Inglewood

Chapter 8 - The Meeting

As I woke up on Wednesday morning, I was excited to finally meet Mr Flynn and get some ideas for Inglewood. Rob had left last night, knowing I had an important meeting that I needed to focus on.

It felt like a lifetime ago that I had met with Lara.
I dressed in a skirt and roll neck jumper paired with knee high boots. I grabbed the Inglewood file and my laptop from my desk and headed down to my car.

I started the engine and made my way through the city to his office. It was one of the many skyscrapers that surrounded Alice's shop and I made a mental note to go back there soon and update her on Mr Suit.

The car park for the building was in the basement and I was surprised to find it nearly empty. A lift took me to the 24th floor and as the doors opened, I was greeted with Lara's beaming smile, "Nat! Welcome to Global Security. Please, follow me, Mr Flynn will be with us shortly, he's just finishing up a call."
We walked the halls, passing office after office of men and women working away at computers, "So, what is it that Global Security does exactly?"

"Well, we purchase cheaply built security devices from abroad, ship them over, open them up, make them better, and resell them to big companies for a beautiful profit. Though don't tell Mr Flynn I put it quite like that." She looked over her shoulder and gave me a wry smile. "Of course, he also does alot for charity, but he doesn't charge for that, obviously. He donates a percentage of refurbished cameras to domestic abuse centres around the country, it allows the centres to install cameras in the homes of victims when they are rehoused and settled to help them feel safer. We have a department here on the 26th floor that exclusively monitors their cameras and deals with calls from the home owners, it's 24/7, 365 days a year, all free of charge, Mr Flynn says that abuse doesn't stop just because it's Christmas or a Sunday."

We entered a large meeting room at the end of the hall and I took a seat at the table.
"Wow, he sounds like a wonderful man. That's a really kind thing for him to do."
Lara offered me a drink and left to get a jug of water and some glasses. I took the opportunity to look out of the window at the streets below, all the people looked like ants walking along.
The room held a table big enough to seat 13 people. There was a large TV on the wall which displayed the companies logo. Cabinets adorned one wall, as I looked at the pictures and newspaper clippings in their frames, it was obvious that the company had done alot of good work over the years, mainly helping out those that were less fortunate it seemed. I liked that. I hadn't grown up in the happy home my family portrayed to the outside world, we had our fair share of bad times. My dad had cheated and my mum had attacked the other women, it lead to a small stint inside for her, after she pressed charges, but I never thought bad of her, she was just trying to keep our family together and I admired her strength through it all.

Lara returned and placed the tray on the table, "I'm sorry you couldn't get through on the phone to me, I had an accident and spent a couple of days out of action."
"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that, I hope you've recovered well?"
"Yes, all good now. I'm excited to get started with Mr Flynn, I've been brainstorming some vague ideas so that hopefully I can work them into his vision for Inglewood."

I knock at the door interrupted our conversation, a young man, no older than 25 poked his head around the door, Lara looked at him and excused herself as she left the room.

A few moments later, she returned with a folder and notebook. "I'm so sorry Nat, Mr Flynn has had to rush off, but he has asked that I pass on these to you, he's been making some notes about the things he likes for the house. Please, feel free to stay here and have a look through them, and they are yours to take away."

I felt a little let down, I had actually been looking forward to meeting with him at last and getting to see the man behind Inglewood.

"No problem, no rest for the wicked I suppose," my lips curled into a smile," I'm sure i'll get to meet him before the final touches"
Lara laughed and after some small talk she left to let me have a look through the folder.
As I opened it, a set of keys fell out and the first page was a handwritten note from Mr Flynn;

Dear Nat,

Let me start by apologising for having to leave you waiting at the last minute, it's not normally something I would do, but unfortunately we have just taken on our biggest project and it's rather time consuming. I would also like to apologise for not being there to do the walk around of Inglewood with you last week, again work is my only excuse.

Lara has spoken very highly of you and promises me that you are the perfect fit for the project and i look forward to seeing what ideas you have. I would like you to understand that you are working with me and not for me on this and your opinion is most valuable to me.

If you need any guidance over and above what is in the folder, I can be contacted at the number below. I would like to assure you that I have researched your previous work and am rather impressed by it. I am happy for you to take the lead, and make important decisions on my behalf. Should you have any problems, for example, not knowing which of two wallpapers to hang, go with your heart, I trust your instincts. If you find a larger budget is needed, again, reach out, it is available for you to use at your disposal.

My humble thanks and appreciation,

Jake Flynn.

So, Mr Flynn was a Jake? Interesting, up till now, he had felt like a high flying business man, but now he felt like any down to earth client.
I packed up my stuff and decided to head back to my office to continue this. Lara waved me off with a smile as I waited for the lift doors to close, she looked off to her left and said Mr Flynns name. The doors started to close and I caught a flash of jeans, white shirt and shoulder length brown hair.
The lift made its way to the ground floor and I walked towards the exit and back into the hustle and bustle of the city. A quick detour lead me to a two hour catch up with Alice, we laughed, we cringed and she soothed me as I told her about the events of the last few days. She was the breath of fresh air I needed to realise that Rob was a good thing in my life, it wasn't going to be an easy road, but we were already so intense that I would be stupid to walk away.

Back at the office, I could see Craig headed my way, I held the door open as he strolled in and made himself comfy in my chair. "Erm, I think you have some explaining to do. You've been radio quiet for 24 hours and everytime I pass your office, you've got your head down, working, so spill, what's going on?"
I crossed my arms, "I know it's a strange concept to you, work, I mean, but some of us have million pound projects to work on," I cocked my head and smirked at him in a playful manner, "anyway, I've not been 'radio quiet', I've just been busy, and after this morning, I'm going to be even busier, sorry."
Craig smiled and blew me a kiss as he winked, "well I hope Mr Flynn appreciates all the time I'm missing out on with you because of him." He got up to leave and then it struck me, "I have an idea."

We pulled upto Inglewood and I used the keys that Jake had given me to let us in. Craig's mouth fell open just as mine had when I first saw it.
"What do you think?" his eyes were gazing around every inch of the hallway, "I mean, it's a great blank canvas, right?"

Before I could get an answer from him, he took off, making his way up the stairs and towards the attic. "Oh wow, Nat, this place is amazing, please marry him." I laughed and sarcastically reminded him that Rob was just as rich and important and probably had something similar hidden away. "But, have you seen this place, it's stunning." We walked around the attic space, looking out of the rose windows that over looked the fields, "What's in the barn?"
"Barn?" I hadn't noticed it before, I hadn't needed to look around outside when I last visited and it was hidden behind the house.
"Don't know, but it's not on my list of rooms, so not my problem."
Craigs smile told me we were going to find out anyway.
Within the blink of an eye, he had made off for the stairs and I threw my hands up in frustration at his child like nature. I caught upto him as he rounded the back of the house," what are you? 5? Slow down, you maniac."

The barn stood out against the backdrop of the mountains and I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed it before. The wooden doors swayed slightly and straw littered the floor around it, "maybe it's where they keep the horses, Mr Flynn, Jake, has someone come out a couple of times a week to check on them."
Craig pulled the door and it noisily swung outwards. What we saw next wasn't what either of us had expected, we turned to each other with quizzical looks as we stepped inside to get a closer look.