As I walked back to Frost Tower, I could swear the Santa was following me. But when I turned around, there was no one there.
"I'm seeing things," I muttered to myself as Eddie opened the door to the lobby for me.
"Thanks." He saluted me.
"Have you…" I licked my lips. I didn't want to sound crazy. But then I remembered who I was talking to. "Have you seen any other Santas around here?"
Eddie looked at me oddly, or maybe he was drunk. He reeked of booze.
"No, Chloe," he replied.
"Keep an eye out, okay?"
"Sure," he said, nodding slowly.
I went up to Jack's penthouse, determined to put all thoughts of Santas and my junkie cousin out of my mind and instead focus on whatever this thing was between me and Jack.
"I hope he likes muffins," I said and knocked on his door.
30
Jack
Ileft the present for Chloe in my penthouse on the kitchen counter and told the dog not to chew it, then I went to the Chamber of Commerce holiday party. Greg was there, and his mood didn't seem to have improved any.
"I hate Christmas parties," Greg said, glowering.
"I'm only staying for a little bit," I told him. "Just seeing if anyone is expanding."
There was little interest until Mark Holbrook walked in. I hurried over to him, elbowing aside other real estate company representatives looking to land his company as a tenant.
"I heard your new company is looking for some space," I said after introducing myself. "I have some unique space that was designed for creative firms like—"
"Look," Mark interrupted. "My company is still in the startup phase, so there's a lot of experimentation we're doing. My engineers and I do serious research and development for robotics, and we have specific requirements for our work area."
"And I have the perfect space for it," I said smoothly.
"IfI were to put my company in New York City, I could just put the company in my uncle's tower," Mark retorted.
"You could," I said, "but Frost Tower has FM 200 fire-suppressant systems. It's specially configured for technology manufacturing and design companies. Each floor is high bay space, perfect for engineering and testing new products. You wouldn't have to spend money reconfiguring the space to meet fire and other safety requirements."
Mark seemed intrigued, but then he said, "You're in that weird dead space though, right? There's no restaurants or anything over there."
"I'm working on bringing in more amenities to the area," I told him. "Frost Tower is brand new, it's near a park, and there's good natural light. I could give you a great leasing deal."
He looked at me.
"You don't have to give an answer right now," I said, "but think about it."
There were several other developers waiting to talk to Mark when I headed back to Greg.
"They'll probably offer him a better lease than you will," Greg said and downed the rest of his drink. "I talked to a shared workspace company, and the representative said she would come see the space in Frost Tower. They would lease at most two floors, which means you have another forty to fill."
"Mark's company could occupy a significant chunk, especially with the amount of money the Defense Department is throwing at robotics," I told him.
* * *
When I returnedto Frost Tower, I was feeling more optimistic. I looked up at my building, hoping it would still be Frost Tower in four months.
