Long Story Short

Chapter 1

1

And I knew when we kissed, I had found the love of my life. And it wasn’t a happy ending after all.

It was just the beginning for us.

I closed the book with a contented sigh as the Tube train pulled into my station. I hastily stuffed When I Met You by Jake Richards into my bag, jumped up and alighted, following the throng of my fellow commuters onto the long escalator, tapping my card at the barrier at the top, and walking out into the fresh air. I left Oxford Circus station and passed by the shops that were a dangerous temptation every day and headed down a side street towards my place of work.

It was a bright June morning and the sign of sunshine, coupled with the warm, fuzzy feeling I always got at the end of reading a romance novel, left me beaming as I walked to the office. My smile broadened further when my phone buzzed in my bag and I saw that it was my cousin Liv calling me.

‘Morning, Liv,’ I greeted her as I slowed my pace to chat. I pushed back my wavy, auburn hair off my face, wishing I had tied it up.

‘Hey Freya, where are you?’

‘Walking to work… I just finished the new Jake Richards book on my way in.’

‘Oh my God, how was it?’ Liv asked eagerly. She not only was a huge romance reader like me but we also made our living from romance books. Liv was an author, and I worked for a literary agent specialising in the genre.

My chunky ankle boots clip-clopped along the cobbles on the road where the tall, white building that housed the Hayley Harper Literary Agency stood. ‘It was so swoony, Liv. When the couple finally kiss and declare they love each other at the end, I had tears in my eyes. It’s gorgeous. I think it might be his best book but who knows if it will ever see the light of day?’

‘Hmm. I still can’t believe he said what he said,’ she agreed, darkly.

I nodded even though she couldn’t see me. ‘It kind of broke my heart a little bit,’ I confessed. Jake Richards wrote the most romantic stories and he had always been one of my favourite authors.

But now, I wasn’t so sure.

‘His readers are all heartbroken; I wonder if Hayley can get this book published,’ Liv mused.

‘Time will tell,’ I said, pushing open the door to my office building and heading towards the lifts that would take me up to the fifth floor. I had been assistant to Hayley Harper for six months after Liv recommended me for the position. Liv was one of Hayley’s clients, and her romance-writing career was off to a great start, although she had a long way to go to reach Jake Richards’ heights. I was confident she would one day, though. I loved her writing, and was so grateful that after trying to get a job in the publishing world for a year, she helped me get this one. And I was determined to become a literary agent myself one day.

‘I just don’t understand how someone who can write a story like this one seems to hate romance. This book is so full of heart.’ I sighed wistfully. ‘God, I love reading romance but sometimes, it does make me hate being single.’

‘I’m sorry, Freya. But look, I felt the same way and then I got together with Aiden. It will happen for you too. You’re too lovely not to find someone special.’

I smiled as I pushed the call lift button. ‘You’re biased as you’re family but thank you. I can’t help but wish it would happen sooner than later. This dry spell is going on a long time.’

‘Dry spell?’

‘I haven’t had sex for three years.’

‘Three years! But I thought you were on the dating apps?’

‘I am but seriously, Liv, none of the men on there appear to have even heard the word “romance”. They all want to start sexting or sending nudes or meeting up for “Netflix and chill” straight away. What happened to going on a date first? Buying a girl dinner? Or even giving a compliment that isn’t “you look like someone I want to fuck”?’ I continued ranting down the phone, the passion in my voice making it increase in volume as I waited for the lift.

‘Ugh. That does sound horrible. Men should definitely read romance novels…’

‘They really should. I have to go; the lift is here. And I need to start work.’

‘Okay. I was just checking we’re still on for drinks tonight?’

‘Definitely. See you at the bar at seven.’ I hung up, stowed my phone in my bag and when the lift doors opened, I stepped in and turned around.

And froze.

Because I was now face to face with a familiar figure who I hadn’t realised must have been standing behind me waiting for the lift too. Our eyes met, then he stepped in beside me.

‘Morning,’ he said with a curt nod.

I couldn’t speak. My face flushed as he turned around, giving me his back and pushed the button for the fifth floor. Humiliation and horror washed over me like I’d just stepped into one of those ice baths that athletes use. I couldn’t believe that not only someone could have overheard me telling Liv all about my dry spell and how men have lost the romance gene lately, but I knew this person.

And it wasn’t just anyone.

It was Jake Richards. Bestselling romance author.

It was as if I’d manifested him by talking about the man with Liv on the phone. Jake Richards had made me fall in love with romance novels but then disgraced himself by slagging off the genre. He was also our biggest client. Hayley, my boss, was his agent.

Fuck!

Staring at the tall, imposing man in front of me, wearing an expensive-looking grey suit, I wished I had the superpower of invisibility. But no such luck. I was very visible and I knew I had been speaking really loudly to Liv. So now Jake Richards probably knew I hadn’t had sex for three years.

‘Uh, morning,’ I said, finally, realising I still hadn’t answered him yet. I was so mortified; my voice came out high-pitched enough that it resembled a chipmunk.

The lift arrived at the fifth floor then and the doors swung open to show a glass sign declaring we’d arrived at the Hayley Harper Literary Agency.

Jake strode out of the lift without a backward glance at me. I watched him go, his long legs striding confidently across the office, and I marvelled at how imposing this guy was. He was also handsome. His dark hair had a few grey streaks in it that somehow made him look even more distinguished and he had designer stubble across his chin that must have taken him ages to style so perfectly. The heady, spicy scent of his aftershave lingered in the lift right along with me. I didn’t want to get out. I half-wondered if I could go back down, call in sick and hide for the rest of the day, but our receptionist, Ellen, saw me then and waved happily.

With a resigned sigh, I stepped out of the lift and attempted to make my face look somewhat normal.

‘Hiya! Jake Richards looked particularly scary this morning; I didn’t even get a formal nod,’ Ellen hissed as I passed by her desk.

‘I think Hayley has called an emergency meeting with him so he’s probably even more tense than usual,’ I said, thinking she was right about him seeming scary. I was nervous when I first met him because I was such a big fan of his books, but those nerves had never gone away because he was so cool and composed all the time.

And I was, well, rarely either, if I was being completely honest.

‘Not surprised after what happened,’ Ellen said, shaking her head.

‘I know, right? I’ll see you at lunch,’ I told her, walking on into our open-plan office, looking over as Hayley stepped out of her private office to greet Jake. She gave me a quick wave before disappearing in there with him and closing her door.

I headed to my desk and hoped that Jake had more things to worry about than my lack of a love life and would forget everything he might have heard by the lifts. I wanted to be my most professional self when dealing with him, but my rant this morning had completely obliterated any success I might have had so far at doing that.

Smoothing down my summer dress, I sat down at my desk and thought about Jake’s latest book. I had begged Hayley to let me read it. I had genuinely loved it but I wasn’t sure if it would, or should, be published. Three months ago, an article had circulated like wildfire after Jake was overheard talking about the fact he hated writing romance. He was quoted by the journalist as saying, ‘My readers are stupid for believing in happy ever afters. But I’m happy to take their money anyway.’ His fanbase had rightly been furious and his publishers were now being cagey about offering him a new contract. I knew Hayley was meeting him this morning to discuss how they could fix the fallout and get him a new book deal.

But did he deserve a new deal?

His words had stuck a knife into my heart, confirming what I’d said to Liv about modern men having seemingly lost the romance gene. It was like Jake Richards had destroyed all the happy ever afters he had written in one fell swoop. It had made me question whether happy ever after could ever exist in real life. If my favourite romance writer didn’t actually believe in love then maybe I needed to give up on finding it for myself. And that was an incredibly depressing thought.

Hayley’s office door opened then and she leaned out and called my name. ‘Freya, can you come in for a sec please?’

I turned around and swallowed hard. ‘Uh okay,’ I called back, wishing I could refuse. I really didn’t think I could look Jake Richards in the eyes right now. I prayed he hadn’t told Hayley about what I’d said in the office. Surely, he wouldn’t do that? I really didn’t want to have to find out but Hayley was waiting for me so I stood up, took a deep breath, and walked into her office.

As I closed the door behind me, I hoped that I wasn’t about to be sacked from my dream job.