Probably from that first meeting. She obviously sees me as the killer of
dreams.
Taylor was clearly distrustful of Christina. Maybe it wasn’t so much a
matter of like or dislike. Christina could tell that Taylor knew that
something wasn’t right. She accepted the help because she obviously
wanted her business to succeed, but her tone was wary every single time
Christina called, and it wasn’t much better over email either.
Christina could just imagine what Taylor was going to feel when she
confessed that she was looking at the building that Taylor was excited about
because she was managing the project. She’d left that bit out, since she had
the unnerving sensation during their last face to face meeting that Taylor
would have told her to go to hell and everything would be shot. Michelle
would have been irate. The company probably would have tanked. The
branch might have closed. She could have been back in New York by now,
grinding it out, trying to find another job, getting her nose rubbed in her
failure by her family.
Christina realized she was speeding. She eased up with her lead foot and
settled for gripping the wheel tighter to work out her annoyance. The
building wasn’t downtown, but it wasn’t far from the office either. She
didn’t get stuck in traffic and made it ahead of their appointment by fifteen
minutes. That left her time to get out of the car and survey the site.
The building was originally the home of an old nursery. Not a baby
nursery. A plant nursery. It had a large storefront, since the place apparently
used to stock some household inventory— overpriced clothes, candles,
purses— that sort of thing. The building was old, the yellow and green paint
peeling, and the roof was in questionable shape on the north side where the
shingles were curling back.
Someone had put a stone or something through one of the large
glass windows at the front and it was boarded up, but overall, it had
potential. The back lot where the greenhouses used to stand was huge. It