“You didn’t anticipate that?” asks an older woman dressed in head-to-toe black. I assume she’s Tayler’s professor.
My girl nods. “I checked with them about a grill, and they said they’d approve it as long as it was natural gas. There’s a gas line from the building, so I’d assume a fireplace would also be okay.”
“Don’t assume,” says the bitch in black.
Tayler looks at me, then back at the woman. “Of course not.”
Now I can see why she’s nervous. I can also see why it was important for me to dress the part. For the record, I dug out my death suit jacket and paired it with the purple shirt. I hope she noticed, because I’m never wearing this shit again. Not until the next funeral, that is.
“Mr. Green?” her professor says with a smile. “What do you think of Miss Sorensen’s design.”
“I like it, especially the courtyard, but how much would all that cost?”
Tayler presses on the thing again, and a new slide appears. This one has a breakdown of all the costs associated with her project. She’s even gotten it narrowed down by item. There’s a price for moving the bar, for getting rid of the narthex thing, for enlarging the kitchen, and for the courtyard. It’s astronomical for all of it. But if you start moving shit around inside, you can’t just stop on one thing, you’d have to commit to all of it. I listen as Tayler goes through every aspect of the design and why things cost what they do. In all, she’s done a really good job. If I did this project, I would know what I was getting into up front.
“Mr. Green?” I look up at Tayler. “What questions do you have for me?”
“If I chose to do the courtyard right now, how would you access it if I didn’t do the stuff inside?” Tayler’s face falls like I just told her there was no Santa Claus. “I mean, this plan would have to happen in increments. If I started with the outside part of it, how would I do it?”
Her expression changes a little. Not much but some. Tayler uses her clicker to go back to one of the first slides with images of the bar. “You’d have to move the booths here.” She points at the screen. “You could cut through the cinderblock and add a doorway there.”
“You could check on the permits?”
Tayler gives me a smile. “Of course.”
“I think your designs are great, Tayler. If I had more equity in the place, I’d do that in a heartbeat.”
“Yes, but think of it this way,” she interrupts me. “If you decided to renovate, you’d have more seating and a larger kitchen. More seating alone would enable you to recoup your investment in five years.”
She’s done her homework. “Can I think about the work inside? I’d like to move forward on the courtyard.”
“Great.” Tayler’s smile is forced. “I’d be happy to work with you on that.”
“Well, then….” Her professor stands up and walks to stand next to Tayler. She leans in close to whisper something in Tayler’s ear. I can hear her, though. “Next time, don’t interrupt the client.” Tayler’s pretty face falls. “Maybe then he wouldn’t have immediately said no.”
I need to say something. “I’m not ruling out the entire plan, ma’am. I just need to think about it. This is the first I’ve seen of her idea, and there’s a lot to consider. She obviously knows what she’s doing.”
I can’t tell from Tayler’s demeanor if that was helpful or not. I guess I’ll have to wait and see.
I wait outside the room for Tayler to appear. When she does, I get a sincere smile. “Thanks, Luke.”
I want to wrap her up in a hug, but the bitch professor could come out any minute.
“You did great.”
“Yeah?”
“I really did love your ideas. I’m just not sure about the cost. The courtyard was genius.”
“I agree. Think about spring through fall. You’d always have people out there on nice days. You could even mount televisions out there for game days.”
“Love it.” Damn, I want to hug her.
“You look nice, Luke.” Her voice is soft, almost hesitant.
“I’m sorry about this morning.”
“Me too.”
