, she took care not to enter the site within view of the union protesters.
Once within the privacy of the painted green plywood barrier, she spotted Marilyn at the perimeter, deep in discussion with one of the contractors. Her dyed-red hair captured the sunlight like the red-purple shade of Rapacine’s Chinese maple tree.
They greeted each other, and Marilyn introduced Iris to Eduardo, the head contractor.
“Is Mr. Wolff on-site today?”
“Unfortunately Jonathan won’t be joining us, he has his daughter today. Allegra trumps everything.”
Iris softened hearing that a busy man like him would take the day off to prioritize his kid. She was only disappointed that she wouldn’t get to test her perfume-free abilities on him.
“But I’ll give you the tour.”
Knowing it was a construction site, Iris had chosen to wear sneakers. Marilyn wore black pumps but gave the impression she could scale Machu Picchu in heels.
“Before we start, we’ll need to get you a hat, and I need you to sign a couple of forms, a liability waiver to be on-site and an NDA, standard operating procedure.” She handed Iris a pen and a leather folder with the papers already tabbed, then motioned to Eduardo.
Iris nodded and signed both.
Marilyn took the folder back and plopped a hard hat on Iris’s head. “Follow me.”
Iris gasped when they entered what would become the main entrance and lobby.
Even with only framing and drywall, she could feel the space, and it made her heart skip a beat.
She had previously engaged with the building only in the REVIT virtual system, and though that program modeled the project with down-to-the-millimeter accuracy, the rendering failed to capture the striking impression of being in the space.
Iris had never worked on a lobby so grand; her imagination had undersold the soaring lofted ceiling, the drama of the curved staircase, and the light.
Sunlight poured in from the wall of glass, and her eyes were drawn upward to the skylight, now an open square of blue, cloudless sky.
Her challenge as a lighting designer was atypical.
Instead of bringing light to a dark space, she would have to bring a feeling of comfort and home to an atrium.
This was the type of design project she had dreamed of in grad school.
It would get press, it would put Candela, and herself, on a new tier.
Iris wasn’t just stepping into the lobby, she was stepping into her future.
Marilyn noticed that Iris had stopped in her tracks. “Everything all right?”
“I’m just taking it in. I can’t tell you how grateful and honored I am to work on this project. I think this building is going to be spectacular.”
“Everything Jonathan does is spectacular. He doesn’t have another setting.”
“How long have you worked with him?”
“I don’t want to date myself, but suffice it to say, since I was his only employee. Let’s go ‘upstairs.’?” Marilyn put air quotes around the upstairs .
In the next moment, Iris understood why. Their mode of ascent was an external construction elevator, basically an open-air cage that shook when they stepped into it and rattled as its gears carried it upward.
Marilyn spoke over the clatter, unfazed.
“When I met Jonathan, I was a single mother without a college degree and with a bad Jersey accent—well, worse. I was in debt, working as a broker for rentals in Brooklyn with my baby strapped to my chest. Most developers took one look at me and said ‘Walking disaster.’ Jonathan saw a multitasker. This spring, my son Patrick graduated from Rutgers with honors and zero debt. And in the fall, he’ll join the team at Wolff Dev.
” Love softened Marilyn’s expression when she talked about her son; her eyes glistened and she beamed with pride.
“Meeting Jonathan changed my life. And if you impress him, he can change yours.”
Iris smiled. Marilyn was a smart, unpretentious, no-nonsense kind of woman, and she admired that Jonathan valued that. “It seems he really respects women, which is so refreshing, honestly. Architecture and design can feel like a boys’ club.”
“If architecture is a boys’ club, real estate is the Playboy Mansion. I’ve met more pigs in this business than when I used to bartend at Scores—I never danced, for the record.”
They exited at the top floor, also bare-bones but impressive. “And this will be the penthouse floor.”
“The view alone is worth twenty million.”
Marilyn scrunched her face. “We’re asking thirty-five.”
Iris laughed. “You’ll get it. And I’m so excited to be a part of this, thank you for trusting me to be a part of the vision.”
“Cover of Arch Digest, that’s your mantra. Jonathan has spared no expense.”
“I thought developers were always trying to cut corners.”
“Not on this building. This is his baby. We’ll be lucky to break even.”
Iris smiled, unsure if she was joking. “That can’t be true. Can it?”
“You know this project has been through the wringer. First costly delays from Covid, supply chain problems, but he was unwilling to compromise.”
“Did the shareholders push back?”
She shrugged. “They’ll get more than their due. We have a robust portfolio of projects and properties with fatter profit margins. This will be the showpiece. This is what drives the Wolff brand. Jonathan liked your pitch because it showed you understood that brand’s value.”
Iris warmed with pride, already envisioning her work on the cover of a glossy magazine. Maybe she’d even be nominated for a LIT Award. Frank should make her a partner.
Marilyn’s voice cut into her reverie. “But are you up to the task?”
Iris opened her mouth but it took a beat. “Yes, absolutely.”
“I hope so. Because Jonathan saw something in you. I trust him, but I’m not sure I see it yet. Today you look like the dog that caught the car.”
“Oh!” Iris gave a nervous laugh—and she’d thought they were getting along so well. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. Maybe I’m just a bitch.”
“What? No, I, I don’t think—”
“What I mean is, don’t let my feedback make it worse.
You don’t even know me. Give yourself the benefit of the doubt.
Take your own side. That’s what men do that women don’t.
” Marilyn’s navy-lined eyes scanned Iris up and down, her lips pursed in a polite smile.
“How you carry yourself matters. Attitude is everything. Act like you belong here, look ’em in the eye.
It’s primal. Just be sure to bring back that spark you had in the pitch meeting. You owned the room that day.”
Iris nodded.
Marilyn leveled her gaze at her. “You’re a wolf now. Act like one.”