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“That’s not me.”
April drew in a deep breath. “You know, I really believe you.”
“Come over here and have some sushi with me. Babette definitely ordered enough for two. I need your opinion on what this vendor is saying about materials.”
April dragged her chair over to his side of the desk. It was pleasant, almost fun, going over what was and wasn’t possible. He even asked her questions about other projects that were going on at the firm, bringing up other designs for her consultation. Before she knew it, half an hour had passed, and Garcia was texting for her whereabouts.
“Oh, damn. Um, I need to get back.”
“Tell Garcia that the bossman is boring you with details and you’ll be back when you’re free.”
“I’m typing that exactly.”
“Tell me. Now that your team is missing a leader, who do you think should take over? Someone in the team? Should I bring in another person from management?”
April though about that, though she kept staring at her phone to avoid meeting his eye. The idea of another Hutchinson, who looked down on them all and hadn’t updated their understanding of architecture since the 70s, was abhorrent.
“I don’t know that we need a leader, but if we have to have someone, it should be Garcia.”
“Really?” Samson moved closer to her and watched her closely. “Not yourself?”
“What?” April let out a sputter of a laugh. “I don’t have nearly enough experience to head up a project like this. I’ve observed, in my internship, but you need a lot more than that to make this a success.”
“That’s too bad. I liked seeing confidence on you.”
“There’s confidence, and then there’s arrogance. Ask me again when we’ve completed few projects, and I’ll take on the whole world for you. I need to know how it works first.”
Samson smiled slowly. “You’re really quite pragmatic, aren’t you? Well, I suppose you’re right. I’ll tell Garcia later today. I’ll also tell him to let me know if you need any other members once you get going. So far, the three of you seem to be handling the work well enough.”
“We were splitting it between ourselves anyway. And to be fair, Garcia is the one who pushed me to take over the drafting.”
“He knows how to use his assets.”
“If you call me an asset one more time, I may start hearing the word incorrectly.”
“Oh yeah? I wonder what you might mistake that word for?” Samson turned back to his computer. “I’m going to take you on a trip with me.”
April twisted her fingers nervously. “A trip?”
“You have a good eye, and I need someone with a keen sense of composition and design. I’ll make sure we schedule it so you aren’t too missed by your team. We can get them to the point where they don’t need their lead designer every moment.”
April scrambled for something to say, but she could only feel herself burning again, like she might torch the chair around her. For most of her life, she had sought this very kind of attention. She wanted someone who valued her, looked at her as worthwhile and competent, and maybe even special. How strange that it would come now, from a man like this, who she had all but swatted away from her.
“I would like that a lot. I moved around a lot as a kid, but I can’t say that I’ve been anywhere special,” April admitted. “Even if it is just for business, it would be different.”
“You moved around, where? Was your family in the military?”
“No.” April felt her stomach churning as the topic of her background came up again. The scent of ginger seemed oppressive as she considered how to word this. He’d been pressing for more details about her life ever since her interview. It was surprising that he hadn’t just had someone get him a file full of information on her.
“I grew up in foster care. I don’t really have a family.”
Samson’s eyes softened. “Really.”
“I was dropped off at a hospital. Probably my family didn’t want me, or couldn’t afford me, or whatever. Babies that young usually get adopted, but the doctors found a heart defect and had to give me surgery. It’s a pretty minor thing to me now—the scar is barely visible—but then it basically meant I stayed in the hospital longer, and people don’t want to adopt defective babies.” April shrugged. “Or maybe they do, but they didn’t want me. So I ended up in the system and stayed there until I went to college.”
“I see. That must have been very difficult for you.”
April covered her lips, but a giggle escaped.
