This Tangled Thing Called Love: A Contemporary Romance Novel (14 page)

The phone on Claire’s desk rang, not giving her the chance to address Jake’s remark.

“Claire, would you come into my office, please?” Her boss’s voice gyrated on the other end of the line.

“I’ll be right there.” Claire’s face grew warm. Sure, she’d been chatting with Jake a bit more than she should be, and her deadline was approaching, but she had everything under control. She just hoped that her boss would not beg to differ.

“Was that the big cheese?” Jake’s eyebrows rose in alarm.

“Yep.” Claire got up from her chair and smoothed her dress. At least she would look pretty when she was being reprimanded.

“Stop being such a
scaredy
cat. The old man loves you. You are the teacher’s pet.”

“Yeah, well that was a long time ago. In case you’ve forgotten, we’re no longer in school.”

Claire’s boss - Daniel Bancroft, managing partner of Bancroft, Skinner, and Willis - was also a faculty member at Columbia Graduate School of Architecture and had been Claire’s advisor for her Master’s degree. Impressed by her dedication to her thesis, Daniel had offered her a job at his firm as a graduation present.

“Still, old habits die hard. I’m sure the old man just wants to check on his protégé.” Jake too had studied at Columbia, albeit a year before Claire. He had asked Bancroft to be his adviser, but Daniel had declined, citing a heavy workload. The fact that the refusal did not prevent Jake from being offered employment at Bancroft, Skinner, and Willis did little to abate the old grudge, and he never missed a chance to poke Claire about it.

“Daniel?” Claire rapped on her boss’s door. Her student days were behind her, but every time she stood before Daniel Bancroft’s door, she remembered her thesis-writing days – the tormenting search for the hypothesis, the painstaking groundwork, the inevitable setbacks, but through it all the unrelenting perseverance that finally had got her on the right path, and most importantly, won Daniel’s unwavering support.

“Come in!” Daniel Bancroft sat behind a vast stainless steel writing desk that was laden with what looked like a completely chaotic heap of drawings. Yet anyone who knew Daniel would know that this seeming chaos was in fact a highly organized system that only he could operate.

Smitten with guilt, Claire took a seat on the edge of the chair. She had the greatest respect for her boss. He had put such faith in her by offering her the position in the firm, a position that hundreds of architects vied for, and she had repaid him by slacking on the job. Well, granted, her slacking had only been recent, and her personal life was partly to blame, but that was still inexcusable. So what if her last few projects were not exactly intellectually stimulating? Office layouts were an excellent source of revenue for the firm, and it was her job to carry out her assignments instead of daydreaming and chatting with Jake.

“So, how’s the job?” It was Daniel’s favorite question – his version of “How are you?”

“Everything is going well. I should have the layout completed by the end of tomorrow.” Claire bit her lip. If she put her nose to the grind, she would indeed have it done by then.

“I’m having you reassigned.”

“But I can get it done. I just need another day…”

“I know you can, Claire, but I need you on something far more important. Look, I know that the last few projects I threw at you were not exactly the pinnacle of excitement, but I’ve got something that will more than make up for the mundane bits.”

Claire nearly burst, trying to contain a sigh of relief
. N
o more office layouts

“What did you have in mind?”

Daniel reached for one of the rolled up drawings that lay on his
desk.

“I want to get your opinion on this.” He unraveled the drawing and pinned it down with two paper weights.

Claire pulled her chair closer and examined the drawing for several minutes. It seemed to be a straightforward design, but she wanted to make sure that she had not missed any clues.

“Looks like a typical industrial structure from late 1800s,” she gave her diagnosis.

“Aha!” Daniel clapped his hands triumphantly. “But what would you say if I told you that there was another building underneath the façade?”

“Where?” Claire gestured at the drawing. “There’s no indication of that on the drawing.”

“It’s not on the drawing, but there is another wall running beneath the façade. I saw
it
with my own eyes today, and I want you to take a look.”

“How can that be possible? I mean, how come it has not been discovered until now?”

“The building used to house printing presses, and for the last twenty years it served as a warehouse. As you probably already guessed, there hasn’t been keen interest in its architectural value. Despite its menial use, the building was landmarked, and when the new owner wanted to proceed with condo conversion, he had to apply for a permit from the Landmarks Preservation Commission. During the evaluation, an engineer noticed a gash in the façade, and to his amazement found that there was another wall underneath the exterior wall. Results of a preliminary scan showed that this internal wall spans the perimeter of the entire building. There could very well be a hidden building within a building.” Daniel’s eyes blazed with passion of a scholar. “This could be one of the greatest architectural discoveries of the decade, if not of the century. Now, my question to you, Claire, is do you want to be a part of it?”

“Of course I do, but why me?” Claire could scarcely believe what she had just heard. Daniel’s hypothesis, if it could even be called that, sounded like it had been taken straight out of the
National Treasure
storyline.

“Because your thesis was on Gaudi, and I think the building in question could very well be an example of Catalan modernism in New York.”

Claire simply stared back, struck mute by the momentous news. She respected Daniel tremendously, but presently, his words made no sense whatsoever. Perhaps the heavy workload was taking its toll on him, or maybe it was the unseasonable heat wave.

“I know, I know. I didn’t believe it either at first, but I just came from the Landmarks Preservation Commission. They’ve asked me for an opinion, and after finally seeing the site with my own eyes, I think there’s something there. If this thing checks out, it could be tremendous publicity for the firm. We’re going to the site at five.”

“I’m sorry, Jake. Looks like our night out will have to wait,” said Claire, once she settled back at her desk. “Daniel has asked me to come with him to a job site at five tonight.”

“No biggie. There’s always tomorrow.” Jake hooked his hands behind his head. “So, what’s this new job about?”

“I’m not sure myself yet, but I promise to tell you everything once I see it.”
             
Normally, Claire did not keep any professional secrets from Jake, but she was so excited about the project that Daniel had just described to her that she did not want to jinx it by talking about it prematurely.

At five o’clock sharp, Claire and Daniel stood on the corner of Leonard Street in Tribeca. Daniel had kept the address secret until their arrival at the destination, but the precise address still remained a mystery, as the building was shrouded in scaffolding and various construction fortifications that completely obscured its identity.

“This way.” Daniel motioned to the entrance that said “Authorized Personnel Only.”

They passed through the narrow partition in the scaffolding. There, they were greeted by a man dressed in a suit and a hard hat. He was trim, with glasses and looked to be in his early sixties. A younger man dressed in slacks and a collared shirt stood next to him.

“Evelyn
Turdot
,” the elder gentleman introduced himself after shaking hands with Daniel. “And this is Jim Foley, project manager of the construction site.”

“Evelyn is H
ead of the
Preservation Department
of the
Landmarks Preservation Commission,” Daniel
completed the introduction
. “And this is my associate, Claire Chatfield. Claire did her thesis on Gaudi,” Daniel added, raising his eyebrows for emphasis.

“Wonderful!” Evelyn clapped his hands. “Yours is just the kind of expertise we need, Claire.”

“I hope to be of service.” Claire felt her face grow warm – accepting praise had never been her forte.

“You should put these on.” Jim handed two hard hats to Claire and Daniel. He seemed to be clearly displeased by the
encroachment
on his terrain. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to put this matter to rest quickly
. W
e do hope to proceed with the condo conversion as soon as possible.”

“Keep your eyes open, Claire.” The anticipation in Daniel’s voice resonated in Claire
. T
his could be a career-making discovery.

Evelyn led the way
,
with Jim following closely behind him and Claire and Daniel completing the procession.

“This is it,” Evelyn announced several moments later, pointing to a foot-long gash in the facade. He handed Claire a flashlight.

Claire took the flashlight and approached the gash. One look was enough to know that what was lurking behind the chipped brick wall warranted further attention.

“Like I said, it’s probably just an old partition or something,” Jim cut in. “We can’t stop construction for every little bit of fancy decoration we come across.”

“Mr. Foley, this building has a historical status. The Commission has been asked to approve the submitted renovation plans. Now, it seems that we may be in possession of additional facts that could very well change the entire picture. The sooner we get to the bottom of this, the sooner you could resume construction,” said Evelyn.

Jim sucked his teeth, leaning against the wall. “This place housed printing presses for decades. Don’t you think that if this were some fancy building, the owners would have found a better purpose for it?”

“That’s exactly what we’re here to find out.”

Evelyn cast an encouraging gla
n
ce at Claire. But Claire was too engrossed in what she saw to notice Jim’s sneering. Gingerly, she ran her fingers along the wall inside the gash. It was not flat, as one would expect a wall to be, but curving outward – a helicoid shape. The surface was patterned with what must have been a series of adornments, perhaps a mosaic. It was too faded to tell. Carefully, Claire felt the bricks around the opening.
If she could just get a glimpse of what lay beyond the boundaries of the gash…

“Sorry – it just came off.” Claire held up two bricks in her hands. She might not have been following protocol, but it was beyond her to resist the pull of discovery. She peered through the widened opening. The curved wall continued. This was no partition.
             
“This is too incredible to believe.” One look at Daniel’s and Evelyn’s faces was enough to tell Claire that they were of the same mind.

“Would you agree that it shows Gaudi’s influence?” Daniel burst out.

“Yes, but who was the architect? Gaudi never travelled, and while his works were greatly admired, they were found to be impossible to imitate by most architects.
Frank
Gehry
is the only one I can think of,
but this building was built in the late 1800s or
early 1900s, so that excludes that possibility.
Unless…” Claire halted. The possibility was too momentous, too vast to be voiced without double-checking her facts first.

“Unless what?”

“I wouldn’t want to speak without consulting my notes first. It would help greatly if I could see how far the wall goes...”

“The scan showed that the wall runs the entire perimeter,” Evelyn explained. “We’re going to start taking the exterior wall down next week.”

“And who’s going to pay for that?” Jim cut in.

“We’ve already spoken with the owner. He is most excited about the prospect of unearthing a piece of architectural history.”

“Well then, you should have said so from the get-go instead of all that high-handed talk. We’ll have this baby cleaned up in no time.”

On her way home, Claire marveled at the remarkable turn her life was taking. Not only had she just gotten engaged to a wonderful man, she was about to embark on a project that could make her name known in the most respected architectural circles. How lucky she had been to have had Daniel as her thesis advisor! Granted, there were plenty of
architects
who were more experienced than Claire who could have participated in this amazing discovery, but Daniel had chosen her, and she was not going to disappoint him. Despite her reticence at the site, she was dead-certain that the piece of the wall she had seen had clear evidence of Gaudi’s influence. The texture, the shape – the clues were unmistakable. There was only one person who could have built something like this.
Claire was sure of this. Now she would have to prove to the most respected architectural experts that her theory was correct.

Chapter 15

“I got you a salad, just like you asked.” Jake placed Claire’s lunch on her desk.