Page 92 of Until We Weren't

“Well, the committee would like to ask you a few follow up questions,” he said.

“Okay.” Destiny shrugged.

“Right this way,” David said.

As they followed him into the meeting room, movement caught Faith’s eyes. Over by the windows she noticed two people watching them.

“Des,” she said softly, reaching for her arm. When Destiny glanced back at her, Faith nodded towards the window.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Destiny said, rolling her eyes.

“Yep,” Faith said. “Gloria’s been watching us since we walked into the building.”

“Do you know her?” David asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Destiny said. “We’re her favorite people.”

David furrowed his brow.

“We’ll explain it to you another time,” Faith said.

They walked into the conference room and sat down at one end of the large table. It wasn’t lost on Faith that just yesterday they had dazzled this same group of people with their presentation. Today the energy in the room was not positive.

“Thank you for coming in,” the project manager said.

“It looks like we’ve brought you in from the field,” the construction representative commented.

Destiny smiled. “We not only design and create landscapes?—”

“We also make them come to life,” Faith added.

The people around the table smiled.

“We were very impressed with your presentation,” the project manager began. “Did you share your vision with anyone else before presenting it to us?”

Faith looked at Destiny and furrowed her brow. “I’m not sure what you mean?”

“Did you tell any of the other landscapers bidding on the project what your ideas were?” he replied.

“No,” Destiny stated. “When bidding on a project you don’t usually share your ideas with your competitors.”

“That’s what I thought,” he said.

“Here’s the thing,” David said, sharing a look with the project manager. “Your idea to do the rock cairns was unique as well as interesting, but another company also presented the idea.”

Faith exchanged a look with Destiny. How Gloria fit into this Faith wasn’t sure, but she could feel it and from the look on Destiny’s face she did too.

“We thought it was odd,” the project manager said.

“Okay,” Destiny said. “Are you asking if we took the idea from another company?”

“Destiny gave you the history behind the rock cairns and why we chose to use them,” Faith said.

“You gave your presentation before the other one, too,” David added.

“Let me put everything out on the table,” the project manager said. “Another company—a larger company—mentioned rock cairns in their presentation and offered to do whatever type landscaping we liked best for a better price.”

Faith and Destiny looked at each other and shook their heads.