Chapter 2

After the previous night's rain, the sun had a fresh quality to it. Everything felt bright and damp and clean. The heat of the morning was like a toaster oven, only without the yummy food smells. Just the perfect weather for ending a long exhausting work week, Adonis thought.

The day soon fell into a familiar pattern; with him in the office he worked in,in his architectural firm. Which was technically the only place he ever felt like real home. Which made a lot of sense, because using his specialist construction knowledge and high-level drawing skills to design functional, safe, sustainable and aesthetically pleasing buildings for people to live,work,play,learn,shop,or eat - was the one thing that his adult life revolved around.

His office telephone chimed. Like an automaton, he picked up.

"Your 10 a.m appointment is headed for the boardroom," the voice on the other end informed.

"Thanks Julie, I'll join him in a bit." He responded, then hung up.

He had almost forgotten about the one meeting he had with one of his biggest clients today. It was one of those rare occurrences,but in his defence, his mind was still hazy due to the previous day's events.

The boardroom door was ajar.

From down the hallway,he could partly see the man's back.

"Mr Connell, how are you doing today?" Adonis greeted as he walked in. When it came to dealing with his clients, he was always decent down to the bone.

"I'm all good man," Connell said before asking. "How are you?"

"I have had better days," Adonis chuckled. "How can we be of assistance today?" He inquired. Eager to find out what the meeting was about.

Chad Connell was a man in his mid forties, mostly known for his legendary dishes in the culinary industry. Tabloids had labelled him a ' celebrity chef ' on numerous occasions.

"I'm considering expanding my restaurant chain to Berlin," he began. "And as usual, I'll be requiring your services."

"You have my attention," Adonis leaned forward, totally enraptured by the proposal.

To him, architecture wasn't just about design. But connecting with his clients on an intimate level, and making their ideas a reality.

"I loved what we did with the chain establishments here." Connell said. "But with the expansion, I'm looking for a step up from that."

"In terms of design?" Adonis checked out of interest. He did know,after all, that there wasn't something that his firm would fail to deliver once they have put their minds to it. And because of that,he felt like any challenge was welcome.

"Not just design," Chad seemed deep in thought. "I'm looking for something transgressive, transcendent, transforming and trans denominational." He said, before expanding. "Exterior that invites you in, plus an interior that makes you want to come back."

"Sounds doable." Adonis assured him, while he took notes of the client's objectives.

"I like the sound of that," Chad grinned.

"How soon are we expected to pitch?" Adonis asked.

"I want to get the ball rolling as soon as possible," Chad said. "Would next week Tuesday work for you?" He asked.

"Of course," Adonis nodded curtly. Thinking about all the tight and almost impossible to pull off deadlines,that he had had to work under before.

The two men stood and shook hands. And as they did, Adonis wondered if he had made a sound decision for his team. And if they'd be able to deliver on his promises. But thinking about the size of the project; and the fact that they would be leaving a mark of their work in a different city if they pulled this off, made him realize that now wasn't the time to second guess himself or the abilities of his team. It was time for them to grab this opportunity with both hands and run with it.

As a kid, Adonis never liked team sports. The feeling of being an anonymous part of a group; just one cog in a great machine designed to get a ball from one end of a field to another, felt like an affront to his dignity. But a couple of hours later; looking from one face to the next around the boardroom table, he realized that every single person in the room had played a role in his life and contributed to the nuclear powerhouse he had become. Being surrounded by people who shared his love for infrastructure development melted away his earlier fears.

"This could really look good for the company," Adonis added after delivering the news.

"But there's a catch, isn't there?" Amanda from accounts hiked an eyebrow.

"Chad wants to hit the ground running, so we have to have something brewing early next week or he just might take his business elsewhere." He informed. "If we pull it off, we'll come up with a mutually beneficial arrangement. And then it's all systems go from there."

"So what's the game plan?" Kenneth inquired.

"Division of labor should work for us on this one." Adonis stated matter of factly. "I need all hands on deck from all departments; and remember, we don't have the luxury of time people. So we need to get to it, chop chop." He clapped twice, as if to get point across.

His philosophy had always been, 'eyes on the prize'. Because he believed that the other stuff just gets in the way. But as he dismissed the meeting on that 'note', he couldn't help but think about what his shrink had said.

His brows furrowed, as he considered the amount of truth that could be in Morrison's theory. Was he really afraid of confronting his fears? Could that even be the reason he was so fixated on his career and nothing else? He asked himself.

"Are you okay?" His personal assistant Julie, pulled him out of his reverie. She had stayed behind for further instructions from him,when the others cleared out of the boardroom.

"Yeah," Adonis lied. "Why do you ask?"

"Your body seems to be here,but your mind is right across the street." Julie said.

"Just thinking about our tight deadline," he said dismissively. To which she just fixed him a stare that said she knew that that wasn't it, but didn't say anything. Instead she quietly gathered her things and left the room.

When he knocked off, Adonis decided to drive by the gym so that he could blow off some steam on the treadmill. Retrieving the gym bag that he keeps in his car for days like these, he headed to the entrance. With every minute that passed inside the gym, he knew that he would forget everything on his mind. Even if it was just for a little while. By the time he peeled out of the lot and made his way home, the late afternoon sky was deep blue and golden with sunlight.

This was the time of the day that he usually dreaded the most, because it gave him nothing to look forward to. Just a lonely evening in his house spent consuming fast food takeouts. He found comfort in the fact that he at least had his draft plans to keep him company tonight.

He drove into the small neighborhood that he lived in. Where by just looking up and down the street, one could see; house after house,some with the curtains still open. Kids were still playing here and there. By taking a deep breath, one could soak in the smells of grills. And if you paid attention closely enough, you could even hear the distant sounds of lawn mowers.

Even though driving into the area always reminded him of just how alone he feels sometimes, he still liked how unlike apartment buildings; where everyone sees your business but doesn't really care, because you're transient and won't stick around long enough for anyone to think you're worth their time. Here, in this neighborhood, people actually invested their time in who lived next door. Being part of this tight knit community, where there was never really a full moment, almost soothed the gaping hole in his chest.

Sometimes it even made coming back to his empty house feel like coming home.

He pulled onto his street and up into his driveway. When he entered the house, he headed straight for the shower so he could freshen up.

When he came back to the living room; in lounge pants and a t-shirt, he decided to warm a leftover pizza and grab a cold beer for dinner.

Before he unrolled the scrolls of his drafts, and sat down to begin his work.

Just an hour into working his magic, the doorbell rang. Aggravated by the disturbance, he trudged towards the door to attend to whoever is was.

"Tatiana," he swallowed. Taking in the blond slender woman wearing a knee length trenchcoat, at his door. "I wasn't expecting you," he said.

"Is this a bad time?" She asked when she noticed his damp hair.

"No!" He shook his head. "Not at all!" He assured her. For a split second there; he was taunted by the therapist's theory on his relationships, for the second time today. Damn shrink, he thought to himself.

"Come on in," he invited her in as soon as the intruding thoughts were successfully pushed aside.

Tatiana walked in, took in the work he had begun on- on the table. Then slowly opened her trenchcoat, "I won't be staying long," she said.