Chapter Fourteen
Ryane stopped in front of the closed doors to the main boardroom at Windsome holdings and closed her eyes. There it was, the vision of her and Knight together. Knight told her if she could see them it could happen.
She didn’t know really why it was him. Why it couldn’t be Patrick. Why it couldn’t be one of the countless men she dated. But there was something there, a connection, something deep she couldn’t define, and in her heart she knew she would be incomplete if they didn’t end up together.
Was that how it always happened? She didn’t know. Didn’t really care. All she knew was she was caught in a mess of lies, tangled in relationships where she was doomed to get hurt or hurt others. However, Knight called her strong, so for her and him, she had to take the next step. She opened her eyes and stared down at her files, running her fingers across the label on the tab.
“Miss Windsome, are you all right?” Belinda tapped her shoulder. “I tried to get more pink file folders, but the company still has them back ordered.”
She shook her head. “I don’t care about the color of the file folders.” At her own words, she gasped, pressed her hand to her chest, and looked behind her to make sure someone else didn’t speak with her voice.
“Oh.” Belinda sidestepped away from her. “I didn’t realize.”
“Me neither.” Her head held high, Ryane opened the door to find the real estate acquisitions team waiting for her. “Hello, everyone.”
The people gathered around the table nodded at her.
“We weren’t expecting this meeting.” Janice, one of the project directors, motioned toward a seat at the head of the table. “You’ve never called one before.”
“She did when she wanted us to buy the Jewels Mall,” a man Ryane sort of recognized spoke. “It turned out to be a fine investment.”
Ryane sat down. She wanted the mall in order to have all the stores she wanted to shop in located at one convenient location. Later, she realized it was simply easier to have the stores come to her since she was a VIP at most of the fine establishments. “Well then, we should like this one.” She opened her manila folder. “I would like to go ahead and make an offer on the little property adjacent to the Los Padres land.”
Janice raised her hand. “As you know, the property is not for sale.”
“That’s a technicality. Everything is for sale.” Now she sounded like a true businessperson.
“Exactly.” Janice nodded. “However, in order to make the investment work for the company, we will have to get the commitment from you to begin developing the entire land parcel.”
That meant the cottage would be destroyed. The lake would be nothing more than a fancy backdrop for people who would never see the magic. The oasis she and Knight shared would be gone. “I think right now we need to secure the land and worry about the development later.”
“Actually,” Janice interjected. “Once escrow closes, we would like to start demolition, post haste. We took the liberty of showing you what can be done.”
Suddenly, as if she were in some movie of her own making, the lights in the boardroom dimmed and a screen lowered from the ceiling. An aerial picture of the property was projected.
“Here is the property as it currently stands,” the woman narrated.
Ryane’s heart swelled. There was the lake, the clearing, and even the little cottage. Her world was there for everyone to see, yet no one there knew what was going on in their little hideaway.
“Now, here is the property once we develop it to its potential.”
The screen flashed and suddenly the world changed.
While, the lake was still there, now the cottage was gone, the clearing vanished, the trees, everything demolished, and in its place buildings. Neat little buildings, everything planned, everything maximized for the most profit.
Her eyes glazed over with tears, blurring the horrible image. She had to be strong, had to speak, do as Knight said, and she swallowed back her emotion. “I told you that I am not ready to commit to developing the land yet, and I definitely never approved anything like this.” She motioned toward the screen.
“With all due respect, Miss Windsome, the Los Padres property has been dormant way too long. The board wants it developed or sold.” Janice dropped the words on her.
Neither one of those options would work for her, and she opened her mouth to stop this madness. Before she was able to boast her objections, the door to the boardroom shot open, and her father appeared.
“Daddy!” Instinct alone caused her to jump up out of her chair, actually his chair.
“Princess.” He entered the room with his two assistants. “I heard you were having a meeting. I would like to sit in.”
Everyone in the room stood and began rearranging chairs.
Once her chair was moved aside and everyone settled down, her father took his rightful seat with his assistants standing behind him. “Please fill me in.”
“Sir,” Janice started.
Once again, Knight’s words about her being strong echoed around her. In no way would Ryane allow this woman to speak in her meeting. “Excuse me.” Again, she stood. “Thank you, but I will update my father.”
Her father sat back and waited with the same half smile he possessed back when she was a little girl and going to put on a one-person show for him. No matter. She could do this.
“Daddy.” She leaned over and poured her father a glass of water and placed it in front of him. “I want to put a bid out on the piece of land by the Los Padres property, but rather than begin development right away, I would like to wait and see what type of building will be on trend coming into the next year.”
“What is on trend is actually building on the property.” Janice’s tone came out tense, tight.
Ryane tossed her hair back and crossed her arms. “Pardon me, but I am the Manager of On-Trend Construction, and I say that today’s trend is tired. I need some time to see what is up and coming.”
Janice got out of her seat. “Miss Windsome, there is no such thing as a Manager of On-Trend Construction.” The woman had the gall to make little air quotes as well.
“That is not true..” She spun around to her father. “Right, Daddy?”
Rather than answer, her father turned to one of his assistants. The man leaned down and whispered something, then her father faced her.
“Daddy?” She pressed her lips together.
He took a sip of the water, then took his time putting the glass on the coaster. “Well, you are one, so it is untrue there is no such thing, however I would have to say that you may be the first with that title.”
Tears heated her eyes. Her title was a fake. Her father never believed in her. Everything around her was nothing but a mirage to make her feel important and like she mattered.
It was now her father’s turn to stand and he held his hand out to her. “I say we buy the property and start the construction. It’s time we all move forward.”
Shaking her head, she backed away from her father. “You want to build on the land?”
“Now, now Princess. You were instrumental in finding this land. I say at the 75th Anniversary Party we can announce your promotion to Director of On-Trend Construction.” Her father tried to be soothing, but instead his tone came out purely condescending.
“Do you think I’m strong, Daddy?” She swallowed back her tears.
Everyone in the room silenced.
Her father paused.
The pause gave her the answer.
“Never mind.” She turned and went to the exit, not looking back as she left. No, she wasn’t strong. She wasn’t smart. In truth, she was a fool. One who continued to go back to nowhere to see a mystery man who was nothing but a mirage, and she needed to make a change.