He crossed Lexington Ave to enter the design district with just a slight layer of sweat. Although he ran the second largest design + strategy agency in the city, he had chosen to work out of an office on the other side of Lexington, which technically put them within the industrial area.

The decision wasn't his... it was his partner's Kate. Magnus had been eyeing one of the upper suite of the Stetson. He had dreamed about working out of there for a decade now. Before there had been a real estate firm up there, but once they closed down and moved out, Magnus' ears perked up.

Kate didn't want ot get into another lease as the city's real estate prices soared. It was time to buy a place for the agency. An old warehouse a few blocks over from Lexington had become vacant two years earlier. Nobody had wanted it at the time because the seller hadn't put enough work into it. Too dirty for the creative class. Not enough manufacturers in the city. The place stayed vacant for a year until the owner sold it to another developer who began renovating it.

Still, the warehouse didn't attract the creatives. Although it was labeled an upcoming neighborhood, this was a premature label created not by actual people, but the city who was trying to rebrand the area. The place was still filled with crime and dangerous litter like used needles. But Kate wanted to take the bet. She was sure that in a few years the place would be filled with coffee shops and other creative firms and boutique shops. It would be a good investment.

She didn't know how she would convince Magnus, but that didn't matter because she was majority owner. Magnus was the "owner" in the eyes of the public: a tall, large framed man who wore nice suits. He made the perfect face to get the more blue chip clients.

This is what hit Magnus the lowest. He thought of this as he made his way into his favorite cafe. There were the usual strew of laptoppers, a few first-daters, a few philosophers talking too loudly and proudly. Today it was too busy for him to get a seat. He'd just take his black

coffee

to go. But he was still glad to have stopped in, even though there was free coffee at the office.

Stopping here reminded him of the days when he used to sit on his

Macbook Pro

in these kind of cafes trying to hustle. Trying to make something of himself. Today he'd made it, but he still liked to return to this kind of

cafe

 to remind himself of where he came from. Before heading out the door he glanced back and wondered if any of these young mother fuckers would one day become like him. A fucking god damn stud in a two thousand dollar suit.