Two Egos Collide

Friday morning, after Dean arrived at work, he headed straight for David's office. Hearing movement even before he entered, Dean began, "Did you get my email last night about Mia's proposal?"

Looking up from what he was doing, David said, "Yes, I did. Thank you for that." He was in the midst of organising his leather compendium. "I sent it to her with my numbers this morning already."

"Ok. Are you off to the Taoyuan City Council?" Dean noticed the airport extension project files that David was packing.

"Yes, I will be gone for the day. But call me if there is anything."

"Sure. Have a nice trip. Please send them my regards," Dean said as he tapped on David's doorframe and practically skipped to his own office on the other side of the floor.

---***---

Mia was in her office when she received David's proposal. She glanced at the email, then clicked on the file and scrolled to its pricing page. She raised her eyebrows and smiled at the total. "Hmm, I am sure David is doing me a favour for Beverley," she thought. However, scrolling through the details, she sighed at the line item, Interior Design Services.

Mia had always intended to work with Kai-Lin Wang on the interior. She promptly dialled David's number to discuss it with him. The phone rang for some time before he picked up. "Hi Mia, how are you? Did you get the proposal that I sent to you this morning?" Loud intermittent flapping noises distorted his voice. "Hi David, yes I did, thank you." Soon, the echoes of footsteps on hard surfaces hit her ears. "Are you in transit, David? I can't hear you very well."

"Yes, sorry, I'm in a car park right now and I need to be in Taoyuan today. If at all possible, could you give Dean a call instead? He's in the office and will be able to talk you through it. Do you have his number?"

Mia frowned and replied, "I don't. Could you text it to me?"

"Yes, I will do that as soon as I can."

Ping. Mia dialled the number as soon as she received it.

After a short wait, a familiar deep voice responded with suspicion, "Hello?"

"Hi Dean, this is Mia Chou." Suddenly, Mia became conscious of how she sounded.

"Oh hi, Mia. How are you?" Dean answered, pleasantly surprised by her call.

Impatient to rectify the proposal, Mia requested, "Dean, can I talk to you about my proposal?"

Dean snickered at her directness, "Yes of course. Let me open it in front of me. Got it. How can I help?"

Mia pressed her lips together at the sound of his snicker, "Well, I am going to use my interior designer, so I won't need any interior design services from you."

"I see..." Hailed by the industry as its architectural prodigy, Mia's resolve felt like a slap on Dean's face. He attempted to reason away her behaviour, that women in her position are expected to be direct. However, he could not help himself and demanded, "Who will be your interior designer?" Then equally brutal he continued, "My name will be on that building so I need to protect my reputation."

The heat rose to Mia's temples at Dean's tone of voice. However, her own voice did not betray her, "Not sure if you have heard of him, but it's Kai-Lin Wang."

"I have heard of him..." Dean grimaced to himself. Although well-regarding in the industry, he looked down on Kai Lin's conventional designs. Feeling a sudden overpowering sense of competition, Dean tried to win Mia over. "How about this. I will reword the services as optional as I still want to show you my team's interior design concept. That way you can compare it with Kai-Lin's."

Mia did not answer immediately. She contemplated in silence, processing Dean's suggestion. For the last four years, she had only Kai-Lin's designs as a reference. This was an opportunity to assess them against another capable and creative team. Her heart began to glow at the thought of new possibilities for her dream flagship store.

However, the unexpected silence from Mia was unbearable for Dean, "Mia? Are you still there?"

Always conscious of her budget, she reacted, "Yes. I'm here. I'm ok with that. As long as I don't have to pay extra for the design." At this, Dean snickered again, "No no. It's free." Turning pink, Mia regretted her words straight away. Nonetheless, she sternly asked, "When do you think you can update the proposal and start the negotiations for the property? Or is it something that I need to talk to David about?"

Dean's jaw tightened as he clenched and unclenched his free hand. "I can do that now and send it back to you in an hour." Remembering protocol, he added, "After we have your signature against the proposal. Perhaps you can send it signed back to me via email."

"Yes, I can do that."

Satisfied, Mia's voice promptly softened, "Thank you so much, Dean."

At the sudden sound of Mia pronouncing his name in her silky voice, Dean became putty. He replied in a similar gentle tone, "Not a problem, Mia. I look forward to working with you."

"Me too," Mia continued in the voice that made Dean warm inside. "Thank you. I will be in touch."

"Yes, no problems, Mia." Captivated, Dean wanted to say her name again and again.

After they exchanged goodbyes, a wide grin spread across his face as he glanced at the name on his screen. Mia Chou. He was elated that he will soon be able to see her and hear her voice regularly for months to come.

---***---

After her phone conversation, Dean kept popping into Mia's mind. She physically shook her head a few times to clear Dean's handsome smiling face out of her brain. To be sure, she even slapped her own cheeks a few times to the surprise of her team sitting closest to her office. "She must be overworked..." Some of them thought to themselves, shaking their heads as they watched and vowed to buy her some chicken essence for her next birthday.

Luckily, Mia had her dinner with Beverley that evening. Perhaps she could ask her, "I have a friend who's met a very handsome Caucasian guy that she is working with. She is totally into Asian guys but this one really caught her attention..." Mia shook her head profusely again, "No. No. Beverley will know who I'm talking about straight away. Maybe I can ask her indirectly, like talk about David..." She thought as she hatched a plan to get Beverley's advice.