“Of course,” Jensen said, nodding solemnly. “No one would publish my articles, and I had a lot of opinions that needed to be shared.”
“I’m sure you did,” Daniel said with a smile.
“It wasn’t very popular, but a man with more money than he deserved found it while searching for an architect to design him and his wife a new house. He contacted me a few days after I graduated, and I couldn’t reasonably turn down his offer. It was a dream come true, and the money and notoriety would have set me up for a very fruitful career.”
Daniel set his wine on the coffee table and put his feet under him. “What happened?”
“I started drawing up plans, putting everything I’d learned into the house. After the second revision, he called to tell me he was separating from his wife and wanted to go in a different direction. He suddenly wanted an ultramodern bachelor pad instead of a comfortable place to start a family.”
“Damn.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, remembering the switch that had sent him spiraling in the moment, then had his career trajectory spinning in a direction he detested. “He asked me to revise the plans using his new specifications, and I couldn’t refuse. There was too much money on the line, and I didn’t want to start my professional life stained by rejecting my first client. So I did what he asked. I drew up plans he wound up using.” He shook his head. “He ended up loving it and told the team designing an office campus for his company that they had to hire me or he would take his account to a company that would.”
“Holy shit. He got you a job?”
“For the same company I’m still working for. Management promised they’d move me to projects I cared about more after I finished the campus project. And over half my graduating class had yet to find employment that paid them for their work. So of course I accepted.” At Daniel’s wide-eyed expression, Jensen grimaced slightly. “The house I designed was fine. It wasn’t spectacular or anything. I honestly think he just liked me, since I was there throughout his very messy divorce.”
“But your boss hasn’t let you work on any projects you like?”
“No. I’ve been stuck doing office designs since I started. With all the practice, I’ve gotten good at them. They don’t excite me, but it’s what I’m known for, so my boss won’t move me elsewhere.”
“Why don’t you quit and find another job? Weren’t you doing some consulting work? Could that become more permanent? Surely some other company wants your fabulous keynote speaker ass.”
Jensen blushed at the compliment. He almost opened his mouth and told Daniel that Larsson and Fowl had hinted at a full-time position at their firm, but thought better of it. Nothing was set in stone yet and one small project fee wasn’t stable enough for him to uproot his life and move across the country. While Jensen had savings, he would blow through them fast if he didn’t have any income. And he’d only just submitted his final notes to Larsson the day before; it was too soon to tell if there would be anything coming his way. “There isn’t a high demand for art nouveau experts in modern architecture firms. I could try finding work with a restoration company, but even those are hard to come by.”
“So you’re stuck.”
“Right now, I am unfortunately stuck. My boss promised to move me to different projects once I complete my current assignment, but it’s not the first time he’s said that.”
It wasn’t news to Jensen that he was backed into a corner in terms of his career path, but it did bother him more than usual. Until the conference, he’d been content in his work. Well, perhapscontentwasn’t the right word. He’d been tolerably unhappy. It hadn’t been something that itched at the back of his brain or had a small but constant fire burning in his gut that was ready to ignite at the smallest provocation from his boss.
Before meeting Daniel, he hadn’t cared that he was stuck doing things he didn’t like. But that wasn’t Daniel’s fault; he hadn’t intentionally woken Jensen up to the offensive drudgery his life had become. And it wasn’t fair of Jensen to bring him across the country just to complain about his job.
“What about you? How did you start working at the Lillian?”
14
Daniel chewedon his bottom lip as he searched Jensen’s eyes. This wasn’t something he wanted to talk about. It wasn’t something he talked about at all. With anyone. But Jensen had flown his ass all the way here, and he deserved to know what he was getting himself into. Even if it meant Daniel might be on the first flight back.
That didn’t mean he was ready to start confessing like a sinner on his deathbed though. Instead of opening his mouth to talk, he lunged for his glass of wine, swiped it off the coffee table, and downed it in two large gulps.
Not looking at Jensen, he also took his glass—which was mostly full—and threw that down the hatch as well. The sweetness of the pear- and floral-smelling wine coated the back of his throat and, coupled with the thickness already building, left a sickly feeling traveling down into his stomach.
Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to throw back two glasses of wine like they were shooters taken in the parking lot of an expensive club. But, like all the other horrific decisions he’d made in his life, it was already done and he had to suffer the consequences.
Jensen’s eyebrows were high on his forehead when Daniel sat back on the couch and wiped his mouth along his forearm. Luckily, he didn’t comment on the outburst and allowed Daniel a moment to collect his thoughts.
“I …” He trailed off. He couldn’t just start with the worst of it. No, it was better if he gently walked Jensen into the ocean he was drowning in. Perhaps with context, it wouldn’t seem so suffocating. “I got good grades in high school. Really good grades, and I was on the committees of three different clubs. With that, paired with miraculously decent test scores, I got into a college in DC. Even with a couple of scholarships I was able to scrounge up, tuition was expensive. I had to take out loans to cover the cost.”
“Didn’t your parents help?”
Daniel gave the sweet, naive man in front of him a small smile. “No. They felt their duties as parents ended the moment I turned eighteen. Not that they did much parenting before then. So I took out student loans to cover everything. But all the friends I made there came from money. Like nannies and summer homes in the French Riviera money. They were always going to nice dinners and getting expensive drinks, and the vacations …”
God, the vacations. Even now, knowing the consequences and right off a fantastic orgasm, Daniel was getting horny at the memories of the trips he’d taken with his group of so-called friends. He’d spent a spring break in Ibiza, a whole week one summer in Germany, and one Christmas in the Alps where he learned how to ski from the same instructor that taught celebrities’ kids. Not to mention all the weekend trips up to Canada and down to Mexico. The entire experience had been a whirlwind of high times, insane adventures, and …
“Credit card debt. I paid for the lifestyle with a credit card.” Daniel let out a self-deprecating laugh and wished the winewould hit his brain harder. “I didn’t even have one of those good ones that offer cash back or rewards. I covered the minimums with my loan payouts. That stopped working when I switched my major for the third time and the university told me I had to graduate or get out.”
For his part, Jensen took everything in silently, not interrupting. Daniel couldn’t look at him anymore, though, and stared down at his fingers like they held the secret to getting through the rest of his confession. Jensen took his hand, warming the cold skin, giving him the strength the carry on.
