The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

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.

When Sophia arrived, Zachary was already there, waiting.

The guy was over sixty, a retiree from academia.

But with his hefty academic rep and clout, he still got the odd invite to lecture. Post-retirement, he’d shifted gears to focus on architectural research and boosting domestic design.

Probably from years of hard yakka, he looked older than his years, with a head mostly silver, but he still had this refined and gentle vibe, always talking with a twinkle in his eye and a smile at the corner of his mouth, real grandfatherly.

“Professor,” Sophia greeted with a smile upon seeing Zachary at the table.

Zachary beamed, standing to greet her. “You made it.”

After ushering her to her seat and letting her order from the menu, he turned to Sophia. “Have you been swamped with work lately?”

“Nope,” Sophia chuckled, shaking her head, “Just graduated, pretty chill for now.” Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“What’s your plan after graduation?” Zachary probed.

Sophia had heard this same tune before Brandon asked, her dad asked, and now Zachary was the third.

“I’ll sort out some stuff here then head back home to job hunt,” Sophia shared.

“So, you’re not thinking of taking up that gig at Star-Dempsey Architects?” Zachary threw out there.

Sophia froze, giving Zachary a puzzled look.

Zachary just chuckled. “Ivan mentioned it to me.”

Ivan was sorta her senior by the same mentor, both Zachary’s protégés.

“Landing a job like that fresh outta school isn’t 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 – your fans will adore you, but the naysayers might not get it, you’ll be stuck in a bit of an on-off situation.”

“For most companies and clients, we’re all just punching the clock. Between radical and safe, most would rather play it safe to secure their livelihood than take risks, unless you’re the big cheese with a vision. But in today’s climate, those folks are few and far between.”

Sophia nodded quietly. “I get it.”

She wasn’t some green newbie; she knew the job hunt’s ups and downs all too well.

And the compromises in the work process.

In architecture, it was not just about transferring thoughts to paper. Aligning with leadership’s style and vision was key.

Without a mentor on the same wavelength, a project could suffer endless tweaks until it was unrecognizable.

And that was just from the higher-ups.

If you got a client who’s all over the place, you were back in endless revision loops, needing a boss who can wrangle them.

Thanks to a guy named Don, Sophia hadn’t felt much of this pressure.

She was clued in enough to know that until her work was fully recognized, she might not find another champion if she switched jobs.

So, before making any moves, she needed rock-solid achievements to speak for her, to be the one calling the shots.

09:29:3

It’s like acting – no matter how stellar your skills, without an award or a hit role to your name, no one’s taking your word as gospel. But once you hit it big or snag an award, even if your views are controversial, you’re still treated like the authority.

For Sophia at this stage, the Zenithan-style resort project was her golden ticket, her springboard.

“Ivan showed me your project designs, Zachary said slowly, “I reckon it’s a strong contender for awards. Don’t let it go to waste.” Sophia hesitated, looking at him.

Zachary smiled gently, “Sophia, you’ve always been one of my sharpest and most creative students. You know what you want, and what you don’t. I won’t harp on it, just hope you won’t bury your talent. Like two years ago, when you rushed into marriage and lost two years.”

Sophia nodded, “Thanks, Professor. I’ll think it through.”

Zachary nodded back, not dwelling on the topic, and steered the conversation to work and studies, chatting about the latest industry news and trends. Sophia listened intently, chiming in now and then. Noticing Zachary’s coffee cup was empty, she picked up the cup and filled it up for him.

Someone hustled by through the aisle next to her, moving fast and frenzied. As they passed by Sophia, their thigh accidentally bumped into her elbow, the one holding the coffee cup, and just like that, the coffee splashed out.

Sophia instinctively whipped her head around to see who it was, a slight frown creasing her brow.

She knew the guy.

Two years back, when she and Brandon were shacking up at the Starlight Hotel, it was the same stocky dude they bumped into in the basement parking lot.

Back then, Brandon didn’t want the chubby guy to catch a glimpse of them, so he’d pulled a fast one and pretended to smooch her, dodging the peepers of him and another tall, skinny guy.

She remembered asking Brandon who those two were, and Brandon had spilled the beans – the chunky fellow was named Darcy, the big cheese for the Starlight Hotel’s operations in Ephemora.