Page 49 of The Cottage in the Highlands

I snorted. “That’s rubbish! She’s lying. They weren’t in there to appreciate the flocked wallpaper.”

Athena studied me.

“They had no right,” I managed, my anger peaking again at the memory of Lily’s evident disappointment and hurt. “I promised Mrs Cruickshank that nobody would enter the house and yet Esther and Dante went in there when they were clearly instructed not to.”

Athena pushed some papers around her desk. “Look Leonie, I know you made a promise to the old dear.”

My jaw ground with disapproval at the dismissive way Athena was talking about Lily.

“And what Esther and Dante did was rather naughty, seeing as they were on a shoot, but you have to see it from my point of view.”

Rather naughty?

I could feel behind me, even through the panoramic office glass, that my colleagues were doing their best to look busy, but their heads continued to bob up from their screens and then down again like meercats.

Athena steepled her long fingers together under her chin. “Goddess is an established magazine, but it does have its competitors. I want us to be the best out there and in order to achieve that, we need the pick of the best models and celebs.” She made a frustrated noise. “If we go upsetting and offending people like Esther Drew, it’s not going to do our circulation or reputation any good in the longer term.”

I pushed myself forward, my nerves biting. Athena was such an intimidating figure, with her razor-sharp nose and perfect lipstick, but this was a load of crap!

“Athena, it took a lot of persuasion on my part to assure Mrs Cruickshank she could trust me. Thanks to those two breaking in through the back door, I’m the one who not only feels she has let this lady down, I’m also one hundred pounds lighter.”

“Sorry?”

I flicked her a look. “I wrote an IOU for one hundred pounds and popped it through Mrs Cruickshank’s letterbox, to put towards the cost of repairing the damage to the door.”

Athena considered all this.

“Mrs Cruickshank came into the house and saw Esther Drew and Dante half-naked, about to have each other against the sitting room wall. I felt awful about it.”

Athena kicked out her heeled legs under her desk. “Yes. Well, I’ll arrange for a huge bouquet of flowers to be sent to this Mrs Cruickshank. That should do it.”

That should do it?

Now it was my turn for my eyebrows to rise up to my hairline. Something was telling me it would take far more than a bunch of orchids to win round Lily Cruickshank.

“In future, Leonie, I ask that you think before you speak. We are working with unpredictable creative types in this industry.”

My mouth dropped open. So, the fact that Esther Drew and Dante were about to copulate after having trespassed was because they were “creative types”?

I mentioned this to Athena. “Trespassing is a criminal offence, as I’m sure you are aware, Athena. Mrs Cruickshank would be well within her rights to make a complaint to the police for breaking and entering too, not to mention that she could sue us for violation of our contract.”

Athena’s hard, green eyes suddenly shone with alarm.

“I think all this is being blown rather out of proportion, don’t you?”

I shook my head. “No, in fact, I don’t.”

Athena’s flat mouth indicated she thought I shouldn’t have said anything to begin with. So, I should just have left them to it?

“I know you worked on a little local paper before coming here and it must all be a bit of a culture shock for you…”

I struggled to contain my incredulity. All right, perhaps The Silver Ness News was a small local paper, but at least the three of us possessed morals!

“But things are done differently here.”

You’re telling me.

Athena bathed me in one of her self-indulgent smiles that didn’t reach her eyes.