I waved my hand at the suggestion. “She doesn’t need to come down. I’ll go up there.”
She looked a little frazzled at this change of plans, so I tried for the smile that usually smoothed things over. “You can let her know I’m on my way, so I don’t surprise her.” Then I whispered. “I just don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable with the tall guy looming in the waiting room.”
She smiled at that and nodded. “Right. I’ll buzz the door open and you can just take the elevator up to the third floor. That’s where Melissa’s office is. She’ll be waiting for you when you get there.”
“Excellent. Thanks so much, what’s your name?”
“Miosotis.”
“Gracias, Miosotis.” I grinned at the surprise on her face when she heard my Spanish. It always threw people off when the white guy busted out the Dominican. I waved at her, then walked through the door when she buzzed me in.
As I went up to meet Melissa I thought about how glad I was to finally be doing this. Being able to help an agency like this had been years in the making. Of all the places I’d reviewed, New Beginning had by far been the closest to what I’d had in mind when I started looking for a nonprofit to fund. I hoped the people I was meeting today were as impressive in person as they’d been on paper.
The elevator opened and a short woman with a pixie haircut and a huge smile was waiting on the other side. She looked exactly like the idea I had of a social worker. Warm, friendly, and seemed like she gave amazing hugs.
She extended her hand out to me. “Hi, Mr. Hughes, I’m Melissa Stein-Burgos. Thank you so much for coming today.”
“Hi, Melissa, please call me Tom.”
Her smile got bigger as we shook hands. “Of course, Tom. My office is over there.” She pointed to a door at the back of the floor. Once we were in the office, she quickly walked to her desk and got on the phone, holding a finger up.
“Hey.” She smiled at whatever the person on the phone said.
“Yep, he’s here. Okay, see you in a minute.” She winked at me as she hung up the phone.
“That was Camilo, our residential programs director, he’ll be right down. Would you like me to get you something to drink before we start, Tom?”
“Some water would be great, actually.”
“Of course, I’ll be right back.”
While she went to get the water, I glanced around the room. There were some posters of what looked like old events the agency had hosted, and a couple of prints with inspirational quotes. She also had some photos on the ledge behind her desk.
One was of her and a beautiful woman who looked Latina holding a little boy between them. They were all smiling brightly at the camera, a lovely family photo. I was about to look closer at what looked like a group of people at a New Beginning event when the door opened. I turned around expecting to see Melissa, but instead I saw Milo from the gala walk in looking very serious. The sight of him was so disorienting, I had to brace myself on the wall.
Having spent over a decade doing business at some of the highest echelons of the tech-world, there was not much that could put me off my game in a meeting; but when I saw him, I actually stumbled.
This must be theCamilowho would be in charge of the project. I was not one to wax poetic about fate, but this was a pretty spectacular coincidence.
Because regardless of what I told Priya, I’d felt pangs of regret all weekend at letting him slip away at the gala. Now he washere.
In my surprise I moved abruptly and bumped into a chair. The noise startled Camilo, making him look up. When he saw me all the blood seemed to drain from his face. The flutter of excitement in my chest at seeing him again didn’t go unnoticed, but I had to think fast. He was probably freaking out and thinking this would somehow affect the project I was here to talk about.
I walked up to him and extended my hand. “It’s nice to see you again, Camilo. This is a very pleasant surprise. Are you the shelter director?”
He nodded slowly like he was trying not to make any sudden movements.
“Hi. Yes, I manage all the housing-related programs for the agency. It’s nice to see you again as well.” I could see red creeping up his neck. The impulse to touch him and get closer was intense. He had his hair in a half knot today and was wearing skinny jeans, with a very slim fitting dark green corduroy jacket over a purple button-down shirt. His style was so different than what usually caught my attention. But there was no denying I found him very intriguing.
“Excellent, I’m excited to hear your ideas on how I can help with the great work you’re doing here.” I sounded a bit more enthusiastic than necessary, but I really wanted to put him at ease. He swallowed visibly and then exhaled like he was realizing I wasn’t going to make what happened on Friday a thing.
“Okay, yes, I’m excited. too.” He still looked a little startled but seemed to be coming around. “What you’re doing is incredibly generous, so thank you.”
“Not necessary but you’re welcome.”
As we stood there in an awkward silence, the door opened again and we both turned to see Melissa walking into the room with some water bottles in her hands.
“Camilo, you’re here. I see you met Mr. Hughes. Excellent.” She extended a hand towards a small table near the door. “Let’s sit at the table where we can talk more comfortably. Tom, I didn’t know what you liked so I brought flat water and seltzer.”
