Page 25

Rosie leant against the newly painted railing at the waterfront, surveying the park in front of her now that all the flurry of activity had come to an end. The temporary fencing still lined the park’s perimeter and would be taken down on the morning of the opening day. Gone were the weeds and the broken glass and the barren wasteland amid crumbling structures, and in was a beautiful new space the community could be proud of. The grass had already matured into a luscious green. It set off the original bandstand which had been polished and cleaned and spruced up so that it now shone like a diamond. The restoration yard was fully up and running and the children’s play area was ready to be a destination for children and families for years to come. The side of the walled garden beckoned you over to its calm and wholesome interior. The walking and cycling paths gave structure to the area and all the signage was now complete. She swivelled around to admire the town’s majestic crane, which had been repainted a sky blue. It stood proud and benevolent over the river and park, a permanent reminder of the past. The small visitor centre at its base gave it a professional feel. People would want to visit the park for the elevator ride alone. The view at the top was outstanding. There had been talk of a bungee jump company wanting to offer bungee jumps from the crane. That would be for the local authority to decide, once JF Architecture stepped back.

The cherry on top of this special regeneration of this historic site was the brass monument beside the waterfront. They’d had a memorial statue commissioned due to a generous anonymous donation. It made Rosie well up with emotion every time she looked at it. It was a family standing side by side looking up at the crane: the dad in his overalls with his goggles on his forehead, the mum in her old-fashioned dress, baby on her hip, and two young children in between them. It spoke of the families who lived and worked in the area, sustained by the work on the shipyards but who had lived hard lives marked by industrialisation and poverty. To have led on this project was such a privilege. She’d never felt as proud in her whole life.

Rosie turned around to look at the river, ambling past much like the passage of time, finally able to relax and enjoy being in the space. Her work here was done. All her focus had been on working on the project, night and day. They were only three weeks later than the original deadline. Considering how much time they’d lost, even Rosie couldn’t deny it was a fantastic achievement. Maybe this meant she was good at her job. The thought filled her with confidence and a sense of certainty. If she could do this under the circumstances, she could do anything.

A slight breeze blew Rosie’s hair onto her face. She tucked her hair behind her ear, remembering the time Jessica had done that to her and the intimate moments they’d shared. Those lingering moments of stillness that made Rosie believe in their love. Jessica had been opening up and showing her who she was more and more over the last year. Jessica had so bravely shown everyone parts of herself she’d been keeping a secret for so long. Jessica cared about making the world a better place and Rosie loved her for it. Rosie shared the same values. Things like that mattered.

The other side of the water caught Rosie’s eye. It was less populated and very green. The odd house peppered the hillside which gently rose up from the water’s edge. The next step was to build a bridge over the water. Rosie had hardly thought about it because she’d been so focused on getting the job done. She glanced up at the crane and then back to the monument of the family and pictured all the boats that used to line the water, having been proudly built in this shipyard. A bridge built in the shape of a boat could be a fitting way to remember the heritage on a bigger scale. The towers and cables could rise up like sails. The thought of it made her smile.

The next day Rosie headed into the office in London for a meeting with Jessica to discuss and confirm the completion of the project. She was nervous. It was the first time they would be alone together in the office since that glorious moment in Jessica’s cubby hole.

“Hi.” Jessica got up as soon as Rosie went into her office. She came over to Rosie and gave her a warm hug. “It’s great to see you.”

Rosie exhaled into the embrace. It felt so good to hold her again. “And you.” She smiled. “We made it.”

“We did.” Jessica smiled back, holding her eyes. “All thanks to you.”

Rosie shrugged. “I’m just glad… I’ve loved working on it so much.”

Jessica crossed her arms over her chest. “Me too.”

“Um.” Rosie looked towards the table and chairs. “Shall I run through the final numbers and stuff?”

“Yes. Of course. Let’s do that.”

Rosie spent the next hour talking through her project completion report and discussing lessons learnt. Jessica was professional and fair, understanding that going over budget on the children’s adventure park was offset by being underbudget on the construction of the walled garden. Rosie highlighted the key pieces of information on the project documentation for Jessica or anyone to peruse in more detail at a later date if needed.

“So that’s it then,” Rosie said, closing her laptop lid and stacking her papers neatly into her file. “All that’s left is to enjoy the opening day.”

Jessica crossed her arms again, remaining unnervingly neutral.

Rosie wanted to talk to Jessica for real, but it didn’t feel like the time or place, ironic given what they’d once done in the cubby hole over there. “Actually, there was one other thing,” Rosie said, instead. “Have you started thinking about the bridge yet?”

“Not really, no.”

“I have an idea for it.”

“Yes?”

“What if we build the bridge in the shape of a boat? The underside of the bridge could be shaped like a ship’s hull. The whole bridge would be filled with warmth and nostalgia.”

Jessica was quiet for a few moments. “That’s outstanding. When did you come up with it?”

“Yesterday after doing the project completion report while I was there.”

“Do you have any designs yet?”

“I made some sketches on the train ride home. Would you like to see them?”

“Yes please.”

Rosie went back to her desk and got her personal notebook slash journal from her bag. There were no random thoughts on the pages with her bridge idea, which was a relief. Grocery lists, symptom tracking on her menstrual cycle and unfiltered random thoughts weren’t exactly things she wanted Jessica to see. Jessica was sitting in the same place. Rosie held up the notebook. “Found it.”

“Ah, an artist’s sketchbook. I feel like I’m going to get a glimpse into your soul.”

“They’re just silly drawings at the moment. No inhibitions.” Rosie sat down, slightly flustered. She opened the notebook at the right page and placed it in front of Jessica.

Jessica narrowed her eyes, taking her time to scan each of Rosie’s sketches. “These are incredible.”

“You think?”

“It has everything we need for a strong proposal. Concept, theme, heritage, structure. How soon can you get this worked up into a full design?”

“Wow. Okay, I’ll get straight on it. Bridge engineering isn’t my strongest, but I will get my maths on and get back to you.”

“It doesn’t have to be perfect at this early stage. We can get an engineer to fine tune it once it’s worked up. We could be talking one of the biggest contracts in the company’s history if the council can get enough government funding. I can’t wait to see where this goes.”

Rosie nodded. Seeing where this goes was a phrase that seemed to hang between them. Rosie wanted to forget talking about work now and see how Jessica was feeling. She’d missed her so much. “Nor can I.” Rosie took a breath. “How are you, Jess, like, really?”

“I’m fine, thanks. How are you?”

“Good. Would you like to get a coffee sometime? To talk properly?”

“I’d like that.”

“I’m sorry I’ve been a bit distant. I’ve been working so hard lately.”

“I know you’ve been working hard. You’ve been killing it. Please don’t apologise.”

Rosie nodded as relief spread through her. It was beyond amazing how good Jessica was being with her, particularly with how she’d respected Rosie’s wishes over the past few months. It felt like a major green flag. “How are you feeling about the opening, family wise?”

“I reached out to my dad. We’ve been talking.”

“You did? That’s wonderful! How is it going?”

“It’s going well but it has been throwing up a lot of stuff.”

“Really? How so?”

“Just about my relationship with him.” Jessica paused. “Sorry, it’s fine. I didn’t mean to get so personal at work.”

Rosie reached across and held Jessica’s hand over the table. “Don’t apologise. It’s absolutely okay. I really miss you, Jess.”

“I miss you too.”

“I would love to spend more time together now the project’s finished and we can catch up properly.”

The look in Jessica’s eyes made Rosie want to whisk her away to somewhere sunny and beautiful and be together in paradise, just the two of them, away from work and career expectations and other people’s judgements. The feeling gripped her, shattering something restrictive that had been holding her back. But why should their love be done in secret, away from everything they knew? Rosie had proved to herself that she had done an excellent job and was capable of the next career level. She didn’t need anyone else’s stamp of approval anymore. Not Rich’s, not Pamela’s and not even Jessica’s. And if she did get promoted and people wanted to believe she only became a principal architect because of her connection with Jessica, why did that matter? Couldn’t she just let them believe what they wanted to, given that it wasn’t in her control anyway? Carla and her family would understand, and maybe they were all that mattered. Something clicked into place the longer she looked into Jessica’s eyes. She saw it now. There was never going to be a perfect time. She was done waiting to feel worthy of being with Jessica. She was so fucking ready to start whatever this was between them, the feeling made her lost for words.

“That would be great.” Jessica stood. “I would love to stay and chat, but I have another meeting. I’d better…”

Rosie was half a second away from verbalising all the things she needed to say to Jessica, but the moment was gone. It was probably for the best because Jessica deserved something more special from her. “Sure.” Rosie stood, picking up her laptop and notebook, feeling stupid and quite reckless for keeping a woman like Jessica waiting to be with her, no matter if it was for good reasons and something Jessica agreed with. “I’ll leave you to it. Um, would you like to go for dinner tonight? That is, if you’re free?”

“I’m sorry I can’t. I have another dinner with the Chartered Institute of Architects. I might bail early again but it’ll be way past dinner.”

“No problem. Coffee tomorrow then?”

Jessica grimaced, shaking her head. “Site visit for a street design we’re doing for a primary school and then a client meeting. I’ll be out all day.”

The day after was the opening day at Clydebank. Rosie wanted Jessica to enjoy the day, which was a big deal in her life for so many reasons. Her focus should be on that, not them.

Jessica glanced at her watch.

Rosie nodded. “That’s fine. We’ll find another time. Sorry for holding you up.”

Jessica touched Rosie’s arm. “I’m more than happy to be held up by you. You’re way more important to me than work. Please, it’s fine.” Jessica smiled warmly.

It made Rosie feel loved in ways she couldn’t understand with her head, but she felt it so deeply in her heart. That knowing that she and Jessica had a connection that crossed space and time. Because it felt like Jessica was always with her, even when she wasn’t. It felt like Jessica had always been with her. Near her. It was that same loving presence. “I’ll see you on Saturday for the opening then. I can’t wait.”

“Neither can I.”

Rosie finally let the woman be and headed back to her desk past her busy and engaged-in-their-work colleagues. If Rosie could do one thing for Jessica right now it would be to make Saturday the best day ever, because all she wanted now, more than ever, was to make Jessica happy.

***

Rosie sat in the biggest conference room in the office. Sun shone in the windows. She was happy with her reflection as she’d finally had time for a haircut. It was Friday. She was meeting with Rich. She’d got here early to compose herself. There was a good chance Rich was going to offer her the promotion today. She could feel it. She was grateful to Jessica for letting her know about this in advance. Both for her to make sure she got the job done and grabbed her opportunity, and now, to stop her from panicking she was about to get fired. Because the level of mystery surrounding this meeting would have had Rosie freaking the fuck out.

Rich strode in and closed the door behind him wearing a perfectly fitted suit, as usual. He was carrying a takeaway coffee from the canteen in one hand, his slim laptop in the other. “Good morning, Rosie Patterson. How are you today?”

“Hey Rich, good morning.” Rosie tried her best to sound calm. “I’m good, thanks, how are you?”

“I’m excellent, thank you. Today is a very good day.” He pulled out a chair and sat down before opening his laptop. He leant forward and clasped his hands. “Sorry about the random meeting but we have important news for you. The senior leadership team, including myself and Jessica, would like to offer you a promotion to Principal Architect. We are unanimous in our decision. You’ve been operating at this level for months now on Clydebank and we’d like to make it official. You’ve done an excellent job there, and now this incredible bridge design. Honestly, the promotion’s yours, Rosie. Well done.”

She felt herself beam a huge smile back at him, but she didn’t care. “Thank you so much. It would be an honour.” She said this way more earnestly than she’d meant. But she loved her job at JF Architecture and making it to this career milestone and being able to take it to the next level excited her. “Can I hug you?”

“Bring it.” Rich stood.

Rosie stood and went in for the hug. He squeezed her gently and they sat back down.

“Don’t get me emotional,” he said, fixing his hair and tie.

Rosie took a breath, as the news sank in. She’d done it.

Rich turned his laptop around to face her, displaying the key terms and her salary. “Emailed to you a second ago. Let me know if the terms are to your liking. It’s the best we can do so I hope it’s okay.”

“Thank you so much. Do you mind if I take a few minutes to read it through now?”

“Go ahead.”

Rosie picked up her work phone and tapped into the email, butterflies in her stomach. She read every word and was happy with everything she saw. JF Architecture were good to their employees, that had always been the case. This offer was more than handsome.

“Take a couple of days to think about it, if you need to. The offer will be there waiting for you. There’s no pressure.”

“I don’t need more time. I’ve read over the important points. I’m very happy to accept this offer right now.”

“Decisive. I like that.”

“Happy.”

“Deserving.”

“Over the moon.” Rosie laughed.

“A force to be reckoned with.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“A rising star.”

“I’m a little old for that, Rich.”

“You have your whole career ahead of you in the architecture world, and we would very much like you to be at JF Architecture for it.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet. Thank you, Rich.”

“Wouldn’t say it if it weren’t true.”

Even though it had been so fucking hard to hit the pause button with her and Jessica, knowing that her relationship with Jessica had no influence on her promotion made it sweeter. Rosie could respect herself. She had earned this.

“Once Clydebank was won back, we had pretty much decided then. You were instrumental in all that. Thank you again.”

She felt awkward not telling him that she knew that already, but she had no choice. “It was my pleasure.”

“So, you had it in the bag even before your incredible bridge design concept. Seriously Rosie, that is inspired. I’m with Jessica on this, I think it’s going to be huge.”

Jessica had messaged her last night, while out at her networking event, Rosie assumed, to ask her to send a photo of her bridge sketches to Rich. “I hope it’s what people want.”

“I hope the contract is worth as much as I think it might be. We’re talking millions if they are serious about funding it.”

Rosie smiled, excited about her promotion and happy about the impact she was having. It felt good to get her work noticed but she wasn’t as dependent on it as she would have been only a few months ago. She’d grown inside, for sure. “I should have my concept finished by the end of next week. I have to focus on the opening tomorrow, but it’s coming along.”

“Perfect. So, tomorrow’s the big day?” Rich sipped some coffee.

“It is. We’re all very excited. And a bit stressed. Tara and Tom are up there already, getting things organised. Amelia is blowing up my phone on a daily basis. She’s been liaising with Patsy Gardner, among many other things. Patsy’s going to cut the ribbon. You know she’s from the town, originally?”

“I did not know that, no.”

Patsy was a British TV star who had grown up in Clydebank and whose entire family still lived there. She was a national treasure, and Clydebank loved being able to say that she was from there. Rosie was looking forward to meeting her. “And we have a local band going to perform a few songs.”

“Brilliant. I’m going to head up there tomorrow morning. Wouldn’t miss it.”

“Great.”

“How are you feeling about it being over?”

“I’m happy it’s complete now but part of me is going to miss it. It’s been my main focus for the past year.”

Rich’s eyes were kind. “That’s understandable. But there’s already plenty of other projects for you to choose from and a new team to manage. Not least continuing with Clydebank by building this cool bridge.”

“Yeah, it should be good.” Pure excitement pulsated through Rosie’s body. This was everything she’d worked her whole life towards, and the best thing was that she now felt deserving of it.

“Go get yourself some cake and a coffee or something. Take an hour. Celebrate. Call your people.”

After Rich had gone back to his day, Rosie sat there, not quite knowing what to do next. The first person she wanted to tell was Jessica, as in the Jessica she was falling in love with. The feeling overwhelmed her. She wanted to share moments like these with her. She wanted to grow together with her. Getting what she wanted suddenly felt quite hollow if she couldn’t share it with the person she loved the most. But Jessica was out all day and very busy. Plus, Jessica would already know. She was the owner and chief executive of this company. There was no way she didn’t know that Rich was speaking to her this morning.

Walking to the coffee shop around the corner for somewhere more neutral to call her mum and scream, her personal phone beeped in her bag. She fished it out.

It was Jessica.

Congratulations, Rosie!

Rosie’s heart leapt. She stared at the message. Jessica was thinking about her. She cared. Rosie clutched her phone to her chest. It beeped again.

Can I call you?

Rosie replied with a simple yes and found a spot to stand beside a red post box. Her phone rang and she answered immediately. “Hi Jess.”

“Congratulations!” Jessica sounded so happy. “I know I said that already but it can’t be overstated.”

“Thank you.”

“Where are you?”

“On my way to Just BeanZ to try and get my head around this.”

“I wish I could be there with you.”

Rosie’s heart leapt again. A kind of ache settled in her chest. “I wish you could be, too. But you are in a way. Thank you for calling. I love that you did.”

“How do you feel?”

“I feel fucking ecstatic, Jess.”

Jessica laughed quietly. “Good. You deserve this. I’m proud of you.”

Moments like these didn’t come around very often. Rosie wanted to soak up every second. “Thank you for telling me, by the way. For giving me the heads up like that. I think it helped me focus.”

“You did what you had to do.”

There was a bit of a silence.

“I can’t chat long, I’m in between meetings, but I wanted to reach out and congratulate you on your exciting news. Have you called your family?”

“Just about to do that. Then eat cake.”

“Good.”

Rosie could almost feel Jessica smiling down the phone at her.

“You were the first person I wanted to call.”

Jessica was silent.

“I can’t wait to see you tomorrow, Jess.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing you too.”

“Have a great day today.”

“You too.”

The call ended and Rosie stared at the red post box. People in the old days would write their feelings in a letter and post them, only to wait days, weeks, months or even years for a reply. She and Jessica had waited long enough. Rosie desperately wanted to talk to her and tell her how she felt. But there was a lot going on. And she owed it to Jessica to honour the end of this project properly.