ALLISON’S CELL PHONE RANG AS she and her mom watched a new Netflix series, and she stared at the caller ID for five seconds before answering. Derrek Wright? Calling her in the evening? Curious.
Derrek Wright. Her business associate for six years. Early fifties with twenty-five years of success behind him. Friend. Sort-of mentor. Encourager. He’d offered sage advice as she and Kayla started their architecture firm. Listened to her struggles to find decent clients. Even sent them potential clients who didn’t fit Derrek’s ideal customer profile. Didn’t matter that ninety percent of them were time wasters and the others never paid. His intentions were good. They’d had coffee once or twice a quarter over the past four years, sometimes with Kayla, sometimes just the two of them, always professionally appropriate. She hadn’t talked to Derrek in at least three months. The last two times she’d called she hadn’t heard back. So he was due to reach out. But after work? Odd.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Allison.” His deep voice held a hint of laughter. “How are you this evening?”
“I’m fine.”
“Good.” The smile was still there. “Did I catch you at an inopportune time to chat for a few minutes?”
“Not at all.”
“Okay then.” The smile in his voice vanished. Which meant this wasn’t personal. It was a business call.
“How is your firm doing?”
Allison waved at her mom to keep watching and stepped into the kitchen. “Two steps forward, one step back. Too often it’s two steps forward, two steps back.”
“I understand.” He paused and blew out a slow breath. “More importantly, how is your relationship with your partner going? Kayla, isn’t it?”
She laughed. “I thought marriage was hard. In some ways, this is harder.”
“Ah yes.” Derrek chuckled. “The reality of being around your business partner for longer hours than your life partner. And under conditions often more stressful. This is a common occurrence.”
“Exactly.”
“What I’ve seen is that this predicament can often change if you choose the right partner. For example, Rod and I haven’t had one disagreement in the past six years.”
“But then again, Rod’s been gone for the past four years, hasn’t he?” Allison asked.
Derrek chuckled again, and this time it sounded forced. “Good memory, but even so, we were the right fit for each other till he decided he liked the sunshine of Hawaii better than the rain clouds of Seattle. And he’s actually still an owner in the company. We’re working on a plan for him to sell his shares. Should be fully out in another three or four weeks. That puts me in an interesting position. I need another Rod in my company.”
This was crazy. He was talking about her, wasn’t he?
“I want to grow my firm. I don’t need any more money—I make far more than necessary—but I do want to see how big I can make this company. And I can’t do it alone. I need someone who can not only draft but go after new clients. Drawing skills and people skills. I need someone who can balance me out. I need someone who understands the mentality of not working for someone else, who understands being their own boss.”
He paused and went silent.
“Derrek?”
“Yes, Allison.”
She hesitated, not quite believing the words that were about to come out of her mouth. Not believing that God could be answering her prayer in a way beyond what she’d imagined.
“You’re asking me if I want to be your partner.”
“Yes. That is correct.” He chuckled. “I am.”
“I’m . . . I don’t know what to say. My mom . . . I mean . . . Derrek, I’m a little speechless right now. This is—”
“I should back up half a step, Allison. What I’m asking for right now is if you’ll take time to pray about it. See if God is part of that idea. That’s what I’ve been doing for the past week, and now it’s your turn. If you don’t feel like God is leading you to this, that is completely acceptable. However, if you feel—after praying about it—that you want to pursue a course where we join forces, I think there would be an exciting road ahead for both of us. I’m not getting any younger. Someday—not for years, mind you—I’m going to be more interested in navigating the waters of Puget Sound on my sailboat than navigating the intricacies of new client contracts and designing new buildings.”
Allison’s mind reeled. How many days ago had she prayed? Two? Three? Derrek’s company was one of the top ten firms in the Puget Sound region. Could this be happening? Yes, but she had a major problem. What about Kayla? She couldn’t break off her partnership with Kayla. It wouldn’t be fair. There was no way she could leave her without a partner, without someone who could handle the drawings as well as Allison could. But this would save her mom. Wasn’t this the answer she’d dreamed of? No. It was better.
Lord? Lord, is this happening?
“Are you still there, Allison?”
“Yes. Yes.” She ran her fingers through her long blonde hair and tried to breathe steadily. “I’m sorry, I’m just . . . This is a surprise.”
“I understand. And I’m sorry to disturb you after hours, but I didn’t want to put you in an awkward position by calling during the day, when perhaps you wouldn’t be able to talk freely, with your partner perchance nearby, or at the very least put you in a position to have to explain a phone call from me and concoct a story that wasn’t true about the nature of the conversation.”
“No. Right. I mean, yes, I’m glad you called now.”
“Good. Then let’s proceed in this manner if it’s acceptable to you. I’ll let you think about it, talk to any confidants, and pray about it. Then I’ll wait to hear from you. Please know, there’s no rush for this to happen. Whenever you’re ready.”
“Sure, yes . . . I mean, I’ll get back to you soon.” Allison shook her head. “No, wait, I’m ready right now. This is . . . an answer.”
Derrek chuckled. “I’ve gotten along okay without you here, so like I said, take your time. I’m ready for as long as it takes you to decide what God wants you to do and what you want to do. Not that those two things are mutually exclusive.”
“Derrek?”
“Yes?”
“What I mean is, your call is a direct answer to a prayer. I want to meet.”
“All right, then let’s make that happen sooner rather than later.”
“Great.”
“I can meet you tomorrow morning. Say ten?”
“Can we make it ten fifteen? I have a conference call that’s going to last till—”
“I’d prefer ten, but if your conference call is critical, I can—”
“Not a problem, Derrek. I’m a competent juggler. I can make ten work.”
Derrek chuckled. “Then ten it is. Do you have a preference as to where?”
Yes, she did. She wanted it to be on her turf. A place where she felt at home.
“Let’s meet at The Vogue.”
“Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
After ending the call, Allison stared at her phone till all the blood had rushed from her hand. This was it. The miracle. A miracle with a major problem. Yes, she’d wanted to kill Kayla lately, but Kayla was a partner she loved. A partner who was a sister. A partner she would never leave hanging.
But wasn’t that what she’d be doing to her mom if she didn’t take the partnership with Derrek? A partnership with Derrek meant serious money, not only from a monthly salary, but from profit sharing. With Allison’s sales skills and Derrek’s reputation, she could imagine them easily snagging two or three major clients within six months. And a slew of minor ones would be tantalizing frosting on top of the cake.
Allison leaned on the kitchen counter, palms wide, then stood up straight and paced, fingers rubbing both temples. The answer was simple. Clone herself. Argh! There had to be a way to take care of Kayla and be able to work for Derrek. But there wasn’t. Wait. She could ask Derrek if Kayla could come too. No. Stupid idea. They didn’t have the relationship she and Derrek had—they’d never clicked actually. Even if he did take Kayla as well, it certainly wouldn’t be as a partner. And now that Kayla had tasted the freedom of working for herself, it would be almost impossible for her to go back to working for someone.
Allison went back into the family room and joined her mom on the couch.
“What is it, sweetie?”
“I think our miracle might have just arrived.”
She relayed the phone call to her mom, and tears formed in both of their eyes.
“Do you really think this is our answer?”
“Quite possibly.” Allison squeezed her mom’s hand. “But what do I do about Kayla? I can’t just leave our partnership.”
Her mom shifted on the couch. “Forgive me for saying this, but Kayla isn’t my biggest concern right now.”