AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I smile. ‘Just for fun, let’s say we lose a week due to bad weather somewhere. Pick a week.’
‘That one.’ He points at the screen.
‘OK, so that would mean that this task here would be pushed out, yes?’
‘That’s right.’
I make the adjustment on the screen, and Noah watches in amazement as all the tasks underneath it realign themselves automatically to the new schedule.
‘That’s bloody genius!’ he declares.
‘Thank you. There’s just one other change we need to make to get the best out of this.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Your weekly meetings. We need to have them daily. If there are any issues like the ones that were raised this morning, I can’t wait until the next Monday meeting to hear about them.’
He looks dubious. ‘I’m not sure the lads will like that.’
‘It only needs to be ten minutes or so. If I find that they aren’t productive, I’ll rethink, but I’d like to try it, please.’
‘You’re the boss.’
After he leaves, I take a while to go through the plan again. Noah’s affirmation has really buoyed me up, and I decide to celebrate by retrieving my ham and cheese sandwich from the (newly cleaned) fridge. I’m halfway through when the door opens and a young lad comes into the office.
‘Are you Ella?’ he asks.
‘That’s me.’
‘Umm. John asked me to come and get you. He wants to show you something.’
‘Can it wait until I’ve finished this?’
‘He said it was urgent, sorry.’
I set my half-eaten sandwich aside with a sigh and, grabbing my new hard hat, follow the lad outside. He leads me to the house that I now know is plot eight, one of the ‘Eton’ range, looks up and lets out a piercing whistle. Moments later, John’s head appears over the top layer of scaffolding.
‘Ah, there you are,’ he calls. ‘I need you to come up here so I can explain the problem with the roof trusses properly. Nipper will show you the way.’
I look up at him and my first thought is,You have got to be bloody kidding me. If there is one thing I really, really don’t do, ladders would be it. I had enough trouble with the stepladder I had to use to reach the tops of the walls when I was helping Ava and Ben decorate their house, and that was only a few steps high. I’m between a rock and a hard place, though, particularly as I’m aware that pretty much everyone working on the house is watching me. If I refuse to go up, I’ll never gain their respect. However, if I do actually make it to the top, I’ll probably be a gibbering wreck and incapable of responding sensibly to whatever John has to say.
Fuck it. There’s only one way out of this. I grab the ladder, place my foot on the bottom rung and start to climb. It only takes a few rungs before my legs start turning to jelly, and it takes all my concentration to focus on the first layer of scaffolding and not look down. After what seems like an age, I reach the first level and step gratefully onto the scaffolding boards. When I look down, my breath catches in my throat. I know I’m only one storey up, but the sensation is totally different when you’re standing on a scaffolding frame as opposed to looking out of a bedroom window.
‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ I hear Noah bellowing below, and it takes me a moment to realise he’s shouting at me.
‘Sorry?’
‘You heard me. What do you think you’re doing up there?’ He looks genuinely angry, but I have no idea why.
‘John wants to show me the problem with the trusses,’ I call back.
‘Does he hell. Get back down here right now and, for God’s sake, be careful.’
Going back down the ladder is even more difficult than climbing, because I have to look down to make sure I’m locating my feet in the rungs properly. By the time I reach the ground, I’m shaking and it has nothing to do with the thunderous look on Noah’s face.
‘Don’t youeverpull a stunt like that again,’ he practically bellows. ‘Are you ladder trained?’
‘There was some stuff about ladders in my health and safety training.’
