Page 2 of Escape to the Country

She grabbed her phone and automatically checked her appearance. With a grimace, she saw that her long dark brown bob was beginning to kink and curl in the rain. Thankfully her mascara and eyeliner hadn’t run, but her face looked pale and gaunt in the harsh glare of the street lamp.

Thank god, nobody was around to see her like this. Eleanor prided herself on her immaculate looks. Feeling less than perfect on the outside panicked her. Even her boyfriend Lucas had never seen her without make-up on. She liked to look polished and poised at all times. Soaking wet with messy hair wasn’t a good feeling for her and added to her misery.

She gave a start as the mobile suddenly rang out into the quiet of the night. Seeing the name on the screen, she immediately grimaced. It was her editor, the fearsome Theresa. A woman so rude and abrupt in nature that she could make Cersei Lannister look cute and cuddly.

With her phone in one hand, Eleanor reached out with the other to stroke the smooth pink petals of one of the roses. Her floral comfort blanket.

‘Hello. You’re working late,’ said Eleanor, faking a bright tone of voice.

‘That’s because I got called into the boardroom this evening,’ snapped Theresa, straight to the point as always. ‘Circulation is down. The owners want to know why.’

‘Well, everyone in the industry is struggling at the minute,’ began Eleanor. ‘It’s tough out there in the current climate, what with…’

‘Your stories have been a total snooze fest recently,’ said Theresa, talking over her.

Eleanor was taken aback. ‘Well, it’s getting harder and harder to get an exclusive when everyone is so empowered with Twitter and Instagram these days. But I’ve had a tip-off that…’

‘Kourtney manages it.’

Eleanor took a deep and calming breath. ‘Kourtney’s Dad owns a Formula One team. She has access to all those secret parties.’The ones that you know I can’t possibly get into, she added silently.

‘Quite. The London season is coming up and I need someone young like Kourtney to handle it.’

‘Young? I’m only thirty,’ blurted out Eleanor, with a shocked laugh.

‘Anyway, I’ve decided to make Kourtney the senior reporter in my team.’

Eleanor quickly stopped laughing. ‘What? No!’

‘Look, thanks to her contacts, she can bring in exclusives that you can only dream about,’ said Theresa.

‘But I’ve earned this promotion!’ Eleanor told her, beginning to lose her temper. ‘I’ve spent eight years working on this magazine! She’s only been with us for six months!’

‘Kourtney assures me that she can bring in a different angle on things, liven up the stories and that will boost circulation.’

Eleanor could feel her pulse racing as her heart hammered away in panic. It was the third time this month that it had happened. She had assured her doctor that her stress levels would be back to normal soon. But that had been when she had thought the promotion was hers.

‘Theresa, listen to me,’ said Eleanor, rubbing her throbbing chest. ‘Please. I can’t carry on doing these celebrity stories any more. I just can’t. I’m losing the will to live on a daily basis. You’ve got to give me a break, let me do something different. I beg you.’

‘Well, there may be some relief for you there, I suppose,’ drawled Theresa. ‘I’m afraid that I’ve got to let you go. The board want us to downsize. Cut our overheads.’

A chill came over Eleanor that had nothing to do with being soaked to the skin. ‘Downsize?’ she repeated, in a daze.

‘I’m sure you understand.’

‘Actually I don’t think I do,’ said Eleanor, struggling in her shock to form a coherent sentence. ‘I’m out of a job? Who’s going to get the celebrity stories for you now?’

‘Kourtney’s going to do both for the time being. It makes more sense.’

‘But I need this job.’ Eleanor could feel her dream of a garden flat slipping far out of reach. Even a bad job chasing celebrities was better than no job at all.

‘Surely working somewhere that makes you lose the will to live on a daily basis can’t be good for you?’ She could hear that Theresa was almost smiling down the phone as she carried on speaking. ‘I’m sure you can find something more suited to your lofty position.’

‘I was kidding!’ said Eleanor, quickly. ‘I mean, aren’t there any other vacant jobs in the company that I could take? I don’t care which department they would be in.’

‘The board are making cuts all over the place,’ Theresa told her. ‘It’s not just you. Now, I’ve had a look at your contract. Your redundancy package will be in accordance with your time of service, of course. Three months’ pay, I think. I’ll email you the details first thing. I’m sure you’ll find it more than fair. But it’s probably for the best that you don’t come into the office any more. Internal politics can be so exhausting. Make sure you return your pass to reception at some point.’

Eleanor’s head was reeling, trying to take in everything she was being told.