Sweet Heat at Bayside(24)

     



 

KHB inhabited the top three floors of the fifteen-story building.  Reception and administrative support was on the thirteenth floor, the  designers inhabited the fourteenth, and the executives were on the  fifteenth. One of the suited men stepped off the elevator with her and  headed through the glass doors like he was on a mission. Too busy  talking into his phone, the man didn't say hello to the receptionist,  Carolyn, whom Serena had met during her interview.

Carolyn sat pin straight, a black headset at the ready as she  efficiently and professionally answered several calls. She held up one  finger with a practiced smile, but her eyes gave away her happiness to  see Serena. Her professionalism coupled with the severe cut and the  model-perfect shine of her black hair, expertly applied makeup, and  French manicure gave off a slightly hoity-toity vibe. But Serena knew  better. Carolyn had been leaving work when Serena had left after her  interview, and they'd had coffee together downstairs. She was easy to  talk to, and it had become clear that her prim persona was merely a  front she put on as a representative of the company.

Carolyn ended her call and stood up quickly, leaning across the desk and  waving her hands. "Get in here and hug me!" she said quietly. "I was so  happy when they said they hired you. You look amazing."

"Thank you! I'm so nervous. I have no idea where to go."

The phone rang, and Carolyn held up her finger again as she answered it  and settled back into her seat. After sending the call to its recipient,  she said, "Don't be nervous. You'll do great. You're starting with  Chiara Twain, our human resources coordinator." She pronounced the  woman's name Chee-ar-ah. "She's relatively new, too. You'll love her.  After you fill out a mountain of paperwork, she'll show you around the  offices, and then she'll bring you down to meet with Suzanne. I'll let  Chiara know you're here."

Carolyn answered another call, and Serena stepped back from the desk to  wait, feeling a little more at ease. Several people came through the  reception area. Some flashed tight smiles, but others were too busy on  their phones to notice anything as they crossed the hardwood floors to  the white marble reception desk.

"Serena?" An energetic blonde hurried across the floor in her sky-high  heels as though they were flats, her hand outstretched. "I'm Chiara  Twain, your go-to gal for all things human resources related. Everyone  mispronounces my name, so just think of a cheering cheetah. Chee-ar-ah.  Shall we get started?"

"Yes, thank you." She wished she could rush through the human resource  part of her day and race upstairs to get started, even though she liked  Chiara.

As they weaved through the elegant offices, their heels silenced by  plush carpeting, the din of busy employees filled the air. Chiara spoke  in a hushed tone as phones rang out around them and people hurried past.  The thrill of it all eased Serena's nerves, and she tried to remember  every face on the way to Chiara's office.

"I haven't been to the Cape, but it's on my bucket list," Chiara  confided. "I'd imagine, though, that you might experience a little  culture shock with the move. I know I did when I moved from Reno last  month."

"It's definitely different. At the resort we wore whatever was  comfortable, and there is no Boston Design Center, that's for sure."  Boston Design Center was the region's premier destination for luxury  interior furnishings and featured more than three hundred and fifty  thousand square feet of showrooms. Serena had been there when she'd  interned during college, and she and Justine, the owner of Shift, had  also visited on occasion.

"I could get lost in BDC," Chiara said as they entered her office. "I  went there once with Laura, one of the junior interior designers you'll  be supervising, just to check it out. I have no idea how designers can  choose from all the selections there."

Serena was still a little shocked that she was going to be supervising a  team of two. She couldn't imagine not having her hands on every piece  of the design process, but Suzanne had reassured her that she'd never  feel like she wasn't in control.

"Let's get the paperwork out of the way first." Chiara set her up at a  desk with a ton of paperwork, an employee handbook, and a designer's  code of conduct booklet, which seemed to be the ABCs of ethics for  designers.

That should come in handy on the nights she couldn't sleep.

Almost three hours later, after a not-so-brief orientation meeting and a  tour of the fifteenth floor, they finally stepped off the elevator on  the fourteenth floor. While the thirteenth floor, where clients entered,  was decked out in calming and elegant earth tones, and the executive  suites were even more luxurious, though a bit too drab for Serena's  taste, the fourteenth floor was alive with color and activity.         

     



 

"Welcome to your new home," Chiara said as she led her through the  office. She pointed out the coffee room, conference area, and the  resource room, which had catalogs, brochures, fabric swatches, and more.  Light hardwood floors and glass walls on the exterior offices gave the  space an open, airy feel. "As you can see, this floor is set up for  collaborating."

"Yes. The work flow is perfect." Serena took in the U-shaped  workstations, each boasting a splash of color on chest-height privacy  screens. Designers were bent over their desks, talking on the phone,  working on plans, or leafing through catalogs. Across the room, a woman  and a man stood before a whiteboard, hashing out design elements. There  was a vibrant hum of activity, just as she'd imagined.

"Your office is the second from the right." Chiara led her to a group of  people gathered around a table discussing design elements. "Hi, guys,"  Chiara said. "This is Serena Mallery, our new senior interior designer."

Serena recognized three of them from the elevator that morning.

"I thought I picked up the scent of newbie in the elevator," one of the  suited guys said. He was tall and handsome, with closely shorn brown  hair and wily green eyes she bet probably opened a lot of bedroom doors.  His lips quirked up in a coy grin. "Welcome to the mayhem. I'm Gavin."

"Nice to meet you," Serena said.

The thin blonde she'd seen earlier said, "And I'm Laura, a junior  designer. Spencer and I are on your team." She motioned toward the  bearded guy.

Spencer waved. "You can call me Spence. I'm looking forward to working with you."

"Thank you. I can't wait to get started." Serena followed Chiara into her gorgeous new sunny office.

"Why don't you set your things down, and I'll let Suzanne know you're here."

She stifled the urge to do a happy dance and glanced out the window at  the streets below. She was so excited. She had to quell the urge to take  pictures to send to Drake and the girls. She set her bag on the  credenza behind the sleek light-wood, extra-wide desk, and as calmly as  she could, she said, "Thank you so much, Chiara. Maybe we can have lunch  one day."

"Are you under the impression you'll have downtime?" Chiara lifted her  brows. "Seriously, lunches are crazy around here, and our senior  designers often save lunches for client meetings. But maybe we can grab a  drink after work sometime."

"Sounds great."

A few minutes later Chiara brought her into Suzanne's office, which was three times the size of hers.

"Welcome to KHB," Suzanne said as Chiara left the room. She waved to a  leather chair across from her desk. "Sit down and get comfortable. Let's  get you up to speed."

Serena guessed Suzanne to be in her late thirties. She had olive skin  and sharp brown eyes. Her dark hair was pulled back in a sleek bun, and  she gave off an aura of sophistication. Her finely fitted gray suit and  expensive heels further underscored her business-savvy nature. But it  was her confidence and assertiveness that Serena had first noticed  during their interview. Suzanne didn't mince words, and Serena respected  that almost as much as she admired her design abilities.

"Do you have any questions before we dig in?" Suzanne asked.

"No. I'm ready and excited to take charge of my first project."

"Great." Suzanne picked up two folders from her desk and handed them to  Serena. "You'll be working with two major clients. Seth Braden, the  president of BRI Enterprises, a major retail conglomerate, and Muriel  Younger, a principal attorney at Younger, Lynch, and Ryan. We've worked  with both of them before. All of the information you'll need is in the  files. Seth has just taken on a partner, and he's doing a full-scale  rebrand and redesign, and Muriel has expanded her offices and is taking  over another floor in her building. You have a meeting scheduled to see  Muriel's offices Wednesday. I assumed you'd want some time to get your  head wrapped around that job before meeting with Seth. He's awaiting  your call, but no pressure to get started yet. He's out of town until  next week. Since your last visit to the Boston Design Center was some  time ago, I've asked Gavin Wheeler, another senior designer, to go with  you Friday to help you get acclimated to the way things are done there."