8. Credit score 

Almighty Jonas: ‘Waiting outside.’

I smile and grab my bag to walk outside.

“Bye!” I tell Ira and Natalie.

“Enjoy!” Natalie says without taking her eyes off Ira’s laptop. I shake my head.

I am sure they are off their online research on Mikolaj and Jonas right now. Whenever a topic starts, they love to dig for every information available online. By information, I mean genuine things. Not just gossip, but achievements, scandals, lawsuits. Odd choice of entertainment. Natalie has a nag for snooping too. A hacker trait? And she is being a bad influence on Ira.

…

I walk out of the Dorm building and look around to spot Jonas. My eyes fall at a Porsche Carrera GT. He roars the engine loudly and all heads turn at the car.

I open the car door and whisper shout at him, “I have friends here Jonas and they talk!”

He laughs.

“Oh Riley… They already think you are dating me. Let me show you off a little.”

My cheeks turn red with embarrassment. Once we started working on our project, the usual chatter started and not a single day passed when someone didn’t ask me if I was dating him.

I tell them it's all about the project.

“Why are you in this car? Did Your uncle finally donate it to you?” I ask, and he chuckles.

He has told me many times that he wants to own a Porsche, but apparently his family thinks he should earn it himself. This car belongs to Mikolaj Josef. I saw it parked in front of the office a few days ago.

“He will donate his both kidneys to me, but not this car Riley.” I snicker. Possibly he is right.

It takes us an hour to reach the main headquarters. It’s in Downtown Detroit. The architectural design of the headquarter’s high rise is marvelous. Of Course it’s a construction company. I won’t expect any less from it. It’s a glass building with a tint of blue. It’s hard to tell if it’s the sky or really the color itself. I gasp when I see the Lobby Interior. White brick walls with wooden steps in the middle. I frown at the realization. It looks like a train station.

“Is this designed inspired by-”

“Grand Central Terminal In New York City,” Jonas provides helpfully.

“It’s beautiful,” I whisper.

“Odd choice for the lobby of a construction company, but I love it.” I tell him.

“This place is not limited to Josef designs and constructions anymore. We have many head offices over here.”

Once I am done gaping at the lobby, I look around and see men in uptight suits and women in elegant suit skirts. It makes me feel odd and out of place. I glance at my clothes warily. I am wearing a skirt and a blouse. I thought it looked perfect. Ira approved. But I am not sure anymore. Good thing everyone is leaving office. Office hours are over, after all.

“What happened?” Jonas asks as we enter the lift.

I open my mouth but shut when a man enters the lift. Oh God, why are men in suits so hot? He glances at my outfit and snorts. My shoulder slump and my self-confidence shatters. I want to melt into a puddle right here.

“I feel out of place,” I whisper at him.

He wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me closer.

“I am in casuals all the time.. you are okay,” he says and I nod. He is wearing jeans and Tshirt too. Two of us are out of place. I tell myself.

But there is a difference when you wear a $500 worth causal versus a barely $50 casual outfit. Also, he is the future owner, not me.

I wish my head would stop swarming around. I don’t want to be a nervous mess when I meet the man I admire. He took over this business after his father’s death when he was barely my age. I glance at Jonas. He is taking care of this business . After his uncle’s footsteps, which is equally amazing.

We grab a coffee, and Jonas takes me to a conference room where we meet a business analyst. Jonas arranged some training sessions for both of us, which helped us with the project immensely. It is our last day working together. Rest of repost can be managed on our own. We can meet for an hour a few times at campus if needed.

I glance at the clock. It’s past six.

”We completed this assignment in record time.”

He smiles. ”And do you agree I shared the load?”

I sip my coffee to hide my smile. “You sure did. Good job!”

He laughs. I tap my foot in anxiousness and ask hesitantly, “I thought we came here to meet him.”

I don’t want to bother him too much, but I also don’t want to miss once in a lifetime chance.

He rubs the back of his neck. “Let’s see if he is in his office right now,” he says while getting up.

“Oh,” I say, clumsily picking up my stuff to follow him.

“Would he be free right now?”

Jonas laughs. ”He is never free. We gotta steal his time.”

….

“Emma, is he in there?“ Jonas peeks into a cabin and asks a redhead woman in a skirt suit.

She glances up from her desk and smiles. “Oh Hey Jonas.. yes, he is inside.“

Then she looks at my phone in my hand and says, ”I am sorry. Visitors cannot take their phone inside.”

“Oh. No problem.” I give her a sheepish smile and put my phone into a tray on her desk. Jonas swipes his card to open Mr. Josef’s personal office door.

“This door alone has a credit score of 780.” I mutter, and Jonas laughs.

“You are funny when you want to be…” he says and I force a smile.

Truth is, I am a nervous wreck. My heart is thumping hard in anticipation. This is why stupid jokes are slipping out of my mouth.

.

9. Meet Cute

<< . Riley . >>

.

The humongous door opens, and a breathtaking view of the entire city welcomes us. We step inside and see it’s empty. “He is probably in the gym,” Jonas says, pointing at a connected door.

Wow! A personal gym?

“You didn’t inform him,” I state, scanning the office. It’s elegant and classy. Dark walls perfectly contrasted with light brown leather furniture. I take a few steps towards the giant glass wall to peep at the river flowing next to the building. Whole freaking city is visible from this height. The cars look like a bunch of ants crawling on floor.

“No. He would have made up some excuse,” Jonas says while slumping onto a leather sofa placed next to the wall.

I turn and walk towards him. “Sorry, I shouldn't have pushed you.”

He sinks his head on the sofa and smiles with his eyes closed.

“I like you, Riley... That’s the least I could do.”

I shift in my spot uncomfortably. But do not respond. Jonas is making many comments and little gestures. Small hints here and there. Like touching me by the shoulder, placing his hand on my back. I am confused as fu-k. I think he is being himself and he does this with every other girl.

His phone pings after a while, and he frowns, looking at it.

“Oh fu-k,” he mutters.

“What happened?“

He gets up and says, ”Wait here. I will be back in five minutes.”

“What?” I squeak. “What if your uncle comes back?”

He rushes out of the office without answering me. I have no choice but to wait for him.

I spend next five minutes nervous and freaking out, imagining how I will explain my presence if Mikolaj Josef comes back before Jonas does. He probably already knows I am here. I try to calm myself down. Maybe his assistant, the redhead, already informed him.

Jonas told me this office is headquarters for Black Canopy too. And therefore the security is tighter. While entering the floor, we had to pass through the metal detector like one they have in federal buildings.

Once I feel a little better, I unabashedly look around. The expensive door was just a teaser. This office alone must be worth more than the cost of my dad and granddad’s place altogether. The interior is dark and elegant. There is an expensive painting hung behind the main desk. Along with some extravagant art pieces and books. I want to take a closer look, but I am hesitant.

While waiting, I tap my foot nervously. I glance at my watch and realize it’s been over 10 minutes. I grab my bag and walk towards the door to leave. Jonas must be somewhere around. We can come back later.

I pull the door handle, but the door doesn’t bulge. Is it locked? I glance up and realize there is a card reader. It needs an access card to open it even from inside. I sigh and wait inside helplessly.

Now that I am bored and a little bold. I walk towards the wooden desk to feel the crisp, polished wood. The Inner child in me wants to touch and feel every beautiful texture in this office. The office has an eternally classic look. Mom would have loved this.

Wall behind the main desk has classic square column facades. Most of all, I love the view of the Detroit river. I walk around the room and look at paintings hung behind the desk. Next to it, there are shelves with books and framed photographs.

One book in particular catches my attention and I grab it. ‘The Doll’ by Bolesław Prus. The binding is fragile. It’s an old polish book. My mom has one. I open the hard cover to see the publication date and my eyes widen to see it was published in 1890. I gasp and put it back. It’s a freaking antique.

Then I glance at the surreal huge painting hung in middle. I tilt my head, trying to interpret it. I don’t understand a thing about art. It’s a painting of multiple houses shaped like a… Tree? Houses on the top are flying and fading away like leafs.

I trail my finger at the corner of the wooden frame, and that’s when I notice something peculiar. I squint my eyes. There is a light blinking just beneath the painting. It’s tiny, and I almost missed it. I tap my finger on blinking light and with a click a drawer appears. It opens up an inch and I step back in astonishment. It’s like those Sci-Fi movies Ira keeps watching. I cannot believe my eyes. The outline was there, but it looked like a rectangular design matching the shelves

My heart is beating fast. Wrong. This is so so so wrong. Despite my mind screaming, Do not touch a thing, my finger goes towards the gap to pull the drawer open. A secret cabinet. Like a treasure, If we find one, we must take a look. I prod my finger into it and pull it out.