“Yea, I'll call you back when I'm done. Bye,” Kam told Issa as he hung up the phone and got out of the car.

He had arrived in front of a large office building. Looking up at the building Kam smiled before walking in. He passed by the long receptionist desk full of people and headed straight to the elevator and climber to the 14th floor where his meeting with Catherine was to take place. She had called him two days ago to tell him he was ready to present her designs.

Kam had just been woken by Issa giving him head after their movie night. So he wasn’t particularly interested in talking about interior design, especially when Issa didn’t pause during the conversation. In the end, he just agreed to meet in two days to hurriedly get off the phone.

Today was that day.

It was currently 10:55 and the meeting was in five minutes so Kam was a bit early but it was not enough to be an annoyance.

When Kam got off of the elevator, he made a left and went down a long hallway until he reached the last room, Suite 1409. When he opened the door he was greeted with a cozy office space full of soft reds, pinks, and yellows. It gave him a super hippy vibe, which is way off from the strict nature he got from Catherine during their meeting a week ago. But he shrugged it off and made his way towards the receptionist area, who was a bit surprised to see him.

“Umm, how may I help you, sir?” she greeted in an uncertain tone

“I have a meeting with Catherine at 11. Do I need to sign in or something?” Kam asked as this was his first time coming to a building like this that wasn’t at a hospital.

“Haha, no sir you do not. But could you please give me your name?” she laughed

“Kamara Faye”

The woman typed on her keyboard and pulled up his appointment. They then clicked some things before turning back to him.,

“Ok, Mr. Faye I will let Mrs. Poole know that you are here for your appointment with her. Also, as a side note. When you are entering the building it is requested that you go to one of the receptionists on the ground floor and tell them which floor you are going to. It helps us prepare better beforehand and not end up surprised when someone randomly shows up.” she advised

“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t know. This is actually my first time coming to a building like this. I’ll do it the correct way if there’s a next time.” Kam apologized while scratching the back of his head.

“It's ok sir, I just wanted to let you know for the future,” she smiled before going back to her computer

Kam nodded and made his way to the waiting area. He played on his phone for about thirty minutes before someone called him.

“Mr. Faye, Catherine is ready to see you now.” Catherine’s assistant, Julia, said as she walked up to Kamara.

“Alright.” he absentmindedly replied putting his phone back in his pocket as he got up.

“Please follow me.” the young woman said as she began walking down the hallway to the meeting room where Catherine is waiting for them.

Their walk was quiet, neither one of them having anything to say to the other. But since the short walk negated the awkwardness of the situation.

Once they made it to the small meeting room Julia opened the door for Kamara,

“She is just inside sir.”

Kamara nodded and walked into the room. This room, unlike the rest of the office space, was not very colorful and instead looked like any other office he would see on tv or in movies. Dull with a bunch of black, greys, and whites. But due to the contrast between the outside and the inside, it was pretty jarring to walk into.

“It is nice to see you again Mr. Faye,” Catherine said as she stood up, smoothening out her pencil skirt and walking over to him with an open hand.

“Likewise, Mrs. Poole. You said that you had the design ready?” Kam greeted then got straight to the point. He could see the multitude of pages from the papers that gave glimpses into what she had planned for this evening. He already like the few things he saw, he was excited to see the rest.

“Yes sir. If you’re ready, we can get started immediately. You can take a seat anywhere at the table and I will begin.” she motioned for him to sit and then walked to the front of the table where all of the materials are.

Kam nodded and then took a seat. Once he sat down Catherine took a few more seconds to make sure everything was in order and then began her presentation.

***

“ok, let's go with option 2. I think it will look the best overall.” Kam said as he put down the two options he had been pondering over for the last ten minutes.

“Excellent. Option two was my favorite as well. Now, let's get to the bad part of this process.” Catherine lamented as she put the two designs away.

“Which is?” he asked with a raised eyebrow

“The cost!” Catherine said looking him dead in the eyes.

When Kam heard that he immediately thought that a dramatic reveal sound would fit perfectly over it. He tried to keep himself from laughing when he imagined the scenario.

“Oh, ok. How much is it gonna cost?” he questioned, barely keeping a straight face.

“Well, because the house is so large and with the number of changes you plan on making to the interior and exterior. It’s going to run you a pretty penny. Let me get the estimate I worked out earlier to give you a specific number.” She then reached into her pile of documents and pulled out two pieces of paper. She handed one to Kam and kept another.

Kam looked over the document briefly before looking at the bottom number. He let out a whistle when he saw the exact number.

“You weren’t lying were you. That is certainly a ‘pretty penny’. More like pretty nickel if were being honest." Kam joked.

Catherine smiled in relief seeing how well the young man was taking it. This was going to be her biggest project yet and she was praying he didn’t back out once he saw the cost. Fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case, so she continued.

“Yes, 3 million credits is, in fact, a lot of money. But I believe that you cannot put a price on being comfortable and liking the way your home looks. And that is just an estimate, I will do my best to negotiate some cost down with my suppliers.” she did her best to make the venture seem worth it.

“Hmm, it doesn’t matter. Like you said, you can’t put a price on things like this. I am happy with this. Do you have a time around when you will be getting started?” Kam asked as he leaned back in his chair.

She smiled at his response before nodding “Yes we should be able to get started by the end of the month. As for how long it takes…if we rush it can probably be done in about nine months, this will cost more. But if we take our time and go at a regular pace it will probably take upwards of a year.”

Kam thought it over in his head “Can you get it done in three months? Price isn’t an issue, you can hire as many helping hands as you need.”

Catherine looked at him with a shocked expression before thinking it over in her head.

‘I would need to hire at least three times the amount of crew I normally would, plus would need to pay to get the materials here faster. All of that is doable, especially since he can pay for all of it. What I’m worried about is someone making a careless mistake. Getting it done fast doesn't mean they will get it done right. There’s a lot on the line here and I can’t have any mistakes. I’ll probably need to get Fred to come help oversee everything with me. I won’t be able to manage all of this on my own this time.”

Kam watched as Catherine thought about it in her head. He knew he was putting her in a tight spot, but he really didn't want to have to deal with people coming in and out of his house for the next year. He didn’t plan on leaving during that time as he had important shit to do. So he wanted them to finish as fast as they could. It would be an annoying couple of months but he could put up with it if the place looked like it did in the design.

Kamara’s grandfather would probably be turning in his grave if he knew what Kamara planned to do to his home. The only thing that would stop him from rising from the dead and beating the boy, is that the house will still look the same. From the front at least. If Kam had plans to change the front…well, he would be the first person to ever feel the wrath of a zombie.

“I can get it done in that time frame, but the price would probably double and I would need you to sign some liability papers. Is that ok with you?” she asked with a bit of uncertainty in her voice. The stakes for her had just been risen from hot to on fire. And while she is confident in her skills, this was asking a lot.

“No problem, just send them to me through email and I will e-sign them as soon as possible.” Kam smiled as he stood up. Catherine did the same, making her way over to the other side of the table.

“I will have them to you by the end of the day. It has been a pleasure, Mr. Faye.” She held out her hand.

“The pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Poole. I look forward to working with you in the future.” He shook her hand.

Catherine then personally lead Kam out of the room and to the office exit. Before Kam left they exchanged personal numbers and said their goodbyes.

Once the door had closed behind him, Catherine let out a deep sigh and slumped into one of the chairs.

“Catherine are you alright! Do you need some water?” Julie asked as she rushed to her boss

“I’m fine Juli, I'm fine.” Catherine waved her off

“heheheh hahaha HAHAHAHA” Catherine then began to laugh. At first, it started as a giggle but it quickly turned into a full-fledge fit of laughter. This caused Julia and the receptionist to look at her with weird looks.

Ignoring them Catherine stood up and made her way to her office “This is going to be a good year! hahaha” she said as she walked past the woman still laughing as she made her way to her office.

They just looked at each other before shrugging and getting back to work. The receptionist went back to her crossword puzzle and Julia followed Catherine back to her office.