Chapter 2
2
In Hayley’s office, I took in my boss where she was sitting behind her desk. She looked like the tough cookie she was with her short, blonde hair, bright-blue glasses that made her eyes look even more startling blue, and today, she wore a sharp, dark suit. Hayley was in her forties and I aspired to be as successful as she was one day. Opposite her in a chair sat Jake, whose eyes turned towards the door as I walked in. I was too nervous to look back at him and so I kept my gaze on Hayley instead. I did wonder though what Jake thought of my summer dress and boots combination. The two of them looked so smart and business-like in front of me; I suddenly felt even younger than my twenty-five years.
‘Freya, I have good news…’ Hayley began. ‘I want you to go to New York.’
‘New York?’ I repeated in shock.
She nodded. ‘Yes, next week. I realise it’s short notice but I have my sister’s wedding and I tried to tell her I couldn’t come but she used the words “never speak to me again”.’ Hayley rolled her eyes. I wasn’t sure if she was joking or not. ‘So, I need you to go instead. And what did you think of Jake’s new book?’ Her eyes left me and fixed on Jake. ‘Freya read it over the weekend.’
‘Oh.’ Jake turned in his chair and I felt his eyes on me. ‘Is that so?’
It took my brain a second to take in everything Hayley had just said. I was still stunned about her telling me I needed to go to New York, let alone asking me to tell Jake what I thought about his book. I felt under pressure from their gazes.
I swallowed hard and forced myself to focus on Jake’s question. ‘Y… yes,’ I stuttered a little before finding a stronger voice. ‘I thought it was beautiful. I honestly had tears in my eyes at the end.’
‘There. See?’ Hayley thumped the desk and I jumped a little. ‘I told you it’s one of your best books, Jake.’
I risked a peek at Jake and he was still looking at me.
‘I’m glad it won you two over but we have no idea if my publishers will ever agree to bring it out,’ he said finally, moving his gaze from me and onto Hayley. ‘But you think this will work?’
‘I do,’ she replied briskly. ‘I pulled in all my favours to get you into the conference and your publishers will see the romance community still want, no they still need , Jake Richards’ books in their lives. So…’ She turned back to me. ‘You’ll go to New York, Freya? I remember you said you’ve always wanted to go. I’ll need you there for five days.’
I nodded eagerly. New York was definitely a bucket list city for me. I was convinced I’d watched every film or TV show set there, and read every book that used it as a location, so it was somewhere I’d always wanted to see for myself. Excitement pumped through my blood at the thought of it. And not only would this be a trip that work would be paying for; it was for five whole days! ‘I would love to go.’
‘It’s a very overrated city,’ Jake said, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms across his chest like he was bored with our conversation.
I decided to ignore that comment and not let him dampen my good mood. ‘What do you need me to do there?’ I asked then, thrilled Hayley’s sister was getting married so she had to send me instead of going herself. I couldn’t believe she’d almost cancelled going to her sister’s wedding but then again, she was a self-confessed workaholic so it wasn’t a huge surprise.
‘I’ve managed to get Jake onto the programme of the Romance Readers Club’s international conference. It’s a chance to show readers and Jake’s publishers that he still loves romance, that he will always be one of the genre’s biggest players, and that the article …’ she said, her voice bitter on the word, ‘was incorrect. So, I need you to go with Jake and help us to do just that.’
My mouth fell open but no words came out. I would be going to New York with Jake? Suddenly, the trip didn’t seem like the dream come true it had a few moments ago.
‘I have told Hayley I’m unconvinced this will work,’ Jake said then.
‘Nonsense,’ Hayley said, waving her hand dismissively. ‘Of course it will work. You will charm everyone there and they will forget all about the article.’
I couldn’t stop the snort that left my mouth. I tried to turn it into a cough but I’m not sure I pulled it off.
‘Look, yes, things have been difficult the past few months since that bloody article went viral,’ Hayley said, throwing me a warning glare. I didn’t dare look at Jake. ‘But this is why this trip has to happen. It’s an opportunity to repair the damage from it and build Jake’s reputation back up to where it was before, and secure a new book contract. You need to convince everyone you’re still the king of romance, Jake. And Freya, you’ll be there to logistically make sure it all runs smoothly, but also offer any advice along the way to get Jake’s fans and publishers back on board. You both have got this.’ She sounded so confident while my brain started to get foggy. ‘And you can use the company credit card for everything, first class all the way…’ she added, giving me a smile. ‘Okay, Freya?’
I couldn’t smile back. I shifted uncomfortably. ‘I guess, if you can’t go…’ I said, but the enthusiasm had left my voice.
‘Great, start organising everything. Make sure you liaise with Jake,’ Hayley said. ‘Call me if you need anything, Jake.’
‘I will.’ He got up as I walked to the door, and we left one after the other. As we walked away from Hayley’s office, I felt my nerves increase and I turned towards my desk, Jake moving past me towards the exit.
‘Freya.’
I paused in surprise at him addressing me directly, and looked back at him.
He looked down at me, our height difference almost as large as the ten-year age gap between us. ‘You’ll email me the details for the trip then?’
I was still a bit stunned about having to go on this trip.
‘Yes?’ Jake prodded when I stayed silent. He sighed in frustration, clearly indicating that I irritated him.
‘Yes,’ I said, nodding. ‘I will organise it all, don’t worry,’ I added as confidently as I could manage.
‘Hmm,’ he replied. ‘Well, at least the weather in New York looks good at the moment. It’s supposed to be dry all week.’
Did I imagine that he emphasised the word ‘dry’? Was it a warning he had overheard my conversation with Liv about my dry sex spell?
‘See you,’ he said before I could respond and carried on walking back towards the lifts.
A minute later, when Hayley came out of her office, I still hadn’t moved from the spot where he left me.
‘This has to go well, Freya. Jake’s career is hanging in the balance. I hope you know how important this conference is to us all.’
I finally woke up from my shocked trance to frown at her. ‘But does he even want a new contract?’ I asked. ‘That journalist heard him say that he hates writing romance books.’ I couldn’t even fathom why someone would hate writing them, especially someone who could write one as well as he could, but there we were.
Hayley shrugged. ‘His books make us a lot of money. So, you need to do all you can to make sure we can keep that going, okay?’
‘Okay,’ I found myself saying because she was impossible to argue with. And what could I say anyway? No, I can’t go because Jake Richards knows how long it’s been since I last had sex and how I think I’ll never find anything close to the romance in the books he writes…
Hayley eyed me. ‘You want to be an agent yourself so why don’t you view this trip as your audition, if you like?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Prove to me you can handle more responsibility, make a success of this trip with Jake and we can talk when you get back about how we can move you from my assistant to being an agent,’ Hayley said.
My heart leapt at the possibility of a promotion. I wasn’t at all thrilled at having to work so closely on my own with Jake – I found it hard to communicate with him and I didn’t understand why he had even said those things about romance books. But Hayley was offering me a chance to step up. A chance I was desperate for. ‘Really?’
‘Show me how much you want it, Freya.’
‘You know I do. I will work really hard out there,’ I said, determination to impress my boss setting in.
Hayley beamed at me. ‘Right answer. And Jake is a pussycat. You tell him what to do and he will do it; he wants to fix this. He’s fully on board. So, get everything booked and next week, you’ll be on your way to New York. Kind of exciting, right?’ She left me, sweeping back into her office, and I watched her go, wishing I could feel the excitement she was talking about.
Hayley thought that Jake was a pussycat?
If you could mistake a tiger for a pussycat.
I had no idea how I was going to even talk to Jake, let alone tell him what to do. Even though I had a big reason to try to do it now.
My dream trip felt like it had the potential to be more of a nightmare instead.