Chapter Fifteen
Charlotte
After delivering Jesse’s coffee to her in the library, Charlotte brought Emery’s latte into his office and set it on a coaster on the side of his desk. There were two chairs she could sit in. Charlotte chose the one farthest from his computer screen but the one that had the best angle of it. She placed her notebook on her lap, pen already in her hand.
“I want to talk about Boston,” he started.
“Okay.”
“When I’m there, I need to fully be there. That means I need to know my other projects will get the amount of attention they require. And I need to know Jesse and my kids will be all right while I’m gone.” Emery paused and Charlotte got the impression he was far from done. “We lost Jesse’s father two months ago. It was a horrible death and we’re all extremely shaken up about it. As for my wife, she’s not even close to recovering.” Emery scratched an invisible crumb off his desk. “She recently stepped back from her company and she’s going to be spending a lot of time at home with the kids.”
“I’m so sorry for all of you.”
“Charlotte …” He paused as though he needed to gather his thoughts. “I need to know she’s going to be okay while I’m gone. I realize a majority of the time I’m in Boston, you’ll be there with me, so I don’t know how you’re going to accomplish this, but I need you to.”
“I’ll take care of it. You have my word.”
He took a drink of his coffee and when he pulled his mouth away, he looked down at the whip. “You added extra cinnamon and nutmeg.”
“Jesse’s notes didn’t specify how much, it just said a sprinkle, so I guessed.”
Charlotte couldn’t tell if he liked what she had made or not, but he went in for another sip. And then one more before he set the mug down.
“Do you have any restrictions when it comes to traveling?”
She shook her head. She was extremely single, not even the parent to a pet. “None. I’m available to go to Boston—or anywhere else—whenever you need me to.”
That was because Charlotte was extremely single and wasn’t even the parent to a pet.
“I’m glad that’s the case.” He reached behind him and took one of the atlases off the shelf, opening it on top of his desk. With a mechanical pencil, he pointed to a spot toward the center of the map. “This is the location of the project we’re going to be working on.” He made a circle on the paper. “It will be sixty-two stories tall with three levels of commercial space, four for parking, and the rest will be residential. It’s the most efficient and innovative of all my designs.”
Charlotte was so impressed with the way he spoke about the building, her skin was covered in goose bumps. This wasn’t just a job for Emery. This was a passion and the reason he was award winning and so in demand. She couldn’t believe how inspiring it was to see someone at this point in their career.
“What does the building look like?” she asked.
According to her research, the builder for 3 Stuart Street hadn’t yet revealed who they’d hired as an architect and they hadn’t shown any mock-ups of the design.
“I can show you if you’d like.”
Charlotte nodded. “I would love that.”
Emery placed one hand on his keyboard and the other on his mouse and after several clicks there was a three-dimensional diagram on his large computer screen, showing Charlotte every detail of the massive high-rise.
She leaned her body into the desk, so she could get in even closer, and she stared in awe as the image shifted, showing her all the different views of his masterpiece. “It’s brilliant,” she said.
He didn’t gaze in her direction. His eyes stayed on the screen and he took in every angle, pitch, corner of the building. He was so tough on himself, so critical of his own work that even now there were things he would move. Nothing major, just slight structural alterations he wanted to try even though he was positive he already had.
“It’s going to change Boston’s skyline,” she said.
Her comment surprised him, enough so that he felt the need to look at her.
There were rumors of this, but nothing had been confirmed. It would only happen if the building was tall enough. Emery met the threshold. Which meant …
Emery Black was about to change the entire view of Boston, an accomplishment he never believed he would achieve in his lifetime.
“No pressure,” he laughed.
This was the first time Emery had really loosened up in her presence and Charlotte was relived to finally see it. She knew it would take time, this was only her second day, so she was glad it had happened this soon. The lightness in his expression showed the beauty in his eyes. They were a medium blue—a mix between a mid-morning sky and the waters of the Caribbean. Charlotte thought they were piercing.
“You’re going to do great,” she said. “Besides, you’re heroic now, people are going to be admiring you even more.”
He waved his hand in air, like he was dismissing what she said. But Charlotte’s declaration was the truth. Emery was going to be part of Boston’s history, which would make him even more in demand.
“I feel the need to warn you that it’s not going to be an easy project,” he said. “Boston always adds its own set of complications, sometimes starting in the ground, other times because of the weather.”
“I’ll make things as easy as possible for you then.”
Emery took his hand off the mouse and surrounded the handle of his mug, lifting it to his lips again. He watched Charlotte as he swallowed, eventually putting the cup back down. “There’s a lot to learn in order for you to do that.”
She was already near the end of her chair, but she moved to the very edge of it and said, “Teach me. I’m ready.”
That was the second time Charlotte saw Emery smile that morning.
But it was the first time he smiled at something she said.