Page 28 of Change of Plans

“Is your brother Gilbert here today?” he asked.

I blinked, and my hopeful grin dropped a little. That wasn’t what I’d been expecting him to ask. “Yeah, he’s in the back office,” I said, gesturing with my thumb to the office door. “Want me to get him?”

“Yes,” Theo said. “I’ve just been talking to Kyle Jameson, and he’s able to come to the café later this morning to discuss our ideas. I figured your brother would want to be involved in that.”

“He will absolutely want to be involved,” I said.

It was great. Everything was moving along, not just with the café, but with me and Theo, too.

We both had to go back to work, but less than an hour later, as I was gearing up for the lunch rush and Brian was helping Hannah pre-make a few sandwiches, Kyle Jameson strode in through the front door.

Gilbert might have had a point about the guy being a jerk. He was tall and imposing, with broad shoulders that stretched the limit of his flannel shirt, and as soon as he was in the middle of the café, he crossed his arms and looked around, like he was searching for an excuse to find fault with the place.

He spotted Theo, then veered off toward Theo’s booth. “I hope this won’t take too long,” he told Theo without greeting. “I’m due at a site in Center City just after lunch.”

I jumped into action, gesturing for Brian to keep an eye on things while I dashed out from behind the counter and headed for the booth. “Lunch is on us,” I told Jameson, putting on my friendliest smile as I hurried to join him and Theo. “It’s the least we can do for asking you to take time out of your day.”

Jameson glanced me over, then nodded. Nerves that I didn’t know I had jittered through me. Asking for alterations to the construction next door hadn’t seemed like such a big deal to me in theory, but the prospect of trying to convince Mr. Brick Wall here to talk business to change his mind was a whole other thing.

“Let me just get Gilbert,” I said with my usual smile, stepping aside so I could knock on the office door.

As soon as Gilbert stepped out of the office, I knew we were in for a showdown. He drew in a breath, narrowed his eyes, and squared his shoulders at the sight of Jameson. I had a giddy sense that any customers hanging around the café or who might come in during the meeting could witness a drama.

“Meyers,” Jameson greeted Gilbert with a curt nod.

“Jameson,” Gilbert said the man’s name coolly in reply.

“What’s this I hear about you folks wanting to change my construction plans?” Jameson asked bluntly.

“Please, have a seat,” Theo said, clearly nervous, but also incredibly professional.

As Jameson slid into the booth across from him, I took a seat by Theo’s side. Seeing that the only other place in the booth was by Jameson’s side, Gilbert grabbed a chair from one of the nearby tables and sat at the end of the booth.

“An issue has been raised by the owners of Common Grounds about how the eight-month construction window for the expansion next door might interfere with business,” Theobegan, sounding incredibly authoritative and strong. I caught myself grinning at him as he turned his laptop so we could all see the map of the shopping center and surrounding streets on the screen and went on with, “As you can see, the way the current plans are laid out, the construction entrance would be here.” He pointed at the screen.

“The construction entrance will be there because that’s the most efficient place to put it,” Jameson said, sitting back in his seat and folding his arms.

“Possibly,” Theo said, not contradicting the man outright, but not backing down either. “The problem with that entrance is that it will necessitate shutting down part of the street during the weekdays at the café’s busiest hours. The projection is that this could cause serious damage to the business of Common Grounds.”

“People can walk in from Easton Road,” Jameson said, staring at Theo for a moment, then me, then frowning at Gilbert.

“We rely on visibility and walk-in traffic to keep the café going,” Gilbert said, crossing his arms just like Jameson, equally unwilling to back down. “If potential customers can’t see us, they won’t check us out.”

“You have regulars, don’t you?” Jameson challenged him.

“We do,” I said, wanting to slip in before Gilbert’s temper ruined the whole negotiation. “But businesses like ours depend on new customers as well as regulars. I know nothing can be done about the noise during construction, but we also have things like book groups and gaming clubs that use the space during the afternoons and evenings, too. They need easy access to the building, and, I’m sorry, but I don’t think they’ll have it if we continue with things the way they are now.”

“I’ve been in construction for over ten years,” Jameson said, stubborn as ever. “I know what I’m doing when I plan myconstruction sites. I’ve chosen this layout because it will have the least impact on the residents of the side streets near here.”

“And I get that,” I said, stealing a look at Theo. He nodded at me like he had complete confidence in me before I went on with, “I think we can come up with a solution that makes it easy on the businesses as well as the residents if we move the construction entrance to here.” I pointed at the laptop screen.

Jameson only frowned and rubbed the bottom half of his face.

“I’ve been looking at things all weekend,” Theo said, “and I think adjusting the entrance will not only prevent the businesses along the front of the shopping center from being drowned by construction, if we put the entrance there—” he nodded to the computer, “—it could actually improve efficiency for you, too.”

Theo launched into a deeper explanation that involved terms and things I didn’t fully understand. I didn’t feel as self-conscious about my lack of knowledge as I’d thought I would, though. Theo was incredibly good at explaining. Not only that, he constantly checked in with me and Gilber to make sure we understood what he was saying.

What had I been thinking, assuming he would look down on me for not being as smart as he was? That wasn’t the case at all. I had the feeling he got a kick out of explaining things. He could have been an excellent teacher as well as a great architect. He made me feel like all the knowledge in the world was accessible, and it didn’t matter what sort of degrees or qualifications I had or didn’t have, the knowledge could be mine, too.