Page 68 of Long Story Short

Grabbing my things, I stuffed everything that belonged to me in my bag and then headed for reception. I glanced back at Hayley’s office one last time as I walked away. I couldn’t see Jake’s face through the open door but Hayley was listening to him and from their body language, things seemed tense in there. I was desperate to know what Jake was saying to her but I guessed now I’d never know.

‘Are you okay?’ Ellen called over anxiously when I walked out of the office. ‘I could hear raised voices and Jake Richards looked more furious than he usually does!’

I paused by the reception desk. ‘I’ve actually just handed in my notice. Hayley wanted me to leave immediately,’ I told her. I wasn’t sure how my dream job had ended as such a nightmare but I knew I was moving on to bigger and better things.

Ellen looked shocked.

‘I know, it’s sudden. I was kind of head-hunted, I guess. And Jake actually really helped. Hayley was… pissed off.’ That was an understatement.

‘I bet she was.’ Ellen whistled. ‘Wow, Freya, well done on getting a new job. I’ll miss you here, though.’

‘I’ll miss you too. I’m off to work with Simon Langley, and hopefully be an agent myself one day.’

‘Well, of course you will do it. We have to keep in touch.’ She leaned past me to try to see Hayley’s office. ‘I’ll keep my head down for the rest of the day.’

‘Might be a good idea. I’ll message you once I’ve settled into my new job and we can meet for a drink.’

Ellen jumped up to give me a hug and wish me good luck; her reaction helped to make Hayley’s contrasting one fade away a little bit. I left her and went back down in the lift and then outside into the morning sunshine.

The tension left my body as soon as the sun beamed down onto my bare arms. I set off not really knowing which direction I wanted to go in and found myself start to smile. That was not the way I had wanted my job with Hayley to go but how she had been with me made it clear I was doing the right thing in moving on. I didn’t want to be an agent like her any more.

I wanted to do it my way.

* * *

Just two days later, I went into my new office. Simon had wanted me to start as soon as possible and now I’d left Hayley, I could. The first thing I did when I got there and had claimed a window desk in the open-plan office, was to meet with Simon and Davis again to discuss how we could get his book out into the world.

‘When I first spoke to Jake, it didn’t go well,’ Davis said once we were back in the sofa area of Simon’s office, the sun streaming in through his windows, each of us holding a coffee. ‘He was annoyed as soon as I mentioned your name, Freya; I think he was jealous. I mean, I can understand why he thought you would like me more than him?—’

‘Davis,’ I interrupted as he grinned at me. ‘The point?’ I prompted, not needing to hear his little digs about me and Jake. I saw Simon smile behind his coffee cup.

‘You never want me to have any fun.’ Davis pouted. He sighed but then carried on more sensibly. ‘As I was saying, he didn’t seem very keen on ending our feud or saying anything publicly about me being inspired by his work so I thought we were at a dead end but he rung me back yesterday and said he’d changed his mind and now wanted to help.’

‘Oh, great,’ I said, immediately thinking back to how I had told him off about Davis. Jake had clearly realised there was nothing at all romantic, nor would there ever be, between me and Davis so there was no need to keep their feud going. It did make me feel good that not only had Jake stepped in to help me with Hayley but he was doing the same with Davis. ‘So, what’s the plan?’

‘I’ll do a post on all my social media with a sample of one of the romance scenes and say how Jake inspired me, how hard it was to write and how I can’t wait for readers to tell me what they think about it,’ Davis said. ‘Jake said he would share it on his accounts and say something supportive back, and he also agreed to read a proof so I’ve sent that over. Hopefully, he’ll give us an endorsement quote but obviously, it’s not guaranteed.’ There was a hint of nerves in his voice and expression. His arrogance was a front, I was learning.

‘It’s a great book; I’m sure Jake will enjoy reading it,’ I reassured him.

Simon nodded. ‘Exactly. I’ll email your publishers now to tell them what is happening and ask them to share your posts too. Once we get some good reader feedback through, and the boost from Jake, surely they will go ahead with the planned publication.’

‘Let’s hope so,’ Davis said. ‘I’ve also drafted an apology to the organisers of the romance conference; can you check it over, Freya?’

‘Sure. That’s a great idea. Maybe they can share it on their website; I’ll talk to them.’

My phone was on silent on the table between us and I could see it start to light up with notifications. I wondered what was going on. I tried to concentrate on this meeting, though. ‘So, let’s get all that done today and see how it goes, and fingers crossed, we hear from Jake too. We could also get proof copies sent out to a few more romance authors. I bet my cousin, Liv Jones, would read it if I asked her.’ I wrote down a reminder in my notebook.

‘I also emailed my editor and told him to add in a dedication to my girlfriend,’ Davis said. ‘He was cagey about the book, saying they would be having a meeting sometime this week about it, but he would include it.’ He shrugged. ‘All we can do now is wait and see.’

‘I think you’ll get a good response and public opinion should go a long way,’ I told him.

‘Great,’ Simon said. ‘Davis, head off and get started on those social media posts. We’ll share them from the agency account too and let’s catch up on a phone call before close of business. Freya, I have to go out to a meeting but you’re okay getting settled in, aren’t you?’

I nodded. ‘Yes. I’m going to email any contacts I made when working with Hayley to tell them I’m here now, and I’ll look at your apology, Davis.’ We all headed off and I looked at my phone as I walked back to my new desk. Most of the messages were from Liv, in capitals with exclamation marks, demanding to know why I wasn’t responding to the big news. There was also one from Tessa. And Ellen at my old workplace. I frowned and scrolled back to Liv’s first message to work out why everyone was messaging me.

JAKE HAS MOVED PUBLISHERS!! TO MINE!! HE WILL NOW BE WITH TURN THE PAGES! DID YOU KNOW? THIS IS HUGE! OMG!

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