Conklin's Blueprints (16 page)

“Gosh Will, we will get it done.  Stop freaking out about it.  Nathan will be impressed with what we have done when he comes tomorrow,” Corey exasperated while rolling his eyes.

“It’s RJ I’m worried about.  He is coming with Nathan.  You know he can be very nit-picky,” Will said nervously. 

Corey rolled his eyes again.  “Has he ever not been impressed with what we have come up with?”

Will’s body started to relax.  “Yeah, I guess you are right.”

~

When I got home Jamie was lying on the couch watching TV.  I started to talk to her, but when I didn’t get an answer, I went over to see what was up. She was passed out with her phone in her hand on her chest.  She must have been talking to Sean.  They had been talking and texting non-stop since Saturday night.  I was happy for her.  I grabbed the afghan that was on the back of the couch and threw it over her then headed to my side of the condo.  I was too tired to do anything but get ready for bed and crawl under my sheets.  I threw on my Tigers T-shirt and some comfy shorts and snuggled under my covers.  When I went to put my phone on my charger the thought of texting Tyler occurred to me.  I had only gotten a few texts from him throughout the past couple of days, all of them being very vague. 

Hey, what time is your flight tomorrow?  Will I see you around the office? -Becca

My phone chirped almost instantly.

I am actually taking a flight back tonight around 11:00pm.  I plan to be in the office most of the day tomorrow. -Tyler

Well he was quick to the point.  I started to feel insecure.

Will you still want to see me tomorrow night? -Becca

Of course!  Why wouldn’t I?  Can we leave right from the office? -Tyler

His reaction made me squeeze my pillow.  He still wanted to see me.

Yeah that’s fine.  I don’t know what time it will be.  Will has been a little uptight about the Enterprise Yachts project.  I didn’t get done until 8:00pm tonight. -Becca

Don’t worry you will get out in time.  Just tell him you have a business meeting with management. -Tyler

I could sense his humor.  Then I remembered I was meeting with RJ tomorrow.  My nerves suddenly took over.  I was trying to piece together what I would wear in my brain when, my phone chirped again, bringing me back to my texting with Tyler.

I was kidding.  It will be fine, Becca.  I can’t wait to see you.  I have been thinking about you non-stop since Sunday afternoon.  I hope you will enjoy what I have planned. -Tyler

My heart skipped a beat.  Had he really been thinking of me?  He didn’t put forth an effort to talk to me a whole lot throughout the past couple of days.  I shouldn’t think that.  He is a busy man, and I’m sure most of the time he was working and didn’t even get a chance to give me a call or text.  I should be happy he sent me so many tonight.

Sorry for my delay, I am sure I will enjoy what you have planned :O)-Becca

I wasn’t going to tell him I was day dreaming about what I was going to wear for the meeting with his father.  That might sound weird, but I knew I had to dress to impress Tyler as well, since we would be leaving right from work.

I hope it brings a smile to your actual face.  I need to get to the airport, and you need to get some sleep.  Have a good night, Becca. -Tyler

Thanks you too, don’t forget to bring your ear plugs. -Becca

Chapter 10

I was a nervous wreck on my way to work.  I asked Jamie if she would drop me off today since I was going for the sophisticated look and wore heels.  I didn’t think I could do it all day with them and go out with Tyler by starting my day off with a mile walk.  I wore a gray dress with a yellow belt and matching yellow heels.  The collar was square and was a bit low.  I was wearing my hot pink push-up bra to give me a bit of cleavage.  I decided to do my hair in curls and made sure my eyes popped.  If I was going to be meeting with the head of the company, I had to look nothing short of amazing.  But the truth was--, I was doing it for Tyler.  He said he wanted to go out right from work, so I wouldn’t have a lot of time to freshen up.  I had even made sure I had on matching hot pink panties.  I didn’t necessarily want him to see that much of me, but you never know.

I sat down in my cubicle and started to peruse my emails.  I had noticed one from RJ, saying to come meet him at noon for lunch.  I hadn’t even thought about what time we would be meeting. There was one from Will with what he expected us to get done today, and there was one from Tyler.  He had never emailed me at work before.

Becca,

Look in the cabinet above your CAD computer.

Tyler Conklin

CO-VP of Conklin Architecture, Construction, and Design

I furrowed my brow and stood up to move to the other side of my desk.  When I flipped open the cabinet, a single white rose was placed in front of the numerous files.  My heart thudded as I took out the rose and read the note that was attached to it.

I’m looking forward to seeing you tonight. -Ty

I couldn’t take the ridiculous grin off my face if I tried.  Putting the rose to my nose I closed my eyes in contentment.  He clearly had feelings for me.  A guy doesn’t just hide a rose in a girl’s office for her to find in hopes of getting her in bed, does he?

“Becca!  Are you ready to get started working on this today?” Corey yelled from his office.  His voice startled me, causing me to nearly drop the rose.  I set it down beside my computer and went to join him.

“I’m so sick of Will FREAKING out about this.  Our meeting with RJ is at 4:00pm.  Will wants us to finish up this back part and then he will hopefully be happy,” he sighed.

I let out a small laugh.  “Yeah, he sent me an email about it.  Does he always get this frazzled?  He seems so relaxed usually.”

“He freaks out when RJ comes around.  We barely see him, and RJ can be a lot like Nathan, fast talker, but he can be way more of a prick,” he said shaking his head.  I guess Tyler wasn’t the only one who wasn’t that fond of him.

“I’m meeting him for lunch at noon,” I blurted out. 

Corey’s head jerked towards mine with a contorted face and said, “What?”

“Yeah, I uh, ran into him on Monday.  He said he wanted to meet with me about this project.  It was kind of odd now that I think about it.  He didn’t even know who I was at first.”  Maybe I should be worried about this meeting.

Corey let a half smile cross his face then looked back to the plans.  “Well, we better get this done; I’m guessing you will be taking a long lunch break.”

I didn’t understand what he meant, but decided to ignore it and focus on what we needed to get done.

11:45am came quickly, and I was nearly shaking because I was so nervous.  Not wanting to be late, I left Corey’s office and went to get my bag.  I wanted to go check myself out in the mirror to make sure I didn’t have any smudges or anything embarrassing going on.  While I was rummaging through my bag, I noticed a text on my phone.  It was from Tyler.  Crap!  I was going to send him a message back about the rose.  It was so thoughtful of him.  The thought of it made my butterflies go away from my meeting with RJ, but returned to my evening with Tyler.

Have you checked your email yet today? -Tyler

Yes, and thank you.  It was very sweet of you.  Sorry I didn’t thank you sooner.  I am heading up to your dad’s office now.  He wanted to meet with me about the Enterprise Yachts account.  I can’t wait for tonight.  I will text you when I know what time I will be done. -Becca

He didn’t reply back to me right away, but then again I didn’t have time to flirt via text with him.  Once I felt presentable, I made my way to the elevator.  RJ’s office was on the top floor.  I assumed Tyler’s office was around there.  Maybe he would peek his head out and say hi?  I doubt it.  He is still in the “no one can know about us” mood.

Once the elevator opened I took a deep breath and went to follow the sign that pointed to RJ’s office.  I was stopped dead in my tracks by Tyler.  I greeted him with a huge smile, but it quickly vanished with the expression he had on his face.  He was fuming.  I thought steam was going to come out of his ears they were so red.

“What the hell are you doing?” he sneered at me.

I was thrown back by his anger.  “I’m meeting with your dad.  He asked me to come up here and talk to him.  I met him on Monday.”

“Why are you meeting with him?  He never wants to meet with junior architects,” he seethed.  What was wrong with him?  I was a little hurt by how he pronounced junior architect.  I know I was the low one on the totem pole, but he didn’t have to throw it in my face like that.

“He wanted to talk about the Enterprise Yachts project.”

He closed his eyes and tensed his jaw.  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I’m sorry, it must have slipped my mind.  Not like we have talked a whole lot while you were gone,” my voice cracked a little.

His eyes scanned my whole body.  I fidgeted under his stare.

“Why are you dressed like that?” His voice became very quiet, and almost had a trace of pain to it.  I didn’t know how to react.  Was I not dressed nice enough to meet his father?  Gosh he really didn’t want me to meet his family.  What is the point in investing time in someone if you are ashamed to introduce them to your parents?  I was starting to get angry with him.

“I’m sorry, am I not dressed well enough to meet your father?”  Now my tone was becoming agitated.

He was the one who was fidgeting now.  “You look…” He sighed and his eyes softened.  “You look stunning.  The rest of this building is dull compared to you.”

I sucked in a breath of air.  I wasn’t expecting him to say that at all.  No one has ever said anything like that to me, not even Connor.

His eyes became cold again.  “Why are you all dressed up for him?”

I narrowed my eyes, completely forgetting the compliment he had just given me.  “I’m not, I WAS all dressed up for you, but I’m not sure if I want to go on a date with you tonight, or I’m sorry, to just hang out, since that is all we are allowed to do!”  My anger shocked me as much as it shocked Tyler.  He stared down at me putting his hand on his face with wide eyes.

“Becca, there you are!  I was beginning to wonder if you were going to stand me up.” RJ said, emerging from his office down the hall.  I closed my eyes, trying to regain my composure.  Tyler turned his head towards his dad.  I could feel his anger rising again, and it no longer radiated towards me, but over to RJ.

“Hey Tyler, back from Cleveland already?”  RJ said with a gleam in his eye.  Tyler’s stare didn’t change.  He dropped his hand down from his face.

“Yes.  Aren’t you going to talk to Will and Corey about the Enterprise Yachts account at 4:00pm?  Why don’t you let Becca have her lunch and you can discuss what you need to discuss with her then,” Tyler’s tone was venomous.

A slow mischievous smirk came across RJ’s face as though he enjoyed Tyler’s animosity.  “I just wanted Becca to feel welcome.  Get her ideas on the account.  I like to treat my new employees with some… affection.”  He turned to smile at me.  “Let them know I care.”   I gave him a half smile.  Tyler was burning a hole in RJ’s head with his glare.

“Becca, how about I meet you in my office.  I am going to have a quick word with Tyler.”  I nodded and slowly started to walk back to his office.  I refused to look at Tyler.  What was he thinking?  Even if I had dressed nicely to impress his father, why would it be such a big deal?  He is my boss after all.  I wanted to make a good impression.

RJ’s office was huge.  The space was unnecessary, and I’m sure he was only here once every few weeks.  Three of the walls were painted light gray, while the back wall was a large built in shelving unit with cabinets and mirrors and was painted black.  His desk was large and round, black on the bottom with a glass top.  He had various pictures of himself and business associates at functions, then I noticed one of him and Tyler.  It was at Tyler’s graduation from Michigan.  Tyler had a half smile and looked so young.  RJ had his hand around his shoulder with the same expression as Tyler.  They both looked uncomfortable.  The other walls that were painted gray had various large mock up drawings of the larger buildings the company had built.  In the center of the room was a large black sofa with a coffee table and two modern looking white chairs on either side of the couch.   The ceiling had a large circle drawn out with lights cascading out from the indentation.  I noticed a table set for two off to the side by the large windows that were the length of the wall.  He wasn’t kidding about eating lunch.  My stomach churned.  I hope it wasn’t anything fried.

I stepped in front of his desk and noticed an intriguing brick sitting by itself in the front center of the desk.  I was drawn to it, walking up and running my finger across the concrete block.  It was a normal looking brick, an average piece of tan speckled cement.  Why would he have it set front and center of his desk?

RJ finally came into his office, closing the foggy glass doors behind him.

“Beautiful isn’t it?”  RJ said, walking over to his desk, referring to the brick I was examining.  “That is an RJ Brick, I invented it,” he said a little too proudly.

“It’s lovely;” I said, taking my hand away from the brick.  How does one invent a brick?  Weren’t they just concrete?

“Come take a seat with me, will you?”  I met him at the table set for two as he was pulling out the chair for me.  I gave him a shy smile and sat down.   His hand grazed my shoulder and gave me a shiver.