He quietly chuckled. “What did you do today?”
“I...had coffee with a pretty girl.”
“Ah, good. Is she Chinese?” Every time my parents asked me that question, I facepalmed. This time was no exception.
“I think so. I haven’t asked, but she looks like it and her last name is Tang.”
“Good, good. What does she do?”
“She writes about music.”
A pause. “That’s not a good job. Is her family rich?”
I nearly facepalmed again, but instead, just rubbed my forehead. “Ba, we’re not dating or anything. I’ll let you know if that changes.” When, I thought.
Chapter 9
-Anna-
True to his word, Ian emailed me some reading materials about Stumpstash that evening. He also called me after dinner to tell me what the facilities manager had said. Based on that conversation, the office admin role seemed perfect for me. It would be a lot of the mindless, menial tasks that I knew I could easily do while scouting out new tracks, but also some strategizing about resources and event planning that might change things up a bit and allow me to use my brain and creativity sometimes.
After reading the materials that he sent, I also found that I didn’t have to pretend to be on board with the mission. Stumpstash supported local communities and helped small businesses get the funds that they needed to get started. I was glad that I wasn’t about to sell my soul to an evil corporation.
Ian let Cassie refer me for the position (“She can have the referral bonus to help her pay for the honeymoon,” he’d reasoned), but he also put in a good word for me with the recruiter to help speed up the process. By the end of the week, I’d passed the phone interview and was scheduled for an onsite interview the following week.
See what good things can happen when you swallow your pride?
And I was excited to try climbing! Maybe if I got the job at Stumpstash, I could get a membership and finally be one of those fit, hip, happy climber people.
Ian and I had agreed to meet at the climbing gym on Saturday morning, so I showed up in my cutest workout tights and a long-sleeved crop-top sweater, with just a light dusting of makeup. I didn’t have the abs of that pretty brunette he climbed with, but I knew I looked good.
When I walked into the gym and peered around, I didn’t see Ian anywhere, so I approached the attendant at the front desk. He had me watch the requisite safety video, then sign a waiver. The video guaranteed that I would fall, and while I wasn’t deathly afraid of heights, I definitely didn’t like the idea of falling.
“Morning, Anna.” A warm, rough hand landed softly on my bare lower back, below where the crop top ended. It was only for a moment, a greeting touch, but awareness of him lingered on my skin.
“Morning, Ian,” I replied, more breathily than I’d intended.
Ian talked to the guy behind the counter and used his guest pass to get me in for free. If he hadn’t, it would have been nearly $40 for a day pass. Only an hour of work at Stumpstash. I shook my head.
The guy behind the counter handed me some shoes and a harness to try on. The shoes were a tiny bit snug, but he said that that was how it was supposed to feel. Then Ian helped me put on the harness. He positioned it on the floor and I placed my feet into the leg loops. He lifted the harness, the outsides of his thumbs caressing my thighs, tracing twin lines of electricity up my legs as he brought the main strap up over my hips and to my waist. He then instructed me on how to tighten the straps.
“How’d the phone interview go?” He already had his own harness on, though he was barefoot. As he led me over to one of the taller walls, I idly noted that he had nice feet. Maybe I did have a foot fetish.
Or maybe, as before, it was just Ian.
My voice was slightly too high-pitched. “Pretty good. I have my onsite next week.”
“Hey, that’s great!” He gave me a high five. “I’m sure you’ll crush it.” He smiled sweetly, making my heart do a little dance.
I glanced around as he led me through to the back of the gym. The air was dry and cold, and slightly hazy with chalk dust, and I happily noted the minor chords and deep crooning of the neo-soul music that played throughout the gym. I’d seen the area by the entrance before, with walls that were maybe 10 - 15 feet in height, all covered in a multitude of holds (and people!) of different shapes, sizes, and colors. But the rest of the gym was new.
The middle of the gym was filled with benches, weights, cages and other workout equipment, and in the corner, a young, miserable-looking man trudged up a stairmaster with what looked like a very heavy pack on his back. As we approached the rear of the building, I had to tilt my head back to look at the walls, which had grown to maybe 50 feet or so tall. I’d only ever seen the shorter walls in the front, never these taller walls, and I gulped at the thought of climbing that high.
“So we’re going to do top roping today,” he explained, stopping in front of one of the taller walls. “I think it’s more beginner-friendly than bouldering.” He explained the difference between top roping and bouldering. I realized that bouldering—climbing shorter, harder routes, without any protective equipment—was what he’d been doing the other day. Top roping involved climbing much longer routes, but with the protection of a harness and rope. It also usually required a partner, someone to belay (or manage rope tension for) the climber as they climbed.
He scanned the wall and selected what I hoped was an easy route. “We’ll tie
