Firmly shaking it, I gesture for us to sit down on my couch. “You caught me at a good time. What’s going on?”
She folds her hands together and lets out a sigh. “I’ll get right to it. There are a couple things I want to talk about. The first being Jonathan Ekhart.”
My head rears back slightly. “What about him?”
“A few months ago, he paid me a visit. It was… awkward to say the least. He asked me if I’d consider sending him projects in the future. With his new company.”
All of a sudden my mouth is dry. “He approached you with that?”
“He did,” she nods tightly. “None of it sat right with me—him trying to poach me like that. He tried to sell me on it by saying he wanted to jump off yoursinking ship,his words, not mine. I never gave him an answer, but it certainly put a bad taste in my mouth. And it made me worry about Define, too.”
My body inwardly deflates, but I keep my body confident. “I’m sorry he put you in that position, Maureen.”
“Thank you. And I’m sorry he put you through what he did. I heard the news about the hearing.”
“Thanks. I’m just glad it’s over.”
“This brings me to the second thing I wanted to talk about.” She sighs with a smile. “The bid with the firm we selected for the auditorium project fell through. I can’t get into the details of it, but the board has decided to nominate Define—pending further project negotiations, of course. I hope it’s not too late.”
The glass walls in my office should shatter from that information bomb she just dropped.
Holy fucking shit.
I shake my head and try to contain my exuberance. “No, it’s not too late. Of course, we’d be thrilled to take on this project.”
“Oh thank god. I loved your design better anyway. I’m so glad the board changed their minds.”
“I’ll start working on a detailed timeline now and have it for you tomorrow. We can set up a meeting this week to start negotiating costs.”
“Perfect,” Maureen smiles, then stands. “That’s all I needed to talk about today.”
I stand, too, and walk her to the main doors, barely able to keep my legs from buckling. “Thank you again, Maureen. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
We give each other a little wave as she exits the building, and as soon as she’s out of sight, I thrust my hands into the air and close my eyes. “Yes!” I hiss. When I open my eyes, I see Sue watching me with a smile. I run over to her behind the desk and hug her. “We got it! We got the auditorium, Sue!”
She holds on tight and she’s just as excited as me. “This is wonderful,” she beams. “I’ll set up a meeting with the department heads and draft the announcement.”
“Thank you.” I release her. “I have to start working on this,” I say, quickly turning and walking back to my office.
This project isn’t one of our biggest, but it feels like it. It feels like victory.
Jay spots me as he exits a meeting room. He scans my face and gives me a look that saysYou have news.Tell me.
“Follow me,” I whisper.
We walk straight to my office and I shut the door. My heart races as I quietly blurt, “We got it. We got the Arts Center. We got the auditorium.”
Jay’s eyes round, laser-focused on me as he sets his laptop on my desk. “What?”
“Maureen was just here and told me the last firm fell through and the board chose us.”
Jay launches for me, picking me up and squeezing so tight I think my lungs might deflate. “Baby,” Jay exclaims softly. “That’s amazing. God, it’s win after win for you.” He sets me down but doesn’t let go. I haul him with me as I lean against my wood door, giving us a little privacy. His full lips meet mine and I melt into him. Neither one of us can hide our smile.
“I love you, Jay.”
“I love you, too. You work so hard for everything you have,” he whispers, leaning his forehead against mine. “You deserve this.”
All of a sudden, a small knock wraps on my door behind me, jolting us off. I give Jay a little look that saysoops, and open the door to see Dayo.
