Page 5 of The House Swap

Speaking out had only seemed to make things worse, and even before she had gone to bed, having waved Keira off in her taxi, Poppy knew she had made a mistake.

Friday brought fresh hell, as the messages kept coming. She had given up reading them now, but they were stacking up in Messenger faster than she could clear them. And the comments on Facebook continued.

Hope she rots.

That was from someone with a pink heart in their bio.

Another:

She’s finished. We’ll make sure she doesn’t work again.

Unable to deal with reading any more cruel insults, she logged off, swiping to her calendar, looking at the upcoming work she had scheduled in. It was pointless, though. She couldn’t stop thinking about the nasty comments, and pretending to be normal wasn’t going to help defend her against the angry mob.

Her phone buzzed, alerting her to a notification for her website. A new review had been posted and as she clicked on it, her stomach dropped. It was a one star:

Destroyed my friend’s book. Absolute disgrace. Avoid.

She stared at the words, unable to process how quickly these strangers were reshaping her life, and aware that her clients were going to see this.

She’d built her business on trust. And trust, she was beginning to realise, was fragile.

Somehow, she managed to stay off social media for the rest of the morning, but although she remained at her desk, she was too distracted to open the manuscript she was supposed to be working on.

More devastating news came via email at lunchtime, from a small publisher she’d been in talks with for months. She didn’t open it straightaway, instead staring at the sender name, a pulse in her neck throbbing. Her mouth was dry.

Finally, she clicked.

Poppy,

I’m so sorry. We’re going to have to pause the discussion for now. Given the situation online, it’s not something we can risk being associated with at the moment.

Please understand it’s not personal.

Best,

Louise

Not personal? This was her bloody livelihood. It wasn’t just a job. It was everything she’d worked towards.

Part of her wanted to reply, to try to explain what had happened in an attempt to fix things, but Louise wasn’t going to care. No one was going to want to touch Poppy. At least while Simon’s lies were blowing up the internet. The truth didn’t matter.

She had worked so hard to become an editor, training and completing courses while working full-time in a bookstore, and she had been careful not to give up the security of her regular wage until she had built up a steady portfolio of clients.

Now she had taken that step, she relied on her business to pay her bills, including the mortgage on her little one-bed flat in Bexleyheath. Simon’s cruel lies could jeopardise everything, and already she could feel the world imploding around her.

Needing some fresh air, she slipped on trainers and let herself out of the flat. She would head over to Danson Park for a run around the lake.

So far, outside of the book world, only Keira knew what had happened. Poppy didn’t want to worry her parents or her younger sister, Grace. The four of them would be together at Sunday lunch in two days, and she hoped like hell that the damage would be limited by then, so she could relax.

It crossed her mind as she circled back around the lake: did Tom know?

He was part of the whole online community, but if he had seen the fallout, then he hadn’t reached out. Had he sided with Simon?

No, Tom Rainer would never do that. He and Poppy were close friends. He might call her to ask what was going on, but he wouldn’t turn on her on the say-so of another author.

Slowing to a walk, she pulled her phone from her pocket, calling his number from her favourites list. She could really do with hearing his voice, and also with his take on everything.

He took a few seconds to answer, but then his reassuring deep voice was on the line.