by Gigi Marlowe
“The rest of your house is functional, yet charming,” AJ observed. “Your kitchen is like the heart of your home. It should be as warm as you two are.” She smiled as the couple nodded their heads enthusiastically. She could tell that they were seeing the vision she could create for them. This was what AJ did best. She created beautiful homes that reflected the spirits of the people who lived there. “For you both,” she continued, “I see a large open, eat-in kitchen.” Sue’s eyes sparkled as she listened. AJ loved to see her clients light up while she painting them a picture of everything they had dreamed about for their home. It was her favorite part of her job. “We could take out this wall here,” she said pointing to the wall that created the odd room they were currently in, “and turn this room into the rest of your kitchen. You’ll need all the storage and counter top space for your growing family.”
“That sounds wonderful,” Henry said. AJ could tell by the way that his eyes swept over the walls of the room that he could see the space differently.
“We won’t stop there,” she assured them, “we’ll do something specific for each of you. Your home should be a reflection of who you are. It should be a safe place where you can find refuge.” AJ’s pencil moved like lightning across her paper as she willed her hands to keep up with her mind’s eye. “Sue, we’ll put a large window and double French doors overlooking your backyard. That way you can see what your kids are up to while you cook or entertain. Henry,” AJ said as she pointed her pencil at him excitedly, “I know you're eager to start baking in your new kitchen, so we’ll keep the countertops clear by hanging pots and pans on a rack over a custom built butcher block topped island.”
“You can do that?” Henry asked astonished. AJ laughed as she looked up in time to see Henry’s mouth drop open.
“Sure, I can. I’m one of the best in the business.” AJ grinned gleefully. The Chows were such a refreshing difference from her normal clientele. They obviously didn’t take her creative genius for granted. They trusted her expertise, and for that and many other reasons, she would be sure to design the most stunning kitchen she had ever put her mind to. “We can even add a large walk-in pantry in this room and then turn the old pantry into Su Su’s new room.” From Sue and Henry’s satisfied beams, she could tell that she had suggested everything they couple could ever have imagined.
“How soon can you start?” Sue asked. AJ closed her sketchbook and opened up the calendar app on her phone. Blocking out the next six weeks, she took one last look at the kitchen as it stood now. She had found her next project, and she couldn’t wait to see where it took her.
Chapter 3
Patrick chuckled to himself as he walked into Henry's house. He hadn't known what to expect when Henry had told him that he had the perfect tie for Patrick to wear at the fundraising gala. All Henry would say was that Sue had very meticulously shopped until she had found a tie befitting a benefactor for the Westside German Shepherd Rescue of Los Angeles. He only hoped that the couple hadn't found some pictures of Bear and hot glued them to a tie as a prank..
Henry and Sue had always loved to tease him, but he couldn't understand why they were doing so much of it now. Deep down he wondered if it was because of his current outlook on life. Patrick knew that his two friends didn't approve of his new, more guarded demeanor. They often told him that he needed to see the good in others instead of looking for their hidden “malware”, a term he understood all too well. But, to Patrick, he was just preparing for the inevitable. He had found that most people, no matter how innocent they tried to make themselves appear, were always motivated by their own selfish designs.
He had seen it time and time again. There had been too many instances when he had to intercept emails from notorious hackers who had used phishing to access social security numbers and sold them on the dark web. Patrick had spent hours trying to hack into the culprits' computers and trace the stolen information. He had seen things that he couldn't believe in those files: people being bought and sold, murders being planned and illegal immigration papers being sent to low-profile drug traffickers.
His job drained him. His friends saw it, and there was no way that he could deny it. Instead, he countered every argument they made for him to go into a different field with the fact that he was stopping innocent people from suffering at the hands of hackers. What he couldn't tell them is that he felt like it was his penance. He wasn't sure if he would ever admit to being the high school computer nerd who discovered the depth of his computers skills by using a Remote Access Trojan to take over the school desktops. Sure, it had initially been fun watching his classmates become confused as he played songs randomly from their computers. But then he had used his hacking skills to hunt for embarrassing information about his classmates. It seemed innocent enough at the time. He found out that one of the cheerleaders had gone to weight loss camp the summer before freshman year, one of the band students wrote terrible love songs to random people, and he even discovered some questionable pictures of a well known vegan eating what appeared to be a juicy hamburger. Without hesitation, Patrick would show his friends everything that he found. They would spend their lunch periods laughing over the secrets their classmates thought were safely hidden.
Patrick continued hacking computers until, one day, he stumbled across the wrong document. He would never forget the quiet girl with long hair that was dyed the color of darkness. He hadn't realized hacking her computer would end in him finding her diary. He had never meant to read about her anguish. He didn't know that when she found out, it would send her into the depths of depression. Since then, he had decided that he would do whatever it took to stop hackers. At first, he had assumed that most hackers would have been just like him, unaware that the information they could access could harm others. Yet, the more skilled he became, the more nefarious the crimes he tried to eradicate. Sometimes he was successful and sometimes he wasn't. The nature of cybersecurity continually forced him to improve. He had to stay dynamic or more innocent people would fall prey to ill intentions.
Even so, he knew that he needed to take breaks from his work. If he didn't, he would feel himself become too strained. He would begin to question the motivations of everyone, even Henry and Sue. To prevent himself from becoming too wrapped up in the cybercriminal world, Patrick would often go to charity events, like the one he was going to tomorrow.
Checking his watch, Patrick realized that if he didn't pick up his tie quickly, he would end up running into the construction team who were remodeling Sue and Henry's kitchen. He strolled quickly down the hallway. He was in no mood to have to explain himself to an architect or a project manager. Henry had told Patrick that they had hired one of the most talented architects in San Francisco to redesign their kitchen. They had proudly shown off their architect's previous designs that had been showcased in Dwell. Patrick had liked how the designs created subtle moods as if each room had its own spirit. Now, Patrick couldn't wait to discover what the famed architect had designed for Henry and Sue.
Rounding a corner, Patrick stepped into the kitchen and saw a woman singing to Call Me Al. Her dirty blonde hair was thrown up into a messy bun, and her hands were skimming over a paper. She sat with her legs crossed and her head bobbed in time with her music. Patrick noted that her eyes squinted intently at her paper occasionally before she would briefly shut them in concentration. It was in these brief moments that she would stop singing - if you could call her squeaking singing.
Whatever you might call it, the woman did it with reckless abandon. Her blue eyes twinkled as she worked and Patrick wondered what it would be like to have those eyes twinkle at him. Patrick was in awe that he would stumble across someone beautiful drawing in a half-demolished kitchen. He wasn't sure who she was, but he knew that he was about to find out. Patrick cleared his throat loudly and watched as the woman jumped from the unexpected interruption.
AJ gasped as she saw a man watching her. His eyebrow lifted in amusement as she scrambled to turn off her music. AJ tried to
be professional while working onsite if her clients were there, but whenever she was sure she was alone, she let her guard down. She had been apprehensive that, sooner or later, someone would walk into one of her more carefree moments. She had always expected one of her employees to be the one that caught her, not a stranger. Especially not a stranger as attractive as the man who stood before her.
He wore a gray, short-sleeve shirt that hugged his biceps alluringly. He had mesmerizing eyes that seemed to drink her in from the top of her messy bun to the bottom of her sandals. AJ felt like her eyes had a mind of their own as they wandered over his body. He was tall, much taller than her 5 foot 5 inches. She admired his thick, glossy, brown hair and wondered if she was tall enough to run her fingers through it. Shocked at her thoughts, AJ cleared her throat, trying to break the intensity between them. However, the man continued to stare. Unsure of what else to do, AJ smiled tentatively. He seemed pleasant enough as the two watched each other. She could see no harm in introducing herself, even if she did have to be the first person to break their silence.
“Hello,” she said. AJ held out her hand and began to walk towards him. To her surprise, she could see the man visibly stiffen.
“Who are you?” His eyes, which had just moments ago looked warm and inviting, became unreadable. AJ's confidence wavered as she stopped in her tracks. Had she been wrong about her first impression of him?
“Excuse me?” Confusion prickled in the corner of her mind. She was unaccustomed to being questioned at her own job site. He was the one who had walked into the house as if he, and not the Chows, owned it. Shouldn’t she be asking who he was?
“Who are you?” He repeated impatiently. He shifted his weight as he crossed both of his arms over his broad chest. His posture implied that he was a man of confidence, but in his eyes, she could see something more, something that she couldn’t put her finger on.
“My name is Alexandra and, as you can see, I’m remodeling the Chow's kitchen,” AJ emphasized. Astonishment briefly flickered across the man's face before it was concealed behind a mask of indifference. “And you are?” she continued. She tried to replicate his same blasé demeanor. She was a professional, she reminded herself, not some schoolgirl being reprimanded by a principal. She did not get caught doing anything wrong, no matter how embarrassed she was from being discovered singing loudly and off-key to “You Can Call Me Al”.
The man leaned against the door frame. Uncrossing his arms, he put his hands into his pockets. “You can’t be the architect they hired,” he said slowly. “They told me she was one of the best in her field. You look too…” his eyes flickered from her face to ceiling as if he were searching for just the right word to describe her, “young, to be as experienced as they described her to be.” This was not the first time AJ had received that kind of comment from someone. She knew that she looked twenty-four, five years younger than she actually was, on her best days. She didn’t doubt that today, dressed in skinny jeans, a plain red shirt, and no makeup, she must have looked like she just graduated high school. Random strangers always said that she would be grateful to look so young later in life, but for the moment, especially at this moment, it was a source of utter frustration.
“Regardless of how I look to you,” she said as she gritted her teeth, “I am one of the top architects in California.” The man raised his eyebrow at her. AJ was beginning to suspect that this was one of his favorite ways to respond to a situation. She saw the corner of his lips tug into a smirk.
“I’ve never heard of you.” The man left his post and began strolling around the half-demolished room. His voice seemed different now to AJ. It seemed softer, almost as if he was teasing her instead of questioning her reputation.
“I’m a partner at Ortiz & Foster.”
“Oh?” He ran a finger across the cabinets that had just been installed. “Aren’t you too young to be a partner there?” Turning around to look at her he added, “Then again, someone as beautiful as you must do great things for their image.” And then, to AJ’s utter and complete bewilderment, he smiled. AJ felt her cheeks flush. The man’s face had transformed from unreadable to irresistibly handsome with one smile.
“I do great things for my clients. Feel free to call any one of them, and they’ll give you glowing reports of just what I can do.” AJ fumbled for her work backpack that lay disregarded at her feet. Inside she drew out a folder that she always kept with her. Blinking back her rush of sudden emotion, she handed the man her reference sheet. While he reached for the paper, she felt a spark as their fingers lightly brushed against each other. The man withdrew his hand quickly from hers and scanned the document.
“Maybe I will,” he mumbled as he read. He looked up at her before saying, “from what I can tell, you’ve got a good start on Henry and Sue's kitchen.” He folded her references and put them in his pocket. “If it really was your personal designs that have been used, you’ve really captured their personality.”
She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be offended by his doubt or thankful for his compliment. “Thank you,” she finally managed. “Mr...”
“Walker. Patrick Walker,” he said. He resumed his slow yet purposeful stroll around the kitchen.
“Thank you, Mr. Walker,” AJ finished. Biting the inside of her lip, she watched him assess her work. She wasn’t sure why she cared so much what Patrick Walker felt about her designs. Maybe it was his bluntly honest commentary, or maybe it was because he had caught her in a moment of vulnerability, regardless of why she knew that she wanted to know his thoughts. “Are you a close friend of theirs?” She asked.
“Hmm,” Patrick barely acknowledged her question as he picked up her Moleskine sketchbook.
“Those aren’t yours to look at.” AJ resisted the instinct to dive for it. Her sketchbook was a place where she dumped all of her ideas, good and bad. She rarely let her clients see her sketchbook, instead preferring to draw out a polished, finished product on a sheet of tracing paper.
“I wouldn't put a breakfast bar in their kitchen.” Patrick glanced up at her as his finger lightly tapped the page. “I’m sure Sue would never have thought this was important enough to mention, but she loves to read while she eats.” Walking over to the large sliding glass door he explained, “It’s a bad habit she's had since college. Their backyard gets the perfect amount of sun if you put a kitchen nook here,” he pointed to an empty area just beside the door, “and then add a window seat. They’d love that.” It was in that instant, thinking of his friends and their happiness, that Patrick smiled a real smile. It was irresistibly sweet and utterly selfless. AJ’s heart heaved inside her chest.
“A breakfast bar gives them more space and another prep area,” AJ suggested. She could see the vision Patrick was suggesting. It was easy enough to imagine Sue reading aloud to a child on her lap while they reclined in the window seat. But, AJ was so sure that Henry and Sue had wanted a fashionable, yet functional kitchen. “Plus either one of them can cook while their kids watch them. It’s a perfect compromise of fashion and function,” she concluded as if trying to reestablish her own resolve in her design.
“You just have to trust me on this one. Go with comfort.” Patrick handed her back her sketchbook. “Ditch the breakfast bar, and add a nook. Someone’s home should reflect their heart, and the Chows' hearts are all for comfort.” He walked over to the adjacent butler’s pantry and picked up a tie from the counter. Holding it up for her to see, he shook his head in mock sadness before smiling lightheartedly. AJ tried her best not to laugh as she took in the black tie with a multi-colored German Shepherd portrait designed on the bottom. She couldn’t begin to guess where he would wear something so whimsical. Patrick slung the tie over his right shoulder and walked towards the door. “Su Su will just end up running into the barstools and knocking anyone sitting on them off. She’s a pretty clumsy dog, you know,” he added as an afterthought. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Alexandra.” Her name sounded like music when he said it.
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sp; AJ watched as he raised his hand to wave at her without turning around. Patrick had to be the most paradoxical man she had ever met. One moment, she felt like yelling at him and the next he was making her heart do backflips. She grinned as an image of a multi-colored German Shepherd portrait popped into her mind. AJ wondered just what Patrick's home would look like. Would it be as opposing as his personality, or would it show her what his heart was really like?
Certainly, his blunt assertions had seemed rude and off-putting at first, but she wondered if a man who would voluntarily wear a German Shepherd tie could genuinely be as aloof as she thought him to be. AJ walked to the corner where Patrick had suggested putting the nook. No matter how contrary he was, AJ had to admit that he did seem to really understand Henry and Sue. The idea for a kitchen nook with a window seat simply had not occurred to her for the project. Once he had mentioned it, however, AJ knew that it really was the perfect addition to their kitchen. Grabbing her sketchbook, she silently thanked Patrick and began to draw out her designs.
Chapter 4
AJ glanced over the photos of the Chow's kitchen that laid sprawled over her desk. She smiled as she remembered just how happy they had both been when they had stepped into the finished product. The kitchen really was a perfect reflection of the couple. It was charming, comfortable and functional. AJ thought about the part of the kitchen the Chows had been most excited about. Their excitement had been palpable as soon as the two had seen the kitchen nook. As much as she hated to admit it, Patrick had been right.
Heat rose to AJ’s face as she thought about Patrick. He had confused and intrigued her. Throughout the remainder of the project she had hoped that he would stop by again, but he never came. Just as she was beginning to wonder if she would ever see him again, her office phone rang. Startled, AJ answered the phone.