The Penthouse Project
I have never been interested in what vision my clients bring in, most of them are quite uninteresting to bother with. They come with their ideas, we coordinate, give them our quotes , we deliver, they tell us if they approve or not, they pay and the business is done. Well some might call me cocky for saying this, but I believe there’s no bigger cliche than believing in “your dreams are ours now” , the stupid tagline that my brand uses in its marketing campaign. Apparently that’s what it takes to keep us relevant in this industry, a tagline cheesy enough to attract customer attention that after 5 years of operation, my interior designing firm is now the top one in the city. Quite proud of the achievement, quite cringed at the thought of things that I had to do to get there. This further accelerated the feeling of indifference and apathy in me. Until that one man who walked in the door that day. He came in the same way the other clients came in, but this time I was so invested in his vision that I forgot about everything else. I had my 42nd birthday last week. For me it was just any other day, but you can’t convince the bunch of GenZ’s in my team. So after work we went to a pub nearby where they danced to their heart’s content while I took a corner near the balcony, chugging my beer while soaking in the skyline of the busy city in the evening. Another birthday went by, yet another anticipation of that one text I hoped would come but hasn’t been since the last 14 years. Bless the wisdom that comes with getting older, I can shrug away the thought at an instant, dance a little with my younger team, get to my apartment, feed myself while I watch something on the television and hit the bed. That’s it. I don’t need anyone around. This is peaceful. The day just started like any other, I was studying the new trends in designing that had hit the market when my assistant informed me about this new order. “It’s a massive penthouse on the 50th floor in the prime location of the city, you can see practically everywhere from one corner, the skyscrapers, the streets, the slums, the trains, the malls, the markets, etc. This man wants us to work on the library, he wishes to give it a cozy English cottage look while being in the middle of the city. He told me it’s for his wife on their 10th wedding anniversary. She loves books, so there has to be a lot of bookshelves and a cozy but royal divan for her to sit and read the whole day. ” “Not another couple and their wishy washy fantasies!” I said, quite cringed at the idea. But, a business is a business, and a penthouse, that’s a lottery. While home, I was reading the brief of this client. What intrigued me is that he is making a whole reading space at that height when he could’ve done anything. A cozy English cottage? I never got the hype. And then, her thoughts struck me. My mind went back to the summer, 14 years ago, when she told me “I can practically spend a whole day just reading, sitting on a couch, if the weather is nice and there’s an endless supply of hot tea, you can’t find me anywhere else if I have a space like that. ” I heard her, and I smile even today at the thought. Maybe that’s what is the reason why everything happened the way it did. I heard her but I didn’t listen. The next morning, this client is supposed to meet me in person and we shall discuss the quote for this assignment. Well there’s a lot of work, the anniversary is in three months so we must expedite the work in order to meet the deadline. Needless to say, there’s going to be a hefty payment for this. I expected him to bargain when I told him about the estimated cost, but he just said, “Good! Are you sure that would be enough? See, I don’t want any compromise on this. You can say this is my most valuable investment. I am not putting my hard earned money on a house, but on the happiness that it would bring to my wife, and eventually me. ” Yeah sure, like I care. You pay us, we part ways, my company grows and you get what you want. “Still thinking like a businessman” . That's what she said one time when I told her I just need a lot of money, a big apartment, a string of expensive cars, a lot of servers and butlers and a steady bank account rolling in millions every passing hour. Well, that’s all that matters, doesn’t it? Money, power, glory. Well maybe not, otherwise why do I even think of her after all this time? The next few weeks on this project were interesting, to say the least. Each and every time we would present an idea to this man, he would need something even better. “I have said a million times, don’t be stingy with this. There’s no budget, cross the discussed quotations if needed. Cross it a hundred times but I will take what I want and I am willing to ruin your lives over this” , he screamed. This man needs to calm down! This has been the most stressful project I’ve ever been involved in and at the same time, I somehow find myself caring more about this one client with each passing day. He’s definitely loaded, works in finance and still his primary concern seems to be taking care of his wife’s needs. His priorities are at the right place and that triggers me. I have always wanted to be this man for as long as I can remember, and I never thought I should care about anybody else when I become that. I was willing to lose her for this, and this man, he’s willing to trade in so much cash for the woman in his life. “Overrated” I told my assistant, trying to put on that apathetic facade while I feel myself melting. That night I had a dream about her. It’s from the time when she took me to her favorite bookstore. A bookstore? What else does a man do for love? “You see those. Limited leather bound editions of world classics. ” She said, “If I get rich, I will buy all 50 of them. That’s my dream. ” “How expensive are they?” I asked. “All 50 of them would come at the cost of a huge penthouse, for sure. ” Ridiculous, I thought. Comparing books to a penthouse. Eureka! I know what I need for this penthouse project to stand out. It just doesn’t need the bookshelves and the divan, but also those rare editions in place. I had no idea how difficult this is going to be, a whole month went by trying to procure those. After a lot of pulling strings, a bookstore in Paris confirmed that they have it, all 50. Austen, Tolstoy, Tagore, I never quite cared about these names before as much as I do now, and I didn’t even notice. “Woah! I have never seen you like that for any project. Those books would cost us a lot more than the quoted price, even double. Plus, there’s expensive shipping from Paris” , said my assistant. “Let me handle it. She loves them. I mean his wife, I am sure she would” I said, trying to compose myself. After a month, the project finally took shape. The bookshelf looks regal and that cozy divan in the center of the room looks intimate. The books are arranged in order that they need to be arranged. An English cottage, one would definitely think so if they didn’t look at the urban bustle outside the window. Just one thing, the client hasn't been informed about the added cost. We’ll see about that. The D-day is finally here. We have handed over the apartment to the client. Quite unlikely to our business policy, we agreed that he can pay after he has checked the penthouse. On the next day of their anniversary, I got a call. “Well you guys have outdone yourself. The apartment looks amazing. My wife loved it, but she especially loved those leather bound books. She said she always wanted them, all 50. I mean, I know I told you to not be stingy, but this? Well I don’t mind, she’s happy and that’s exactly what I wanted. Please send me the invoice along with the cost of those books. ” I said, “The books are a gift from our side. My assistant will send you the invoice for the deliverables that you asked for. Happy Anniversary!” I hung up and went back to check the new issue of The Architectural Digest