“We need a bigger garage now anyway. We don’t have enough spots for the people who drive in. Some people take the bus, but we’ve got a lot more commuters who don’t live near bus lines than we’ve had before. She wants to attract people who will come in a few days a week? That’s hard to do when they can’t park.”
“Okay. So, you’re pitching that we expand the parking garage? How does that solve our problem?”
“We can put the gym and day care there and attach the garage to the building. People could drop their kids off there or work out after they park and then come to work.”
Her boss leaned back in the chair and considered her proposal.
“It would cost less, too,” she added to try to convince him of this idea she thought of and hadn’t at all planned out to know if itwouldactually cost less, like she’d just stated.
“We would need future office space, though. You know we’ll continue growing, and she’s not going to let everyone work from home. She doesn’t think it’s fair when the roasters have to be in the stores.”
“Yes, but I also know that more and more employees are asking for a hybrid or work-from-home option. Two-thirds of the employees come in only two times a week, whethershe likes it or not. We’ve got space here to grow if that trend continues, even with the new spaces removing some of the desks, and we’ve already started using the hotel desk policy.”
Hotel desks were becoming increasingly more common in companies with remote or hybrid employees. If someone worked in the office every day, they got their own desk, but if they were hybrid or remote and needed a desk, they used one of the open ones that day and someone else could use it the next day, saving money on office space.
“Run the numbers for me; make sure that’s the case,” he replied.
“I will. And if we’re not adding desks and a ton of tech over there, I really do think it will be cheaper. We can build in an extra floor or two that we just leave open for possible offices or other needs later and still have enough spots for employees to park.”
He nodded and said, “Work it up for me. Add in how we’ll account for temporary parking for everyone while the work is being done, too. We’ll have no choice but to pay for it, probably shuttling people over here or something. We’ll present that to her and see what she says, but are you really telling me that if she insists on buying this bookstore, you’re out?”
“I don’t want to leave the company, but I’m not going to be a part of tearing down the community we claim to be our own. If that’s the company’s decision, you’ll just need to give the project to someone else.”
She knew it was easy forherto say that. They wouldn’t fire her for refusing to try to buy the property; they’d just give it to another person to run. She also knew that she was lucky because if thiswereto lead to her getting fired, she didn’t have to worry about money. She had more than enough of that, and she’d be able to find another job pretty easily, given her experience. Not everyone had those options.
After they wrapped up their conversation, India stood and took her stuff back to her office. Deciding she could use a walk after that meeting, she made her way downstairs andoutside, headed over to the bookshop. This was her second walk of the day, and the workday wasn’t even close to being over. She’d come this way earlier, when she got a phone call from one of her employees who was in the field, negotiating a lease. She’d walked right past this place and then glared up at the clothing store that blared its music far too loudly, but this time, she pulled open the door to the old bookstore and walked inside.
“Hi,” a young girl said from behind the small counter. “Can I help you?”
“Just browsing,” she replied.
The iPad that served as their point-of-sale system looked wildly out of place among the old wood and red brick. The newer books with their bright covers did as well when India saw them next to the shelves of the mostly antique hardbacks with brown or black spines that the shop also sold. Some dark-greens and tans were in there, too, but they paled in comparison to the pinks, light-blues, and bright yellows of today’s book covers. India moved to the front table, where she saw a guidebook for the city, which she saw practically everywhere. Looking around, she felt at ease here, which wasn’t something she felt often, and it had her wondering why she didn’t come in here more.
Part of the reason, she knew, was that the place only sold books. Yes, that was the point of a bookstore, but there was no café and no place to sit since there were only sometimes two chairs in the back. Other times, there was a table with a chair behind it. A few times, there was nothing back there at all. When she had seen the chairs, they’d been filled by other patrons, so browsing and sitting down with a good cup of coffee wasn’t an option here, which was unfortunate because she imagined others would’ve spent more time here and would have probably bought more books if just a few changes were made.
“Hi there,” a woman said as India walked down one of the aisles.
“Hi,” India replied and couldn’t help but smile at her asshe took her in.
The woman had this blonde hair that barely rested at her shoulders and these bright, kind blue eyes. She was also a little shorter than India, but that was probably due to India’s three-inch Louboutins rather than an actual height difference between them.
“Can I help you?” the woman asked her.
“Just stopping in to look around for a few minutes,” she said.
“Looking for anything in particular?”
“Not really, no.”
“Okay. Well, if I can help at all, just yell for Maisie.”
“Maisie?”
“That’s me. I’m the owner.”
“You’re the owner?” India asked.
“Yes,” Maisie said. “Why?”
