Chapter 142

Sophia glanced at her phone and saw a call from her college mentor, Zachary.

Raising an eyebrow in confusion, she picked up the call.

It turned out that Zachary was hitting her up for a meal.

He was in town for a scholarly conference and knew she was still around, so he wanted to catch up over some grub.

Sophia was kinda taken aback.

Zachary had been her uni mentor.

Back in her freshman year, she’d snagged an award at the Architectural Design Competition and caught Zachary’s eye. He’d taken her under his wing ever since.

During those years, it was Zachary leading her through projects, from group gigs without any credit to solo designs where her name could shine. His mentorship paved the way for where she was today.

So, for her old college mentor, Sophia had nothing but respect, gratitude, and admiration.

When she nailed her grad school acceptance here, she’d buzzed Zachary with the good news first thing.

Life, work, and studies had gotten in the way, and while they hadn’t worked together in a while, they stayed in touch. But since she hadn’t managed to go back home, she hadn’t had the chance to visit him in person.

Now with Zachary swinging by for a conference, Sophia was both surprised and stoked.

She was down for the dinner date.

Zachary had set it up for the evening at a joint near the campus.

Zachary was already there,

over sixty,

still got the odd invite to

this refined and gentle vibe, always talking with a twinkle in his eye and a smile at the

a smile upon seeing Zachary at the table.

beamed, standing to greet

the menu, he

“Just

after graduation?” Zachary probed.

before Brandon asked, her dad asked, and now Zachary was the

head

thinking of taking up that gig at Star-Dempsey Architects?” Zachary threw out

Zachary

just chuckled. “Ivan mentioned it to me.”

by the same mentor, both Zachary’s

smarts matter, but so does finding your patron. Our job’s about pleasing aesthetics, but beauty’s in the eye of the beholder. Before you make

their livelihood than take risks, unless you’re the big cheese with a vision. But in today’s climate, those folks

“I get it.”

job hunt’s ups

compromises in the work

was not just about transferring thoughts to

project could suffer endless

that was just

back in endless revision loops, needing

named Don, Sophia hadn’t felt much of

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