Page 49 of When Annika Met Thom

“Not you,” Annika guessed.

“I made a list of top climbing walls within a hundred-mile radius and I visited every one of them. Every weekend I went to a different one, climbed it, talked to patrons there about what they liked and didn’t like about it, and brought back my notes.”

“Another lecture series,” she teased. “I don’t understand why you’d work so hard at it. You said you work here part-time.”

“But this is Flatiron Five Fitness. This is the best club in Manhattan and the wall has to be the best place to climb anywhere near here. It has to bring people to the club and they have to be able to climb it every weekend for a year, discovering something new about it each time. That’s what will make them become members.” Thom considered the space, with the enclosing glass wall that would let everyone see the climbers, day or night. “It has to be epic.”

“It will be with these specs, and only because of you, T. Foley,” Annika teased. “We’ve never installed one this big.”

“Everything has to be epic here.”

“Everything?”

“Everything. No compromises. Only the best will do.”

“Then it’s a good thing I’m here.” Annika opened her briefcase and Thom saw why it was so big when she removed a hard hat. She put it on with a gesture of familiarity, then pulled out rolls of plans. She shoved her purse into the briefcase then strode toward the site, plans under her arm. The construction team turned to look at her and Thom saw that the partners had all gathered to meet her. He would have introduced her, but Tyler stepped out of the group and offered his hand.

“You must be Ms. March. We’re very glad you’ve made the trip to oversee the installation.”

“It’s got to be exactly right,” Annika said and Ty nodded agreement.

“I see you’ve met Thom Foley, who has shared so much of his experience in helping to design the wall.”

“We have met,” Annika said crisply, giving nothing away.

Thom felt an interesting mix of relief and annoyance, one that he wasn’t going to explore.

“My partners,” Ty said, gesturing. “Kyle Stuyvesant, Damon Perez, Cassie Wilson and Theo Tremblay.” Annika shook hands all around and Thom knew he shouldn’t have been annoyed that Kyle smiled at her so broadly. “The foreman on the installation team, Bruno Cassitas, and the lead inspector from the city, Vince Fiordino.”

“I’ll just be dropping in at intervals,” Vince said as he shook her hand. He was an older man, balding with a little extra padding around the middle. He had an aura of competence that made him seem trustworthy. He reminded Thom of his dad.

Bruno, meanwhile, needed to get his tongue back in his mouth. He was about the same age as Thom, but was looking at Annika as if he’d never seen a woman before.

“I’ll be glad to talk to you whenever you do,” Annika said to Vince, her tone crisp. “At the firm, we were thinking this wall would be a showpiece project, but I see it will be more of one than we’d realized.” She gestured to the glass with a smile. “The whole city will be watching, so let’s build this with precision.”

“That’s what we do,” Bruno said and she smiled.

“Excellent. I’m glad to have your team on this then. Let’s get started.”

Annika was smaller than all of them, but undaunted and coolly professional. She asked to have her briefcase placed somewhere secure and Cassie took it, then she approached the site with her plans, the foreman and the inspector close on her heels. Kyle was still trying to flirt with her, but she went right to work. She checked out the steel that had been delivered, referring to the plans, while she talked technical details with the team.

She knew what she was doing and in about three seconds, the team all recognized that truth. Thom was impressed, but he had to get to work, too.

Six

It was a great day.

Annika was filled with satisfaction when she left Flatiron Five Fitness at six. She could already see progress on the climbing wall. The team assembled for the job was great. The site was incredible. The partners were supportive and engaged. She hadn’t had such a good day at a job site in a long time.

Bruno had invited her to go to the park across the street where there were food stalls and trucks at lunch, and she’d agreed. There had been no sign of Thom then, and someone said he was in the weight room. It was a sunny day, if a bit cool, but the park was fascinating. Annika had a hard time deciding what to try first and knew she’d just work her way through all the offerings, or as many as she could try in two weeks.

They sat on a bench together to eat and Bruno told her a bit about the district and its architecture, a lot of which she already knew. He was a nice guy, though, and good-looking, so obviously interested in her that it was a balm to her pride. She enjoyed his company, telling herself that she’d prove Thom wrong about men and women being friends.

She had no chance to talk to Thom again before he left in the middle of the afternoon. Kyle explained that Thom wasn’t usually in on Mondays but had wanted to see the climbing wall take shape. She’d thought he might linger, but he vanished without a word. A bit late, she remembered that he had a second part-time job.

Funny that she missed him.

She left her briefcase in the office at F5F when Kyle offered to lock it up for her there, and just took her purse to head home.

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