Room Service Page 2

  Her position at New Horizons kept her busy. Busy meant that she didn’t have time to get too distracted, and that was fine by her.

  New Horizons had become a force in the corporate landscape seemingly overnight. The company had branches in all major cities and specialized in constructing office buildings for businesses of every shape and size. But they’d started to get a bad rap for building ugly, gray monstrosities without any high-tech innovations. Businesses were changing, and New Horizons needed to adapt with them. Sure, their previous approach had brought in jobs, but they weren’t attracting the kind of businesses that generated enough money to keep their fast-growing company afloat. They needed glitzy technology firms with deep pockets and seemingly endless investors. They wanted young blood, but they were applying old design standards. At least, that’s what the market research was telling them. The recent numbers showed that they were losing opportunities due to their outdated design approach. Savannah was brought in to fix their image problem by finding a way to update their business. She’d been researching ways to do just that when she’d stumbled on Greater Image Design. Or more specifically, Olivia Dawson’s impressive portfolio.

  This partnering opportunity was new ground for New Horizons. And for Savannah. She’d taken this job after a messy breakup left her feeling uninspired and lost. Her little brother Cooper was attending school here, so it had made perfect sense to make Chicago her new home. Well, if you could call it home. She’d been working in her new position for over a year and she still hadn’t fully unpacked. But having Cooper nearby made her happy. He was her only family. She wanted to be close to him in both relationship and distance. He kept her grounded in a way she hadn’t felt in years.

  She made a mental note to call him later today as she reached into her bag and pulled out her laptop. She arranged the desk in preparation for the conference call and thought of her little brother. Cooper was finishing up his senior year in college and would be moving on to bigger and better things soon. That scared Savannah a little. She’d gotten so accustomed to their weekly Sunday dinners with his girlfriend Amber and coming home from another business trip to find the two of them folding laundry on her couch. Her condo’s proximity to his campus was intentionally convenient and even more convenient that her laundry was free when he needed it. Which was often. She never complained, though. She liked knowing that the condo was being used. She traveled more than 70 percent of the time on this job, so at least she knew someone was bringing in the mail. Sooner than she liked, Cooper would graduate and her home life would change, but on the work front, things were moving along nicely. Her new promotion to this position was a professional success that made her feel alive for the first time in a long time. Partnering with the smaller boutique firm in New York City was a big deal for her professionally and, hopefully, personally as well. She needed a new project to help her refocus on what was important in her life. Cooper was growing up and would be moving on. She figured it was time to take her little brother’s lead for once.

  She loaded her laptop and sent the image to the large flat screen television mounted in her office. She preferred her work in front of her, on a large scale, to best assess the situation. She moved the mouse, watching the cursor on the television screen as she pulled up the videoconference app and split the screen with employee bios. Savannah put on her headset and sipped her coffee before dialing Corrine. She glanced once more at the clock to make sure the time difference from her office in Chicago was correct and settled into her seat to start the call. She yawned, still sore from this morning’s workout, and glanced longingly out the window. Today was going to be a long day.

  Chapter Two

  By the time Olivia got to the conference room, everyone was already sitting, facing a projection screen on the far wall. Her entire team was present, as well as some people from accounting and legal. Corrine was hovering over the speakerphone with a look of excitement on her face.

  That excitement quickly faded when it was apparent that their new liaison with New Horizons, Savannah Quinn, could see them but they couldn’t see her. “Uh, we appear to be having some IT issues on our end, Savannah. Hold on, sorry.” Corrine looked flustered.

  “Tuesday strikes again,” Olivia muttered. The gray-faced silhouette in the corner of the screen where Savannah’s face should have been unnerved Olivia a little. It was creepy.

  “I thought you liked Tuesdays?” Her best friend and chief engineer, Reagan Fischer, stretched in the seat next to her. Besides her sister Christine and her niece, Reagan was her closest friend in the world. “Scratch that, I know you like Tuesdays. You love them. You are in a relationship with Tuesdays that is probably unhealthy, and you should see someone about that.”

  “Like you are any sort of relationship expert.” Olivia accepted the half piece of gum Reagan offered with a huff.

  “You tried me on for size—I think we did okay.” Reagan stuck out her tongue at her and teased her. “You know, until we didn’t.”

  Olivia laughed. That was true. Kind of. They’d briefly dated in college until they both realized they were better off being friends. Reagan was a free-spirited playgirl back then, and not much had changed in the nine years since they’d first met. “My point exactly.”

  Reagan looked scandalized. “Are you trying to insinuate that I’m bad at relationships?”

  “Not at all. No insinuation necessary.” Olivia smiled. Reagan was a lot of fun. She was tall and lean, with lush dark hair and deep brown eyes with full lashes. She’d stayed true to her college self and developed a pretty well-established reputation for being a lady-killer. Olivia was willing to bet that she had single-handedly converted half of the straight population of Manhattan one woman at a time. But a monogamist? Not quite. “You’re great at relationships, in the plural. You just suck at monogamy.”

  “Who wants to be limited to one”—Reagan winked—“when you can have many?”

  Olivia felt the stress of the day recede a little. She was glad she’d convinced Reagan to join the design firm when she was promoted. Reagan melded perfectly with the rest of the group and added a great mind to the artistic team in the design space. She was creative and practical at work, hard-working and diligent, but she required a little wrangling at times. Olivia and Reagan were similar enough to get along, but different enough to balance each other out. They worked well together and on days like today, Olivia was grateful to have Reagan by her side.

  “So…when did you and Tuesday break up?” Reagan drew Olivia’s attention back to their original conversation.

  “Today. Our love affair has ended.” Olivia sighed. “I used to love Tuesdays, but this Tuesday can suck it.”

  “Mature.” Reagan nodded and spun the pen on the conference table in front of them.

  “I try.”

  Corrine frowned in defeat. “Sorry, Savannah. We can’t seem to get IT here in time and I know you have another meeting scheduled. We’ll just have to be a little blind on our end.”

  “No worries. We’ll have plenty of time to get acquainted over the next few months.”

  Savannah’s voice had a gentle huskiness to it. Well, that was a pleasant change from the nasal twang of the previous contact from New Horizons, Olivia thought.

  As the meeting progressed, Olivia found herself more and more drawn to the voice on the other end of the call. Savannah was direct and concise. She was organized but not patronizing, which Olivia liked. She enunciated her words perfectly and appeared to be watching the group closely on her end, even commenting on Randal’s hideously wrinkled shirt with a gentle jab that got a chuckle from the conference room and Randal himself. A sense of humor, too? This Savannah woman was getting better and better.

  “Great. This is all very exciting.” Corrine clapped and buzzed in her chair, her excitement palpable. “You’ll be working with Olivia directly for the upcoming project, Savannah. I’m here to help, of course, but Olivia’s your woman for the job.”

  Olivia waved to the gray face o
n the screen because she felt like she had to. But it was awkward. So awkward.

  “So, about the project…” Corrine’s expression turned more serious.

  The project in question, the big secret, was not that big at all. In fact, considering some of the projects they had completed in the past, this was on the small side. It was a pilot design trial that had the potential to become a full-blown national contract if New Horizons was pleased with the outcome. The plan was to build an indoor green space that was technologically advanced in every way: climate controlled, living walls, water features, natural lighting, with smooth stones and earth tones. Business professionals who frequented the space could custom design their surroundings by tweaking the cyberinput and displays on some of the walls and ceilings. Although the basic structure would remain fixed, certain aspects of the room could be customized and mobilized. Chairs would rotate out, stones would change color, glass would tint or reflect images of ocean scenes, marketplaces in Dubai, sunsets by the Golden Gate Bridge, or the open night skies of the deep country. The design called for a lot of tech work and engineering, but the key to their success would be to develop a general process that could be applied to spaces of different shapes and sizes.

  “Bottom line,” Savannah said, “the hope is to create a space that can integrate whatever environments the user might be motivated by. We want to give every user a custom experience. Once we establish the concept, we’ll need to send out teams to initiate the work. Your office will come up with the blueprint, and then we will ask that your chief of design, that’s you, Olivia, as well as a few team members make the trip to the pilot installation sites to oversee the beginning of the project.” Savannah’s voice paused, then continued, “We’re contracted to work with your team for three installations to ensure that we work well together and that our combined vision for the final product is met. At the end of the trial completion, we’ll reevaluate the results and negotiate further involvement on a grander scale.”

  Savannah finished by adding, “We’ll work closely with you on your home turf to make sure that everything is ironed out before the trips, so they can be short and you’ll be separated from your families as little as possible. We appreciate your input on this matter. I know that travel isn’t usually part of your jobs, but we want the primary brains on the project present at the start of all new installations. Continuity breeds success.”

  Olivia nodded as she took notes on the topic. She agreed that being present was ideal for the correct application of the design, but she had to admit, the idea of traveling didn’t thrill her. She supposed it really depended on where they were going and for how long. She hoped for a tropical locale, but, considering how her luck had been lately, she doubted that would happen.

  Corrine ended the call and assigned each person in the room a task to begin the process. Olivia dispatched her own team to work in pairs, organizing some ideas for the general concept Savannah requested. They were encouraged to take the suggestions and add variations along the way. They’d be installing the rooms in three sites over the next six months. One month to plan the general concept, and then travel to the sites would begin.

  As they walked back to the design space, Reagan bumped elbows with her, a mischievous smile on her face. “So, Liv, you’re going to be working with that Quinn lady pretty close the next few months…She had an awesome phone sex voice, so that’s cool.”

  Olivia rolled her eyes and shoved Reagan playfully. “You are such a hornball.” She couldn’t help but laugh along, though. She had found herself drifting a bit at the beginning of the conference call thanks to the speaker’s melodious tones. She wondered what Savannah looked like.

  “You know, maybe that’s exactly what you need to spice things up around here. If she is as attractive as her voice indicates, you could be in for trouble.” Reagan dodged Olivia’s annoyed swat in her direction.

  “Ugh. You’re impossible. I have enough drama in my life now as is. Last thing I need is you fantasizing some faux office romance with the sexy, faceless voice of a client liaison.”

  “Ha! So you do like her voice.”

  “Reagan, shut up. Go back to work, will you?” Olivia didn’t think she could actually get mad at Reagan even if she tried. The truth was Reagan forced Olivia to live her life to the fullest, and in turn, Olivia tried to help Reagan understand that feelings and emotions were not bad things; they just made relationships more fulfilling. Reagan was a work in progress, though—she still favored a one-night stand to a second date, nine times out of ten. Olivia always assumed she would spend a lifetime helping Reagan figure that out. And that didn’t bother her one bit.

  As she settled into her desk, her eyes picked up the bright pink Post-its Farrah had left her. She had to call Hannah back, no use avoiding the inevitable. She might as well get it over with.

  “I called you twice, you know.” Hannah huffed into the phone.

  “So I’ve heard. I was busy with a conference call. What’s up?” Olivia squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the onslaught that was coming.

  “You never stopped by last week, like you promised you would, and you’ve been ignoring my calls ever since,” Hannah grumbled, her voice rising a bit.

  “Hannah, look, we’ve been through this.” Olivia sighed and rubbed her forehead. “I didn’t stop by last week because we broke up, and I’m not obligated to attend your book club meetings anymore.”

  Hannah let out an annoyed snort. She replied, “Olivia, we both know that you were just being dramatic.”

  Olivia let her head fall back against her chair in frustration. Hannah was a stage five clinger, and she should never have gotten involved with her in the first place. Reagan was right, not that she would ever admit it. They had dated for three months and it was insane. Olivia had ended things almost three weeks ago—not that Hannah accepted that little fact, but still. “Hannah, look, I like you. I think you are a great girl and I had a lot of fun, but I’ve moved on. We’re better off as friends. If I made you think anything more than that, I’m sorry. I just don’t feel the same way about you as you feel about me.”

  The line was silent for a moment. Hannah let out a tired sigh. “Fine. Take as much time as you need to think things out. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “What?” Olivia pulled the phone away to look at it before speaking again. “I don’t need to think about it. I’m done, kaput, no más, finished. We’re not dating. Please feel free to stop calling my work.” She hated having to get bitchy, but this was ridiculous.

  Hannah gasped in her typical dramatic fashion before replying icily, “Fine, whatever, Liv, see you around.” Click.

  Olivia groaned and hung up the phone.

  Reagan hit her with an eraser and snickered before adding, “Stage. Five. Clinger. Told you. Ten bucks says she popped your tire just so you would call her for a ride to work so she could rekindle the flame.” She added air quotes as Olivia hurled the eraser at her head and scowled.

  “I hate when you’re right.” Olivia didn’t bother trying to suppress the smile on her face as she opened up her web browser. She loved that her best friend was her coworker. She valued her relationship with Reagan, even if she was right about Hannah all along.

  Her smile deepened when she saw a new email from Savannah Quinn. She figured this was the start of what she assumed would be a regular correspondence with her. She couldn’t help but wonder back to what Reagan teased about before. Was she pretty? Was she young? Old? Married? Straight? Her voice was magical. She almost frowned at the email. She much preferred talking to this woman on the phone instead. That was a good sign, right?

  Chapter Three

  Savannah took notes on the people introducing themselves to her on the screen. She was pleased that they couldn’t see her while she was doing it; it gave her the opportunity to closely watch them as she spoke. Corrine Baylor was a peppy little woman with a cute pixie haircut who liked to use a lot of hand motions when she spoke. She was organized and friendly and chipp
er—damn, that woman was like a hummingbird of excitement.

  Savannah breezed over the legal and accounting departments, making short notes next to their bios so she would remember them later. Her real focus was on the design team. They were the people she would be working with closely over the next few months.

  She was surprised when some of the team didn’t match up with her physical expectations, not that she had any really, but knowing someone on paper and then seeing them in real life gave a different perspective entirely. It all started with Randal Hogan. In front of her was a schleppy fortysomething architect with a wrinkled appearance, but his dossier showed extraordinary design ideas from his past projects that were a complete contrast to his disheveled appearance. His designs favored clean lines and modern applications of metal and glass. You’d never know he was an architectural genius by the ketchup stain above his shirt pocket.

  In contrast, Devon Nguyen was exactly what she expected: a young, up-and-coming interior designer, fresh out of school with a well-trimmed fauxhawk and stylish dark-framed glasses. He didn’t say much, but from the doodles she could see from her vantage point he was a great artist.