Restoration [Shawn Mendes] AU

Chapter 28

By that Friday morning, the collaboration project seemed to be almost complete except for a few last minute things, which meant they were ahead of schedule. David had pulled through on his part and had squared away everything that Prof. Richardson had requested from him. He had even made a scaled mock-up on the 3-D printer of the water feature for the atrium to be presented alongside Shawn's building model. They were all going to meet to pull all of their individual sketches, CAD models, computer images and the model into a presentation before their formal crits with the department heads and instructors across the architectural disciplines. The last assignment was to work on what the budget would be if this project was actually constructed and what their individual budgets would be when broken down into categories for each phase of the construction of the building, as well as the estimated overall cost per square foot for the completed project.

Michelle was happy they were so far along, as she had contacted Carla Montrose, the liaison from Lowe's, for more information about her internship and was expected to begin the following morning. Saturday at Lowe's was a very busy time, so she would be working on kitchen and bath designs with the in-house designer as soon as tomorrow. Most of her days and hours over the next 4 weeks were going to be spent at the local store in Cranston, except for when she would need to be on campus for class or at her weekly counseling session.

"So you think they're gonna make you wear one of those red vests or smocks with a name tag while you're working there?" Shawn teased Michelle, knowing she wasn't too thrilled with her assignment.

"I don't know. It's not like I'm going to be an actual employee," Michelle replied, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Maybe they have something even more special for newbie interns to wear!" Shawn chuckled. "I might have to swing by there one day to check it out and take a couple of pics for posterity...could be good for a laugh."

Michelle smacked him in the arm. "NO, you do not need to swing by to check it out, thank you very much."

"Why not? I could pretend to be some picky customer who needs help with a bathroom design and you could practice on me, showing me all the latest trends in countertops, tile and fixtures while you draw up a design plan. I'll be one of those customers who needs a lot of extra time and attention and is your basic pain in the ass. It could be good for you, learning how to deal with persnickety clients."

"Oh my God. Do not even think about it...although the pain in the ass part might be something you could pull off," Michelle narrowed her eyes at him.

Shawn threw his head back as he laughed. "Hey, I'm just here to help. Just think of it as another exclusive service provided by me. Remember we had this discussion before."

"Oh yeah, you just want another tip from me doncha?" Michelle laughed.

"What, you mean another one like that 'don't run with scissors' tip you gave me last time? You're gonna have to do better than that Chelle," Shawn looked down at her with a smirk.