"I have many talents."
Goose bumps rose on her arms as the Market Stalls came into view, featuring high-end antiques dealers with goods from around the world.
"Wow. This is even more incredible than I remember." Being here was exhilarating.
"I know. This is my favorite part. I love the high-end contemporary designs, but there's nothing like finding the right period piece to anchor a room."
"Agreed," she said as they made their way through room after room of an eclectic mix of furniture, lighting, and art from the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries. "There are so many antique shops on the Cape. Some are ridiculous, you know, where they call a 1989 table a fine antique." She made air quotes as she said antique. "But some are incredible. I love knowing that every antique has a story. I want to know what each piece would say if they could tell us what they'd seen over the years."
"A good shop owner can tell you that." He cocked a brow. "Or make up something."
She laughed. "Yeah. That's true, sort of. But you know what I mean."
They meandered through the displays, commenting on pieces and showing each other which looks they gravitated toward and why. Gavin introduced her to several vendors. He was as charming with the men as he was with the women, and Serena realized he simply knew how to work a room. She'd always thought she was a master at that, but she was more of a hugger and more likely to ask about people's families and personal lives once she knew them well. Those were things she needed to get over in this industry. At least in the heart of Boston, where she wouldn't see clients at the beach, flea markets, or local concerts.
"Where did you source materials at the Cape?" Gavin asked as they made their way back downstairs.
"Locally, of course. At least as often as I could. Someone needs to support the local economy. We may be small, but we have incredible shops. Have you been there?"
"Twice, when I first moved to Boston. But life gets busy, you know? And all the things you hoped to do get put on the back-burner."
"Gosh. I hope not too much. I love my life back home. I'm heading back this weekend."
"Good luck with weekend traffic. It'll take you several hours instead of one and a half."
"Oh, shoot. I hadn't thought about that." She knew how awful traffic was on the weekends. He was right. It would take her forever to get there.
"I can see you stressing. Do you want to call your cookie beau?"
"His name is Drake," she said with a smile. "I'll call him later. I'm sure he's busy with the resort."
As they left the building, Gavin said, "Do you still want to get food to take back to the office, or did you say that to impress the juniors?"
"I don't need to impress them. I have a ton of work to do, and I happen to like my teammates. So be careful how you refer to them, or I might have to bring out my nasty side."
He held his hands up in surrender. "Hey, I like my juniors, too, but that doesn't mean I'm going to give up my lunches."
"Sorry. I'm still trying to find my comfort zone with the infrastructure of the company. I'm not used to being around the type of people who take credit for the work of others. You should have seen their faces when I said I wanted them to come to an initial meeting with a new client. It was like they wanted to go but thought they'd get their noses swatted with a newspaper. It was pretty awful."
He was quiet for so long, she realized he might be just like the others. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insult you. Wow, foot in mouth much?"
He chuckled. "Relax. I was just thinking about how I felt when I first came on board and how much I've let go since then. I know what you mean. It's unfortunate that they've learned their place, but fortunate for them as far as job longevity goes. I know a great café by the office where we can get food to go. Let's take a cab and talk on the way over."
They flagged down a cab, and as they rode to the café, Gavin filled her in on the ins and outs of the office.
"Here's what you need to know about KHB. Like any business, there are two distinct areas that matter. Quality of work and image. KHB prides itself on working with the upper echelon of the business world, which is why we get clients like Younger, who want our name behind them. And that's cool. You know, KHB has made a name for itself and achieved something not many companies could. But it comes at a price. A few days after turning in your billable hours, Suzanne will come talk to you. She'll advise you to take your clients to BDC and rack up as many billable hours as possible. That makes the clients feel special and also fills the well."
"I get it. Clients want to be treated like they're worth every penny they pay, and the company wants to suck them for every penny they can. But I'm still hung up on the taking-credit thing. Do you take credit for your junior designers' work?"
He shook his head. "No. But most of the seniors do. It's the way the game is played."
"Not in my book. That's why I'm taking them with me to that meeting. Why visit twice when we can do it in one shot and cut down on the … ? Oh man … That's about billable hours, too, isn't it?"
He shrugged, but his facial expression confirmed her thoughts.
A few minutes later the cab pulled over to the curb, and she said, "Why is everyone pushing client lunches? They're not billable."
She went for her purse, and Gavin pulled out his wallet.
"I've got it. Company expense." He paid the driver and asked him to wait. Once they were on the sidewalk, he said, "Client lunches … Employees need to eat. What's more advantageous for the company? That we eat while having one-on-one time with our clients, making them feel special, which equates to marketing for KHB, or that we shoot the breeze with each other in the break room?"
"Everything is about money?"
He pulled open the door to the café and said, "Welcome to the world of big-city business, Cape girl. You want to know why I treasure my lunch hour?"
"Sure, but if it has to do with money, please lie to me." She stepped into line beside him.
"We work our butts off from morning until night most days. Lunch is the only time we can put it all away and turn off the designer side of our brains. Let me ask you something. Why did you become a designer?"
"Why did you?" she threw back, giving her time to decide just how honest she wanted to be about her family life.
"I've always loved putting things together, whether it's fashion-"
"I have noticed your penchant for nice threads," she teased.
"Part of my charm." He waggled his brows. "Clothing, spaces, fabrics. I love it all. Your turn."
"I wanted to make my mark."
"Mark? Like a Serena Mallery brand?"
"Kind of. I didn't have much growing up, and I always craved the basic things in life-a family unit, a decorated bedroom, cute school supplies like the other kids had. My mom was never around, and my sister, Chloe, and I took care of each other. We created our family with friends and their parents, and we found ways to fit in. When I realized I couldn't buy nice things, I began changing everything I could get my hands on, making it special. Making it my own. As a kid it was bedazzling a notebook, painting my room, or writing on my shorts to start a trend instead of following one. I worked as a teenager, scraped together every penny, budgeted it out, came up with plans months ahead of time to make sure I had a dress for the prom and all that silly stuff that seemed so vital back then. And since I couldn't buy things to decorate, I lived vicariously through my friends and their families when they redecorated rooms in their houses. One day it all came together and clicked. I realized I had vision, and I liked the nuts and bolts of bringing things to life."
They ordered sandwiches to go, and she told him about working with Drake to open the music stores and the upcoming grand-opening celebration.
On their way out of the café, he said, "You do realize that this is a whole different world, right? You'll get clients that you have full control over, but you'll have a lot of Muriel Youngers, too. But don't worry. You're just starting out here. Those things you love might change."
"No, they won't. I know where my heart lies. In all the years since I started college, I've never once been bored or become disenchanted with what I do."
They climbed into the cab and he said, "Then why did you leave your last company?"
"Bayside Resort? Because I helped them set up the entire resort from scratch, from the billing to marketing strategies. We designed every office, every cottage, every room. There was nothing left for me to do except help run the day-to-day operations. I wasn't bored. I worked with good friends I've known forever, and I met new people all the time. But it was time for me to achieve my own success."