Page 26 of Degrees of Power
“I trust whatever you and my father are doing will resolve the matter,” I say just as Gaby announces Jenny’s arrival on the intercom.
“The staff will show her to your office,” Chase says.
Everything always planned down to the finest of details. “Looks like it’s time to go to work,” I say, taking a final sip of my coffee before walking to the door.
“The grand opening is scheduled for next Friday night and all the arrangements have been made. All you and Jenny need to do is show up and represent the Torzial interests,” he says as his conference line rings.
“See you later,” I mouth, closing the door behind me to find Jenny in what has now become my office.
“Hi there,” she says, getting out of her chair and wrapping her arms tightly around me as I enter the door.
“It’s so good to see you in person and not just over my phone,” I say, laughing at her exuberance.
“So, how was the honeymoon? Everyone is dying to know where you went and all the details,” she says.
“Yeah, I think Jay and his team kept the paparazzi pretty busy with leaked sightings in countries that we were supposedly in during our honeymoon. I didn’t have a clue it was going on until after we were home,” I say.
“Yes, it looked like you were jet-setting around the world,” Jenny says.
“Chase wanted to be extra careful with Alfreita still lurking around. It really couldn’t have been a more perfect vacation. We flew to Aruba and spent most of our time on the ocean and stayed on the yacht,” I say, wishing we were still lazing in the sun and not in the middle of an all-out war between my father and Alfreita.
“I’m glad that he didn’t let what is happening with that guy mar your honeymoon. The pictures you sent were absolutely amazing. I’m so happy for you,” she says.
“Thanks, I never thought I would find someone that I cared so much about. Oh, and speaking of my controlling husband, he’s had all the arrangements for the grand opening taken care of and told me we should just focus on being able to explain the expansion plans,” I say.
“Seriously? I thought it would take us hours of preparation this week and just like that it’s done?” Jenny says.
“I know,” I say shrugging and smiling ruefully at my friend. “He filled me in a little about the expansion on the way home,” I say, pulling up a couple documents on the large screen situated on the corner of the desk.
“If we follow the same project plan we used for New York we should be able to expedite things pretty quickly. We have all the structural components in place, but there are a few things we should consider doing differently, but not much,” I say pointing to the areas I’ve highlighted.
“Yes, these look great,” she says, reviewing the recommended modifications. “So now all we need are time frames and that should be relatively easy,” she says.
“We might even be able to get it done before you’re back in the air,” I say.
“That would be a huge relief. You saw all the emails about Vegas?”
“I did, it sounds as though Chase is seriously considering a major build in Vegas and is looking for a pretty aggressive timeline. He’s intending to use the same footprint as the Chicago and New York office, but we have opportunities to make the interior adjacencies more efficient. He agreed to let us work with the design groups, but we’re going to be scrambling to finish before final sign off,” I say.
The rest of the morning is spent working through preparations, setting time frames and when we are finished we are as prepared for Friday night as possible. It is just before noon when I hear the sound of an incoming message.
Message:Almost done?
Reply:I thought I would work until approximately 12:05
Message:Aaah. Still struggling with control?
Reply:Or, maybe I like the consequences.
Message:I may have been too gentle.
Reply:Maybe… On our way. Join us if able.
We walk into the dining room and Chase is already sitting at the table. He glances at the clock in the corner and stands as we take our seats, a look of amusement in his hazel eyes. “Ladies, I see you’re just slightly late,” Chase says, smirking at me.
“We were able to use a lot of the previous expansion plans so there wasn’t a lot of what Kate would call rework,” Jenny says.
“Very good. I was hoping the initial plans would be similar,” he says as one of the servers fills our glasses with water and another one places a colorful kale and grilled chicken salad in front of us.
