Page 54 of Out of Office

“You’re right. I...adjusting to living together has been exhilarating but, not going to lie, overwhelming. I realize now I’m responsible for more than just my goals and my work and... I fear I might be falling short already.” She sighed, voicing her fears.

“Nah, I know how determined you are, and I’ve always respected that. This is us marrying what we know of each other to create something new.” The deep certainty of my words resonated in the apartment as we did our five-minute meditation together.

The soft kiss and hug Gen gave me lingered in my mind as she left unknowingly ten minutes before her usual time, both of us in an uplifted state of mind.

The rest of the week we continued our new morning routine. Always ending with a soft kiss and hug that Gen gave me. The rest of the days I spent attempting to remove the small fish in a big pond sensation I’d had since moving to Florida. Everything felt enlarged, and overwhelming. Thankful for the small town feel of the area we lived in, I took it upon myself to walk every street and corner, visit every store until the owner of the convenience store knew me by name, and the cashier for the groceries called me a regular.

With the impending meeting at the Tropics looming over me, I needed a pep talk. I craved the connections with my friends.

Sitting in our living room in the afternoon while I awaited Gen’s arrival, I video called Shakira.

“Manito!! Miss you! How’s Los United States?” she greeted with a wide smile. My chest tightened at the sight of her excitement. I could barely contain mine. I could hear the squeal of happy children playing in the background. She probably was doing her after-school duties.

“Miss you too. How are the kids?”

“Oh, you know them, they swear they know more than I do, their teacher.” She smiled then turned around to call some kid’s attention who was climbing one of the picnic tables for lunch.

“I hear that, and you, how’s everything?”

“Mmm. Good, but I’m glad you called because I was working up to send you a nasty text asking why you forgot about your friends now that you are about to be American.” Her eyebrow rose so high it left the camera frame.

“Here you go.”

“What, am I lying? You have a new girl and a new life and you forget about us peasants.”

“You know I miss you. It’s just been...” I sat back, uncomfortable now that I had her on camera, about sharing how things had been.

“It’s a lot isn’t it?” Her face relaxed into a sympathetic expression. The pang in my chest widened at the sight.

“It is, but I’m making it work. Listen... I need advice. I have this opportunity to take a job here, that would...it would take me back to architecture.”

The silence elongated after my news. Even the noise of the children dimmed as Shakira turned the information over in her brain.

“So, what do you want to do?”

So simple... What did I want to do? I wanted a healthy life, worth living. I wanted to be passionate about my work; I wanted to be an equal partner to Genevieve. I wanted my family to live comfortably.

“I want to do the right thing,” I answered instead.

“Come on, manito, you know what the right thing is, and before you answer back, what I mean is, you know what the right thing is...for you. You just want to do the right thing for everyone else but not serve your needs. It’s okay to look out for yourself in order to be able to do the same for others.”

“Why are you so wise?”

“Because I am a teacher, and teachers are the real superheroes of the universe,” she boasted, then hollered so loud that my ear rang.

“Hey, Pablo, no, I told you not to climb there! No...listen I gotta go these childr—”

Shakira hung up, leaving me with true silence, only the sounds of my thoughts making my ears ring.

“Mr. Nicholas! Such an elusive man,” Ms. Ricard said as we shook hands. All of Gen’s descriptions had prepared me for the short, determined woman, the aura of power emanating from her. Gen strode to the chair next to mine and we sat across from Ricard, her poised and collected energy helped my overall nerves, but outwardly I had my calm mask on.

“It’s interesting that I’m considered elusive when I’ve been employed by Tropics all this time.” I sat back into the armchair crossing my leg over my thigh.

“True, true. What a wonderful coincidence. To think you have been part of the project all this time. From day one. We want that type of collaboration in an extended manner. To work with you in all of our expansion projects to create new hotels all over Central America and the Caribbean.”

“What is your plan to avoid gentrification and ensure the townspeople maintain control of the areas?” I asked, and in my periphery, I saw Gen’s grin before she began speaking.

“Adrián, as you know, the project I have presented for Tropics Colón has a full environmental, community-based study request to be presented alongside the architectural plans. No project should be larger than the ecosystem around it can sustain. For the most part, from our preliminary studies, the projects need to be less than fifty rooms. My overall expansion presentation to Tropics is to create hotels that not only speak to the area’s history, but that meld organically with the region without promising the hotel owners that the real estate of the zone will change in any number of years. The idea is that the towns don’t change unless the people want them to. Also, I have proposed that the purchase of land is injected directly to the economy of the people as some of these land grants are coming from the governments. I’ve insisted that Tropics add this to every contract with clear contingencies to avoid gentrification. Every decision should include a referendum approved by the townspeople.”

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