by C R Riley
Which is why I was relieved when the project was completed and we got to return home. I knew that he would be different once back in Chicago. For one he had his friends to distract him here, people he had known a lot longer than me. Plus, we would no longer be required to spend every single working day together, and once work ended could go our separate ways in completely different directions.
What I hated about it ending was the fact that I knew as soon as I saw the city Randal would take over my mind again. After having lived somewhere else for the past year it was not something, I welcomed back in my life at all.
I am positive that explains why I made a beeline to Zach Greene’s office two days later. I need to get out of this city. I will go anywhere that isn’t Chicago, and yes, I do mean anywhere.
Zach notices me as soon as I step into his outer office. “Come on in Larkin. You look stressed.”
I attempt to give him a genuine smile but I just don’t have it in me. “I need to get out of here.”
Zach laughs as he leans back in his chair. “You just got back. Ready to blow out again so soon?” He then motions for me to take a seat.
“Yes. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I hate this city.” I admit as I plop down in the chair and sigh.
A sad expression crosses Zach’s face as he rocks in his chair and studies me carefully. I know that he gets my feelings since he is one of the few people that understands why. Randal and Zach once worked together. His death had been a shock to him and this very company.
Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that part. Randal also once worked for Manchester International and his picture hangs in the main hallway as a memorial to a friend they lost too soon. They held high hopes for the kid who worked his way from the bottom all the way to the top. Randal was an inspiration to all those who knew him, but that there was too much for me to deal with day in and day out.
“Let me see what I can come up with.” Zach seems open to a suggestion so I give him one.
“I was thinking maybe I could help out with the …” I glance down at my lap to where I wrote the project’s name on a post-it before I walked down here, “… the Hermosa Islas project.”
A chuckle escapes him as he straightens and clicks his computer on. “You really aren’t messing around. That’s a five-year proposed project, maybe longer. We are sending a team over in a few days. I’m not sure I have room on that team at the moment.”
“I hear Janice isn’t all that excited about being assigned to that particular group. She knows its career suicide to refuse a project of this magnitude, although I imagine she’d be happier with something closer to home. I’d be glad to take her spot.”
I know this because when I was here late last night, trying to figure out what I was going to do, she was around. Janice was sitting at her desk stressing about her upcoming move she had reluctantly agreed to. I’m sure she felt like if she informed them, she’d rather not take the assignment, her chances of getting promoted would fade fast. However, if I volunteer to take her place, she can then be reassigned somewhere else and all is good right.
“Janice is a Level II architect. You are a Level I, Larkin.” Zach peeks up over the glasses he slipped on just a few minutes ago.
“But I should be a Level II after the project I just kicked butt on. Come on Zach. You and I both know this would be an excellent fit for me. The team you are sending: Cameron, Bradley and Reginald are all really good, but they would be better if I were there with them.” I am painting it on thick and I know it.
“Hope is going as well. Timothy thought it would be good experience for her.” Zach tries to sound like he agrees.
Hope by the way is Timothy Manchester’s youngest daughter. She is a few years younger than me and she is good, but not great. Her sister Nicolette is great—spectacular in fact—which is why she made Junior Partner by the time she was thirty. That woman is whom I inspire to be in a few more years, why I work so hard. I mean I know I will never make Junior Partner by the time I’m thirty, my daddy isn’t the Senior Partner, and I am not the person he plans on handing the company over to when he retires.
And because I am really good at selling myself, I see this as an even better reason for me to do it right now. “Which is an even better reason to send me. Hope and I started around the same time. She just finished her masters and has done very little fieldwork. I can mentor her and she’ll be much more comfortable with me than Janice. Janice intimidates her, which come on, if anyone should be intimidated it should be Janice just because of who Hope is.” Okay so maybe I shouldn’t have said that last part out loud, but I can’t retract it now. “Plus, Timothy has always had a soft side for me.”
Zach leans back in his chair again and crosses his arms in his lap. I know that means he is really thinking about everything I said. When his desk phone rings, he leans forward and snags it off the receiver.
“Zach here.” His eyebrows lift almost to his hairline, which you should know is a receding hairline. “He’s here now? Like in the building and on his way up. Son of a …”
There is long pause and Zach nearly leaps out of his chair. “She did what? When? Last night? Why am I just now hearing about this? Yes, I’ll handle it. I can’t believe she would up and leave us like that without a warning this close to an important project. Yes Bradley, I understand what this means. I know that it throws a serious …”
I can hear Bradley Stanton, Project Manager over Hermosa Islas, loudly expressing himself through the phone line. He isn’t letting Zach get a word in edgewise and right now the man is rubbing his face and nodding, as if he totally agrees with everything the other man is communicating.
There are footsteps behind me and I can identify by the sound of them that they belong to someone important. Don’t ask me how I know these kinds of details, I just do.
Therefore, I turn around and nearly fall out of my chair when the large man, flanked by two equally large men, enters Zach’s office. One of the men glares at me, like I am doing something wrong by remaining in my chair, gawking at the specimen in front of me. So, I glare back but don’t move.
The man turns to his companions and when he opens his mouth he speaks in this rich, very unusual accent. “You may wait for me outside.”
I actually do slip out of my chair after hearing that rich tone and land on my hip with a loud, “Ugg.”
I suddenly feel like I did when I was ten, after I tripped and landed at the feet of the President when he came to my father’s office in DC to congratulate him. My face heats up as I do my best to try and save face by rolling over onto my knees so I can stand.
“There is no need to kneel before me Senora.” The arrogant male chuckles as he reaches out to give me a hand.
This conceited man no longer impresses me now that he has shown his true colors by making me feel foolish. Accordingly, I slap his hand away and stand on my own, placing a hand on the chair and pushing myself up. It may not have been the most graceful move I have ever done in my life, but at least I didn’t require his assistance.
So, what if he is the most stunning male, I have ever laid eyes on. He is almost a whole foot taller than me and I am not short by any means, two inches shy of six feet in my two-inch heels. His shoulders are broad, giving him a very unyielding posture, dressed in his tailor-made suit and very shinny shoes. That square jaw of his has a deep dimple where it meets his chin, making him appear so much more lethal. Granting his facial features, a very powerful demeanor. Then there are those brown eyes, which seem to notice everything and mix well with his skin tone and black wavy hair—not too wavy but just enough to make him look sassy. I mean who cares what he looks like, if he is a complete jerk and doesn’t have the decency to ask me if I’m okay.
Did I tell you how I mouth off when I’m frustrated or feeling uneasy? That I just blurt out what I’m thinking and don’t even care if it offends or makes others feel equally uncomfortable. My defense mechanism my mother desperately tried to break me of but always ended up a
pologizing for later.
“Kneel down? Please! I wouldn’t kneel down to you if you were the King of freaking England. And since I know you are not the King of England that can be checked off the list.” I make a big check mark in the air and bend down to grab my misplaced items off the floor.
“Bowing isn’t necessary either.” Again, he chuckles as he clears his throat clearly amusing himself.
Arggg. I’m pretty sure that is the noise I make when I stand and all but stomp my foot at him. “You sir, are an arrogant egotistical male. One I don’t have time to deal with at the moment.”
I turn back to Zach who is just now hanging up his phone, staring at the man I just chewed out very strangely. Whatever.
“Let me know what you decide. If that won’t work then I need to figure out what my other options are.”
Zach seems to shake the cobwebs from his head like he just realized I was still there. “Meeting in five minutes. Bring all of Janice’s notes. She quit as of this morning, which means if you are serious about taking her place it’s yours.”
I do a fist pump in the air and grin widely. “I’ll be there.”
The large man has relocated and is now blocking my escape, or at least trying to. People don’t intimidate me, because frankly I don’t really care what they think.
When I step right, he steps that way too. I move left, and he does the same. I fake a move and then dart around him feeling very victorious that I slipped past him without having to say anything else to the stunning annoying stranger.
I have more important matters to take care of right now than deal with someone like him anyways. I am going to impress the heck out of all those attending this meeting using Janice’s notes. And then I am going home to pack, or maybe I am going home to not unpack.
I need to sublease my place again, or just get rid of it this time, since this project will be a more permanent relocation instead of a temporary move. Let me tell you how very glad I am about that.
Chapter 5
Antonio
I try not to chuckle at the spunky woman who all but stormed past me when I crowded in behind her.
Something about her immediately caught my attention the instant I entered Mr. Greene’s office. I noticed her seated in the chair facing his desk with her back positioned towards the door. Gifting me with the perfect view of her backside peeking through the wooden contemporary style chair, a design I imagined one might find often in an architect’s office. Her slacks were stretched tightly over the only part of her that was exposed, which I thought was a glorious sight.
Don’t look at me like that. I don’t typically make it a habit to focus on that particular area on a woman. However, the bright red slacks she had on, begged for my attention.
As I stepped past the door it was her blonde hair that went floating through the air as she whipped her head around. Then it was those pale blue eyes, surrounded by the lightest skin I have ever seen. Reminding me of the porcelain dolls my sister had growing up. After that it was those heart shaped red lips that nearly had me forgetting who I was and why I was here.
It wasn’t until she glared at Franco and Isaac that I seemed to come to my senses and quickly dismissed them into the outer office. They won’t go far, now that they have secured the room and understand there is no threat to me in here.
Which is when I hear a thump followed by a grunt. By the time I directed my attention back towards the blonde beauty, she was rising to her knees and for some unknown reason I made a comment about kneeling in my precious not being necessary.
The fire that light up behind her eyes made me want to say something else, just so I could witness how fiery they could get. Therefore, when she swatted my hand away, as if I was an annoying fly, it burned me. I have never been treated with such disregard and wasn’t sure exactly how to handle her.
I wanted to scold her; except I never got the chance. Because as soon as she up righted herself and got everything back in order, she completely gave me a piece of her mind. I had to hold back another chuckle, because it was then I knew she had no clue of who I was or what I was doing here. There is no way this well put together woman would have spewed all that out if she had.
For that reason, I just couldn’t stop myself when she bent over to pick up her things. And I was reward with an even fiercer glower that alerted me she didn’t take crap from anyone.
When she turned her back on me to address Mr. Greene, I stepped up right behind her so that when she spun around, we would nearly be touching. I didn’t even try to suppress the fact that I was toying with her when she wanted to leave. Which is why when she finally was able to slither past me, and then she stormed off and never looked back.
“King Reyes.” Mr. Greene attempts to address me properly. It’s a common error that happens more than one might expect.
Typically, when people are addressed formally, they use last names, but take a minute to think about all the past kings throughout history. Queen Elizabeth. King George. Prince Henry. We use their first names when we discuss them, don’t we. But it never fails that when someone tries to figure out what they should call me, they always go with my last name, much like they would when addressing other world leaders. President Lincoln. Prime Minister Churchill. President Mandela. Interesting isn’t it.
“King Antonio if you feel like you must address me with my title. Although I am fine with just Antonio, since this is more personal business Mr. Greene.” I nod politely and then start to take the seat that was recently occupied by the woman who just stormed out. “Who was that?”
A knowing smirk crosses the other man’s face and I’m not sure how I feel about it. “Larkin. She is one of our third years. Just returned to the office after overseeing a major restoration to a cathedral in Mexico City. Spent nearly a year there with a small team and was a critical asset to them, more than proving her worth.”
“Larkin.” I test her name out on my lips and like how it so easily seems to flow. “She will be joining us; did I hear that correctly?”
Mr. Greene nods. “If that isn’t going to be a problem.”
“Why would you think that would be a problem? I want the best you have to offer working on restoring my family’s estates. They are very important to us, along with those we serve. I’m not certain when the last time we hired someone to properly appraise the integrity of those particular structures. After the unfortunate fire in the kitchen at De la Pena Citadel, and then the water damage done to Fort Serna when the rainy season hit it hard, it seemed like perfect timing for us to finally get everything up to code.”
“Then Larkin is exactly who you want on this team. She has an eye for details that can’t necessarily be taught. We were lucky to have stumbled upon her, and then snag her while she was still in grad school.”
Mr. Greene starts to stand and I don’t chastise him for rising ahead of me. Royalty in the United States is a regimen most of its citizens have no real concept of. I am a firm believer that one should not expect those who haven’t been trained in the proper etiquette when dealing with royalty to know all the rules. Therefore, I let details like that roll off my shoulders and only concern myself with matters that are important.
“Shall we join them in the conference room down the hall.” He asks as he moves around his desk.
“I believe that sounds like a great plan. Please introduce me as Antonio and leave the part that I am also a king out it. I would like to hear their honest evaluations, ideas and professional opinions before we let them know exactly whom they will be working for.” I instruct him as we step into his outer office and nod for my men to follow us. “I hope you understand.”
“Too many people tend to focus on the title and forget that you are also a client.” I catch the twinkle in his eye. “I believe Timothy has explained how we have handled this in the past. It’s not a problem Antonio.”
There is definitely a playful tone in the way he repeats my name and it makes me grin. I like this man very much and know that I ha
ve chosen wisely in contracting Manchester International to handle my family and country’s estates. Their portfolio exhibited all the ways they were able to maintain the integrity of historical buildings while bringing them into the current century. I knew that the first time I talked with Timothy Manchester and his daughter Nicolette, when they made the trip to Hermosa so they could determine what our needs were exactly.
The meeting is already in full swing and I can hear the team chattering amongst themselves, so I stop and listen. Zach seems to understand what I am doing therefore he pauses with me. So far, I am very impressed with what I hear and can’t wait to let them get started.
There is a break in the conversation so we start to move again. When I hear her voice, I reach out to halt him. He glances over his shoulder and nods, letting me know he will allow me to enter when I am ready. I just want to hear what she is thinking before I enter and throw her off her game.
Larkin’s voice has a crispness to it like none I have ever heard before. It demands that those in the room take notice of her, while letting them comprehend that she completely knows what she is talking about. There is an authoritative tone to it, informing anyone near, she is in control and not easily intimidated by a room full of men and women way more experienced than her. It has me hypnotized and I almost miss my cue when she asks if she can be the one that works on the home my mother was living in up until the fire.
I step into the room and don’t wait to be introduced before I speak. “I don’t see that being a problem. I believe you and my mother will get along very well. You have the same vision she does for De la Pena Citadel. Perhaps that is where we should start, instead of focusing on Aragon Palace.”
“You.” Larkin’s eyes widen as the realization of who she smarted off to earlier hits her.
I can hear her mumbling to herself, but can’t quite make it out. She quickly begins gather her belongings, shoving them in a leather sash in a very agitated way. All I can do is watch, trying to figure out exactly what she is doing.