Elements of Retrofit Read Free

he spoke of architecture, of buildings, of the art in them, was something I did. It was a passion in me, something that no one else really understood.
    “Don’t ever apologise,” I told him. My voice was barely a whisper.
    Cooper’s eyes stayed on mine and it wasn’t until someone walked past us that the connection between us was broken.
    Something had just passed between us. A familiarity. An understanding. A moment.
    I exhaled loudly and took a step back from him. I needed to put some distance between us. “Here, look at this one,” I said, pointing to another frame down the hall. “It’s more modern.”
    “The Citigroup Center?” he asked with an amazed laugh. “You worked on it too?”
    “Not me personally,” I told him. “Hard to believe, but even the seventies were before my time. But it’s one of my favourites.”
    Cooper laughed out loud. “I didn’t mean anything about your age,” he said, still smiling. “I just can’t believe all these buildings came from designs out of this office.”
    “It’s incredible, isn’t it?” I asked. Then I nodded to the blueprints in front of us. “See the angled roof line? They wanted to setback penthouses in the angled roof, but couldn’t due to zoning restrictions. Now it houses a computer-controlled tuned mass damper, a four-hundred-ton block of concrete that slides on a thin layer of oil. The inertia of the damper reduces the swaying of the building by up to forty per cent.”
    I stopped talking when I realised now it was me who was babbling on about the wonders of architecture. “Sorry, I get carried away,” I said, repeating his words back to him.
    Cooper smiled at me, but his eyes bore straight into mine. “Don’t apologise,” he said quietly. He stared at me. His gaze never faltered, and I was unable to look away. After a long moment, he broke the connection by turning back to the blueprints. “That is some incredible engineering.”
    I cleared my throat. “Yes, it is.”
    Then I looked around to find nearly almost everyone else in the office had gone. I checked my watch. “I hadn’t realised it had gotten late.”
    “Is there anything you need me to do?” he asked.
    “No,” I answered. I had work to take home, but didn’t mention it to him. “I think we might call it a day.”
    Cooper looked around, as though checking we were alone. “Can I ask you something?”
    I had a feeling this was not a work-related question. “Yes,” I answered, hiding the caution in my tone.
    “Did you take me on because of Ryan?”
    I blinked at his blatant question. “No,” I half-lied. “I took you on as an intern because of your credentials. You were top of your class.”
    He nodded and smiled. “I didn’t want to be here on some favour, that’s all. I mean, it’s a dream to work here. I’d just hoped that I earned my place.”
    Cooper was honest, almost to a fault. He spoke transparently. If he thought it, he said it. I liked that trait in people. I liked it in him.
    “I’m sure you have,” I told him. “I’ve been watching you. You have a very good eye for detail.”
    His face brightened and he tried not to smile. “Really?”
    If he was asking if he really had an eye for detail, or if I’d really been watching him, I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t believe I’d just admitted to it. Instead of answering him, I gave him a smile and turned to walk back to my office. “Have a good weekend, Cooper.”
    “Same to you, Mr Elkin,” he called out behind me.
    I packed up my satchel and walked out of the office with Jennifer. “Any plans for the weekend?” she asked.
    “No, just the usual,” I told her. Which meant work. My usual was work.
    “If you need anything,” she said, “you have my number.”
    I smiled. Dear Jennifer was the sweetest woman. She organised my entire professional life, and sometimes my personal life too. She knew what food I liked from which restaurants, she knew what cologne I wore, she knew birthdays, anniversaries