“No,” Lara said. “I want to move it up.”
“What?”
“Get hold of the contractor. Tell him we want to start bulldozing tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? Lara…”
“First thing in the morning. And take that blueprint and give it to the foreman of the construction crew.”
“What good will that do?” Keller asked.
“We’ll see.”
The following morning the remaining tenants of the Dorchester Apartments were awakened by the roar of a bulldozer. They looked out of their windows. Halfway down the block, as they watched, a mechanical behemoth was moving toward them, leveling everything in its path. The tenants were stunned.
Mr. Hershey, who lived on the top floor, rushed outside and hurried over to the foreman. “What do you think you’re doing?” he screamed. “You can’t go ahead with this.”
“Who says so?”
“The city does.” Hershey pointed to the building he lived in. “You’re not permitted to touch that building.”
The foreman looked at the blueprint in front of him. “That’s right,” he said. “We have orders to leave that building standing.”
Hershey frowned. “What? Let me see that.” He looked at the plan and gasped. “They’re going to put up the plaza and leave this building standing?”
“That’s right, mister.”
“But they can’t do that! The noise and dirt!”
“That’s not my problem. Now, if you’ll get out of my way, I’d like to get back to work.”
Thirty minutes later Lara’s secretary said, “There’s a Mr. Hershey on line two, Miss Cameron.”
“Tell him I’m not available.”
When Hershey called for the third time that afternoon, Lara finally picked up the phone and spoke with him.
“Yes, Mr. Hershey. What can I do for you?”
“I’d like to come in and see you, Miss Cameron.”
“I’m afraid I’m rather busy. Whatever it is you have to say you can say on the phone.”
“Well, you’ll be glad to know that I’ve talked to the other tenants in our building and we’ve agreed that it might be best after all to take your offer and vacate our apartments.”
“That offer is no longer good, Mr. Hershey. You can all stay where you are.”
“If you build around us, we’re never going to get any sleep!”
“Who told you we were going to build around you?” Lara demanded. “Where did you get that information?”
“The foreman on the job showed me a blueprint and…”
“Well, he’s going to be fired.” There was fury in Lara’s voice. “That was confidential information.”
“Wait a minute. Let’s talk like two reasonable people, okay? Your project would be better off if we got out of here, and I think we’d be better off leaving. I don’t want to live in the middle of a damned high rise.”
Lara said, “It doesn’t matter to me whether you go or stay, Mr. Hershey.” Her voice softened. “I’ll tell you what I’ll do. If that building is vacated by next month I’m willing to go with our first offer.”
She could hear him thinking it over.
Finally he said reluctantly, “Okay. I’ll talk to the others, but I’m sure it will be all right. I really appreciate this, Miss Cameron.”
Lara said, “It’s been my pleasure, Mr. Hershey.”
The following month, work on the new project began in earnest.
Lara’s reputation was growing. Cameron Enterprises was putting up a high rise in Brooklyn, a shopping center in Westchester, a mall in Washington, D.C. There was a lowcost housing project being constructed in Dallas and a block of condominiums in Los Angeles. Capital flowed in from banks, savings and loan companies, and eager private investors. Lara had become a Name.
Kathy had returned to work.
“I’m back.”
Lara studied her a moment. “How do you feel?”
Kathy smiled. “Great. Thanks to…”
“Do you have a lot of energy?”
She was surprised at the question. “Yes. I…”
“Good. You’re going to need it. I’m making you my executive assistant. There will be a nice raise for you.”
“I don’t know what to say. I…”
“You’ve earned it.”
Lara saw the memo in Kathy’s hand. “What’s that?”
“Gourmet magazine would like to publish your favorite recipe. Are you interested?”
“No. Tell them I’m too…wait a minute.” She sat there a moment, lost in thought. Then she said softly, “Yes. I’ll give them a recipe.”