Xavier was waiting for me in a private airport lounge before our flight, wearing a gray overcoat and holding a printed copy of my portfolio.
He rose when he saw me. His voice was calm and steady.
"Zoey, welcome to Bluewater Design Group. From now on, your work stays yours. No one else gets to take credit for it."
It was only after we landed in New York that I learned who Xavier really was.
He was a licensed architect, the founder of Bluewater Design Group, the heir to Haley Hospitality Group, and one of its managing partners.
Three years earlier, a boutique mountain retreat he had spearheaded had won an international design award, cementing his reputation as a design prodigy.
Yet he reviewed my work without a trace of condescension.
He spread my drawings across the table and examine
