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Saved by the boss?
“Hello, Pia,” Glenda says dismissively.
Pia steps aside, but still doesn’t vacate, even when Glenda stares at her for a moment.
Giving up, Glenda turns her attention back to me. “Ava, how’s the new article coming along?” She pushes her heavy glasses up on her nose, somehow managing to look glamorous and nerdy all at once.
“Great, Glenda!” I lie, flashing her my biggest, fakest smile while quashing down the terror roiling in my belly. It figures, the universe is getting back at me for tormenting Pia. I can’t get away with a damn thing.
From the corner of my eye, I catch my nemesis smirking, pleased as punch to see someone put on the spot.
“You know, Glenda, before I get in too deep with this assignment, though, I wanted to run something else past you.”
Her face brightens. “I always love to hear new ideas, Ava. Hit me with it.”
To build a little suspense, I rub my hands together like I’ve thought long and hard about this, coming up with something so brilliant it’s sure to blow her panties off. Glenda isn’t exaggerating, she really does love new ideas.
One of the reasons her team has stuck around for so long. She gives us what she calls ‘agency.’
I love agency.
“What do you think, Glenda, if instead of writing about my first orgasm, I write about the first time I had sex. You know, popped the old cherry and all that.”
Glenda wrinkles her nose at me, letting me know I need to do more convincing.
So I continue, praying I can get my boss off the first O track. The one that’s leading to my downfall. “I’m thinking, Glenda, that this is a more meaningful, universal experience that all our readers can relate to, something that is truly life-changing—”
“Hmmm. Not sure about that, Ava,” she says, interrupting me.
Shit.
A glance in Pia’s direction makes me forget for a moment I’m not coming to this from a position of power and am, in fact, quite vulnerable.
Glenda shoots any remaining bravado I have right down.
“You know, Ava, I really don’t think anyone needs to be reminded of their first time, and the big loser guy they most likely did it with. For me, personally, it was one of the most disappointing moments of my life. An orgasm, on the other hand, is a pleasing surprise, kind of like a cherry on top of an already-delicious ice cream sundae.”
She smiles dreamily, looking at me but not really seeing me, as she clearly recalls her own first O.
She claps her hands together so loudly Pia and I jump. “There we have it. Everyone is all set, and I am sure, dear Ava, you will write somethingfabulous‚ like you always do, which”—she points a finger at me, almost touching my nose—“thrills our readers and makes the magazine just fly off the newsstand shelves.”
She saunters away, as does Pia, who glances back one more time, throwing me an evil grin at having been shot down.
Fuck her.
I swallow hard, forcing yet another smile. Inside, however, I realize time is wasting. I need to get going on my mission.
My O-mission.
* * *
9
AVA
“Darling, you look beautiful.”
I take my seat at the lunch table Aunt Dede always prefers and pull my white napkin onto my lap before she tells me to.
