The Architect. [The Blacklist. Donald Ressler X Oc]

Competition.

Maggie.

I had just finished with my breakfast when Gina called me in the morning. I gave Don one final look as he took his briefcase and stood from the table.

"Looks like you're also getting called in today" he stood up and kissed my forehead. I gave him a smile and stood up to walk him to the door.

"I might as well go, it's not like I can keep myself any more entertained in the house, alone" I stressed.

He turned around opening the door and gave me one last look.

"I love you" he said, I leaned in and pecked his lips.

"I love you too" I waved him goodbye and closed the door behind him.

An hour later I crossed the doors of my workplace, saying hi to Brenda with my hand as I walked past her reception desk and headed to my office.

I was going to close the door behind me but Gina hurried in and held me with a little squeal.

"Maggie!" After she squeezed the life out of me, I left my purse on the desk "I mean, you didn't have to come I could've briefed you over the phone"

I dismissed her with a wave of my hand and we sat down on the seats on the side of my desk.

"Don got called in a day after our wedding, and I've not been here in almost two weeks so... I've been kind of eager to get back to work"

There was a knock on the door, then it opened to reveal my boss Oscar peeking into the office.

"Didn't believe my ears when people told me you were back" he said opening the door widely "ready for a new challenge?"

"Oh yes" I stood up and the three of us headed to the meeting room near his office.

He'd called in for me, Gina, one of the accountants, and three of our other architects.

"I received word yesterday" he began, pacing around the room with a folder on his hands "of a new and very lucrative business opportunity. The offer comes from a Chinese magnate who's name I won't attempt to pronounce, but has has money and has come to spend it in the land of opportunities. And what does he want to build?"

There we several words thrown around, chain of  restaurants,  luxury hotel, a casino. He smiled when he heard them.

"Well, most of you are right" he opened the folder and showed us the artwork for a luminous sign "a hotel and casino, smackdown in the heart of D.C." he passed the paper to us and left the folder on the table "now, the proposition was the following; they want to hold some sort of competition between the most reputable architecture agencies in the west side of the country. All of us will have to design the casino, the suites, the building esthetic and the landscape. I think we have something, or rather someone" he said looking at me "that can give us the edge in this situation. If we also present the security system, and most importantly the vault, we might catch their interest a bit further. This magnate is willing to set up an investment of 10 million dollars, that's a lot of money and a huge boost of the name and reputation of our agency. So, we're taking this challenge" he declared, he made a motion to me with his hand "Maggie, you couldn't come back at a more perfect timing, I'm trusting your set of skills, and I'm trusting this team. We've got a lot of research to do and the timeline is 3 weeks. So, let's get to work"