Conklin's Blueprints
Page 4
“Did you have a good first day?” He chimed in. His throat was scratchy.
“Yes, it was great. I like it so far,” I said. I got the courage to look at him. He slowly grinned at me with his fist at his chin.
“Sorry to put you on the spot in the meeting. You seemed to have a good idea going through your head, and I love when Sawla gets frazzled,” he smirked.
I laughed in my head. So I wasn’t the only one who found it amusing.
“It’s fine, great way to break me in,” I grinned back at him. My eyes caught his. I was hypnotized. His eyes were blue green. I suspected they changed color depending on what he wore. They looked very soft for a split second. Then the ding of the elevator changed his demeanor, his eyes got colder as he walked off the elevator.
“Er… have a good rest of your day,” I blurted as he walked off. He turned to me and nodded, his face serious, and then he was gone.
What an odd man. He started out fine in the elevator, maybe even a bit flustered, than he was making a joke, then put up a wall. I guess I didn’t need to figure him out. I probably wouldn’t see him for another month. I know how the upper management of a company with multiple buildings works. My father was constantly moving around; he was rarely in one place. The only time I saw my dad was on Sundays. My mother made it very clear to him that Sundays were our family day. We would all go to church, have a big Sunday dinner, which the help would make of course, and hang out as a family. It was nice to have my dad around at least one day of the week. But I understood he had worked hard for his money, and in order to maintain the lifestyle we lived, he would have to sacrifice his time with us.
I walked back to my new condo, and the second I got into the elevator I yanked my heels off. Thank God no one was in the elevator with me, although I wouldn’t have cared. I had huge blisters on my feet from walking the city with them on. I was skipping the gym, which was normally a big no no for me, but there was no way I was going to make it on a treadmill. Then I remembered the hot tub. Oh would that feel good! I quickly made my dinner and ate with the mind of soaking in the nice warm water with jets massaging my back. Once I was done with dinner, I tossed on my swimsuit and made my way into the tub. It was relaxing until my mind started to wander. I started to think about Connor, and how if things had played out how I had planned, we would be engaged and living in this condo, and he would be sitting next to me blabbing about his first day as an intern at Ashlynn’s father's office, if he would have even been home by now. Would I have really wanted that life? A life like my mothers, trying to find her own place with a husband who was barely around, sitting around waiting for Sunday to come so I could see him and have my family be whole for a short period of time? I would despise that. The thought was sobering. It made me hurt less over him. I didn’t think I missed him anymore. I was more hurt by his and Ashlynn’s betrayal.
Speaking of Ashlynn, she rang my phone while I was at work. I actually missed the call instead of ignoring her. I deleted the message she left me before even listening to it. She didn’t call me as often as she used to, thank God. I didn’t feel like listening to her talk about her fashion boutique her parents were going to start for her in Grand Rapids. Yuck, how did I end up being in the same city as her again?
My mind drifted, this time to beautiful blue green eyes. Closing my eyes I wondered what he was like. From the little bit I saw, he was completely different from his brother Nathan. Maybe he was more like his mother? His father had to be like Nathan, charismatic and to the point. Any successful businessman was.
My fingers were pruned by the time I got out of the hot tub. I felt so relaxed, and my feet didn’t hurt nearly as bad as they had when I walked in the door. After a steaming hot shower, I curled up in bed and went to sleep, dreaming of cold blue green eyes.
Chapter 3
The next few days were the same. I was establishing a rather dull routine compared to the normal 24 year old. I would get up, go to work, go to the gym, come home, eat dinner, sit in the hot tub, shower, and go to bed. I only saw Tyler once and tried not to be distracted by his appearance, whether it was from seeing him or daydreaming. I’m sure once Jamie got here my life would liven up a bit. She always seemed to perk up my life. It was Friday, and I was cleaning my dinner mess. Typically I would be getting ready for a crazy night with Jamie, doing my makeup dark and sexy, wearing tight jeans and a semi revealing tank. Right now, I was wearing black running shorts and a gray shirt. I went into my office to go through a box of things I still hadn’t unpacked. It was full of my college projects. I really should throw them away. I won’t ever need them, and they were nothing compared to what I was working on for Conklin. I ran across a familiar print. It was my final project in my first blueprinting class. My eyes started to water when I realized what it was. I gently unrolled the prints out onto my drafting table. It was a house I had dreamed of building. It was going to be Connor’s and mine.
It was a ranch, roughly 3,000 square feet on the main floor. There were three bedrooms and a master bathroom. A tear slipped down my cheek when I read, “nursery”, “kid bedroom #1”, and “kid bedroom #2” with reading nooks in each room. I wasn’t ready at the time to have kids, but I still wanted them. The rest of the plans included an office with a tall ceiling library for Connor, a drafting room in the basement level for me, a formal dining room and a breakfast nook just around the kitchen, and a large fish tank separating the kitchen and the living room. I even made an extra space off the living room for a large Christmas tree. The separate space was surrounded by windows, so the tree would be dominantly visible from the outside as well as the inside. Connor wanted to have a humidor room in the basement along with a wine cellar. The basement had a bar and a home theater. Connor also loved dogs, so we had to have a dog room. I didn’t like them, but it was all he wanted when he would have a yard for it to play in, so I said okay. This plan was my life and that bitch Ashlynn took it from me. I started to crinkle up the plans in a fit of sobs. I quickly stopped and took a deep breath. I wasn’t going to dwell on this anymore. I needed to make a new dream, even if it was only for me.
I rolled up the plans and put them in my travel tube. Quickly throwing on jeans and a sweatshirt, I headed out the door to go into my office at Conklin. The lighting and supplies were better there, and Will did say the building was open 24/7. I doubted they would care if I worked on something personal at 8:00pm on a Friday. Is this what my new life would be? Friday nights at the office? I would turn into my father, a working machine. No. This doesn’t count. I’m doing something for fun, not work. If I had a family it would be different. I would be at home with them.
I walked quickly in the crisp fall air. It was starting to get colder. Soon I would have to bust out my winter jacket and boots. The thought made me wince. I really didn’t like snow, and hopefully they plowed the sidewalks.
My phone rang during my walk, and I pulled it out of my pocket and looked at the screen. It was Ashlynn. Click. Not in the mood to hear her rant about her perfect life.
I showed my ID to the security guard who looked less than thrilled to be on duty. He sighed and handed me my ID back.
“Enjoy your evening,” he said gloomily.
When I got to my department floor, it was dark and silent on either side of the elevator. I walked past the reception desk and the lights slowly popped on. I brought the plans and set them to the side. I might as well start afresh; I wasn’t going to need kids’ rooms, or at least I wasn’t going to title them as kids’ rooms. I put my ear buds in and plugged them into my phone and buried myself into making a new dream home while listening to Panic! At the Disco.
Listening to Panic was a stupid idea. One of their songs reminded me of my “first time.” It wasn’t with Connor, which is I’m sure what everyone assumed. It was my senior year, after prom, and not with my prom date. We had a mutual understanding the rest of the summer. But he, Gage Stark, sure knew how to make my blood swell. I had way more sparks with him than with Connor; I’d
never admit it though. He had even called me after he heard I had broken up with Connor, offering his sympathy. Ok, so I had a fling with him when I came back home a few times within the year I took off. The thought of calling him crossed my mind, but I swiftly pushed it out. I couldn’t start my new life by calling a former classmate for casual sex, no matter how good it was with him. I tried to not let the song take me back to Gage and shook my head as if that would take me out of the sudden urges I was beginning to feel. Just as I took a deep breath and put my hand on my head, I noticed Tyler Conklin resting his elbow on the side of my cubicle with an amused look on his face.
I quickly sat up, startled by his presence. I yanked the ear buds from my ears and said, “You scared me!” My heart was racing. Not only from being startled, but because this man was way too attractive for anyone’s well being.
“I didn’t mean to startle you. I was coming to grab some plans from the residential department and noticed the light was on in here. I thought I would check it out. Isn’t it a little late for you to be working?”
“Yeah… I have been just… um…” I didn’t know what to say. I was in his building working on personal things using his supplies. I was suddenly aware that this might look bad. I tried to not look flustered.
His eyes lit up as he peered down at my drawing. “Working on a dream house? I think every architect has a few of these.” He came over to me and leaned over the desk to get a better look. I was trying not to seem embarrassed.
“Oh, it’s nothing, just a few ideas…” I blurted, starting to roll up the plans.
“Don’t worry, you are welcome to use your space for stuff like this, even if it is at,” he looked down at his watch, “11:00 at night.”
Holy crap, was it really that late? I guess I did dive right into what I was doing. I wasn’t even tired. I hadn’t stayed up this late since I moved back to Michigan.
My shoulders slouched, “Thanks. I just didn’t really have anything else to do, and well, I needed to make some big changes,” I said, my eyes drifting to the original plans. His eyes followed mine.
“Not in need for kids’ rooms?” He smirked.
I tried to hide my blush. What an inappropriate thing to ask! I barely knew him! He noticed my uncomfortable reaction. “I’m sorry; I probably just offended your boyfriend,” he laughed, trying to lighten the mood.
“Well, there’s no boyfriend to offend.”
Shoot, maybe I said that too fast.
His eyes suddenly looked intense. They were blue today, probably because he was wearing a blue dress shirt, no tie, with the top button undone. He had more questions I could tell.
“You sound a bit bitter.”
I furrowed my eyebrows at him; did he really just ask me that?
Again he noticed my reaction and tried to recover from his question, “I’m sorry, that was a bit harsh of me to say, but you clearly had someone?”
Why is he probing?
“Yes. I did, but that was a while ago. I don’t really like to talk about it.” I said, hoping that would be enough of an answer for him. Not that I needed to even give him an answer. This was all a bit deep for my liking.
He scratched his chin as if he were contemplating. “I was going to go grab something to eat, would you like to join me?”
Wow, quick change of subject! I guess that was what I wanted anyway, to talk about anything other than my awful love life.
“Sure,” I answered without thinking. I stood up to get my things together. Tyler stood patiently waiting, not taking his eyes off of me. As I felt his eyes boring into me I suddenly remembered what I looked like. I was wearing jeans and a zip-up hoodie, and I didn’t bother with makeup after my shower. I probably only had a hint of eyeliner left on my eyes. I became self-conscious; did I even make sure I didn’t have any eyeliner smudged under my eyes? I quickly wiped under my eyes while looking the opposite way of him. My hair was thrown up into a pony tail; thank God I blew my hair dry so at least my bangs looked decent. But it wasn’t like he was asking me out on a date or anything. He probably felt how I felt; we were put in a weird conversation and he was looking for an out. My brows furrowed at the thought.
“Everything ok? Do you need a hand with anything?” He said, gaging my reaction to my thoughts.
“I’m fine, let’s go,” I mumbled, avoiding looking at his beautiful eyes.
We walked to the elevator, which was still on our floor. Turns out we were the only ones who didn’t have lives outside of work, but then again, it was 11:00pm.
“So where were you thinking of going?” I asked, breaking the silence.
“There’s a coffee shop six blocks down by Rosa Parks Circle that has good sandwiches if you don’t mind the walk.”
“Sounds great,” I lied, not really hungry. I hadn’t eaten late at night for a long time. Not since Connor and I broke up. Jamie caught me with a pint of ice cream watching The Notebook one night shortly after the break up.
So why am I going out for food with him if I’m not hungry? I thought to myself. He is way out of my league, and I’m 99% positive he was not interested in me in that way. Maybe he was lonely too? We were the only ones left in the building besides the unfriendly security guard who quickly sat up straight when he noticed I was with Tyler.
“Have a good evening Mr. Conklin!” He said with an overly friendly smile.
Tyler gave him a stiff nod and opened the door for me. We walked in silence until we were three blocks away at a stop light.
“So… do you always work so late on a Friday?” I asked, trying to make the air a little more comfortable.
He smiled and looked at the ground, “Not always. I had some plans that needed to be reviewed by Monday, and I am taking a flight to Chicago early tomorrow morning and won’t be back until Wednesday. What about you? There are quite a few clubs around here that seem popular.”
I shrugged. The light turned to walk, and we both started to move, “I’m not into the club scene anymore. And honestly, I don’t really know too many people yet. My roommate is on her way here from Florida.” She better be here by at least tomorrow.
“Not anymore?” He questioned. We stopped at the next stop light. I looked up at him, trying to gauge why he was so curious about me. I felt like he knew what my past was, but was trying to hear it come out of my mouth. Maybe it was just my weird way of always relating everything I used to be, to everything that was thrown in front of me.
“No,” I simply said. He didn’t need to know anything more. He looked at me as if waiting for me to keep explaining. “Everyone needs to grow up at some point, right?” I chuckled softly.
His serious gaze turned into a smile. “I suppose you’re right. I never was into the club scene myself,” he stated as we walked along the sidewalk.
My phone rang again. Ashlynn’s picture popped up on the screen. I really needed to change that. Tyler saw me look, but didn’t say anything as I put the phone back in my pocket after ignoring her call a second time.
We made it to the coffee shop that was surprisingly full for a Friday evening. I guess they had just finished with a poetry reading.
“What would you like?” Tyler asked, putting his hands in his pockets.
“I’m actually just going to have a peach iced tea.” I really wanted a hot chocolate, but I was afraid of the calories.
“Are you sure? Aren’t you hungry?” He said furrowing his eyebrows at me. It was 11:20pm, way past dinner time. Why was he so thrown off I wasn’t going to eat anything? Shit, maybe he was wondering why I even bothered to come with him if I wasn’t going to eat. “Not even a cookie?” I hadn’t had a cookie in a year, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to have one now.
“No, I’m really not hungry,” hopefully I didn’t sound too embarrassed.
He shook his head and started to order. I dug into my bag to find my wallet, but by the time I had gotten to it he had already paid and handed me the tea.
“You didn’t have to pay for that,” I said.
“Are you going to stand there and look confused or are you going to join me?” He chuckled. Then it hit me.
“You! You and Nathan were at the coffee shop that morning!” I exclaimed in sudden realization, sitting in the chair across from him.
“Yes, we were. I kept trying to figure out where I had seen you before when we were at the meeting. Sorry if I stared at you,” he laughed, then suddenly looked towards his lap as if in deep thought.
A slow smile crept across my face. So he was staring at me. No, he was just trying to figure out who I was and nothing more. Hopefully he didn’t realize who my father was.
“It was a very nice gesture. Do you always do things like that?” He asked quizzically.