As I stood outside the office, thoughts of my drive to Ocean City ran through my head. The salt air, the Boardwalk, and, most importantly, the people I saw while I was there.
The families on the boardwalk, even though it was a cold, cloudy day. Older couples sitting on rocking chairs on their porches, waving to everyone who went by even if they didn’t know them. And the kids riding their bikes through town without a care in the world.
That was Ocean City. Not some cookie-cutter development that you could just plop down in the middle of anywhere and call that community. They wanted a real community, something special, something that meant something.
I walked back down the hall to the dining room where I still kept my sketches hidden. I pulled them out from behind the cabinet and spread them out on the dining room table.
I loved the sketches. I didn’t know if it was just the fact that I had sketched after so long, which felt so damn good, or if there was something truly right about them. But I had a feeling that the sketches were what the council members in Ocean City were looking for.
Taking a deep breath, I squared my shoulders back and stacked my sketches on top of each other before heading back to Oscar’s office.
The two men were silent. When I peeked my head around the corner of the door frame, I saw that Adam was standing next to Oscar, who was seated behind his desk. They were looking down at the old sketches and plans that had originally been presented to Ocean City.
I knocked on the door frame, and they both looked up.
“Hey, Ruby,” Adam said. “We really could use your help.” He grinned.
“Yeah, we could really use a snack,” Oscar said, dropping his eyes back to the portfolio on his desk.
He was dismissing me. There wasn’t any question about that. I knew it was intentional. But for once I didn’t care.
I stepped into his office, holding the sketches to my chest, as if they were my baby. And the truth was, they were. Every sketch I drew was my child. Even twenty years ago. One of my favorite memories was when we drove around the first development we created after people started moving into their homes. I feltso much pride seeing those homes in real life and seeing the smiling faces who would be living in them.
“If you’re hungry, you can go to the kitchen and grab yourself a snack, Oscar,” I said. “I think Adam and I have something to talk about.”
Adam’s grin widened. “Please tell me those are sketches.”
He stepped out from behind Oscar’s desk and came towards me with his hands outstretched, reminding me of an excited child.
“Now hold on,” I said, with a laugh. “Let me show them to you.”
As I walked over to the desk, Oscar let out a disapproving harrumph.
“Since when did you start sketching again?”
I ignored him.
I laid out the sketches. On the top, I had the exteriors, and at the bottom, I had the floor plans that corresponded with them.
For the exteriors, I had one main elevation, and then two additional options beside them. My main elevation was Craftsman-style, something traditional with a deep porch, shutters, and flower boxes under the windows. The other elevations were similar but included additional stone facing and siding options.
“Oh, Ruby, you outdid yourself. These are incredible,” Adam said. “I can see how these are different than what we’ve been offering them. They’re gonna love this.”
Oscar had his back turned, looking out the window. He looked as if he was deep in thought. I wanted to say something to him, to snap him out of this ridiculous attitude, but at that moment I didn’t care what Oscar was thinking. Hearing Adam’s words got me excited. I felt the rush I used to get when I first started designing.
“I have one more sketch,” I said.
I set the final sketch on the desk. It overlapped the others. The sketch was a plan for the entire development showing the carousel in the center, with a park surrounding it. All the roads gently curved toward it, the heart of the development.
“That’s amazing. None of our other designs integrated the carousel or anything that was already there.” He stroked his chin thoughtfully. “I even think the council people asked if it could stay.”
Oscar turned towards us, his eyebrow raised with curiosity. He stepped closer, but his face didn’t give anything away.
"Ruby," Adam said. "We have our presentation scheduled in three days. Do you think you could make a permit set and 3D renderings in time?”
I was stunned. For a moment, I couldn't speak. My mouth hung slightly open. Oscar grunted and then folded his arms over his chest, but I refused to look at him. I wasn’t going to let him take this away from me.
With how he had been acting, I didn't know what was going to happen between the two of us anymore. Did he still love me? I knew I still loved him and I would always care about him, but I didn’t know if that was enough anymore.
