Conklin's Blueprints (3 page)

“No Roger, I’m fine.  You can go ahead and leave.  Go do something fun, I will tell my parents you stuck around and helped me out for a few hours.”

Roger smiled at me and turned to leave.  I’m sure he was going to head straight home.  He loved doing whatever my family asked of him.  Fortunately my parents were always wonderful to their staff and did everything they could to make them feel comfortable and a part of the family.

I explored the condo once Roger left.  It had 15-foot ceilings throughout the space and was very modern.  Sleek, light gray walls covered the living room with a large white brick electric fireplace.  The floors were a very dark black hardwood with a large area rug in the middle of the white leather furniture.  The kitchen was just past the living room painted with red walls and black cabinets and stainless steel appliances. There was an island counter that had white and gray speckled granite and four black bar stools.

Just past the kitchen there was a dining area with a large glass table with eight black chairs surrounding it. In the middle of the table there was a large bouquet of lilies with a note:

We are so happy you are back in Grand Rapids. Congratulations on the job.

We love you.

Mom & Dad

The card made me smile.  They really did mean well.  They were okay with having things done for them.  My mother was fine with hiring people to move her things and clean up after her and drive her around; I wasn’t.  I wanted to take care of myself.  One day I was going to have to figure out how to tell them this.   I put down the note and continued on throughout the large space.

There were hallways going off of the living room and kitchen leading towards each separate suite.  Each bedroom had an attached bathroom and a large walk-in closet.  The bathroom had a huge bathtub and walk-in shower made of clear tile with a foggy glass door.  The counter tops were crystal white and the cabinets were black.  Glass tiling made up the wall behind the vessel sinks making a large border around the mirror.   My bedroom had the same sleek gray walls as the living room.  My mother purchased a new bedspread which was a black and white modern decor; with an arrangement of red, black, and white throw pillows.  There was a large picture of a woman drinking coffee with an oversized hat with a black and white color scheme.  The dresser was black along with two end tables on either side of the bed with red lamps on top.  There was a sliding door leading to a deck which over looked the city with a huge hot tub made of concrete that had exotic plants surrounding it. No doubt the plants were fake; this is Michigan after all.  It was very serene on the deck, and I pictured myself spending most of my free time out there.

Across from each room there was a study.  My mother had made sure my drafting table and supplies were all neatly organized within the room.  This was no good to me.  Now, I had no idea where anything was.  I knew she was trying to be helpful, but the woman was maddening.  

There was a flat screen television hanging in the corner of the study and a large fluffy chair with a matching ottoman.  I sank down into the oversized sofa chair and stared at the ceiling.  How did I ever think I was going to pull this off?  Coming to Grand Rapids and not having my parents try to control my life?  I was 24, and they had picked out a condo and bought all new furniture and handed it to me.  And I let them!  I needed to find my voice in this city.  Maybe I should just take off and leave.  No, that wouldn’t solve anything.  And Jamie had already committed to moving her life out here.  I couldn’t leave her.  She was the only thing stable in my life that didn’t drive me insane.

I casually got up and went into my bedroom to unload my belongings.  Once I felt half way in order I heard my stomach growl.  I forgot about getting food.  I called and ordered some take out, figuring I could save half and bring it to my first day of work tomorrow for lunch. 

I had a real problem with food.

Ever since I was little my relationship with food wasn’t normal.  With my mother constantly comparing me with everyone else’s little girls, including the perfect Ashlynn, I was always afraid to eat in front of people.  This would lead to not eating at all; then binge eating later.  Unfortunately, this would be why most of my life I wasn’t the perfect size two, but closer to an eight.  I only got a grasp on normal eating habits when I was off with Jamie on our own.  She ate all the time and managed to stay skinny, where I had to hit the gym twice as hard and really stay away from all the good stuff.  Jamie would give me shit if I didn’t eat and would force me to sit with her and eat a healthy meal.  It was good for me; it made me drop that extra 30 pounds I had always carried with me.  I would have been happy to lose another 10, but for some reason it just wasn’t going to budge.  I swear it was all in my ass.  Jamie always gave me crap saying she would give anything for it.  I just thought it was huge and added a size to my jeans.

Connor never said anything about my weight, which was a good and a bad thing.  He never said I needed to lose it, but then he never said I was perfect for him either.  Either he really didn’t think I was appealing in that way or he just didn’t think to tell me.  This caused me to be so self-conscious.  I hated taking my clothes off with him around, and the lights were always off.  It didn’t make a difference to him either way.  I guess he didn’t care as long as he was getting some.

I still never felt comfortable in a bikini or clubbing outfits.  Jamie would always encourage me, telling me I was beautiful, and I needed to stop thinking otherwise.  Ashlynn was a lot like my mother, comparing me to other people and telling me it was okay that I didn’t look like them.

My salad arrived, and I immediately took half of it and put it into a container for work.  When I went to open the fridge I gasped.  My mother had filled it with food.  I was shocked.  Does this woman have no boundaries? At least it wasn’t a bunch of junk food.  I wasn’t sure if I was annoyed or grateful for her attentiveness to what she bought.

Once I was done eating, I picked out my clothes for my first day of work.  A cream short sleeve sweater dress that rose just above my knee with a large brown belt.  I figured I would wear my burnt orange heels and my dark orange pendant necklace with brown alternating jewels.  The outfit was perfect for the season; it was early September and the leaves were starting to change color.  It was 60 degrees out so I would have to wear a jacket.  Florida thinned out my blood.  Normally, I would have been fine in short sleeves in 60 degree weather.

Just as I was going to brush my teeth and put on some sweats my phone rang.  It was Jamie.

“Hey Chica!  All settled in?” She exclaimed.  She was so excited to move, but she had to wait another week before she could get out here.

“All I need is your crap lying around, and I will feel settled,” I said.  She laughed and chatted about all that she had to pack and get done before she drove up.  Her parents gifted Jamie a Jeep Commander for a “finally getting your life together” present.  This was a grand gesture from Jamie’s family.  They worked very hard for their money and buying their daughter a new car would take a toll on their savings.  Jamie didn’t want to accept it, but her parents had insisted.  They thought I was a good influence on her and they thought she was settling down because me.  Only if they knew it was the other way around. 

“Are you excited for work tomorrow?  Sucks your first full day back will include 8 hours of being a grown up.”

I sighed, “I know, but this is the one thing I am sure of.   I am actually excited.  I was just going to do a little bit more research on the company when you called.”  Truth was, I had looked at their website a dozen times.  Jamie knew this too.

“Better make sure you memorize their code of conduct,” she joked.

“Ha ha, I just want to be prepared.”

“You have been prepared since before your first interview. You will be fine.  Hopefully your desk will be next to some eye candy,” she said with a flirt.

“Yeah, and he will be married or gay.” I snorted.  “Besides, I’m not looking for a man right now.”

“Yeah, but you never know who you are going to meet,” she said.  It reminded me of Connor and made me frown.

“Well I have to get going.  Get your shit in order and get up here,” I teased.

“Will do.  Have a good night.”

I hung up the phone and sighed. What would I do without that girl?  I went into my office and fired up my new computer, another nice furnishing from my lovely parents.  I went onto the Conklin Architecture, Construction, and Design website.  I scooted around it, moving from the architecture page to the history of the company; it was quite fascinating to me.  The original founder of the company had started out in Grand Rapids in his parents’ basement and quickly built his company up and moved to Chicago because, at the time, there was more opportunity to build there.  After 20 years in Chicago, he expanded with his son back to Grand Rapids.  Now they have huge buildings in Chicago, Grand Rapids, and their newest building in Cleveland, Ohio.  The founding father of the company had just passed away a year ago, and left the company to his son and three grandsons.  There was a picture of the five of them cutting the ribbon in Cleveland.  They were all very attractive.  The caption below the picture revealed the names of the men in the picture.  The grandfather, Robert Conklin Sr., was in the middle holding scissors, with his son, Robert Jr., on his left and a grandson, Mitchell. On his other side were his other two grandsons, Tyler and Nathan.  The two grandsons on the right seemed very happy and proud, while his son seemed distracted, and had a hint of a smile on his face.  The other brother shyly smiled. 

I exited out of the website and headed for bed.  As I fumbled in the covers I wondered what tomorrow would bring.  Would this place really be a good fit?  I sure hoped so; I didn’t have any other option for it not to be.

Chapter 2

I woke up to my alarm and immediately shot out of bed.  I hadn’t slept well, worrying I would oversleep.  I jumped in the shower and started getting ready.  I methodically blew my hair dry with my hairbrush and straightened out all of the waves.  Once I finished straightening my hair, I started on my makeup.  I would normally only put on some mascara and eyeliner, but for the first day I thought I should add some eye shadow and bronzer.  I put on basic gloss and did a subtle nod in the mirror. 
This will do.

I had 45 minutes to spare, so I thought I would grab some tea on the way to work.  There was a nice little self-serve café a block from the Conklin building that I could stop at.  My apartment building was within walking distance, so I headed out with my bag and walked quickly.  My feet were going to be killing me after walking in these heels.  I was going to need to buy some more respectable flats.

I picked up my tea and a pre-packaged bowl of berries and headed to wait in line.  There were two registers open, and I was three back.  Through my peripheral vision I noticed two sharply dressed gentleman standing in the line next to me.  One was on his phone, not noticing anything going on around him.  He seemed very focused on who he was talking to and didn’t seem to care if anyone else heard what he was saying.  He had gray suit pants with a dark purple shirt and a matching gray tie.  I tried not to turn to look at him because he was so loud.  The other man sparked my attention more.  He was taller than the gentleman on the phone and was very masculine.  He had a strong jaw line and messily styled short brown hair.  His eyes were covered with aviators and his expression was un-readable.  After all my observations I brought myself back to the line I was in, which hadn’t moved.  There was a woman at the register who was trying to run a credit card that wouldn’t go through, and she was searching her purse for money.  She had a little boy with her tugging on her skirt repeatedly saying he was hungry, and his demands were getting louder.  The gentleman in front of me was becoming annoyed.

“If you can’t pay for it, don’t get in line,” he sneered.

I looked at the man in disgust and nudged past him. 

“Let me get it,” I said, smiling at the flustered woman.  I put my fruit and tea on the counter and handed the cashier a twenty.

“Oh!  You don’t have to do that!” she said turning red, still fumbling in her purse.  I smiled back at her, “Don’t worry about it.”

Her shoulders shrugged, and she smiled warmly.  She grabbed the bagel and gave it to her son.  “Thank you,” she said sincerely.

I turned to walk away as the gentleman who was being crabby winced, worried I would lash out at him.  I kept my head down, feeling a little embarrassed that I had given the man such an abrupt nudge in the first place.  Then I felt another pair of eyes on me.  I glanced to my left and noticed the two gentlemen finishing up at the register.  The one was still animatedly talking on the phone, oblivious to what was going on, but the other dressed in all black had his head facing the door, his eyes hidden by his aviators.  I shook the feeling of being watched and marched out the front door to head into work.

The Conklin building was one of the larger buildings in the city.  There were at least 30 floors.  Each floor consisted of a different department: marketing, sales, finance, landscaping, interiors, graphics, etcetera.  I hadn’t realized their company did so much on their own work instead of contracting out the services.   I was in the commercial architecture department, floor 12.  Normally I would take the stairs, but in these heels I decided to pass and take the elevator.  I showed the security guard my ID tag and headed to press the button. 

Will Summers was the head of the commercial architecture department.  I had been working with him while I was going through the process of interviewing and hiring.  He was very young to be the head of a department; he had to be in his mid-30s and had green eyes with glasses and bright red hair.   It was cut short, but you could tell it would be curly if he were to grow it longer.  He wore a brown dress shirt and khaki Dockers.