Brynn

 

 

The lash of a sandpaper tongue on my cheek awakens me. I turn to the side and reach out to pull him close. He jumps back, playfully pawing at my hand. I open one eye to see Pike's little brown eyes staring at me.

"You're feeling better, aren't you?" My voice cracks with emotion. "You're the strongest boy I know."

I'm rewarded with a bark and a whimper.

"You need your breakfast and your medicine," I say it as much to myself as to him. It's seven a.m., but I've only been asleep for an hour. Work and thinking about Smith Booth stole a good night's sleep from me.

I went straight to the Pentlows' empty apartment after I watched the exchange between Smith and his current lover in the gym yesterday. I walked away once I heard her remind him that they're involved.

He almost kissed me. 

I almost let him.

I don't know what came over me, but I wanted the kiss. I wanted it as much as I did when I was a teenager. Smith barely knew I existed then. Yesterday was different. He sought me out at the gym. Heidi, the receptionist and a classmate from high school, told me as much as I was racing to get out of there.

He came there looking for me. He said he wanted to right the wrong but a kiss isn't going to change anything between us. 

You can't kiss away a broken dream. It isn't that simple.

My phone buzzes just as I round the corner to the kitchen. I glance down at the screen and a notification that I have a new email. It's my work account. Since I only have one client at the moment, and she's somewhere in the Mediterranean with her Drill Sergeant, I put Pike down on the floor and open my email app.

I skim the message quickly, my gaze bouncing back to the sender several times. I rub my eyes before I read it again.

Is this real?

"Are we awake, Pike? I feel like I'm dreaming." I smile down at him. He's jumping on my legs, a subtle reminder that I promised him a meal.

I open one of the cans of dog food Adley gave me and empty a portion into Pike's ceramic bowl. I pinch a small amount of the soft food between my thumb and forefinger and push one of the pills Dr. Hunt prescribed into the middle of the bite of food. I bend down and feed it to Pike who eagerly swallows it before he eats every morsel in the bowl.

"I'll take you for a walk once I look at this email again." I pick up my phone and read each word of the email slowly. Then I do it again.

"You're up early." Sydney walks into the kitchen dressed only in a pink bra and panties. "Do you need to get to work? I can take Pikey for his walk."

I love that she adores my dog as much as I do. I couldn't ask for a better roommate. She's still in college, and now that she's on summer break, she's devoting her time to working as a barista. 

"I was just about to take him." I look down at the short yellow robe I'm wearing. "I need to get dressed first, obviously."

She laughs as she reaches into the fridge to pull out a small bowl of fruit salad. "I'll save half of this for you. You should eat breakfast more often, Brynn. It's the most important meal of the day according to my dad."

Her dad is a cardiologist and his health advice always finds a way to seep into Sydney's good intentioned lectures. She's a clean eater who tries to stay away from anything with sugar or alcohol. I'm always joking with her that her virtue cancels out my sins. At least when it comes to food and cocktails, it does.

She does indulge from time-to-time and I was lucky enough to be the one to buy her a vodka and cranberry juice on her twenty-first birthday. We had a blast and our friendship has only strengthened since then.

"Read this email and tell me what you think it means." I push my phone toward her. She pops a piece of cantaloupe into her mouth as her gaze scans the screen.

"Brynn?" Her amber eyes light up. "Are you joking? You know exactly what this means."

"I think I know what it means. I need you to tell me it's real."

She places my phone down on the quartz countertop and tugs me into a tight embrace. "It's as real as it gets. Brynn Janie Interiors just landed the job of the century. You're about to become the most well-known interior designer in all of New York."

 

***

 

I walk past the security guard with my temporary visitor badge on full display. It's strung around my neck from a bright red lanyard that clashes with the light blue dress I'm wearing. I don't care how I look right now because the badge is my ticket inside The Beryl, the most widely anticipated residential development in Tribeca in years.

After I received that email this morning from an assistant to the developer of the project, I took Pike for a walk around Central Park. I wanted to reply immediately, but I've learned that appearing overeager is never a good thing in business.

Anna, the assistant to Cooper Lannen, the developer, made it clear that Mr. Lannen had exactly thirty minutes to talk to me this afternoon. She was sparse with the details in the email she sent, but I read enough between the lines to know that my incessant emails and phone calls to him have paid off.

The Lannen Group NYC put the word out four months ago that they were considering hiring an up and coming interior designer to take on the task of creating a show suite for The Beryl. It's been called a risky move within the industry, but Mr. Lannen and his children have never played by the rules.

I haven't either so when I decided to throw my design hat into the ring with the thousands of others who want this job, I took a different approach. I didn't just create computer generated renderings of the two bedroom unit.

I transformed my bedroom and attached bathroom into my vision of what I pictured as the master suite of a space elegant enough to be considered as part of The Beryl. I made a video with the help of a friend who is enrolled in film school. As I walked through my bedroom and master bath, I spoke extensively about where I would source the materials for The Beryl from. I mentioned the psychology of creating a space for someone who wants to live in the heart of Tribeca. Then I moved on to spatial concepts and the necessity of creating customized units, so potential buyers will feel an immediate connection to the building the moment they walk through the doorway of the show suite.  My goal was to create an experience that would strike a chord with Mr. Lannen himself. I've studied his past projects.  I spent time understanding his vision of residential properties and I incorporated that into my pitch.

It was an expensive and risky gamble. I knew that even if I didn't land the job, I increased the value of my own apartment in the process. My dad might be impressed if he knew what I was up to.

I haven't said a word to him or Julian.  They both know Cooper Lannen and that could have been my ticket to the top of the short list for this project. I never wanted that. I knew I could land this job on my own. I'm good at what I do. I've been obsessed with interior design since I was a little girl always asking my parents to take me to the furniture store that was two subway stops from our apartment.

The exposure from this project could send my business into the stratosphere.

I finally replied to Anna's email just before lunch telling her that I was still interested. She sent me a message back almost immediately inviting me to meet with Mr. Lannen at two o'clock. 

As I trail one of Mr. Lannen's assistants toward a bank of elevators my gaze catches on a group of workers huddled around a marble column. They're putting the finishing touches on the remodel of the building and hopefully I'll be showcasing all of their hard work by creating an environment that will convince people to open their wallets and pack their belongings so they can call The Beryl home.

Landing this job will make me a household name in this city. My face will be recognizable and my business will explode. This meeting that I'm going to have with Mr. Lannen will be the most important of my life. 

I take a deep breath, smile at his assistant and follow him into the barren show suite once we exit the lift. Mr. Lannen is standing in front of a wall of windows. His back is to me, his phone next to his ear. This is it. As soon as he's done, he's going to change the entire trajectory of my life.