Page 124 of Beauty
I wince. “You’re right. But the card’s not necessary. I’m just here to have a drink with my friend.”
She hums. “So long as you keep an open mind.”
I nod, and she waves her hand through the curtain, parting it easily. She waits for me to go first, and what I find inside is completely unexpected. The black walls with gold teardrops catch my attention first. The design makes it look as though the gold really is liquid. Like it’s melting down the walls. As my eyes adjust to the burgundy lighting, I catalog the pair of booths in each corner. Cat grasps me by the elbow and leads me deeper into the room, but not before I catch sight of a woman with her top off in one booth. And is that a man between her legs?
“Holy shit,” I mutter.
“You promised no judging.”
“I didn’t think I’d have a front-row seat to an orgy,” I hiss.
She drags me to the black lacquered bar and gestures for me to sit on one of the golden tufted stools. The wall ahead of us is lit up and stocked with dozens of bottles of liquor. In the middle, what looks like a cauldron bubbles.
“If you put a spell on me, I’m out,” I mutter.
She lets out a loud, raspy laugh.
At the sound, the female bartender looks our way, and her eyes light up with recognition. “Mrs. B, good to see you.”
Cat orders two extra dirty martinis, and once our drinks have been served, she turns to me, all business. “Sophie is retiring.”
I frown. “Why?”
Sophie and Cat started as interns atJolieat the same time, and for the last several years, Cat has been editor-in-chief of the exclusive magazine and Sophie has been the creative director. It’s one of the most coveted roles in the entire fashion industry. While Cat’s simple nod toward a design could make a designer’scareer, she won’t even see the design unless Sophie thinks it’s worth her time. She’s the visionary.
“Her husband is several years older than she is. He wants to retire, and she wants to enjoy his retirement.” She shrugs. “I’ll miss her tremendously, obviously, but Dex deserves his wife’s attention. I’ve been stealing it for decades now.”
I smile. Theirs is a friendship to truly admire. “Good for her, then.”
Cat drags her martini stick through her drink, then lifts it to her mouth and slides one olive off with her teeth. “This is when you ask me what any of that has to do with you.”
I dip my chin. “Well, yeah. What does this have to do with me?”
She sips her drink, then takes my hands in hers. “I want you to beJolie’s next creative director.”
My breath catches in my throat. When I can breathe again, I squeeze her hands. “Are you out of your mind?” She has to be. I’ve never worked for a magazine. Hell, the closest I’ve come is reading the damn thing on the couch each month.
She takes another sip, her expression calculating. “No, I’m brilliant. We’ve been over this. If I believe you’re the right person for the creative director position, then it’s fact.”
I sigh. “I appreciate all the faith you have in me, but you’re wrong about this. This is your magazine.Thefashion magazine of our generation. Of our grandmothers’ generation. It’s the bright beacon to which all designers look in order to determine what comes next.”
Her expression turns to one of pride. One of pure arrogance, really. “Exactly. And with you as creative director, a woman I’ve watched break rules and push boundaries and twist designs in a way that even has me blinking and then thinkingOh, okay, that more than works; that’s incredible, imagine all the amazing things we could do.”
I lean back in my chair. Holy shit. This isn’t the kind of offer a person says no to. But how the hell can I say yes? This is so far beyond even the biggest dreams I had for myself before my life fell apart. And yet my dreams keep changing. And as I let the idea marinate, a hunger I haven’t felt in two years flares to life.
“You love it,” she says, her smile wide. “You love it and you want to say yes.”
I lower my focus to the bar to hide my smile. “I didn’t say that.”
“But you didn’t say no.”
A scoff escapes me. “Who the hell says no to you?”
Both she and the bartender laugh.
“No one who knows what’s good for them,” a deep voice says.
Jay Hanson appears on Cat’s other side, looming over her and laying an indecent kiss on her lips.
