the rope between them stretched tight.
“So did you survive your first week with your enthusiasm intact?” Brigid asked, as she paused and waited for Matt to climb up beside her.
Matt took a moment to draw even with her before answering. “My enthusiasm is still there. It has been an interesting week.”
At twenty feet above the gym floor, Brigid began to question her sanity in climbing with Matt. As he leaned closer to grab a handhold, distractingly, a muscular arm was brushing against her outer thigh. They might have had to get close at work, but previously they had been surrounded by colleagues. Now, Brigid was thrillingly aware that there were no witnesses overlooking their actions.
To take her mind off his rather lovely tanned arm, Brigid decided to ask the question that had been intriguing her, ever since she had done the maths on Matt’s age.
“What were you doing professionally before you joined the armed forces?”
“I’d finished my MBA and had planned to enter the family business when I decided I wanted to go somewhere else,” Matt said.
“With an MBA most people would have started trading futures as a career change, not began a decade stitching together blown off limbs in the Middle East,” retorted Brigid.
“I guess I wasn’t just everyone else.”
Brigid could only laugh in reply to the athletic man climbing beside her.
“Race you to the top.” Matt challenged pointing up to the ceiling, fifteen feet above.
Looking at Matt’s sinewy strength, no one would think that a physical contest between them could be even. However, Brigid knew her familiarity with the intricacies of the wall and her physical lightness evened the odds.
Racing a man who you were physically tied to, took a special kind of rhythm. You couldn’t allow the rope to stretch too tight between you, so your path up the wall had to be parallel and in close confines. Just five feet from the top, Brigid had to stretch her arms for a trickly handhold. In the moment it took for her to twist her body, Matt used his superior stretch and propelled himself to reach the roof.
Chapter Seven
“Touch,” Matt called, as he made contact with the ceiling above the climbing wall.
Brigid touched to wall only a few seconds behind him. Matt waited for her to release the tension in the rope and abseil back down the wall. Cheeks flushed with exertion, she looked younger and more playful then he remembered her looking before.
Brigid’s tight fitting civvies were making it hard for him to concentrate. Luckily, the relative ease of the climb meant he didn’t have to give the physical challenge his full attention.
“Chris and Dave did me a good turn when they recommended this place,” said Matt. “The equipment here is top notch.”
“Yeah they use the gym themselves, although not usually first thing on a Sunday morning.”
Back on the ground, Brigid was making short work of the ropes and straps that were loped on her body.
“Do you want me to give you a tour of the gym?” Brigid offered.
Brigid’s sudden relaxation in his presence surprised Matt. Maybe a week of working closely together had lowered her defences.
“I’d like that,” Matt said. He certainly did not want to repulse her overture.
Brigid made her way across the floor to a clearly marked door. They entered a space that was a bit more alive than the one they had just left. In the gym, there were a few people. They all were exercising with the solo intensity that generally characterized early morning attendees.
The room itself wasn’t flashy, utilitarian functionality seemed to be the décor. However, the equipment looked to be relatively new, solid, and well maintained. Matt could tell this was a gym for those who took exercise seriously, not a place for people who came to be seen.
Brigid walked over to one of the large treadmills that stood against the wall.
“Here is where I start,” she said. “I don’t know why I bother when I’m just going to go home
“So did you survive your first week with your enthusiasm intact?” Brigid asked, as she paused and waited for Matt to climb up beside her.
Matt took a moment to draw even with her before answering. “My enthusiasm is still there. It has been an interesting week.”
At twenty feet above the gym floor, Brigid began to question her sanity in climbing with Matt. As he leaned closer to grab a handhold, distractingly, a muscular arm was brushing against her outer thigh. They might have had to get close at work, but previously they had been surrounded by colleagues. Now, Brigid was thrillingly aware that there were no witnesses overlooking their actions.
To take her mind off his rather lovely tanned arm, Brigid decided to ask the question that had been intriguing her, ever since she had done the maths on Matt’s age.
“What were you doing professionally before you joined the armed forces?”
“I’d finished my MBA and had planned to enter the family business when I decided I wanted to go somewhere else,” Matt said.
“With an MBA most people would have started trading futures as a career change, not began a decade stitching together blown off limbs in the Middle East,” retorted Brigid.
“I guess I wasn’t just everyone else.”
Brigid could only laugh in reply to the athletic man climbing beside her.
“Race you to the top.” Matt challenged pointing up to the ceiling, fifteen feet above.
Looking at Matt’s sinewy strength, no one would think that a physical contest between them could be even. However, Brigid knew her familiarity with the intricacies of the wall and her physical lightness evened the odds.
Racing a man who you were physically tied to, took a special kind of rhythm. You couldn’t allow the rope to stretch too tight between you, so your path up the wall had to be parallel and in close confines. Just five feet from the top, Brigid had to stretch her arms for a trickly handhold. In the moment it took for her to twist her body, Matt used his superior stretch and propelled himself to reach the roof.
Chapter Seven
“Touch,” Matt called, as he made contact with the ceiling above the climbing wall.
Brigid touched to wall only a few seconds behind him. Matt waited for her to release the tension in the rope and abseil back down the wall. Cheeks flushed with exertion, she looked younger and more playful then he remembered her looking before.
Brigid’s tight fitting civvies were making it hard for him to concentrate. Luckily, the relative ease of the climb meant he didn’t have to give the physical challenge his full attention.
“Chris and Dave did me a good turn when they recommended this place,” said Matt. “The equipment here is top notch.”
“Yeah they use the gym themselves, although not usually first thing on a Sunday morning.”
Back on the ground, Brigid was making short work of the ropes and straps that were loped on her body.
“Do you want me to give you a tour of the gym?” Brigid offered.
Brigid’s sudden relaxation in his presence surprised Matt. Maybe a week of working closely together had lowered her defences.
“I’d like that,” Matt said. He certainly did not want to repulse her overture.
Brigid made her way across the floor to a clearly marked door. They entered a space that was a bit more alive than the one they had just left. In the gym, there were a few people. They all were exercising with the solo intensity that generally characterized early morning attendees.
The room itself wasn’t flashy, utilitarian functionality seemed to be the décor. However, the equipment looked to be relatively new, solid, and well maintained. Matt could tell this was a gym for those who took exercise seriously, not a place for people who came to be seen.
Brigid walked over to one of the large treadmills that stood against the wall.
“Here is where I start,” she said. “I don’t know why I bother when I’m just going to go home
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