The Sun That Kissed The Flower

Designing A Connection

"I'm surprised you wanted to prioritize Delilah's project Ren... Why'd you decide to pass up a great opportunity to work on the new residence buildings...?"

"You know I'd prefer not to work on homes. And besides, Lisa and Alan will have an opportunity to work on a larger project now. They've been working with senior architects for 3 years now. It's a growth opportunity..."

"But--"

"Have Addision check in and send Diana in to spec if you feel like we need more seniority on the project..."

Luke watched Ren bend over a handful of papers scattered on his desk. He was fixated on a few sketches. Moving them around here and there... he looked like a busy scientist in a laboratory. Luke exhaled in defeat.

"Alright I'll let this pass but as your friend... what's really been going on with you of late?" Ren stopped moving momentarily and Luke sighed. "Is it your father again? Annie said she saw his minions here a while ago..."

Ren stood up and looked up at Luke pensively.

"What?"

"I know I'm not directly paying you by the hour but shouldn't you be checking on Brian and Erin's project? I want to know how the shopping mall extension is going..." Luke glared at him playfully and scoffed.

"You really know where to kill the mood. I was being serious... you're really..." Ren slowly turned to the side as Luke stopped talking.

"I'll be on-site again to check on the medium-rise this afternoon. Can you take over calls directed to my line?" Luke nodded.

Ren slowly sat down in his seat and exhaled deeply. He leaned against his chair.

"I'll raincheck on those feelings... I'll go check on the team..." before Luke left Ren looked up towards him.

"Thanks..." Luke waved his hand politely towards Ren before he left.

Ren gently slid his fingers past his arm rests before getting up again. He started sketching some more before he saw his phone light up... he knew Delilah would call him but he just didn't want to talk to her just yet...

He wanted to get a good preliminary start before he presented her his ideas. And it wasn't for Delilah to begin with....

***

After another hour of sketching Ren went to the site to check on the development of the medium-rise. It was getting colder but the conditions were still good. He collaborated with some of the managers and builders on some key areas on the site before giving them the green light to continue working.

When he got into his car to head back to the office he received an email notification. Thinking it was about one of the projects his team was on he looked at his phone, but he was surprised it was from Dr. Craig, the Dean of Arts at Kira's University...

They were inviting him be a guest lecturer at ASE... Ren sat back in his seat and thought about this for a moment...

He wanted to meet up with Kira more organically next time but... this seemed like a great opportunity to meet her again...

Ren drove back to his office and checked his schedule before confirming with Dr. Craig that he could come to campus on a specific day if they were alright with being flexible. When he confirmed the time and date he sat back exhausted from all of the work he had done today... although the lecture would be soon he had no choice.

He knew Kira would be on campus during the week... so he hoped he would have a chance to meet her and share his plan...

***