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My phone buzzed, and I picked it up. It was a text from Holli: Some raccoons have moved into your room, is it cool if they stay there?
I snorted and shot back: I’ll be home today. BTW I got fired.
Almost immediately, she responded: Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?
It would be easier to explain in person.
* * * *
Gabriella wanted to meet at a brunch place in the Meat Packing district. It was part French bistro, part daylight-hours nightclub. There was a line outside the door, but when I gave my name to the runway model-looking hostess, I was ushered right inside.
Gabriella, Jake, and Penelope sat at a corner table in the busy dining room. Gabriella and Penelope had taken the tall-backed booth seat against the wall, while Jake was installed in one of the chairs on the other side. They were all well-dressed, impeccably groomed, luxuriating in an air of their own self-importance that was bolstered by the timid glances and whispers at the tables around them.
They looked like fucking vampires.
“Sophie, it’s so nice to see you again.” Gabriella rose from her chair and leaned over the table when I approached, kissing the air on either side of my face. She’d never greeted me quite so effusively. I wasn’t sure she’d ever actually greeted me, come to think of it. Her chin-length, ruby red bob swayed like the pendulum in Poe’s story as she sat back down.
“Sophie, you look good,” Jake said, standing to pull me into a hug. I went along with it, because to him, we were still old friends. He didn’t know I thought he’d become an insufferable dick. “You look great, have you lost weight?”
“Um. No?” I smoothed the front of my jacket. “Did you think I needed to lose weight?”
Wow, moody much? I couldn’t figure out why, but for some reason, everything anybody said lately poked the badger. Probably because I was so tired and stressed out.
“No, no. Just noticing,” Jake said with a frozen sort of “oh, shit,” smile.
As I took my seat at the table, I realized what my problem was. I’d been working with real people, spending time with real people. Gabriella and Jake were just broadly drawn caricatures of their own making. It was so sad that they couldn’t see how ridiculous it all was. It made me even sadder to think that I’d bought into their “we’re so important” clique mentality for my entire career so far. Had I really wanted to be just like them? Did I still?
The thought made me queasy. But then, I was always queasy lately. I was pretty sure I was getting a stress ulcer.
Caricatures or not, they were willing to give me a job. So I needed to nod, smile and play along. I had spent two years swallowing my opinion of Gabriella Winters; I could go another ten if I had to.
“How have you been finding Porteras, Sophie? Be honest.” Gabriella’s huge blue eyes narrowed as she waited to scrutinize my answer. There wasn’t a single line on her face, but I got the impression she was frowning.
I could be honest. I didn’t work there anymore. “Well... I was promoted to assistant beauty editor—”
“I know all this.” Gabriella waved her hand. “What I want to hear is how the magazine is doing internally.”
“Oh. Well, there are some growing pains.” I knew that wasn’t what she wanted to hear. She wanted me to openly condemn the new company and give her secrets she could weaponize. Whether I still worked for Porteras or not, I wasn’t about to sabotage Neil for their sakes. “I think they’re going to lose some subscribers as they continue to tinker with the format, but they’ll attract new ones, as well. There is a market for cruelty-free fashion, and I’m proud that Porteras is going to be on the cutting edge of that movement.”
“How... diplomatic of you.” Gabriella looked amused at my answer.
“And is Elwood giving you any more problems?” Jake asked. To his credit he sounded actually concerned. I had to give him a bit of a break there; he didn’t know Neil and I were dating. From his point of view, he’d seen me come out of the boss’s locked office all shaken up and flushed and freaked out. Then I’d gotten a promotion the next week.
Better to clear that up right away. “I never had a problem with Mr. Elwood. I barely worked for him at all before I was promoted, and that was on Gabriella’s recommendation. And thank you so much for that, Gabriella. It really meant a lot to me that you thought me capable of the job.”
She gave me a benevolent smile. “I knew you’d do well there, Sophie. It wasn’t a favor to promote you.”
A waiter came over with menus, and I tucked my hair behind my ear as I scanned it. Almost immediately, I noticed Penelope’s eyes light up.
