Ari removed her glasses, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Porter, I.... What are we doing?”
I laughed. “Uh, until a few minutes ago we were about to eat tacos and then I was going to convince you to take a break and join me on the couch for a Property Brothers marathon. You know I love when you try to guess which twin is which. You’re never right, by the way.”
Ari didn’t laugh. She didn’t even crack a smile. Damn, even my corny jokes weren’t landing. My heart sunk a little lower. Ari turned toward me on the barstool. “No, Porter, I mean, what are we doing?”
I scratched my beard and let out an exasperated sigh. “Ari, not this again.”
“Really? You’re going to tell the partners we’re together? Is that wise?”
I leaned back. “Ari, we talked about this. After we finish the stadium, when they name partner, I’ll disclose our relationship. After your situation in Chicago, I thought maybe it’ll make things easier. For both of us.”
Ari scoffed. “Yeah right.”
“Ari, I said that I would. When have I ever lied to you? Broken a promise to you? I don’t want this to be a secret. Is this why you’re mad? Because I haven’t told the partners about us?”
“No. But it’s probably not going to be a good look when they find out that you were dating me.”
“Ari, I’m sure they wouldn’t care.”
Ari rolled her eyes. “Then you don’t know them.”
I folded my arms. “What’s that supposed to mean? I’ve worked there for fifteen years, Ari. Clearly, I know the type of men they are. Riddle and Robinson are good men. Progressive guys. Trust me, they wouldn’t care.”
Ari laughed. “Porter, you’re so na?ve.”
“Naive? Ari, where the fuck is any of this coming from? It seems out of left field right now. What do you have against Riddle or Robinson? I mean, they hired you, right?”
Ari chewed her bottom lip. “Did you ever stop to think about why they hired me? Seriously? Especially after everything I’d gone through at Leland. You said yourself you all hadn’t been successful in retaining female talent. Why hire such a risk?”
My head throbbed. “Because you’re a fucking amazing architect. Your talent speaks for itself. They were singing your praises, Ari.”
Ari smirked, her smile bitterly cold. “Really? And what was your talent like before I got there? Seems like they weren’t totally singing your praises at all.”
Heat pricked at my neck, anger bubbling at the surface of my skin. “What are you insinuating? That I was shit before you got here? I mean, I’ll admit, I’d had some misses. But I’ve worked my ass off to get where I am. I’m a damn good designer.”
“Good, but not the best.”
“Ari, that’s fucking hurtful.”
“Hurtful, but the truth,” Ari interrupted. “Then along comes Ari, to prop you up and make you save face. Shine you up. Over seventy percent of the ideas for this new stadium are mine, but your name is going to be all over this.”
Confusion clouded my brain. “Is this a credit thing? Do you want credit? Fine, you can have it! If you want top billing on this, cool. If that’s going to make you happy. Is that what you want?”
“Yes...no... Ugh. It doesn’t matter what I want!” Ari threw her hands up.
I paced across the kitchen floor. “It matters to me! What matters to me isn’t the ultimate design or recognition. Not anymore. What matters to me is you, Ari!”
“No! Just stop it!” yelled Ari. She slammed her laptop case and yanked the adapter out of the outlet. I reached out for her hand, and she pulled back.
“Ari? What the hell! Why are you so mad? What did I do? All this anger. I don’t understand... I don’t.”
Ari’s lip quivered, tears glossing over her coffee-dark eyes. “Of course, you don’t. You don’t get it. I don’t think you ever did.”
I searched Ari’s face, as tears glossed her brown skin. I didn’t understand any of this. I couldn’t read between these cryptic lines. I reached out to wipe a tear, but Ari stepped back.
“Baby...please. Talk to me.”
Ari began to gather her things, not bothering to look up. “Porter, you and I are over. This isn’t going to work. It never was. After this presentation Monday, we can pretend that this never happened.” I watched as Ari pulled on her winter coat and hat, grabbed her tote, and walked out of the door.
I stood in the middle of my kitchen, the thrum of the slamming door still reverberating in my ears. What was that? I ran through every scenario in my head, trying to place where I made a misstep. Did I say something to her? We were all good this morning. And now, our relationship had disintegrated into a pile of ash, burned by the flame of her words.
I looked down at the birria tacos on the counter. The brown bag was now layered with a cold, oily sheen.
I picked it up and tossed it in the trash.
Chapter Thirty
Porter
Greer tugged at his cuff links, agitated. “I understand your frustration. But just think about the maximized use of space. And if you look here...”
Greer and Jacobi were bombing. Their design seemed devoid of anything that the Serrano Group had specified. Hell, it was lacking anything Jacobi had contributed from earlier designs. Instead, it was Greer’s arrogant attempt at showing everyone that he knew better than they did. It wasn’t going over well.
Paulo Serrano held up his hand. “Mr. Greer. We’ve seen enough.” With a frown, Paulo turned to his older brother Marco, who sported the darkest aviator shades known to man, and spoke in whispered tones. The tension was thick in the boardroom crowded with junior associates and the Serranos’ large entourage.
At the head of the boardroom table, Riddle and Robinson flanked both sides of the Serrano men, respectively. Marco rattled off some choice words in Spanish, the only one I could understand was “basura.” Riddle seemed skittish, something I never had seen in him before. Robinson had his usual cool, aloof demeanor as he tapped away on his smartphone. After a peek at his watch, Riddle nodded. “Mr. Harrison. Ms. James. I think you should probably begin.”
I passed out notes as Ari gave a brief introduction, talking about our design aesthetic and our direction. She stood next to me, wearing a simple black shift dress and heels, her hair back in a tight bun reminiscent of her first day at R&R. I willed my eyes to focus on the monitor because Ari looked so damn good that it was hard to focus. It had been a week since she’d called things off. It felt like an eternity. As she pulled up the design on the computer, I sat back down. I shifted a few times in my seat as her hips were parallel to my face. My twitching dick was being signaled by my brain. To think we’ve had the pleasure of seeing this woman naked. Those hips were on top of us. I moved my eyes down to my notes, willing my penis to behave itself. Now wasn’t the time. But dear God, I missed her.
As Ari pulled up her laptop to connect to the larger screen at the head of the boardroom, images flickered. A look of panic came across Ari’s face. I jumped up.
I leaned close to her. “You okay?”
“Not this shit again,” Ari whispered.