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My appointment was twenty minutes early but would be a welcomed change of pace after a stressful morning.

“Tell her I’ll be right out. Also, I’m going to send over some info regarding a property in Westchester. I need you to set a meeting time with the property agent. I’d like to negotiate a selling price.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll have the date and time uploaded to your calendar within the hour.”

“Thank you, Laura.” I quickly sent her the link containing the information about the listing. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with the land yet, but I liked what I saw. It would be an excellent investment if I could obtain it for the right price.

Once a swoosh sound from the computer signaled the email was sent. I got up from my seat behind the desk, threw on a navy sport coat, and made my way out of the office. I found Kimberly Melbourne sitting on the sofa in the waiting area, picking invisible pieces of lint from her pricy business suit. Her hair was pulled tight into a severe twist that matched her perfectionist personality.

“Kimberly,” I said when I approached her. The design engineer looked up at the sound of my voice and stood to extend her hand for me to shake.

“Mr. Stone,” she nodded in return. I took hold of her outstretched hand. Her grip was firm. No nonsense. It was why I appreciated her so much. She was confident, efficient, and she worked fast.

“Thank you for taking on this project at such short notice. I know how busy you are, but my new marketing director will begin her employment sooner than I had anticipated. I would like her space completed before she starts.”

“Oh, don’t even think twice about it,” she brushed off my concern with a wave of her manicured hand. “It’s been a while since you’ve sought my expertise. When you called, I was more than happy to accommodate.”

And I’m sure the sum I offered had you dropping your other clients to be here.

How she managed to juggle her schedule was no genuine concern to me. What mattered that was she was here, and Krystina’s office would be complete before Monday.

“I appreciate that. Now, if you’ll follow me this way, I have a large space I want you to take a look at. The thirty-seventh floor vacated about six months ago, and the old tenants left a bit of a mess. Rather than clean it up, I had the floor gutted until I could decide what to do with it. That said, you’ll have a fairly clean slate to work with.”

Together, we headed to the elevator and began the descent down to the floor that would soon house the marketing division of Stone Enterprise. When the doors opened, a dusty construction site was revealed. Plastic sheets hung from the ceiling, blocking off certain areas where work was already underway. The loud vibrations of machine sanders could be heard from various points of the floor.

“I didn’t realize you had already begun work, Mr. Stone,” Kimberly said, seeming somewhat surprised by the mess before us.

“Only the walls, Kimberly. I wasn’t kidding when I said I had the floor gutted. I had my construction engineer get started on the basic drywall work since that takes some time. Rooms still need to be divided, flooring has to be decided on, paint, and the works.”

“And that’s where I come in,” she finished with a smile. “You’ve given me a blank canvas, Mr. Stone. I’m looking forward to the design.”

“Before you leave today, I’ll get you in touch with all parties needed for the job. Very little will be brought over from the existing offices. I’ve already instructed Gavin, my computer technician, to purchase the needed workstations. And as for the blank canvas, you’ll also have a blank check. My accountant will see to it that you have everything you need on this project.”

She didn’t even flinch at that, having worked for me in the past.

“Perfect. Any thoughts on what your Marketing Director might like?”

“Her name is Krystina Cole. And honestly, I don’t know much about her décor preferences,” I said with a frown. “She loves music. I think it’s safe to assume she will use it often in her radio or television advertising strategies. Whatever you decide, her office needs to incorporate a high-end sound system at the very least.”

“That will be easy enough. What about the other areas of the floor? Do you think Miss Cole would want the space divided up into separate office spaces? Or perhaps cubicles?”

“No cubicles. I detest them,” I told her.

“I didn’t think so, but I thought I’d ask just in case. Since this floor will be for marketing, separate offices will most likely work out better. They will allow people to think creatively, without any interruptions from the person at the next desk over.”

“My thoughts exactly,” I agreed. Kimberly placed a finger on her chin and looked around contemplatively.

“Any preference on room sizes?”

“Miss Cole’s office should be spacious. You can’t see them from here due to the hanging plastic, but there are large windows at the far end of the floor. Incorporate those in her personal space. She’ll need a sizable conference room of sorts, a place for meetings and design planning. As for the other areas, I think eight to ten offices should be sufficient enough. You’ll have to get with Josh Swanson on the space layout. He’s here somewhere…” I scanned the floor for the construction engineer.

As if on cue, Josh came out from behind a hanging plastic sheet, his dark hair, shoulders, and arms completely covered with drywall dust. He removed a pair of safety glasses from his face, giving him a raccoon-like appearance. He looked surprised to see us standing there.

“Mr. Stone, I didn’t realize you were here. You’ll have to pardon my appearance,” he joked casually, attempting to remove some of the dust covering him. “What can I do for you, sir?”

“Josh, I’d like you to meet Kimberly Melbourne. She will be the designer for the project. Kimberly, this is Josh Swanson, my construction engineer.”

“It’s nice to meet you, ma’am,” Josh said with a nod. “I’d shake your hand, but as you can see, I’m full of dust and drywall mud.”