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Back in her room, Vivian opened up her laptop, and checked her emails. One was from Lionel. The subject line read, CALL ME.
She picked up her phone and dialed.
“Ah Vivian. Good. I was hoping you would call before it got too late on that side of the country. It’s about your review. I need it tonight.”
Oh no.The little lie she had told Bryce about sending a report to her boss tonight had now become truth.
She’d planned to spend the next day going over the piece and polishing it to a submittable standard. “But I haven’t visited the day spa. And there are other places I haven’t eaten. Can’t this wait? I thought I had a couple more days.”
Lionel huffed down the phone. “Yeah, sorry kid, but Phoebe is struggling to get her piece on the new resort in Tahiti loaded. Something about their internet connection continually going down. I need your review to take up her space. If you can push another five hundred words on top of the normal brief and some extra photos, we might be ok.”
Unlike Jerry’s crock excuse, Vivian could believe Phoebe’s story. If her fellow correspondent said she had internet issues, she was telling the truth.
The pressure was now on for Vivian to come through for everyone at LHRW magazine.
Ok, you can do this, you know enough about Royal Resorts Laguna Beach to produce a balanced and well written article.
“Give me a couple of hours and I will have it to you. I took some photos around the resort and at the poolside earlier today, and I think they came out really well. I’ll send them through now, and you can take a look.”
She could swear the sound of Lionel’s brain clicking over that problem drifted down the phone line. “Thanks Vivian. I’m sure they will be great. I wish I had more contributors who were as reliable as you.”
This wasn’t the first nor the last time that Lionel would put her in such a position. Whenever someone had to come through for him, it was her.
The afternoon with Bryce had set her in a reflective mood, one where she wasn’t just going to do yet another favor for Lionel because someone else had let him down. She worked hard for the magazine, it was time her boss showed her a little more appreciation.
“I will get the review to you this evening, on one condition. You have to give me an international feature. I’ve worked hard on the US ones, so I think I have earned the opportunity to file something from further afield.”
She could do better than Jerry with his cavalier attitude and last minute rushed pieces. Another sigh, followed by a huff of annoyance. “Ok, how about something in Cancun, Mexico?”
“No. Italy. I want something in Italy. One of the boutique chains is doing an upgrade of their Lake Como resort. I want in on that assignment.” A gorgeous old resort situated on the shores of the famous Lake Como was undergoing a major refurb. That’s what she wanted.
Bryce’s mention of how amazing the food was in Italy had triggered something in the recesses of her memory. Her own brief travel experience in Europe a few years earlier had been cut short due to Vivian running out of money.
Your other option is to get back on the phone or email or whatever and try to convince Jerry to get on a train and quickly file his Japanese ski resort piece. Good luck with that.
“Full review in my inbox by midnight New York time. And it had better have something captivating to say. I need a headline which grabs.”
“Deal.”
She hung up the call. The words of the article were already half written in her head, including the eye catching headline.
By the time she met with Bryce for dinner at eight, Lionel would have his review along with some Instagram worthy photos. Soon she would be making plans to eat authentic pizza in Italy.
Tonight however, she had plans to feast on a hot American male.
CHAPTERTWENTY
Bryce had a few hours to kill. After Vivian left, he’d returned to his own suite and changed into a casual pair of shorts and collared linen shirt. His Italian resort look felt a little out of place in the late California afternoon. Once dressed he went for a long walk around the grounds of the resort.
Two things focused his mind. The first—the resort and his need for a detailed understanding of all the ways it was falling short of expectations. That was why he was here. It was the job he’d been tasked with by his father and the board.
The second, and infinitely more compelling, was what he was going to do about the sexy, sassy girl from New York. Bryce wasn’t normally one for resort romances, or secret trysts, but Vivian had him thinking he might dare to break his own rule.
It’s not set in stone. Mixing business with pleasure is just something I’ve tried to avoid. But Vivian is different from other women, she is a breath of fresh air.
When he was working at the European resorts and in New York high society, people knew he was Bryce Royal, he didn’t hide his identity. His family name meant having to deal with women who were not only attracted to him, but to his bank account. At times he wondered what they saw first, the man or large dollar signs. Some of the husband-seeking females made no secret of the fact that they were prepared to go to great lengths in order to get hold of his money. The gold diggers left Bryce wary of romantic entanglements.
Ms. Vivian Holte, however, didn’t have a clue as to who he was, and that made all the difference. She liked him just for him.
