"Not for anything terrible," I said. Actually, I didn't know exactly why he had been arrested, but Mark didn't need to know that.
"If I move my operations here," Mark said as the elevator stopped on the empty floor where I had the high-bay creative space, "we need an actual security team."
"Not a problem," I told him. "Frost Tower can provide whatever security accommodations you and your company need."
Mark looked around appreciatively at the space. I was proud of it. Normally in a tower, the developer would have the architect design the ceilings as low as possible to cram in as many tenants as they could. Instead, I had had the ceilings built as high as possible while still minimizing the number of columns.
"You could have a crane in here if you wanted," I boasted.
"We don't need a crane," Mark said, walking through the space. Even though it was cloudy outside, the two-story windows let in an astonishing amount of natural light.
"I imagine it's hot in the summer," he said.
"We've already mitigated any summer heat gain issues," I said and pulled out my tablet to click a button. Shades rolled down, diffusing the light but still allowing us to faintly make out the New York City skyline through them.
"These creative work floors have a double skin," I told Mark, clicking another button. The shades went up, and in between the exterior and interior panes of glass, another set of large stiff blinds came down. "If you don't want the shade, you can have blinds to totally block the light."
"Very nice," Mark said.
"It's also part of the ventilation system to keep the dust down," I explained.
"I do like the fact that you have some condos in the building as well. We would probably need to purchase a few of them. I'll have to talk this over with my board. I’m also looking at some other properties both in the New York City area and in Connecticut, so I can't make any promises," he warned.
"I understand," I told Mark and walked him to the lobby.
"My mother really likes your Christmas decorations," he said with a slight smile. "She insisted I come and at least look at the space."
When I returned to the apartment, Chloe was baking furiously.
"Did you make the deal?" she asked. "Sorry, I hope I didn't ruin it by giving him a muffin."
I danced her around the penthouse.
"He loved your muffin, and the only reason he came by at all was because his mother liked the decorations in the lobby."
"Well, that’s promising," she said.
"Promising! It’s the best lead I've had all year! If I can convince Mark Holbrook to take space in Frost Tower, tons of other tech companies will follow suit." I kissed her. "Maybe this will be a merry Christmas after all!"
She giggled. "You should send him some of these soup muffins. Actually, wait, I know! I'll make an assortment, and you can send them a whole box. I'll decorate it and brand it and everything."
"You're a genius!" I told her. She smiled, and I kissed her under her jaw.
"I want to fuck you right now," I said, pushing my hands under the shirt to cup her breasts.
She rapped me on the head. "Not now. I have to bake."
39
Chloe
It was magical staying in Jack's penthouse. I made another version of soup muffins—French onion with a bubbly layer on top. I had extra pecans, so I also made Jack more of the wedding cookies.
"I think my work here is done," I said, proudly surveying all the baked goods arranged on the counter.
Jack grabbed a muffin and a cookie and ate them while I sketched out ideas for presenting the muffins and cookies to Mark Holbrook.
"I'm thinking two separate boxes," I said. "The muffins will be nestled in nice tissue paper, and the box should be blue. We'll write Frost Tower on it. Do you have any ribbon? What am I saying, of course you don't! I have some calligraphy pens already, though, so I'll think of something. The cookies I think I'll arrange nicely in a smaller box. Then it's like a little present in addition to the muffins."
