The plans had all been worked out with Alper in the fall, and his assistant called Friday to tell her that the construction permits had finally come through. Crews would be arriving Monday morning to begin digging in preparation for the plumbing and concrete work.

It was a breezy, bright morning, after thunderstorms the night before. The weather was finally warming up enough to suggest that spring was actually here. At nine a.m., Fionna was standing in the soon-to-be workzone of the Luks Condos courtyard with the blueprints and design sketches for the fountain and formal gardens commissioned by the Ergins. In addition to the mosaic work for the fountain, inspired by Turkish and Moroccan traditional art, there were to be walkways and alcoves with benches, and her mosaic work scattered throughout - in the walks themselves, in vases and little mini fountains, in birdbaths and standing art. Her summer was shaping up into a massive project.

The excavation crew arrived at nine-fifteen; while workers began cordoning off the central area for the dig, others began measuring off the area and setting markers. Fio, the foreman, and the project manager from Kocs Holdings assigned to oversee the installation were huddled in one corner of the breezy courtyard, reviewing the requirements one last time.

"We should have everything ready for the concrete by tomorrow afternoon," Jasper Grennig, the foreman assured them. "Weather's supposed to be sunny and the rain last night wasn't enough to make the ground too mucky. After that, it's the plumbers and the concrete crews you have to juggle."

Tomorrow afternoon! If everything stayed on schedule, that meant that she'd be able to start her work on the architectural pieces by the first week of May. After the long winter, it was hard to believe that it was actually, finally, happening.

"That's wonderful news! Thank you!"

The work was about to start.