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“Nearly.” April looked around and then caught Garcia’s attention. Garcia gave her a pointed expression, and she pursed her lips.
“Mind letting me in on this silent conversation?” Samson looked between the two of them.
“Hutchinson isn’t here yet, sir,” Garcia said. “He may be stuck in traffic.”
Samson checked his watch and frowned.
“I mean, you live close by, but this city is sort of famous for its shitty traffic,” Garcia said.
“We can get started without Hutchinson,” April said. She motioned for Jessie Ramirez to head up to the front of the room. The girl shot April a nervous look, but grabbed her file and they both head to the computer that Garcia set up.
“Just start with the impact studies we’ve done, and um…”
“Here.” Garcia took over the computer and brought a presentation up for Jessie. “Start here, and simply explain the factors we discussed in our last meeting. April, you can go over the designs afterward, and I’ll lay out the financials at the end. I assume Mr. Bennett will want to discuss the designs before we talk about all that.”
“You assume correctly, but I’m glad you’re on top of it.” Samson wondered why April let Garcia take the lead. She seemed ready to head up the whole meeting. Was he still making her nervous?
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Whatever the reason, the meeting seemed to go off without a hitch. Jessie presented her portion on the area where they were to build, and April brought up their designs. There were quite a few to choose from, and April laid out the pros and cons of each choice clearly, from memory, and answered every question Samson had about details of the designs. If Samson hadn’t been spying on them, he would have still been able to tell that more of the ambitious design work had come from his new hire than from her team leader.
Just as they were starting a larger discussion regarding several of the final designs, as Samson had ruled out the first ones almost immediately, Don Hutchinson arrived, covered in sweat and panting a bit.
“Thank you for joining us,” Samson drawled.
“I apologize,” Hutchinson said, putting his briefcase on the table. “There was a pile-up on I-10. Some idiot slammed into someone trying to merge and then crashed into the person in front of him.”
“This is why I don’t drive on the highway,” Jessie said.
“How do you manage that?” Garcia asked.
“I live in the Museum District and bike everywhere.”
“In this heat?”
“Enough off that.” Hutchinson strode up to the front of the room. “Alright, we should get started. I don’t want to keep Mr. Bennett waiting for any longer.”
“Oh, I haven’t been waiting, apart from this delightful conversation about traffic,” Samson said. “We were discussing which of April’s designs would have the most benefit for the project.”
Hutchinson frowned, looked up at the screen, and let his mouth hang open for a moment. “I-I... No, sir, if you’ll give me a moment. These aren’t the designs you ought to have seen first.” He glowered at April. “These aren’t suitable at all. I can show you what I’ve come up with that would work much better for the property.”
“I’ve seen your designs, and I know the challenges presented by the ones above. April presented your designs first, and she talked them up as much as she could while still being honest.” Samson tapped his pencil against his notepad. “They aren’t at all what I was looking for. I felt I was very clear about what I wanted for this project.”
Hutchinson turned to April, pointing at her with one stern finger. “You took advantage of this situation to push your ridiculous, untenable designs. Mr. Bennett is a businessman, and he will want the options that will be the most popular and cost effective, not strange, post-post modern structures that no human being would want to live in!”
Samson was about to speak again when April snapped, “What would you know about what people want to live in? Your father bought your house for you and your wife when you got married! I’ve lived in apartments literally my whole life. I’ve lived in good ones, and I’ve lived in some seriously shitty ones, and I know that your designs are—aside from being like everything else out there—riddled with problems from top to bottom.
There are safety issues, common design flaws that cause unnecessary repairs, and no sense of the location where they are being built. Your designs will lead to stuffy apartments and tenants who break their AC trying to live there comfortably. Your designs will result in break-ins. Your designs will limit a sense of community among the tenants. Your designs will be cheaper in the short run and far more expensive in the long run. Your designs are bad!”
A wicked grin began to spread on Samson’s lips as he watched her continue.
“And more than that, I would have gone with them anyway if that had been what Mr. Bennett had responded to, but your designs are not what he wants! So stop belittling me for trying to do the job I was hired to do. If you had shown up on time, Mr. Bennett would still not have chosen your work because it isn’t what he asked for.”
“You’ve got a hell of a temper, little lady.” Hutchinson shook his head. “And an ego, thinking you can do this work all on your own right out of school, when the only reason you got this job is your pert little—”
“Consider your words carefully,” Samson warned. He folded his fingers in front of himself as Hutchinson looked back to him. Then, he stood and waved his hand toward the door. “On second thought, don’t bother. Just leave.”
“Sir, I can explain. I didn’t mean—”
