Chapter 4: How was Rexos Café

ODESSA

The civic tower was still missing.

I went through the portfolio three times before opening my laptop. The file was still there, exactly where I left it. The design was safe. The paper was gone, and paper didn’t walk out of a wardrobe by itself.

Vivian came to mind first, with that soft smile and the perfume she always wore. Then Eleanor, who acted like every room in this house belonged to her. I even thought about the maids, though none of them ever touched my cabinet.

The problem was, I had no proof against anyone. If I accused the wrong person, Adrian would probably brush it off as jealousy. So I put the portfolio in the bottom drawer, locked it, and tucked the small silver key into my handbag. I barely slept that night.

By breakfast, I had nearly convinced myself to forget about it. Then I came downstairs and found Callum sitting in Adrian’s chair, swinging his legs while Lina poured his juice.

“Not that one,” he said. “I want the glass bottle.”

“I’m sorry, Master Callum. It’s finished.”

“Then make more.”

“Callum,” I said quietly. “Lina isn’t your servant. At least say thank you.”

“It’s her job.”

“Her job doesn’t mean you get to speak to her like that.”

He lifted his chin, looking so much like Adrian that it caught me off guard. “You’re not the one running things here anymore.”

The room went quiet, and Lina dropped her eyes to the floor.

“Maybe not,” I said. “But you don’t need to be the boss to be kind.”

Callum pushed his plate away and ran upstairs. A door slammed somewhere above us, leaving Lina standing beside the table with her hands clasped in front of her.

“Madam, I’m so sorry,” she said.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. And don’t apologize to him for that.”

She gave a small nod and placed a fresh glass of orange juice beside my plate before walking away. I took a few sips, then left the table once I finished breakfast.

An hour later, I passed Callum’s room and noticed the door was slightly open. A pencil moved across paper inside, so I stopped.

Callum sat on the floor with a sketchbook on his knees, his tongue sticking out a little as he worked. I could see our staircase on the page, the steps curving down just as they did in the house.

He was really good.

Callum looked up and froze. His face went pale as he snapped the book shut and pushed it under his pillow.

“What are you doing?”

“The door was open.”

“It’s my room!”

“I know.” I kept my voice soft. “I’m not here to bother you.”

His ears turned red. I wanted to tell him how good the drawing was, but he already looked embarrassed enough. He would probably think I was making fun of him, so I pulled the door closed and walked back into the hall.

I was still standing there when Eleanor appeared, one hand resting against her pearls.

“Odessa. I hear you’ve been busy.”

“Busy? “

“Vivian tells me you’ve been taking calls in your room.” Her smile barely moved. “Sterling wives don’t have hobbies. They have responsibilities.”

“I remember my responsibilities very well.”

“Then I suggest you remember where your time belongs.” Her eyes moved over my face, like she was trying to find something I wasn’t saying. “I’ve always believed in being direct with family.”

Family. Coming from her, the word felt strange.

“Of course.”

“Good.”

She walked off, her heels tapping against the floor until the sound faded. I stayed where I was for a few seconds, thinking about how she knew about Julian’s call. I took it upstairs with my door shut, and I never mentioned it to anyone.

Vivian either heard me through the door or found out some other way. Either way, I knew I couldn’t be careless.

I spent the rest of Wednesday thinking about it. By Thursday, I made up my mind. If I wanted to meet Julian, I would. I told everyone I was going out to run a few errands, then found Mr. Bassey waiting by the car.

“Where to, ma’am?”

“Rexos Café, please. I might be there for a while.”

“Of course.”

I got in without giving it much thought. I was only meeting someone for coffee.

Julian was already sitting by the window when I arrived. He stood as soon as he saw me. He was a little taller than I expected, with warm brown eyes and curly hair that looked like he had run his fingers through it instead of bothering with a comb.

“Odessa Hart,” he said, holding out his hand. “It’s good to finally meet you in person.”

“Thank you, Mr. Vance.”

“Julian, please. I get enough of ‘Mr. Vance’ from the board.” He pulled out the chair for me. “I ordered you a flat white, by the way.”

I stopped halfway into the chair. “How did you know?”

“A student blog about the Eastgate Competition. Most of it was about the coffee.”

I laughed before I could stop myself. It felt strange, mostly because I couldn’t remember the last time I laughed that easily.

Julian pushed a set of plans toward me. “Private client. Lake house. They like the new design, but something feels off and they can’t figure out what.”

I pulled the drawings closer and went through them the way my professor taught me years ago.

“Here.” I tapped one section of the page. “The balcony support comes down to this wall, but this is only a partition. It won’t hold up for long.”

“Go on.”

“Move the support to the old stone foundation. Then add a thin steel column on the water side. You can keep the curve, and it’ll make the balcony look lighter. Almost like it’s floating.”

I grabbed a pen and started drawing in the margin, so caught up in the idea that my elbow nearly knocked over his coffee. I stopped when I noticed.

“Sorry. I got carried away.”

“Don’t apologize.” His voice was quieter now. “The client’s architect has twenty years of experience, and he missed that. You saw it right away.”

“I’ve been thinking about buildings my whole life.”

He rested his arms on the table. “Can I ask you something?”

“You can.”

“Why did you stop?”

There were plenty of answers I could have given him, but we barely knew each other.

“Life got busy,” I said.

He didn’t ask anything else. His attention dropped to the ring on my left hand before he looked back at me with an easy smile.

“Life does that. The contract will be under Odessa Hart, not Sterling.”

I read the line again. “You’re sure?”

“It’s your work. Your name belongs on it.”

For six years, nobody had said that to me.

“Then I’ll do it.”

“Good.” He smiled. “I’ll send the contract tonight. And coffee’s on me.”

“Then I’ll pay next time.”

“I’m holding you to that.”

I left Rexos with the folder tucked against my side, already thinking about the changes I wanted to make to the design. I was still in a good mood when I sat down at the dinner table that evening.

Adrian stayed focused on his phone. “Odessa, the salt.”

I passed it to him without saying anything. He didn’t ask about my afternoon, and I didn’t expect him to.

Callum kept his attention on his plate, Eleanor drank her wine, and Vivian sat across from me in a dress I wore two weeks earlier. Halfway through dinner, she put down her fork and gave me a sweet smile.

“You look well today, Odessa. Did you have a nice afternoon?”

“It was fine.”

“I’m glad.” She lifted her glass. “How was Rexos Café?”