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Rosie watched Jessica walk down the street before turning in the opposite direction herself. Walking, she wrapped her arms around herself, in the places on her sides that Jessica had touched. Her whole body still buzzed from their hug. It was like her every cell was humming the tune it was meant to sing.

As soon as Rosie got home, she messaged her. I’m home safe and sound. I swear I saw the golden ratio in an advertisement on the Central Line for shampoo. See you on Tuesday!

Within a few minutes, Jessica replied. Rosie’s heart jumped when she saw the message. Glad you got home okay. It was good bumping into you tonight. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Rosie was dying to get into a conversation over messaging but restrained herself enough to leave it there, unsure she could handle being left on read by Jessica Frost after their awesome evening together.

On Monday morning, Rosie took an early train to Clydebank, excited to start the week and see Jessica again at some point. The train was busy, but she was able to block it out, focus on her coffee and what she had to do this week.

She headed straight to the site from the train station, smiling at Jessica’s drawings on the platform, wheeling her suitcase behind her with her laptop bag strapped across her body and her rucksack on her back. The site was busy with engineers and contractors. Rosie went through the flimsy door to the portacabin to find Jessica sitting behind the desk, working on her laptop.

“Jessica?”

Jessica looked up. The relaxed and open Jessica from Saturday night had disappeared. Her face was serious, with that cold and distant look in her eyes. “Hello, Rosie.”

Rosie instantly missed the Jessica she’d met on Saturday night. “I thought you weren’t coming until tomorrow.”

“A water pipe burst last night. It’s wreaking havoc in parts of the site and causing pockets of flooding in the town. No one has been injured but there has been some damage to property.”

“That’s terrible. Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“They called me in the middle of the night. I know you have a busy week ahead. I didn’t want to worry you. You’re here now. This is me telling you.”

That was fair, and kind that she was thinking about her wellbeing, but Rosie would still have liked to have been told sooner. It would have ruined her sleep last night, though.

Jessica stood and pointed at her laptop. “Here, take a look. The water company sent us these pictures of the burst pipe and the worst affected areas.”

Rosie went around the desk. There were pockets of flooding all over the site. It was a disaster and would set them back massively. “Fuck.”

“I’m already on it,” Jessica said. “I’ve got the water company out. John is with them right now.”

“I’m sure that’s going well.”

“Hmm. We should probably get over there.”

“I’ll get my gear on.” Rosie sat down and changed her shoes. “Did Des drive you?”

“No. I drove up myself. I’ll need a car each day and I couldn’t ask Des to stay.”

The flooding was worse in person than in the pictures. There were people everywhere, mostly plodding around aimlessly in water up to their shins. They’d had all the pipes checked before any work began, even after Patrick had said it had been done last year.

Jessica was already headed towards the group standing around the worst affected area, stalking up to them like a leopard in the wild.

Rosie ran a bit to catch up with her, already dreading what they had to say.

“Your assessment?” Jessica’s voice was calm.

The guy with the suit on underneath his high-vis vest answered first. “We suspect sabotage. Our records show we have been through our standard operating procedures with no sign of damage. In other words, someone did this on purpose.”

Rosie wanted to scream at the sky. Instead, she clenched her jaw and stood beside Jessica.

“Okay. Thank you for telling us like it is.” Jessica’s voice was cool and even.

“I’m sorry, Dr Frost.”

“How soon can you clear the area?” Rosie said.

He looked at Rosie and grimaced. “Clear-ups like these aren’t quick. I’m afraid it’ll take at least a week, maybe longer.”

Rosie shook her head. “How was it so easy for someone to gain access to the pipes like that? We double checked the area before work began. This shouldn’t have happened.”

“She’s right,” Jessica said, her voice steady and firm. “We completed our due diligence. Our insurance is more than covered for this exact situation. We can’t lose a week or more. It would cost us far too much. We would have to make a claim on our insurance and that is only going to cost you a lot of money. You’re a national agency. I recommend you get at least double the workers on this and get it done in three days. If not, I’ll get our lawyers involved. I think we have a solid case to claim for the residential areas too, on behalf of the local authority.”

Rosie couldn’t believe Jessica was playing that card so soon, but then, this guy had gone straight to ‘it’s not their fault’ and ‘it would take an eternity to sort out’. Fuck him. Jessica was right.

The man held Jessica’s eyes for a few moments. They stood off against each other in a sort of silent battle of wills. Rosie’s money was on Jessica.

“I’ll speak to my boss,” he said, finally.

“Thank you,” Jessica said, squaring her shoulders. “And please can you contain your operation to this area only. We are very busy, as you can see.”

Rosie wanted to fist pump the air. She smiled politely, instead. Got to keep it professional. She followed Jessica who was walking towards the river now. It was thrilling to be on the inside of Jessica’s take-no-shit ways.

“Well done,” Rosie said, sideways to Jessica.

“Let’s hope they honour their word. Otherwise, I’ll set our lawyers loose on them. Actually, can you give them a call and let them know? I want them to be prepared. I’ve emailed you all the documents already. They’ll need a brief summary, and can you arrange a meeting?”

“I’ll get straight on it. Is Amelia aware?”

“She doesn’t know yet. Can you fill her in too? And tell her she doesn’t need to be here and that she can manage things from London.” Jessica came to a stop by the railing and turned around. The river raged behind her. She looked pensive.

Water cascaded off the wall next to them into the river. But they couldn’t rely on gravity alone to fix the problem. The site had some gentle hills which now had pools of water surrounding them.

“This really fucking bothers me,” Jessica said, in a low voice that sounded sexy even though that was totally out of context.

“Who would have done it?”

“I don’t know. Someone who wants to mess with the build?”

“That’s terrifying.”

“We weren’t the only ones affected. We shouldn’t assume it was against us. Not until we have further evidence.”

“Fair.”

“Are you still going to be okay to do the engagement session tomorrow night?”

“Yes. I can still do it.”

“Great, thanks. We’ll need to have a statement ready, for when it comes up. Can you also ask Amelia to prepare something?”

“I can do the statement. I’m closer to it all.”

Jessica held Rosie’s eyes, all business mode and strategic thinking. “Can you get it to me by the end of the day?”

“Yes.”

The rest of the day was spent in a blur of phone calls, emails, and conversations with the water company while wading through water up to her shins. By six, Rosie was finally able to sit down and write the statement. Jessica was still on site. She’d been on fire all day, monitoring everything everyone was doing and calling all the shots. Rosie felt relieved Jessica was here and pulling her weight. Dealing with this disaster on her own might have completely wiped her out.

Rosie focused on the statement and within an hour she had it done. She fired the email off to Jessica, copying in Amelia and the lawyers, and began packing up for the evening.

Jessica came into the portacabin, a little worse for wear having been in the elements all day. Her hair was matted when she took her hat off and she looked tired. Had she slept at all last night?

“Hey, how did it go? I was just about to leave. I emailed you the statement.”

Jessica looked over at her and smiled, gently. The change from hard to soft when she saw Rosie was lovely. “Thanks, Rosie. I’ll take a look at it later tonight. I’ve spent ages with the water company. They appear to work faster when one of us is present.”

“Thank you for being here, Jessica. I appreciate it.”

“No problem,” Jessica said, packing her things up now. “I’m leaving too. I’m so tired.”

“I bet you are. Are you coming back to the Airbnb?”

“I had Amelia book me into the hotel this afternoon.”

Rosie felt disappointed. Jessica had chosen the hotel over the house with her.

Rosie got a taxi to her Airbnb after Jessica drove off. It was subtle, but Rosie got the feeling that Jessica was pulling back from her. But she didn’t feel like Jessica no longer enjoyed her company; it was like she was having to keep her distance. The thought made Rosie even more interested and curious to know what was going on between them. Because it felt like something was.

At the engagement session the next afternoon, Rosie was setting up with Tara and Tom. They were both busy running around, making the place look like the inside of an architecture company. They were going to do a welcome reception with tea, coffee, soft drinks and sandwiches and biscuits on the buffet. The reception was open to everyone. Local residents were welcome to come in and ask questions about the project and voice any concerns. Rosie would then run two focus groups afterwards, one after the other. The attendees of the groups would be representative of the town’s population and each person would receive fifty pounds for their participation. Cash incentives usually got the attendance up.

Jessica arrived, gracefully dressed in a hot-as-fuck suit and heels. Her hair was gorgeous and bouncy. It looked like she’d spent ages doing her make-up. She couldn’t have looked more different to yesterday, or to everyone else in the modest town hall.

“Hi Jessica,” Rosie said, trying not to check Jessica out any further. “I’m glad you’re here. Did you get much work done at the hotel?”

“Yes. I’ve been holed up making calls to our lawyers and the insurance company all day.”

“How did it go?”

“As expected, I got them to pay out.”

“Nice job. I bet they were shaking in their boots.”

Jessica shrugged. “We have cause within the policy to claim for this.”

“How is your room?”

“It’s strangely loud during the night. The bed is uncomfortable. I didn’t sleep very well.”

“You should stay at the house then. It’s quiet and the beds are nice.”

“I might take you up on that, if you’re sure you don’t mind?”

“Of course I don’t mind.”

By five, people started filing into the hall. Rosie stood front and centre, smiling, hoping to welcome people as much as possible. Tara and Tom were meeting people at the door, beckoning them inside. The information material was plastered all over the walls. Jessica sat behind the desk stall, working on her laptop, never looking up.

“How’s the clear up going?” An older man asked Rosie. He’d been at the first engagement session and loved the idea of the new waterfront. “I hear it has ruined half of your foundations. I used to work in the building trade myself, so I know how much of a headache that’s going to be.”

“It’s going okay so far, thanks. We’ve got a lot of help to clear it all up and continue the build.”

“That’s good. Nothing better delay this gem of a park you’ve got planned. We’ve waited for decades already.”

“I hear you.”

“I’m going to take a look at your new plans.”

He smiled and moved on.

A woman with a child started talking to Rosie. “The area is crying out for a proper greenspace. I have to drive for twenty-five minutes to the nearest play park when we have so much space on our doorstep that goes unused. Thank you so much for what you’re doing. I’ve been sharing the links about your project around on the WhatsApp group for the parents at school. Everyone’s so relieved they’re not just flattening it and building flats that no one can afford and that block out the nicest view in the town. We cannot wait for it to be built so we can start enjoying where we live for once. The kids need it and frankly so do we.”

“Wow,” Rosie said, feeling suddenly under a lot of pressure. “That’s so fantastic to hear, thank you! We’ll do our very best to get it done as soon as humanly possible.”

“Angels, the lot of you,” the woman said, before she bent down to pick up her child.

Rosie glanced at Jessica again. She was still glued to her laptop typing away, totally disengaged. She was missing out on this.

“Good luck. I hope it all goes well.” The woman wandered over to one of the pop-up information boards.

And so it continued. Rosie spoke with person after person, all voicing their support and concern for the build, while Jessica sat back and did something else. Rosie had seen glimpses of Jessica being warm and interested, so why was she being so withdrawn on her so-called passion project in the town she grew up in?

When the first focus group began, Rosie attempted to put Jessica out of her mind. Rosie had a series of questions, which she asked in a very informal way, to encourage people to open up. She talked about their response to the feedback from the initial focus groups. It was going well.

Having finally put her laptop away, Jessica listened in to the discussion but didn’t say one word. She sat to the side, legs crossed, hands clasped and resting on her lap, observing and taking everything in. Tara and Tom even talked more than Jessica. Rosie was so confused by Jessica, and a little disappointed, so she took to looking over at Jessica and inviting her into the conversation, but Jessica never took the cues. If they ever did one of these sessions here again, Rosie would insist that Jessica should give a welcoming speech or say a few words at the end. Jessica was too wrapped up in this project not to say a word. Maybe Jessica was more of an introvert than Rosie had realised. Or maybe she had some major deep-seated issues when it came to this town and her past. Either way, Rosie had to know more. She had to get Jessica to open up. For her own sake and for that of the project’s. If people only knew that the person at the helm of this whole project was born and bred here, there would be some sort of acknowledgement and good feeling, surely, pride at the very least. More trust.

But Jessica wasn’t allowing any of it.

Once the second group was done, Tara and Tom dismantled the room and got cleared up.

“Good job, guys. You both did well.”

“Cheers, Rosie,” Tara said. “It was good to be involved.”

“I recorded the groups on the app,” Tom said. “It has everything that was said organised into bullet points. I’ve emailed them to us all already.”

“That’s amazing, Tom, thanks,” Rosie said. “You guys get going. It’s late.”

Tara and Tom headed back to their hotel, taking the equipment with them – stands, posters, leaflets. They’d hired a car and left in that.

Rosie felt tired but wired, having absorbed all of the energy from the room and their excitement about the project.

“You’re good with people,” Jessica said, kindly, from the side.

“I aim to please.”

Jessica stood, gathering her things. “I think you will be unstoppable once you dial down the need to be so pleasing to others. You have the perfect blend of competence and empathy.”

Rosie didn’t know what to say to that. She was working on being less of a people pleaser. Hearing Jessica call her out on it though was both annoying and hot.

Rosie got in Jessica’s car after Jessica offered her a lift home. Jessica’s car was a sexy Mercedes fit for a spy film.

“I need to pick up my things from the hotel first.”

“Sounds good to me.”

They drove in a comfortable silence through the town. Jessica knew the directions and which lanes to use, not relying on any help.

Rosie waited in the car at the hotel, giddy from exhaustion and excitement that she was going to be sharing a house with the oh-so-elusive Jessica Frost.

Jessica appeared with a small suitcase not long later, as Rosie’s heart fluttered in the passenger seat.

It was quiet on the country roads on the way to the cottage. When they got there, Rosie self-consciously opened the door and invited Jessica into the house. She switched on the lights in the hall.

“This place is perfect,” Jessica said, looking around. “Which is the spare bedroom?”

Rosie showed her the way and opened the door.

Jessica kicked off her heels and lay her luggage on the floor by the bed. “And there’s even an en-suite bathroom. Perfect. I already feel more relaxed. Thanks for sorting this out, Rosie.” Jessica held Rosie’s eyes for a second. “Thank you for everything.”

Rosie nodded, feeling like she had a million questions for Jessica but didn’t want to overstep. Rosie could tell Jessica was going through a lot. It was like Jessica was wearing a ton of armour, and Rosie wanted to help her take it off. But tonight was for rest. “I hope you sleep better, Jessica. I’m just across the hall.” Rosie closed the door on her way out.

She had a message from Carla and chatted to her for a bit.

Is Jessica staying in the house with you?

She is.

OMFG how are you coping? I hope you’re keeping your cool, Rosie.

It’s lovely. She’s a kitten underneath that ice queen front. But yeah, I’m shitting myself. Trying to keep my cool. It’s not working lol!!!!!

Keep me posted. I beg of you.

It took Rosie a while to get to sleep, her senses being on high alert with Jessica sleeping in the next room.

Jessica was away by the time Rosie got up the next morning. Rosie hadn’t heard her leave. She felt disappointed not to have seen her for breakfast.

After getting a taxi down to the site, Rosie found Jessica in the portacabin, standing by a wall studying the design schematics. She was wearing a tailored suit which accentuated her slender waist and gorgeous back.

“Good morning,” Jessica said, coffee in hand from the nice place.

“Hey, good morning.”

“I got you one.” Jessica nodded towards the desk and the cup on it. “I hope it’s still warm.”

“That’s so kind of you, thanks.” Rosie put her bag down, picked up the coffee and joined Jessica by the wall. She took a sip. “It’s warm.”

“Good.”

“So, what are you thinking?”

“There’s an issue with one of the paths on the far side. John told me on the way in.”

“Shit.”

“With the time and money we’ve lost due to the flooding, this is the last thing we need.” Jessica pointed to the affected area, her slender fingers gliding across the paper.

Rosie studied the area. “What if we put in some flower beds over it and divert the path from here to here, connecting it to this one instead?” Rosie pointed out an imaginary triangle.

Jessica turned to Rosie and looked directly at the side of Rosie’s face.

Jessica’s shift in focus was enough to cause a slight tremble through Rosie’s body and for Rosie’s mind to go blank. Rosie steadied her breath and took her eyes away from the design schematics and faced Jessica. “It could be a good workaround if we make it another feature of the park instead of empty space. We could encourage the community to look after the plants. It could even become a sort of extension to the walled garden, if there’s support for it.” Rosie envisioned it looking quite beautiful, with all varieties of plants and herbs peppered around with labels on them.

Jessica was very still.

Rosie could see her mind working.

“I like it. And it would be more cost effective,” Jessica said, finally. “Please can you work up this revised plan and share it with me? Later today or tomorrow would be fine.”

“Of course.” Rosie smiled.

“Nice work, Rosie. Thank you.”

Rosie beamed now. Praise from Jessica hit differently. It was so satisfying. She could hear it all the time. It felt like they were on the same wavelength, too.

“I’m going to help in town with the relief effort from the flooding. They’re still clearing up and helping the affected households. It’s going to take a while, apparently. It’s not technically work but I want to help.”

“Wow, that’s so kind. Do you need any help?”

“No thanks. I need you here keeping an eye on the water company. I’ll be out most of the day but then I’ll be back.”

They got to work after their brief interaction; Rosie on her laptop and Jessica on hers. At some point during the day, Jessica disappeared because when Rosie looked up she was gone.

Rosie worked steadily for the whole day, in between nipping out to check on things on the site. The water company had heeded Jessica’s demands and were making good progress with the clear up.

The door opened, squeaking and flimsy. Jessica stepped in, windswept.

“Hey, you’re back.”

“You’re here late, Rosie.”

“How did you get on today?”

“Good, I think. I hope I’ve helped in some way. It’s reminding me of why I love what we do. Not that I’m happy about the flooding, but getting out there and doing something practical for once makes a change.”

“You look energised.”

“I feel it. Although I’d like to go back to the house soon. Do you want a lift?”

“I would love a lift.”

Rosie sat in the passenger seat of Jessica’s car for the second night in a row. Jessica was quiet the whole ride home.

They hovered at the front door while Rosie found the keys at the bottom of her bag.

Jessica took her smart blazer off and hung it over her forearm, waiting patiently.

Rosie let them in. “Have you eaten? I could make us some dinner?”

“I haven’t, no. But don’t worry about me.”

“Well, I’ll be in the kitchen if you want to hang out.”

Jessica nodded at Rosie before hanging up her blazer and disappearing into her room.

Rosie made some pasta and heated up some tomato sauce. She didn’t have the bandwidth to make anything more substantial. At the small kitchen table, Rosie ate in silence and listened out for Jessica. There was water on in the bathroom. Jessica was taking a bath or shower. It was surreal sharing space with Jessica, but she was getting more used to being around her now.

An hour later Rosie went to bed, with no sign of Jessica appearing from her room.

The next afternoon, Rosie was overseeing the measurements for the layout of the restoration yard with the engineers. Lines had been staked to the ground to demonstrate potential walls. She was cross-referencing the work with a 3D virtual design on her iPad. This was where she felt her architecture skills were most needed, ensuring that what was in the design was actually making it into the building specifications.

“How’s it looking?” Jessica said, coming up behind her. Her tone was all business.

She had only spoken to Jessica on the drive in this morning, aside from seeing her across the site, a distance away, so it was nice of her to come over. “Reassuringly precise. I’ve got to hand it to John and his team, they’ve done well on this.”

“Excellent.”

“Are you still happy with the layout? This is our last chance to change anything before building starts.”

Jessica glanced at Rosie. “I’m still happy with it. Are you not?”

“I am. I was just checking with you.”

Jessica nodded, the skin between her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Rosie loved how sure of herself that Jessica was. It was so attractive.

“I was thinking one thing though,” Rosie said, not sure if this was going to go down well or not. “About the materials, since the last remaining warehouse is red brick, I thought we could incorporate some similar material into the feature walls in the restoration yard and walled garden. It fits with the heritage of the town and would link the two areas together more. Granted not many people will notice but it could be a nice touch. What do you think?”

A slow smile spread across Jessica’s lips. “I love that idea. Can you run the numbers? If we can afford it, I’d like to explore it further. It has potential.”

“Great! I’ll let you know.”

They held each other’s eyes.

Rosie felt like she could come up with a ton of ideas while working with Jessica. “This is literally the best project I’ve ever worked on,” she blurted out.

Jessica smiled, not moving away, even though she probably had other things to be doing. “I’m very happy to hear that.”

“How are you finding the house?” Rosie asked.

Jessica scratched her own cheek a few times. “Yes. Fine. It has such a lovely view out the back windows.”

“It does.”

“I’ll stay one more night, then I’ll head back to London tomorrow afternoon.”

“Oh, well if you’re going to be staying on tonight then we should have dinner together,” Rosie said, trying her best to sound casual. “Get a takeaway or something. You’ve skipped dinner the past couple of nights so it’s kind of a necessity, when you think about it.” Rosie smiled, hoping to entice Jessica to hang out.

“Sure. That would be lovely.”

Rosie spent the remaining few hours of the workday looking so forward to having dinner with Jessica Frost.