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Sam snapped his fingers. "Andy, I forgot to tell you that Tiel's friend Ellie is staying with us for the holidays," he said. "She got in yesterday morning and she's staying for a bit. A couple weeks, I think. Her band isn't touring for the next six months and she hadn't met Dave yetso—"
"Would you get to the point?" Shannon said. She was tapping her crystal-encrusted letter opener against her palm as though she meant to throw it at Sam. "I'm not going to speak for Andy but I will say a group text went out when Ellie arrived, and we all know she's here although you seem hell-bent on explaining her life tous."
After a long silence, I sang under my breath, "Have a holly, jolly Christmas. It's the best time of theyear."
"As I was saying," Sam continued with more dramatic flair than necessary at this hour, "Ellie is also joining us tomorrownight."
"Okay, got it," Andy said, consulting her notes again. "Is there anyone else? Anyone at all? It's fine if you want to invite more people but I want to make sure there's enough food and drink for everyone. This is your lastchance."
"We should check with Erin," Mattsaid.
"Erin is on a flight back from the South Pacific," Shannon snapped. "The last thing she needs right now is us bothering her with thismadness."
"Deck the halls with boughs of holly," I sang. "Fa la la la la, la la lala."
"Can we get to the fucking agenda before I die of old age?" Patrick roared. "I'd like to get through the investment properties and active client projects, and then confirm key dates forJanuary."
"And I'd like to discuss the issues we've uncovered with the restoration in Bay Village," Samadded.
Matt snorted. "The foundation is out of level. It needs to be fully rebuilt, and you need all new headers. Those beams aren't supporting shit rightnow."
"Yeah, Jugger, I know all that. I read your damn engineering report. You did an exceptional job of identifying issues but failed to mention solutions," Sam replied. "My question is what the fuck do we do about it? The structure's seating on the property means we're basically blowing out the entire front of the house to get inthere."
Matt traced his finger over his knee, forming shapes while he mumbled numbers and calculations to himself. Eventually he said, "We'll do it like the Italianatejob."
"We're never letting you work on another Italianate," Andy said. "Clearly, it's corruptedyou."
"Clearly," Samagreed.
One of Matt's properties, a gorgeous but severely neglected Italianate in the South End, recently hit a major industry association's short list of best restorations this year. The honor was great, and it topped Sam and Patrick's heavy shelf of awards. It was a surprise to all of us, perhaps most of all Matt, but now he couldn't helphimself.
"I think I've figured out why we're crammed in here like marlin in a sardine tin," I said, glancing around the room. "It's Matt's ego. If he left, the rest of us would be verycomfortable."
"Let's try that," Patrick said, hooking his thumb over his shoulder. "Go sit in the hallway,Jugger."
"Fuck you all." Matt stood and dragged his chair to just past the doorframe. "Better?"
"So much," Andy said. A chorus of murmured agreement and nods wentup.
"Can we talk solutions now? I need to straighten this out before work begins next month," Samsaid.
Matt held up his hand. "At the risk of being hammered for this, you know I'm right. I'll take care of the structural rehab specs,Sam."
"Great," Sam murmured. He shook his head as he typed. "That was only ten times more complicated than it needed tobe."
"Hark! The herald angels sing," Iwhispered.
"Moving on," Patricksaid.
"But," Matt continued, "just so we're clear, wearedoing it like the Italianatejob."
I sighed at my burrito. "Get some restraint,son."
"Who knew a little public acclaim would turn you into an asshole?" Shannon asked. She threw her pen at the desk. It skittered over the surface and bounced off Patrick's arm. If he noticed, it didn't show. After more than a decade of working alongside her, he'd probably tuned out her intermittent pen throwing. "You used to be the nice one aroundhere."
"We're going to take away your design credits if you're going to be such a douche canoe about it," Patricksaid.
"Even Riley handles good press better than this," Samadded.
