Page 1 of The Best Friend's Billionaire Brother
Chapter 1
Gabby Fredericks waited at one of the cubicles closest to her new editor-in-chief’s office for her end-of-the-day meeting with him. Any minute, she was going to be called back, and she was already practicing how she would accept the promotion from section editor to copy editor. Changes were coming to the Charleston Uptown Gazette, and she wanted to be the first on board with modernizing the newspaper.
“Ms. Fredericks,” Wesley Brown finally called. He’d been the first change the publisher made. The previous editor-in-chief of the paper had wanted to retire, and when they were bought out, he decided it was the best time to leave.
She stood and crossed the newsroom floor, shaking hands with him as she reached his office. “Hi.”
“Come on in.” He stepped aside, allowing her in, and she noticed a woman behind Wesley’s desk.
Instead of being her normally meek self, she walked right over and shook the woman’s hand. “Hi, I’m Gabby Fredericks.”
The woman waved to the chair across from her. “Please, take a seat.”
Gabby complied and set her hands in her lap. “I’m so—”
“Ms. Fredericks, before we get too chummy, I’m here to let you know that Wayne Publishing has decided to go a different direction with producing this paper.”
“Okay,” Gabby said softly, unconsciously rubbing the office key on her wristlet.
“With that said, we’re letting you know that today is your last day.” The woman slid an envelope toward Gabby. “That is a severance package. It should give you time to find another position. We’d appreciate it if you’d clear out your work area before leaving today.”
“Fired?” The word felt foreign in her mouth. She’d been with the paper since her sophomore year in college, working her way from intern to section editor over the past four and a half years. The copy editor job was next…or so she thought. “I thought I’d been a great asset to the paper.”
The woman sighed. “We feel it’s best to have fresh blood going into the new year. I know, it’s Thanksgiving and Christmas is just around the corner, but I’m sure you understand that this works best for everyone.”
Best for everyone? Gabby didn’t know how to respond. What could she say? She was so shell-shocked that she could barely think.
Wesley opened the door, indicating they were done.
“If you’ll go ahead and see yourself out, we have another appointment scheduled.” The woman pointed to the door.
Speechless, Gabby stood and absentmindedly walked to her office. She’d gone from excited about her future with the paper to numb in the span of minutes. Just like that, and her career with the paper was over. She wasn’t even sure how to process the whole thing.
The cell phone she’d tucked in her dress pocket rang, and she fished it out. “Hello?”
“I’m sorry. I know you usually work late,” Carrie Anne West’s chipper voice filtered through the phone.
The sound of her voice was enough to shake Gabby out of her daze. It was Tuesday, and she was flying into Amarillo the next day to spend Thanksgiving with her and Carrie Anne’s families in Caprock Canyon, Texas.
“It’s okay,” Gabby replied.
“You sound off. Is everything all right?”
Of course, Carrie Anne would pick up on Gabby being upset. They’d been best friends, or more like sisters, since they were born. It made sense because their moms had been lifelong best friends too, going so far as to live across the street from each other their entire lives. They were all like family and even spent the holidays together.
Normally, Carrie Anne would be the first person Gabby would want to tell about what had happened, but she didn’t need to spend the holiday with everyone feeling sorry for her.
Gabby swallowed down her disappointment at being fired and responded, “I’m fine. Just tired after working all day.”
Carrie Anne paused a second. “Are you sure?”
“Positive.” Gabby put as much sunshine and rainbows into the response as she could muster.
“Okay, I have news. I’m getting married!” Carrie Anne squealed.
Gabby gasped. “Israel passed the bar?” Carrie Anne and Israel had been sweethearts in high school and all the way through college.
“Israel proposed last night, and I said yes.” She paused. “I was going to wait until you got here tomorrow, but I couldn’t hold it in. I had to tell you.”
