I knew Lukas only used the top floor for his office. All the other floors? Well, I’d never had it confirmed but I was fairly confident all the businesses in this tower rented their offices from Lukas.
As I crossed the lobby and made for the elevators, I wondered what sort of staggering monthly income Lukas made from his renters alone. Undoubtedly, it was a great deal more than Good Fellow’s saw in an entire year of annual income.
The elevator delivered me to the top floor, where I stepped off and set foot on a white marble floor shining under the ceiling lighting above. I strode across the lobby of Lukas’ office to the reception desk, where his receptionist was typing furiously at her keyboard. She glanced up at me, smiled, and asked me to give her just a minute.
As I waited, I peered around what I could see of the office.
I’d spent time in this waiting room already when I came for my first meeting with Lukas and Lisa. It was a pleasant space but it didn’t feel all that cozy. I supposed Good Fellow’s was far from cozy, but the haphazard layout, colorful post-it notes all over the place, and the tea-brewing station made it feel a little homier to me. This place felt cold, almost sterile.
It needs plants, I thought decisively. The green would be a nice pop of color against the white floors and the cool gray walls. Some pots in jewel tones would really add life to the space.
I gave my head a shake.
Why was I internally decorating Lukas’ lobby?
I heard high-heeled footsteps approaching and turned to find Lisa coming around the corner. She had a black leatherbound planner in one hand and she turned to the receptionist and peered at the screen, after which she scribbled something in the planner, tucked it under her arm, and turned to head back down the hall.
“Lisa?”
She turned to me, looking like she was all business, but as soon as she laid eyes on me, she smiled. “Kayla, what are you doing here?”
I met her with a hug and pulled away. “I came to find Lukas. Is he here?”
My best friend shook her head. “He’s been gone for hours. I thought he came to see you. Did he not drop by Good Fellow’s?”
“No, he did. It’s just…” I trailed off.
“Just what?”
I sighed. “Your brother is a very complicated person to work with, Lisa.”
At first, she was expressionless. Her facade shattered and Lisa threw her head back and laughed. “That’s quite a diplomatic way of saying he’s an ass.”
The receptionist giggled and hid her mouth behind one hand after shooting an apologetic look at Lisa.
Lisa nodded down the hall. “Come sit with me in my office. I have time before I have a conference call.”
“Isn’t it a little late for calls?” I asked as I followed her to her office.
“When you’re trying to communicate with people in other countries, sometimes you have to be flexible.” Lisa opened the door to her office and let me enter first. She closed the door behind us and walked over to a set of white leather sofas by the windows. She gestured for me to sit. “Make yourself comfortable. Can I get you something to drink? Tea? Soda? Vodka? Pick your poison.”
“No thank you. I don’t think I can stay long.”
Lisa moved to a cabinet built into the wall behind her desk, where she opened some cupboards and went about pouring herself a rye and ginger. One of the lower cabinets was actually a fridge and freezer, and once she had her ice cubes in the glass and her drink poured, she joined me on the sofas.
“Your office is beautiful,” I told her.
She looked around, admiring her workspace. “It’s easy to create a beautiful room when your brother is fronting the design bill.”
“Sneaky.”
She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. “So tell me what he’s done now.”
I licked my lips. “He hasn’t really done anything, per se.”
“Don’t play coy, Kayla. Just spit it out. Did he back out of the donation? Did he cut the funding in half?”
“What? No, nothing like that. We had a misunderstanding is all—about the lunch program,” I added hastily. The last thing I needed was for Lisa to get suspicious of me and Lukas.
Lisa rolled her eyes and slumped against the back of the sofa. “My brother has been a tad touchy lately, hasn’t he?”
I shrugged. How was I supposed to know if he was being more touchy than usual? Up until last week, I hadn’t seen him in years. Now he was all I could think about and all I could see when I closed my eyes.
It was all becoming a little infuriating.
Lisa tilted her head back and took a sip of her drink. “Some days, he’s happier than I’ve ever seen him, and others, he’s spiraling down the drainpipe, you know? He’s so lost and I want to help him but he won’t let anyone in. He’s so…”
“Stubborn?”
“Yes.” Lisa nodded. “Stubborn. Like a mule. Sometimes I wonder if it’s all because of his mother’s condition. She’s been getting worse, I think. Not that he talks to me about any of it, of course.”
I chewed at the inside of my cheek. “How is Ally doing these days?”
Lisa eyed me over the rim of her glass. “Not good. Not good at all, I don’t think. Ever since the accident, Lukas has been pulling away. He keeps things between him and his mother pretty much to himself. I know it hurts him to talk about it but I wish he’d just open up to me a little bit. It’s like he thinks he has to go through this alone. I don’t know how many times I’ve told him he doesn’t. How many times I’ve told him that I’m here.”
“You’re a good sister.”
Lisa shook her head. “I don’t know about that. He
