Positive/Negativity (19 page)

Three hours later, I had acquired several things; a completed inspection, an estimate on renovation costs to have plumbing, electrical, heat and air conditioning made operational… and a massive headache.

…five hours later, Aria’s headache had dissipated but the fear of having made a monumental decision on behalf of someone else set in…

T
I Ain’t Your Mama – Maggie Rose

TT
Set Fire To The Rain – Adele

I hated being away from Aria, and with travel time to and from Tokyo, it would be several days before I would see her again. This conversation wasn’t going at all the way I planned, and I couldn’t have predicted the topic in a million years.

“You did what?!” I said.

I couldn’t believe what I had just heard Aria say into the phone. I was absolutely certain that we had a terrible telephone connection.

“I bought a building for your studio,” she repeated.

I was in shock, and the silence was deafening for a few moments; then I began to ramble, “Why in God’s name would you buy a building for
me
?! Are you out of your mind?! A
building
?!” The incredible disbelief was continuing to register in my voice.

“Declan, calm down, it’s only a building. Time was of the essence, and in all fairness, I did try to reach you several times.”

“Calm down? It isn’t
only
a building. Really? How can I possibly calm down?! There’s a thirteen hour time difference, Aria. I was sleeping, and that’s why I didn’t answer the phone. I have another day of work here; we’re shooting at Tokyo Tower. How am I supposed to concentrate when you’ve bought a building for me!?”

“Declan, seriously, you don’t need to worry about anything. The paperwork’s already done. You know Paige as a friend, and you know she is a reputable realtor. She’s careful to make sure that every ‘i’ is dotted and every ‘t’ is crossed. I’ve told you that I’ve worked with her on shore properties since I’ve started my business. Do you remember?” Aria asked.

“Yes, I do remember, but that’s beside the point. Why didn’t you wait for me to come home? You could have told me on the phone, and we could have looked at it together.”

“Honestly, there was no time on this particular property. The building was very competitively priced; the owner was in financial straits and he was motivated to move it quickly. Paige was giving me a tour, and I knew it was priced to sell. The minute it was listed, it would have been gone. It wouldn’t have been available by the time you got back.”

“Aria, you’re presuming so much. How do you know the building is the exact amount of space that I wanted or that the space is what would be needed for a studio occupying more than one photo session at the same time? You’ve been with me on what? Four, maybe five jobs? You don’t know what goes into a photo session and what particulars are needed for all the photographers, assistants and working space. You have
no idea
the specifications that are required for my business.”

At this point, I was exasperated.
T

It was again quiet for a few moments; then she began to speak slowly and succinctly, “What do you mean I have
no idea
what specifications are required for
your
business? Exactly what are you attempting to say to me, Declan? Since the possibility exists that I have
no idea
, then perhaps you’d like to enlighten me,” she said angrily. From the inflection in her voice, it appeared she had gone from “gift giver” to “grim reaper” within moments.

I was catching my breath, beginning to emotionally come down from my anger and a brew of ugly emotions—exasperation, frustration, exhaustion, worry, and anxiety. My body was concocting a terrific firestorm of migraine headache at this very moment. I was trying to remind myself that she would never take an action like this without the best of intentions, but what was going through her head?
Buying a building? Who does that?!

I decided to try to speak calmly. She could be very sensitive, and I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. “What I’m trying to say, babe, is that I know you’re intentions were good, but I’m not sure you should have bought the building without me,” I said. I knew my next words weren’t going to go over well with her. “You may have bitten off more than you could chew on this one. I know your dad was with you on the residential properties, but who do you know that will do the commercial renovations?”

The silence on the other end of the phone lasted for longer than a few moments, so again I thought we had been disconnected. I wasn’t so lucky; Aria was preparing the firestorm she was about to unleash on me.

“Hello?” I called into the receiver.

“You…think… my success in this business is because
my dad
was
with
me on the renovations? What do you think he did?
Hold my hand
?
Let’s make something perfectly clear,
Mr. Sinclair
. My parents raised me to be independent, not to be better than, OR less than anyone, man or woman, but to be
competitive
with them and to produce…
with excellence
…the best work I could in
my
field. My
daddy
didn’t hold my hand—he
empowered
me to perform my job. I
own
my company, and I work damn hard. I’m happy to know
what
you think of my abilities, and if you were
here
, the
girlfriend
in me would slap you across the face…
with excellence
… for insulting me as you just did!”

She took in a long breath to continue.
“Oh God…she is pissed.”

“As far as the
commercial
renovations on your particular project? Well, I don’t know,
Mr. Sinclair
. Perhaps you should put out your
feelers
to get the names of good contractors or look in the Yellow Pages and call listed companies to get some
bids
for each of the
jobs
that will be required to get your project up and running! Up until sixty seconds ago, you had someone well respected and connected with subcontractors in the business to do
your
commercial renovations, but
she
may no longer be interested in doing business with you. You know…you wouldn’t want someone who’s
afraid
to make a decision without holding her
daddy’s
hand!” Aria fumed into the phone, taking another long breath. She sounded as if she was bordering on being atomically explosive.

“You know,
Declan
, while you were in Tokyo, a good—no a
great
—building came on the market. It was a great location, with great square footage. I, in what I now know you believe to be my
limited
capabilities as a woman and a mere owner of a
renovation
company, who has done more residential than commercial—but
some
commercial nonetheless—saw an excellent opportunity for
you
!
You
who has gone over your hopes, dreams, and aspirations for
your
studio with me, maybe…one hundred times or more! Perhaps you didn’t think I was listening—or perhaps you didn’t think that this
mere woman
could possibly comprehend the complexity of what you were trying to relay!”

She paused to take a breath, but still continued.

“Let’s see what my
addled
brain did remember to do for you? Hmm…in one day,
I
had inspectors—
yes
,
inspectors
, plural—in the building to check the structure, plumbing, electrical, insulation, and roofing. I also had subcontractors—
my subcontractors
—come in and take estimated measurements so that they’d be prepared to intelligently sit down and speak with
you
about
your
specific design and aspirations for
your
dream to become a reality. I also spoke with a sign company—who respects and admires
my
reputation—who is anxious to work with
you
on whatever signage you want, because of your relationship to me, so—I ask you—does it sound like
the little woman
just may have covered any concerns you might have had for
your
dream business?” Aria stopped talking—finally.

I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing. I could, however, hear her breathing hard—very hard—on the phone. There was no mistaking her anger. My guess would be that she was livid.

It was very quiet for several minutes on both ends of the phone.

“Aria…?” I spoke.
TT

“No, Declan…just…don’t. You don’t need to explain anything at all. I’m starting to believe that what you’ve been explaining to me as a dream for your business and what you mentally have been laying out for months is just that—a pipe dream—all talk; no action. I’m also beginning to think that you like
the idea
of having your own business and that you enjoy talking about it, writing ideas on paper, and even going so far as to having drawings made of how you would lay it out, but when the right opportunity hits you in the face, you’re scared. I think you’re afraid of the success you might have with this business. You might be the one that needs someone to hold
your
hand, and I would have been happy to be that person. You’re right—you
are
really good at what you do. You have the personality to draw people in and you have a wonderful eye for new, talented young people for the industry that you’re in. You even had me believing that you could be a respected force in your industry with fair and honest agents. I could envision
your
company being independent. I could envision
you
as having your own agency.
You
are friends with beautiful models who also want to scout talent, like Aimee.
You
have a great assistant to keep the business in order in Katherine, and
you
have a wonderful photographer in Jonatan.
You
have all the pieces lined up for you to start. I can see now that
you
also have one big obstacle—
yourself.
” Aria sounded resigned.

I had nothing to say; I was angry and emotionally spent. I took offense to everything she had just unleashed on me.

She took matters into her own hands with her next statement, “You don’t need to be concerned with the building at all, Declan. It is, after all, just a building.
I’m
not afraid of the renovation. It’s
my
name on the contract, not yours.
I’m
going to purchase the building regardless of the original intent with which I made the purchase.
You
may be afraid of business, Declan, but
I’m
not.”

I wasn’t going to let her turn this all around on me, and I needed to tell her so. “Look, I know you’re pissed off at me, but I have valid concerns, and you know it. Your personal attacks on me aren’t necessary, and they’re low,” I said. She was beginning to make me angry. The headache I had was about to make me mean.

When she next spoke, she sounded hurt. “Declan, this has
nothing
to do with me being pissed off. This has
everything
to do with your confidence in me and your confidence in my abilities, so I’ll say it again;
my
name is on the contract. You can completely disregard any interest in the building for your proposed business venture. I already have an alternative plan in mind for the building, so I’ll use
my
contacts to construct
my
plan to complete
my
project.”