“Be real with me. Is it me? Am I being an asshole about all of this?”
“No, Porter. That’s not it,” she assured me. “Remember how I said I hated Chicago, and I had to leave?”
“Yeah, because your dad died. Right?”
“Yes, but that’s not entirely true.”
Confused, I leaned against the arm of my chair. “It’s not?”
Ari took a deep breath. “No. It’s not. Chicago was...tough.”
She rubbed her hands against the fabric of her slacks, rough and unsteady. I placed my hand on top of hers. “Ari? Talk to me. What happened in Chicago?”
I could see the tears well up in her eyes as she searched for the words to say. Fuck. Had she screwed up an account? Forgot something major in a design? Whatever it was, it was a memory bad enough to elicit tears.
Ari cleared her throat, her voice shaky. “I had been at Leland for four years. I was killing it. I’d gotten some extensive projects under my belt. The respect of the old boys’ club in the firm. I really felt like my star was on the rise.”
She stopped to look at me. I searched her eyes, and silently urged her to continue. “Well, in my fifth year, they tasked me with mentoring a new hire. Maurice. I was so excited because in that whitewashed sea, here was another Black person. He was smart, creative, had a real intelligent way of using space in his designs. We worked well together. And eventually, we got close...”
“Oh,” I exclaimed. “Close as in?”
Ari nodded. “Close, as in that kind of close. We started seeing each other. We kept it on the low for months. I really liked him, and I thought he liked me too. He kept saying when the time was right, we’d go to HR and do the right thing. He told me he loved me, that he thought the world of me. That is, until the firm was chosen for an enormous project, and they wanted me to lead it. It was a game changer. A state-of-the-art high-rise that would be on Lakeshore Drive. A Black architect with a building there would have catapulted them to stardom. Name in the papers. Maybe even a feature in Architectural Digest. Or the Tribune. All that jazz.”
Ari wiped the tears pooling in the corner of her eyes. I handed her my pocket square. I smiled reassuringly as Ari carefully dabbed her eyes, trying to avoid getting mascara on the silk fabric. I didn’t care. She could ruin all my handkerchiefs if she wanted to.
Ari folded the silken square in her lap. “My design was amazing. I mean, if you think what I’m doing with the stadium is dope, that high-rise would have made you jealous. Well, the day of my presentation, my thumb drive wouldn’t work. It was corrupted. I was like, well, that’s cool. I had backed it up on the office cloud. I always backed my stuff up on the cloud. But it wasn’t there either. I searched high and low, trying to see if I had copies of anything. It was as if it had vanished. Months of work gone.”
“Damn...” Inside, I was seething. This dude Maurice was a piece of work. He reminded me a lot of Greer, but even Greer wouldn’t go that low.
“It royally embarrassed me in front of the partners and client. I went back to the drawing board, but nothing I did was as good as that initial design. At the next meeting, Maurice wants to present his design. The higher-ups were impressed that a junior associate had taken some initiative. They let him present. As he pulled his designs up, I nearly screamed. It was my design. From start to finish. Every damn detail, down to window placement showcasing Lake Michigan. Maurice had taken my work, claimed it as his own. At least he was smart enough to cover his tracks with erasing the cloud.”
My eyes widened as I sat in stunned silence. After a few minutes, I was able to compose myself. “So did you tell the partners?”
Ari nodded fervently. “Of course, I went to the partners. I told them Maurice was a liar and a thief. I said it was my design that somehow magically disappeared everywhere. They asked me how I could prove it and I said I knew he did because he knew my password. We worked closely together. Maurice said I was the liar, and that I was being vindictive because we had been in a sexual relationship and, for the greater good of our working relationship, he had broken it off. He said I was now hurling accusations of theft and that I was sexually harassing him because, and I quote, ‘Ari’s insecure and desperate for attention. Just look at her.’”
Now I was percolating with hate for a dude I didn’t even know, but whose ass I wanted to kick. “Insecure? You? What a fucking asshole!”
Ari laughed. “Right! When have I ever been insecure? I may be a lot of things, but insecure isn’t one of them.”
“Oh, I know you’re not. You’re one of the most confident folks I know.” I paused as she smiled, appreciating the compliment. “So, what happened?”
I felt a twinge of dread asking her to explain what was sure to be the worst part of her ordeal in Chicago.
Ari deadpanned. “What do you think happens when the only woman in a firm stands up to a man? They said I can either resign quietly, giving me a handsome severance package, sign an NDA, and provide recommendations with no mention of the incident. Leland, Stokes, and Brandies are well-respected and powerful in our industry. They could blackball me from every firm in America. During the mediations with LSB, my dad died. That was my sign. So, I resigned, took the money, came back home to Atlanta. I took part of the generous severance package to fix up my childhood home. After a few months home, I got a call from Mr. Riddle to recruit me for this project. That’s the story.”
I looked at Ari with all the sympathy I could muster. “I see.”
“Porter, I hope you understand now why kissing you was a mistake. I don’t want to risk my reputation at yet another firm. Then what? I’d be out on my ass with nothing. Hell, I’m taking a risk just telling you this.”
I leaned in closer. “Ari, first, what you’ve said to me, stays between us. Secondly, I’d never do what Maurice did. Never! I respect you. I respect your talent. Your worth.” I pressed her hand with a light, reassuring squeeze. “Trust me, I’d never do what that coward did. I’d never hurt you that way. I truly value our partnership.”
Ari smiled. “I appreciate that, Porter. But do you understand where I’m coming from?”
I chewed the inside of my jaw. “You’re right. We can’t jeopardize our jobs here. I take full responsibility for my part in things. I just don’t want any personal issues between us to show in our work. It’s obvious to everyone that something is wrong.”
“Yeah. Well. I get it. We have to work closely. But that doesn’t mean we need to be that close. Let’s just keep it friendly.”
“Agreed. Before we do that, let’s just state some facts.”
Ari folded her arms. “I love facts. What facts would those be?”
“There is an attraction between us. An undeniably strong attraction.”
Ari let out a bit of a guffaw. “Well, aren’t you blunt? And presumptuous.”