Page 39 of Fighting Gravity

“About that ride? The real one?”

Oh, yeah. That.

21

Tate showed up at Rosie’s office the next morning. Her black SUV was in the lot, but she was absent. He leaned against the warm metal, bags at his feet, and waited.

A few minutes later she bounded out of the building, looking harried. “Can I work in one of your empty offices later? We had an urgent issue come up that needs to be handled today.”

For the first time, Tate realized that Rosie lost three hours of billable time each week because she drove into Victory to meet with his team. “Do you need to cancel our meeting? I’m sure it can wait.”

“It can’t wait, actually. It’s a coordination meeting. The mechanical and electrical designers and their subconsultants are coming, too. We have some other subs calling in. We have to really start pushing if we’re going to get the permit set done in the next few weeks. Every big decision needs to be finalized today.”

“Then of course you can use one of our offices.”

She flashed him a smile. “Great. I’ll go grab all my stuff.” She held up her key fob and unlocked her car door. “There’s a coffee in there for you.”

He smiled in thanks and went around back to load in his bags. The Rey lookalike from the other day waltzed by as he shut the hatch.

“Morning,” she chirped.

“Good morning,” Tate replied. “Happy Friday.” He didn’t miss how her eyes danced up and down his frame as she moved past. He was back in business attire, different from the last time he was there.

“Sure is.” She wiggled her fingers over her shoulder as she disappeared into the building.

Tate chuckled. He settled himself into the passenger seat and took a sip of the still-warm coffee Rosie brought him, then pulled out his phone to check his email. He’d been pleasantly surprised by how productive he’d been while working remotely. He’d called into the most important meetings and skipped the rest. Not getting pulled into every meeting or personnel issue had freed him to give real attention to the copious reports from the rest of their test campaign and Chen’s new proposal for safety enhancements.

He briefly wished he could work from his cabin, but squashed the idea immediately. He purposely hadn’t added WiFi there. He wondered if Maisie had stopped hating him for the years of lies.

Rosie appeared then, popping the hatch to dump all her stuff in before sliding into the driver seat. Her cottony scent met his nose, and he had to fight a deep inhale of the soothing smell.

“I didn’t even say good morning. Sorry about that. I was distracted by this contractor issue.”

“Can I help?”

Rosie smiled as she backed out. “You did. You gave me a place to work later, and a mind-blowing date last night that I’ll glow about for the rest of the weekend.”

“Tell me more about your issue,” he urged. “Then tell me everything about our hotel that I don’t know yet. Then you can bill me for the drive time.”

“I can’t charge clients for travel time. Your company for the drive is payment enough.”

Every word, every smile, hit Tate harder than the last. He wanted these easy smiles and car-ride conversations with Rosie. The little things. The big things, too, like a label.

Rosie rocked the coordination meeting. Even with her quiet, lyrical voice, she commanded the room full of subcontractors, most of whom were men. She kept everyone on track, advocated for OrbitAll when needed, gently pushed for better solutions. Their management styles were similar. Complementary. She wasn’t high-strung and reactive like Quinn, or pushy and demanding like his mother. People wanted to do what she asked because she empathized with all of them. Not for the first time, he dwelt on what a fantastic partner Rosie would make in his life.

He lingered after the meeting while she talked with Elle. Quinn found him waiting. “Marketing has put together a new print advertising campaign for the spaceflights. Can you look over the creative brief today?”

Tate nodded. “I’ll be in my office in a few minutes.”

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Luz.Miriam needs to see you. That meant an issue in the simulation bay.

He interrupted Rosie and Elle. “Rosie, feel free to take any of the empty offices on the third floor. Let me or Luz know if you need anything.”

She nodded. “Thanks, Tate.”

He smiled at both women before heading to the sim to find Miriam.

When he got to his office an hour later, there was a stack of new-hire contracts on his desk to sign for HR. Next to those, the creative brief and invoice for the advertising campaign Quinn had mentioned. Minutes from their last finance meeting needed his approval. He also had a new voicemail from Gloria. The other boards he sat on required only an hour per month and the occasional donation or appearance at a golf tournament or gala. RIA needed more attention in a month than the rest of his obligations required in a year. Maybe he couldn’t work remotely after all. Task by task, Tate moved through his day, knowing—loving—that Rosie was nearby doing the same.

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