Page 9 of Vitamin Sea
Her boss ran a tight ship, but it was one of the reasons why the magazine was so revered. It was also one of the reasons why Dasha was so well paid and popular. Chloe knew from gossip around the office that magazines and corporations were always trying to poach the fierce editor, butStrutwas Dasha’s baby.
Literally.
The editor in chief and her long-term partner, Mikhail, who also ran a company and worked long hours, had never had children. For Chloe, she hadn’t minded the fact that Liam spent most of his time at work, and she had often wondered if that was how Dasha’s relationship worked too.
Liam had met the editor in chief a handful of times at events that she had brought him to like the company’s annualChristmas party. Which usually consisted of dinner in a private dining room filled with staff dressed in high fashion and their toned-down but dressed-up partners.
She had seen a barely perceptible hint of disapproval on Dasha’s face the first time she had met Chloe’s boyfriend. Which was really saying something, given that most of the time Dasha’s face didn’t move. The slightest of creases between her boss’s brows had alerted Chloe to the fact that Dasha didn’t seem pleased with Liam.
She didn’t understand why.
“Take a seat,” Dasha gestured to one of the chairs across from her desk.
Chloe did as she was told.
“We’ve gotten by with the pieces you front-loaded for our last few issues and two freelance features,” Dasha sounded measured.
The pit in her stomach tightened and she suddenly felt sick. She knew the articles Dasha was referencing and the freelancers. Chloe had recommended them herself. Was this a preamble to being fired?
“The freelance articles were good,” her boss continued, “but they weren’t Chloe Ryder good. For our October issue, I want something exciting. You’re one of my best writers and I’m happy to have you back.”
Chloe’s body relaxed.
She wasn’t being fired—thank her lucky stars.
It was a good reminder to her that, from here on out, she needed to bring her A-game.
“I understand,” Chloe nodded. “There’s a hotel in Nairobi that reached out last month. They have giraffes,” she suggested.
Dasha’s expression remained impenetrable.
“I also received invitations from Mardan Palace in Turkey and Aman Kyoto in Japan,” she suggested.
Dasha continued staring and then finally spoke.
“I received an invitation to a resort in Costa Rica,” she said. “They opened a few months ago and I think it would make for a good feature.”
Chloe was game. She had been to Costa Rica before and found it to be a beautiful country with rich culture and warm people.
“I’m more than happy to check it out,” Chloe said enthusiastically.
Dasha nodded in approval.
“What’s the resort?” Chloe inquired.
“It’s called Costa Morpho. I’ll forward you the invitation.”
And with that, her meeting with Dasha was over. Chloe headed back to her office, unpacked her things, and opened her laptop.
She had heard the email notification sound from her cell phone and the promised invitation from Costa Morpho that Dasha had forwarded appeared on her computer screen. The email offered her and a guest a week-long stay at their resort and requested a response along with available dates.
She hit the reply button and began to type. A few minutes later, after consulting her calendar, she hit send before looking at the invitation email again.
Costa Morpho—it was a bit of an odd-sounding name, but no stranger really than Sandals, Moon Palace, or Breathless.
She wondered what the resort’s schtick was. With the existence of Google, she could find out within seconds, but in her role, Chloe made it a rule not to look up the resorts and hotels she was staying at in advance. That way, she was seeing and experiencing the site with fresh eyes and no preconceived notions. She felt it made for a more authentic experience.
She was looking forward to going on assignment and seeing what Costa Morpho had to offer. And it wasn’t just because she had spent several months veritably locked inside her condo. Shegenuinely loved her job, and when it came to new resorts, they were always looking to try and get one up on their competition. Often, that meant the companies worked to up the ante when it came to their offerings. One hotel she had stayed at had offered goldfish companions for their guests’ rooms. On request, a butler would bring up a fishbowl with an aquatic friend that sat on the dresser for the duration of the guest’s stay. It was odd, but what made it even odder was that the hotel was situated in the Caribbean, literal steps away from the ocean where fish were a dime a dozen.
