After two hours of waiting and preparing, Natalie hopped into Kenzo's car in the parking lot and settled in the seat next to the passenger seat. Kenzo started the engine, and they drove off towards their project site.
When they arrived, Mr. Arthur, their client, was already there. Everything was set up inside the vacant lot. A big tent stood at the edge and inside were Mr. Arthur, his wife and a few of their staff.
"Mr. Anderson," Mr. Arthur greeted.
"Mr. Arthur!" Kenzo said with excitement. The two of them shook hands.
"Oh, hello there, Miss Lewis. Nice to meet you again." Mr. Arthur acknowledged Natalie's presence and she smiled and nodded in return.
"Same here, Sir." Natalie smiled at him.
They sat under the tent, around a round table. It was midday and the sun was shining hot in the sky. Heat was inevitable around them.
"So, let's start?" Kenzo suggested.
"Certainly." Mr. Arthur agreed.
Natalie took out all her stuff from her bag and placed it on the table. Kenzo showed a folder to Mr. Arthur that contained the designs that their company usually offers to their clients. Mr. Arthur studied carefully.
After an hour, he had decided on the designs and Natalie had to take note of her sketches and all the details he wanted to add, especially for the interior designs. She had also tried her best sketching for the outer designs of the building because Mr. Arthur wanted to add a lot of details on the exterior of his building, so it could look even more attractive. A few hours later, they were finished.
"How about we have some lunch first?" Mr. Arthur's wife suggested.
"Sure," Kenzo said in agreement. He was already starving.
They drove to the nearest restaurant in the area, but it was not a cheap restaurant. It was one of the most expensive ones and Mr. Arthur had ordered the most expensive dishes as well.
They ate slowly, talking casually, and Natalie tried her best to catch up with what they were talking about, smiling almost every second, so she wouldn't look rude in front of them. When the meal was finished, Mr. Arthur opened a wine bottle and poured each of the glasses.
"So, may I see the contract now?" Mr. Arthur asked.
"Definitely, Mr. Arthur just a minute." Kenzo said, pulling out a folder from his suitcase. "Here."
Mr. Arthur read the contract, simultaneously nodding his head. When he was done, he put the folder down and signed it on.
Natalie and Kenzo watched him with eager eyes. After signing, Mr. Arthur kept his copy and gave the other copy back to Kenzo. Then he held up his glass of wine.
"To our partnership!" He commended.
Kenzo, Natalie, and his wife clicked their glasses with his and cheered gracefully.
"To our partnership!" Kenzo seconded, showing his joy and cheers. Then they all drank their wine.
When lunch was over, they waved goodbye and Kenzo got in his car with Natalie.
"I hope you know we have got a big project coming up," Kenzo stated.
"I know," Natalie replied.
"Then you must do your best in it. I want to see the final phase of your designs tomorrow afternoon. So work on it as soon as you can."
"Tomorrow afternoon?" Natalie argued again, "It's impossible. I still have a lot of things to do."
"Are you complaining? I said, do it as fast as you can."
Natalie rolled her eyes.
What does he expect her to do? There was no way she could finish that kind of work immediately, even if she didn't take a rest. But she nodded anyway.
They drove back to their office and when Natalie got there, she immediately worked on her project. She wanted to put her heart fully into it because it was her first ever project since she got into Kenzo's company, but how could she ever work on it very well when Kenzo was giving her a hard time?
Nevertheless, she worked on it, opened her laptop and started doing what a real architect should do.
~
Kenzo was back at his office working on the project as well. As the CEO of his company, there were lots of things he had to finish as well. CEO matters, as he liked to call it. His secretary, Jay, was busy working on his own tasks as well. But he was always available every time Kenzo called on him.
Kenzo found some paperwork that Natalie had to review, so he decided to send it to her.
"Jay, can you give these things to Natalie?" he asked Jay.
"Certainly sir," Jay answered immediately, taking the paperwork from Kenzo.
When Jay was gone, he sat back and tried to relax. He tried to imagine Natalie's reaction the moment all those thick paperwork got delivered to her office. Somehow, he found it rather amusing. Then he realized what he was doing and quickly snapped out of it.
Why did the thought of her always make him smile?
~
Natalie stared at the bunch of paperwork that Jay had dropped on her table. The reaction on her face was unreadable, but she certainly didn't look happy.
"Mr. Anderson wanted you to review these documents." Jay said, casually, as if he didn't know he was handing her another frustrating job to be done.
Natalie accepted it. When Jay left, she flipped through the pages of those documents. Her head was aching so much just watching them. But she kept working on it anyway. When it was time to go home, she stayed. Everyone had already left, except her and Calvin.
"Are you sure you don't want to go home yet?" Calvin asked.
"Yeah, I have got some things to finish," she replied.
"Okay, I brought you dinner." Calvin placed a packed meal on her table.
"You don't really have to."
"Nah, it's nothing. That's supposed to be mine, but I finished my job early, so, I'm giving it to you. It's still hot, don't worry."
"Oh, thanks! I really appreciate it."
"Calvin shrugged, "Anytime."
Calvin waved goodbye and left. Now she was all alone. It was getting dark now, but she still had a long way to go. She was not even halfway with her partial sketch and her designs, plus there was still lots of paper work she hadn't finished reviewing yet.
She decided to take a break first and ate her dinner. It was all too quiet in her office now. She opened the window and let the cool breeze, so she could breathe the natural air outside. She was somehow comforted by it as she sat at her desk and continued eating her dinner.
She thought about Kenzo, wondering if he had ever been home now. The thought of her being alone in the building sent her chills, but she shook that feeling off because she still had a lot to do and she didn't want to get distracted.
~
Kenzo was almost done with his work, but he felt tired already and he was hungry. Everyone had already left, including Jay, so he decided he should just buy dinner for himself. When he got up, he suddenly thought of Natalie.
Has she eaten already?
He decided to go to her office. But he saw that she was already eating, so he decided to just go back to his office and work on his laptop. He didn't want to buy dinner outside because that meant leaving Natalie alone.
"What if something happened to her? Wait…. Why did he ever care? But, of course, he cared. It was only natural to care because she was a woman and could possibly be exposed to harm any time, and he was a man. It was a man's natural instinct to care and try to protect her. Right?"
Kenzo was baffled by his sudden emotions. He couldn't focus on his work, so he decided to come over to Natalie's office and work by her side.
"I thought you were going home, sir." Natalie said.
"And what? Just leave all this stuff unattended? I'm working on the clock too."
"Oh, that's good to know. I thought I was alone."
"But why are you here?" Natalie dared to ask.
"It's my building. I can be wherever I want to be."
Natalie was met with sharp stares again. Why was he even here? She thought in her head. How could she ever focus on her work when he was there?
"Can you at least help me set up my stuff?" Kenzo demanded, so Natalie got up against her will and went over to him, so he could help him.
But as she walked towards him, she suddenly tripped on something on the floor.
"Whoa! Careful!" Kenzo shouted in surprise. But it was all too late.
Natalie was falling onto him, screaming at the top of her lungs until their bodies met, and the impact made both of them fall down the floor with a loud thud.
Kenzo's back hit the hard floor, but Natalie was on top of him… and anyone could call it a coincidence or twist of fate, but somehow, in that split second, their lips crashed against each other and a spark was detected.