Page 17 of Gamers' Omega
“Oof.”
He nodded. “It’s not the first time our firms have worked together. We adapt historic building styles where we can, and determine the best way to keep the appearance when we can’t.”
“You must like it when your firms work together.”
Freddie burst into laughter. “You’d think so, but I usually let one of the other guys work with him.”
I blinked. “Why?”
He smiled. “I love Ian, but our work styles are very different. His mind is constantly going, and he’s always tossing out ideas of how to mesh this or that. I like to sit and think about an issue for a while. It means that he’s distracting me from my thoughts while working through his. However, there are a couple guys at work who can match him on brainstorming. Ian works best when he can bounce suggestions off somebody, so pairing him with somebody who can meet that energy gets the best results.”
“Why are you working with him on this one then?”
He shrugged. “Other people were already booked with projects. That’s one thing my boss is fantastic about: he won’t let anybody take on more than is reasonable. But we’ve got to have the plans finalized soon to get the approvals through the city before summer. The new buildings will be adobe, which means construction needs to happen when the weather is good.”
“In other words, it needed to get done and you were the one available.”
Freddie chuckled. “Pretty much.”
“How do you mesh your work styles then?”
He motioned to the laptop. “I let Ian think it out during the day and take notes. Once I have a quiet moment I sit with the plans, review his ideas, and determine how they address problems. It means a few long nights, but we make it work.”
“That’s good.”
He nodded.
“What made you decide to work with historic buildings?”
Freddie leaned back in his chair with a soft smile. “I blame my parents. They were history nuts, and while all the other kids were going to amusement parks on vacation, we were always off to different historical sites.”
“Did the other kids at school make fun of you for that?”
He chuckled. “Sometimes. Though I was the cool kid the year school started and we’d gone to Egypt and toured the pyramids.”
“You’ve been to the pyramids?”
“Yeah. Both Egypt and Mexico. I need to go see more in other countries, but we all take turns deciding on where to go for our big vacations. An international vacation is pretty expensive, so I’ve held off on suggesting one. Plus…”
I waited for several seconds for him to continue. “Plus?”
He sighed. “I don’t want Beck to have a bad time. It’s harder for him to be on his feet all day.”
“What about a solo vacation?”
Freddie hummed. “I’ve thought about it, but it would be pretty long, and would mean a shorter group trip. Don’t get me wrong, we all do little solo or duo trips throughout the year. Beck goes to a lot of conventions, sometimes as a speaker, others as just an attendee. Ian and Tony have similar tastes in music so go to concerts together. Sometimes Ian and I will take a day when on a convention trip with Beck to go look at interesting buildings. But we do try to take at least one larger trip every year where we’re all doing the same thing.”
I smiled. “It sounds nice. You’ve all worked out a way to feed your passions. And you still make sure you’re keeping the love alive.”
He nodded. “It’s important to us. We all know that relationships take work, so we try to take things head-on rather than let even minor issues fester. Making time for all of us is one part of that. Nobody feels left out.”
“That’s sweet. I wish more people thought like that.”
He frowned. “If somebody isn’t willing to put in the effort, are they really worth your time?”
The question hit me like a brick, and all I could do was stare.
“Eric?”
