“It’s a lot of work running this place. I take care of the office and Jordan takes care of the rest. I’m trying to convince him to hire someone to handle part of the office work, so it doesn’t overflow to him while I’m not here but he’s hesitant.”
“Ah…Mel would you please convince this husband of yours to listen to me?” Dwight said coming out of Jordan’s office.
“I don’t know what about, but I can give it a try,” she stated with a smile.
“Let me and Mel talk things through and we’ll get back to you Dwight,” Jordan said dropping a kiss on her cheek. “Everyone happy?”
“Always,” she answered.
“Well then don’t forget about that tour Mel. I’ve seen some of your work in Jordan’s office and it rivals the students in my top classes,” Dwight said sending her a warm smile.
“I’m getting around to it; I have to convince the boss to let me off for the afternoon first.”
“Maybe he should hire someone else and give you a break,” Dwight said looking at the stack of work on her desk. “How do you manage that on top of school?”
“It’s a secret,” she told him.
“Called she barely sleeps,” Jordan added, “but hopefully once we hire someone else she can ease off.”
“Hire someone else?” she asked looking up at him with a grin.
“What can I say, you’ve worn me down and wore me out listening to you work until one in the morning and then you’re up at six. We can put your ad out and see who responds.”
“Wise man,” Dwight stated. “I’ll be going to let you two discuss. I hope the board hears from you Jordan.”
“Would you like to explain?” she asked once the other man had left.
“Whitmore has been having the architecture and engineering students help design the plans for new buildings and dorms that will be going up on the other side of the campus. The board’s finally approved the go ahead to collect bids since they have the majority of the funding in place.”
“So part of the design is yours?” she asked seeing the light in his eyes that said he wanted to help.
“I helped with two buildings, one was with my undergrad and the other my masters. Dwight thinks we should put in a bid,” Jordan told her and she smiled knowing they’d figure it out the best they could.
“And you’re hesitant because you’re not sure if we can swing it?”
“It would be a huge task, and it’d take years to fully complete it. I don’t know if we could keep the other projects going while working on it.”
“Without hiring a crew specifically for it.” Mel read where he was coming from now. Payments from the school might be a bit slow coming in and they’d have to cover the crews until they were reimbursed for expenses. “We’re doing good right? So let’s sit down and go over the numbers. Look at the plans, estimate the costs and we’ll see what it comes out to financially.”
“Well…”
“You already have,” she said kissing his cheek.
“Dwight gave me a copy of the proposed buildings, and I’ve been working on it while you’ve been working on your schoolwork.”
“So you have a basic number already in your head, don’t you? Give me five minutes to check my desk and I’ll bring the computer in for us to go over it.”
“Thanks honey, can I get either of you something to drink?” he offered and she’d forgotten that Ms. Simmons was still there.
“I’m good.”
“Do you have any coffee?” Ms. Simmons asked.
“Fresh pot, I drink the stuff by the gallons, but Mel can’t stand it,” he told her.
“Or your breath after you drink it,” she yelled after him.
She found them looking at her artwork which she’d kept hidden from everyone except Tate and she blushed before steeling herself.
