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.

Sophia arrived, Zachary was already there, waiting.

sixty, a retiree

hefty academic rep and clout, he still got the odd invite to lecture. Post-retirement, he’d shifted gears to focus on

had this refined and gentle vibe, always talking with a twinkle in his eye and

upon

greet her. “You made

her seat and letting her order from the menu, he turned to Sophia. “Have you been swamped

Sophia chuckled, shaking her head, “Just

plan after graduation?”

her dad asked, and now Zachary was the third.

head back

of taking up that gig at

Zachary a puzzled look.

chuckled. “Ivan mentioned it to me.”

by the same mentor, both Zachary’s protégés.

a cakewalk. Especially since that Zenithan-style resort proposal you cooked up got the green light,” Zachary advised with a hint of concern, “In our design biz, sure, talent and 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 a name for yourself, your masterpiece might be treasure in A’s eyes but trash to B. With your bold style, you’re gonna polarize

it safe to secure their livelihood than take risks, unless you’re

“I

job hunt’s ups and downs all too well.

compromises in

to paper.

mentor on the same wavelength, a project could suffer endless tweaks until it

was just

client who’s all over the place, you were back

to a guy named Don, Sophia hadn’t felt much of

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