Chapter 25 - Day 7 Nature Is Healing
Tuesday morning, the coffee was already waiting.
Warm.
Exact.
Of course it was.
I set my bag down and picked up the cup.
Eight days.
I closed my eyes.
Seriously.
At this rate, I was going to start counting hours.
"Good morning."
I opened my eyes.
Nicole was passing my desk.
"Morning."
She glanced at the coffee.
Then at me.
Then toward Adrian's office.
I narrowed my eyes.
"Keep walking."
"I didn't say anything."
"You were thinking."
"I'm allowed to think."
"Not before nine."
She laughed and kept walking.
I took another sip.
Yesterday's interview had followed me home.
Not the questions.
Not the portfolio.
Not even the possibility of another job.
The building.
The people.
That conference room.
The woman saying-
I think you'd have room for that here.
I'd spent half the night thinking about it.
And the other half trying not to think about what it would mean if they actually called.
I looked toward Adrian's office.
Door closed.
Good.
Probably.
I sat down and opened my computer.
For the next twenty minutes, I worked.
Or attempted to.
Then Adrian's office door opened.
I didn't look up.
Immediately.
I gave myself approximately four seconds first.
Then I looked.
Black shirt.
Red tie.
I stared.
Oh, come on.
Apparently, now that every other attempt to make me stay had failed, Adrian Vale had decided his next strategy was to be offensively attractive.
That had to be it.
Raises hadn't worked.
Coral House hadn't worked.
Weekend coffee and unnecessary architectural field trips hadn't worked.
So now he was apparently trying to make sure I could never escape this look.
Of course that was what he was doing.
There was no other reasonable explanation.
Because why on earth would anyone wear a black shirt with a red tie unless they were deliberately trying to ruin someone's ability to leave them?
Asshole.
Adrian Vale had apparently recovered from yesterday's catastrophic system failure.
He spoke briefly to Daniel, handed him something, then started toward my desk.
Oh.
I looked back at my monitor.
"Ms. Stone."
"Mr. Vale."
A drawing landed beside my keyboard.
"The west elevation."
I looked at it.
"What about it?"
"The material transition at the second level."
I studied the drawing.
"You don't like it."
"No."
"Shocking."
His eyes lifted to mine.
"Review it."
"I already did."
"Review it again."
"Did it become a different elevation overnight?"
"No."
"Then I'm probably going to have the same opinion."
"Try anyway."
There he was.
I leaned back in my chair.
"Fine."
He nodded once.
And didn't leave.
I waited.
Adrian remained beside my desk.
I looked up.
"Anything else?"
"No."
I stared at him.
He stared back.
Interesting.
I returned my attention to the drawing.
Five seconds passed.
Maybe six.
Then-
"How was it?"
My eyes stopped on the page.
There it was.
I looked up.
"The interview?"
"Yes."
He looked completely casual.
If casual meant standing unnaturally still beside someone's desk pretending you hadn't been waiting since yesterday afternoon to ask one question.
"It went well."
Something changed in his face.
Barely.
His jaw tightened.
Then released.
"Did you like them?"
That wasn't the question I expected.
Not-
Did they like you?
Did I like them?
I looked at him for a moment.
"Yes."
His eyes stayed on mine.
"I did."
A pause.
"I could see myself working there."
There.
I'd said it.
For some reason, saying it to Adrian felt more real than saying it to myself yesterday.
His gaze dropped to the drawing between us.
"Okay."
That was it.
No questions.
No interrogation.
No new project.
No raise.
No attempt to discover the name of the firm through psychological warfare.
Just-
Okay.
I studied him.
"You're not going to ask where it was?"
"No."
"Who interviewed me?"
"No."
"How much they're paying?"
His eyes came back to mine.
"Did they make you an offer?"
"No."
The answer came a little too quickly.
His expression didn't change.
"They said they'd be in touch."
A beat.
"When?"
"I don't know."
He nodded once.
Then tapped the drawing with one finger.
"Review the transition."
I stared at him.
"That's it?"
"What else would there be?"
Approximately thirty-seven questions, based on yesterday.
"Nothing."
He started to turn away.
"Adrian."
He stopped.
I wasn't entirely sure why I'd called him back.
Maybe because something about this felt wrong.
Yesterday he'd looked like I'd told him I was moving to another planet.
Today-
Nothing.
CEO.
Controlled.
Impossible to read.
"Are you okay?"
His eyes held mine.
"Yes."
I waited.
He waited.
Right.
Stupid question.
"Okay."
He gave one small nod.
Then walked away.
I watched him disappear into his office.
The door closed behind him.
I looked down at the drawing.
Then at my coffee.
Still warm.
Still exact.
He hadn't given up.
I knew that.
I just didn't know what he was doing now.
A little before noon, Ben dropped into the chair across from my desk with a set of drawings in his hand.
"Tell me I'm right."
"No."
"You don't even know what I'm talking about."
"I know you."
"That's hurtful."
"You'll recover."
He slid the drawings across my desk.
I looked down.
Solara.
Of course.
"What am I looking at?"
"The entrance canopy."
I studied the revision.
Then frowned.
"Who changed this?"
"Daniel."
From three desks away-
"I can hear you."
"Good," I called back. "Why did you do this?"
Daniel looked over his monitor.
"Because Adrian hated the original transition."
"I hate this transition."
"Take it up with your dance partner."
My head snapped up.
Ben immediately looked delighted.
Daniel looked like he regretted nothing.
"I'm going to throw something at you."
"Not the stapler," Maya called from somewhere behind me. "We've discussed this."
Before I could respond, a voice came from behind Ben.
"Is there a problem?"
Everyone went quiet.
Adrian.
Ben slowly turned in his chair.
"No."
I looked at him.
"Yes."
Ben looked back at me.
"Traitor."
Adrian walked closer.
His eyes moved to the drawings.
"What?"
I turned the sheet toward him and pointed.
"This."
He looked at it.
"No."
"You didn't even look at it."
"I looked at it."
"For three seconds."
"It only required two."
I stared at him.
There he was.
"What's wrong with it?"
"The transition is too abrupt."
"It isn't."
"It is."
"The canopy already creates the visual break."
"It creates a break. It doesn't resolve the material change."
"It doesn't need to resolve it. That's the point."
Adrian reached past Ben and pulled the drawing closer.
"The upper volume already has enough separation. You're adding another competing element."
"I'm not adding anything. I'm simplifying what Daniel added."
Daniel raised one hand.
"I'd like to formally remove myself from this conversation."
"No one invited you into it," I said.
"You literally asked me why I changed it."
"That was before I had someone more irritating to argue with."
Ben made a small choking sound.
Adrian ignored him.
"Your solution creates a shadow line that doesn't belong there."
"It absolutely belongs there."
"No."
I leaned back.
"You know, saying no repeatedly isn't actually architectural criticism."
"I've given you three reasons."
"Two of them were stupid."
His eyebrows lifted.
"Which two?"
"I'm still deciding."
Silence.
Ben lowered his head.
His shoulders moved.
He was laughing.
Adrian gave him one look.
Ben immediately became fascinated by the drawings in his lap.
I turned back to Adrian.
"If we carry the same material straight through, the entrance loses definition."
"It doesn't."
"It does."
"You're exaggerating the problem."
"You're pretending there isn't one."
"Because there isn't."
"Then why are we still talking about it?"
"Because you refuse to accept that you're wrong."
I opened my mouth.
And stopped.
Something strange happened.
Not to him.
To me.
I looked at Adrian standing across from my desk, black shirt, red tie, one hand resting on the drawing between us.
Annoyed.
Certain.
Impossible.
And suddenly-
Oh.
I'd missed this.
Not him yelling at me.
Not the conference room.
Not what he'd said that day.
This.
Arguing with him.
Having him tear apart an idea and getting to tear apart his reasoning right back.
Standing my ground while he stood his.
My impossible boss.
I'd actually missed fighting with my impossible boss.
That was-
Deeply concerning.
"What?"
I blinked.
Adrian was watching me.
"Nothing."
"You stopped arguing."
"Maybe I got tired."
"You don't get tired."
I stared at him.
Then pointed at the drawing.
"The shadow line stays."
"No."
And just like that-
We were back.
Ten minutes later, Adrian straightened.
"No. We're keeping the original."
I folded my arms.
"You're wrong."
"I'll try to recover."
"You won't."
His eyes narrowed.
"Ms. Stone."
"Mr. Vale."
A beat.
Then he picked up the drawing and walked away.
Nobody spoke until his office door closed.
Then-
"That was beautiful."
I looked at Ben.
"What?"
He put one hand over his heart.
"You two fighting again. Nature is healing."
"Shut up, Ben."
"I've missed this."
"Do some work."
"I am working."
"You've been sitting at my desk for twenty minutes."
"Morale is part of productivity."
"Go away."
He stood, still grinning, and wandered back toward his desk.
I turned to my computer.
A few seconds passed before I realized-
I was smiling.
I stared at the screen.
Eight days.
The smile disappeared.
Oh God.
I was going to miss fighting with Adrian too.
Around twelve-thirty, Ethan appeared beside my desk.
"Lunch?"
I looked up.
He was standing there with his phone in one hand and his keys in the other.
"Is that a question or a demand?"
"A carefully worded attempt to use one of my remaining eight lunches."
I stared at him.
Oh.
Apparently everyone had decided to start counting now.