Love Like That

Nina winced. “Shane said that?”

Keira nodded, feeling sadder and more dejected than ever.

Nina gave her another squeeze around the shoulders. “You’re young. Too young to settle. There’s a big world out there and you’ve only seen a fraction of it.”

“Thank you,” Bryn agreed. “That’s what I’ve been telling her. She’s still in her twenties, for God’s sake. Wait until you hit three-oh at least.”

Nina raised an eyebrow. “Make that four-oh,” she said, witheringly. “Plus a few more for luck. I’m in no hurry to settle down. Despite what the media might be telling me about my biological clock.”

“The media?” Keira quipped. “You mean like us? We are journalists after all. It’s our job to make people think they want things. Like love,” she added bitterly.

Nina laughed and Keira felt a little better. She glanced out the window at the busy New York City streets, filled with people on their way to work, people on their way home from all-night raves, people dressed in expensive suits, others in witty slogan T-shirts. She could see so many races and nationalities, and every conceivable hairstyle. They hurried along, battling against the cold winds that fall had brought in.

As she studied them, Keira realized just how much she loved her city. She’d never have been happy living in Ireland. Shane had been right about that. Moving away just wasn’t an option for her. She was New York through and through. The city practically ran through her blood.

She turned her attention back to Nina and Bryn.

“So, how did Elliot take my absence from the office today?” she asked Nina, more than ready to change the topic of conversation.

Nina stirred her coffee. “Honestly, he seems a little distracted today. I overheard him having a heated conversation on the phone the other night when I was working late. I think there might be someone trying to buy out the magazine.”

Keira raised her eyebrows in surprise. “That wouldn’t happen, though. Elliot wouldn’t sell. He loves Viatorum. Too much sometimes.”

Nina just shrugged and took a sip of her coffee. “Sometimes it’s not about how much you love something. If one of the big companies is going to start up a rival magazine, copy our model but use all their financial assets and connections to push themselves and bury us, he won’t have any other option but to sell. Sometimes the only way an independent like Viatorum can stay viable is for the boss like Elliot to make compromises over ownership.”

“But it would be like taking a demotion for him, wouldn’t it?” Keira asked. “He’d go from owning it outright to just, what, managing it?”

Nina tilted her head to the side. “It’s not all bad. He could make more money this way. He’d just have higher-ups to answer to. He’d probably lose some creative freedom.” She shrugged again. “Actually, he’d definitely lose some creative freedom.”

Keira chewed her lip, considering Nina’s premonition. Why did things always have to change so quickly? This morning she’d woken up with a loving partner and an awesome job. Now she was sitting tear-stained and depressed in a coffee shop, back on the market and worrying about her employment situation.

“Well, that’s one way to take my mind off Shane,” Keira said wryly to Nina.

“Oh God, sorry,” Nina said. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I’m sure nothing will change for you, or me, or anyone else for that matter. Just Elliot really. I’ve been through buy-outs before, countless times, in fact. It’s usually pretty unnoticeable for most of the staff.”

Keira pursed her lips. “We’ll see,” she replied.

Nina looked a little panicked, Keira thought, and she watched as her friend made eye contact with Bryn as if trying to prompt her to take over. Bryn suddenly lit up as though she’d been struck with a thought.

“I have an amazing idea,” she said, her eyes widening.

“Why do I get the feeling I am not going to like this one bit?” Keira replied, narrowing her own.

“There’s this awesome party thing at Gino’s tonight, you know, that authentic Italian restaurant in the city,” Bryn said. “It’s Halloween themed. Actually, it’s All Souls’ Day themed, which is an Italian holiday I’ve never heard of but it sounds super creepy and they’re taking it really seriously at Gino’s. It’s going to be half masquerade ball, half gothic meal. It sounds crazy but in a super cool way.”

Keira squinted her eyes further. Bryn was blabbering. “Go on…” she urged her sister.

“Here’s the thing,” Bryn said. “I was invited there for a date by this guy I met the other night, Malcolm. He wanted to see what it was all about, you know, something different to try. I obviously said sure, you know me, I’ll try anything once. Anyway, so he mentioned today that he has a friend who’s single and wondered if I knew anyone to double date with. I was going to invite Tasha, but why don’t you and I go instead? Now you’re back on the market.”

Keira didn’t even need a second to consider Bryn’s proposition. She shook her head with an emphatic no. “Absolutely not,” she said.

Nina leaned forward, seemingly on board. “I know this amazing costume store,” she said. “You could get a full-on ball gown, gloves, mask, the lot.”

Keira shot her a withering glance. “Why don’t you go on the double date if you’re so into the idea?”

Nina closed her mouth. Bryn took over as lead cajoler again.

“Just come for the food at least,” Bryn said. “Free meal. Fancy food. Dancing. Just think of it as a night out for the two of us, with just a couple of guys tagging along footing the bill. You don’t even have to tell them your real name if you don’t want to, or even take off your mask. It could be a night of anonymity. You could invent a whole new persona.”

Keira laughed. “Let me guess, you’ve done that before?”

Nina jumped in then. “Please, darling, everyone’s done that before. If you haven’t been on a date and pretended you work for the FBI or that you’re an heir to a billion-dollar inheritance then you haven’t really lived.”

Shaking her head, Keira glanced out the window again. She looked at the people milling through the streets. Some of the stores already had Halloween decorations in their windows. She spotted a goth couple walking down the street – the woman in a black lace dress carrying a parasol, the man on a leather lead. Only in New York City, she thought to herself, amused.

Life was supposed to be about embracing the crazy, she reminded herself. Hadn’t she told herself that exact thing just this morning?

“Fine,” she said, turning back to Bryn with a sigh of resignation. “I’ll come to your ball.”

*

Bryn was right about one thing, Keira discovered later that evening; Gino’s looked amazing. The whole restaurant had been decorated to look like a gothic castle, the tables pushed to the perimeter so that the middle part was a dance floor. There was an incredibly creepy vibe, with old Italian folk music, waiters in velvet suits, and of course, everyone in masquerade masks.

If it had just been the two of them, Keira would have had a great night. But unfortunately, they were sharing their evening with Malcolm, Bryn’s date, and Glen, Keira’s date. They must have been two of the most boring men in the world.

Keira forked her pasta, barely able to keep herself awake, as Glen explained more details about his career in accounting. Work chat annoyed Keira at the best of times, but when it involved math the boringness was stepped up another notch. Not to mention he hadn’t actually asked her a single question about her job.

There was a sudden lull in the conversation and Keira sat up as though startled awake.

“So, what do you do in your spare time?” she asked Glen, desperate to steer the conversation elsewhere.

Glen took a long time to answer, another thing Keira took as a bad sign. Who didn’t know what hobbies they had? Or what they enjoyed doing other than their jobs?

“I watch sports,” he said, finally.

“Watch,” Keira repeated. “Not play?”

Glen laughed. “Hell no. I don’t want an injury. I prefer to be a spectator.”

“That’s…” Keira struggled for a word. The one she landed on was probably the opposite of what she meant. “…interesting.”

“What about you?” Glen asked.

It was the first time he’d asked her about herself, and Keira was almost surprised. “Oh, well, I’m in journalism so I spend a lot of my spare time reading,” she began.

Glen cut her off immediately. “I read, too. The Wall Street Journal mainly.”

Realizing her time to speak had been snatched from her, Keira felt her chest sink. She prodded her pasta again. “Cool.”

Bryn leaned across the table then. “We were just talking about plans,” she said. “What we want to achieve in five years. Keira, what about you?”

If Bryn had asked her yesterday Keira would have been certain that what she wanted in the next five years was to spend as much time as possible with Shane. Buy their dream house together. Maybe even marry and have some kids. But that dream was dashed now.

Keira just shrugged. “I’d like to travel. See the world. In five years’ time I want to have set foot on every continent at least once.”

Bryn clapped. “That’s a great one, sis.”

Glen scoffed. “Traveling is so overrated these days, now that we have the technology to map everything. I mean why spend hours in an aluminum tube flying through the sky, polluting the atmosphere, when you can see the world from the comfort of your own home? Virtual reality is in its infancy at the moment, but within five years it’s going to take off. A fifty-dollar headset will take the place of hundreds of dollars wasted on flights.”

Only Malcolm nodded in agreement, his expression revealing that he found Glen’s point to be thought provoking. Bryn, on the other hand, looked horrified by his statement and she flashed Keira a look of apology. Keira just gave her sister a deadpan look, as if to say I said this would be terrible.

“What about you then, Glen?” Bryn asked, floundering to save the conversation. “If you’re not a fan of traveling, what do you think your next five years will look like?”

Everyone turned their attention to the accountant. He cracked his knuckles.

“I’ve got it all planned out,” he said confidently. He pointed at his index finger. “A wife in a year.” Then he moved onto his next finger. “Our dream family home in the suburbs the year after that.” He pointed at the next two fingers. “Two kids, eighteen months apart. One boy, one girl.” Then finally he wiggled his thumb. “And a dog.”

Keira sighed deeply. She’d known before she’d even left Bryn’s apartment that she wasn’t going to find anything resembling romance on this date. But there’d still been a flicker of hope. Just a little spark that someone who burned as brightly as Shane might appear in her life out of the blue, turning her world upside down just as quickly as Shane himself had done.

But she realized now, with bitter disappointment, that she’d been a fool to even entertain that idea. Shane was a one in a million experience. No, one in a billion. Her date with Glen had just confirmed her worst fears.

She’d never find a love like that again.

CHAPTER THREE

Keira had no choice but to return to the office the next morning. Heartbreak wasn’t a valid reason to miss work in the first place, and two days in a row seemed to be really taking liberties. Besides, she didn’t want to spend another day moping in coffee shops, and she definitely didn’t want to get cajoled into another one of Bryn’s stupid harebrained schemes! The last one, the date at Gino’s, had left a very sour taste in Keira’s mouth.

Despite feeling like she had a dark gray rain cloud hovering above her head, Keira managed to get herself dressed and ready for the day. Usually she felt empowered dressing for work, but today she felt like a phony, even though she’d opted for one of the more casual outfits from her business wardrobe options.

As she left Bryn’s apartment, Keira saw that Nina had sent her a supportive text.

Everyone’s looking forward to your return.

Keira smiled. She was glad she had such a good friend in Nina. Despite the age difference between them, they seemed very in tune with one another. And Nina had had such a glittering career within the world of writing that she was also an excellent mentor to Keira.

As Keira walked into the Viatorum head office she was surprised by the immediately different atmosphere inside. Before, there had always been an air of panic in the office, a sort of invisible stress that permeated the whole place. In the past, no matter how good a mood she’d been in when she entered the place, there was no chance that when she left she wouldn’t feel tired, stressed, and anxious.

But of course the difference now was that Joshua no longer worked at the magazine. Thanks to Keira, he’d been fired by Elliot. It was amazing what a difference it had made to the place. It even looked more comfortable, though the tiles were the same clinical, pristine white they’d been before, the open-plan style just as echoing. There was only one real visible difference, Keira noted; all the doors to the meeting rooms and offices that lined the office were open. She could see Heather, Elliot’s assistant, typing away at a computer in her office. Inside the conference room several staff members were engaged in a meeting that seemed joyous rather than stilted and awkward. In Joshua’s day those doors were always shut fast, acting as a physical barrier between the senior staff and junior staff.

“It’s Keira!” someone said, and suddenly heads were turning to look at her.

To Keira’s complete surprise, someone started to clap.

She felt a blush rise into her cheeks as more and more people stood from their desks and began joining in the applause. Was this what Dorothy felt like after killing the Wicked Witch? A man had lost his livelihood after all, even if he did deserve it!

Nina came over from her desk and hugged Keira.

“You made it,” she said, gently. “I told you everyone was happy to see you!”

Denise, one of the junior writers that Keira hadn’t exchanged more than two words with in the past, rushed over and hugged her. Keira was surprised.

“Oh. Um, hey,” she said, awkwardly.

“I just wanted to say thank you,” Denise gushed. “I was so close to quitting because of Joshua. He made me think I was useless, that I couldn’t write and had no talent. I was going to give up on journalism altogether. But thanks to you I’m still here and everything is a million times better than before.”

“You’re welcome,” Keira said, feeling a little surge of pride. Standing up to Joshua hadn’t been easy, but it had paid off, and it had helped more people than she’d realized. Any residual guilt she felt over her actions dissipated as she saw what an impact it had made on everyone here. Josh was a grown man, responsible for his own actions. No one had made him act like a jerk to everyone around him. He’d gotten himself fired, really; Keira had just been the catalyst.

Feeling a surge of confidence for the first time since Shane had shattered her heart, Keira went over to her desk, ready to throw herself back into her work. It was where she excelled, after all. Even if her love life was currently in tatters her career was blossoming and she was going to make the most of it.

But when she reached her desk she saw that none of her things were there. Her framed photo of her mom and Bryn was gone, along with her miniature cactus, the polka dot mouse mat she’d been given as a graduation present from her friend Shelby, and the cat-shaped mug her other bestie, Maxine, had gifted her last year. She hoped desperately they hadn’t been thrown out by accident. Small trinkets, essentially worthless, but they meant a lot to her.

She looked about her, worried. It was then that she noticed Elliot striding toward her.

He stopped, his large six-foot frame towering above her, and shook Keira’s hand. “Welcome back. I’ve had you moved to the corner office. I hope that’s okay.”

The relief that Keira’s belongings were safe took center stage in her mind. Then she realized what Elliot had actually just said.

“I have an office?” she repeated, her tone one of disbelief.

“Of course,” Elliot replied. “You’re a senior now. All seniors get offices.”

He beckoned her to follow. As Keira walked across the office, she caught Nina’s eye. Her friend winked. She must have known all along.

They stopped at the open door to the small corner office. Keira’s name had been etched onto a gold plaque screwed onto it. Her favorite items were positioned on the desk in much the same way they had been before but whereas before they’d made her work space feel crowded, now they were dwarfed by the rest of the empty room.

Keira felt elated, like she was walking on air. She’d never had her own office, or a plaque on the door.

“Is it okay?” Elliot asked.

“It’s amazing!” Keira replied, walking inside and twirling. The room wasn’t quite big enough for arabesques but that hardly mattered to Keira!

“We’ve adopted a doors open policy,” Elliot said. “Unless you’re having a meeting or on a call. There was a vote while you were on leave.”

Keira looked at him with a surprised but pleased expression.

She couldn’t even begin to imagine what a voting system at Viatorum would look like! In Joshua’s day he just barked orders and everyone followed. If he called you into the office on a public holiday – be it Christmas, Hanukkah, Eid, or whatever you celebrated – you had to be there or be fired. It made Keira so happy to know that the junior writing staff were getting their voices heard now.

“Have you been introduced to Lance yet?” Elliot continued.

“Lance?” Keira asked. “No, is he a new junior writer?”

Elliot laughed. “He’s your new boss,” he said.

“Oh,” Keira replied, frowning. “I thought you were going to be my new boss.”

The thought of another person being in control worried Keira. What if he turned into another Joshua? What if their creative visions didn’t fully align?

Elliot shook his head. “I can’t be here twenty-four-seven. For all his foibles, Joshua was dedicated. I needed someone on the ground for when I couldn’t be, hence appointing Lance. But don’t worry, you’ll love him. He’s the opposite of Joshua, I promise.”

She followed Elliot out of her office and into the conference room, where the aforementioned Lance was already waiting. Elliot was right, he was the opposite of Joshua, at least to look at. He was a short, stocky man in an old, ill-fitting suit with unkempt hair. When he saw Keira enter he grinned widely – something Keira suspected Joshua didn’t even have the correct facial muscles to achieve – and held out a hand to her. She shook it.

“You must be the star of Viatorum,” Lance began. “The heroine, Keira Swanson.”

Keira giggled a little awkwardly. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

“I would,” Lance said, taking his seat again, and gesturing for Keira and Elliot to do the same. “I’ve read all your prior pieces and I must say, you have quite the talent.”

“Thanks,” Keira said, blushing.

She wasn’t used to receiving compliments. Elliot gave them sparingly, Joshua never. She still didn’t know how to take them, how to respond appropriately without seeming arrogant.

She looked over at Elliot as she sat down beside him and he gave her a knowing look, as if to say I told you he was the opposite.

“So, let’s just jump straight into assignments,” Lance said, clapping his hands. “Elliot’s arranged for the most plum one yet.” He rubbed his hands together, smiling with excited glee. “Competition is going to be fierce!” Just then, he leapt up and hurried to the door. In the most chipper voice imaginable he called out, “Assignment time, boys and girls!”

There was a flurry of activity as people rushed toward the conference room. Keira felt very out of her depth all of a sudden. Things were so different here, but the pace was just as speedy, it seemed. And the buzz of competitiveness was still there, it was just completely different from when Joshua had been in control.

As the rest of the writers filed inside, Keira could palpably feel their thirst and eagerness for a challenge. It had always been there but it had been shrouded in self-doubt. Clearly without Joshua to drag them all down, coupled with Lance’s friendly and encouraging approach, the other writers at Viatorum had begun to flourish, to come into their own. Keira realized with surprise that the competition at the magazine was fiercer than ever.

“One of you lucky people is about to get the best assignment we’ve ever had,” Lance said, grinning widely. “Three weeks touring Italy. I’m talking Florence, Tuscany, Verona, Capri.”

There was a tittering of excitement, a buzz throughout the meeting room.

Keira shifted in her seat, itching for the assignment. She couldn’t stop herself from imagining how amazing it would be to actually visit Italy, to eat real Italian pizza, pasta, and gelato, rather than the knock-off version offered by Gino’s.

This assignment was made for her, clearly. She was the only person there with prior experience. But everyone would want it! She’d let herself get lulled into a false sense of security, what with all the applause and the new corner office. But it looked like things were the same underneath it all, with just a different facade. She geared herself up for a fight.

“So,” Lance said, steepling his hands in front of him. “Who’s putting themselves in the running?”

Keira’s hand immediately rose.

Her days of waiting for opportunities to fall into her lap were well and truly behind her. She had a hunger for success now and she wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip from her fingers. Besides, she really needed this trip to shake Shane from her mind.

But to her surprise, she realized no one else had raised their hand. Confused, Keira looked from one face to the next, realizing everyone had turned to face her. And they were all smiling.

“What’s going on?” she asked, bringing her hand back down beside her.

Lance laughed warmly. “It’s yours!” he exclaimed. “Obviously. We were just pranking you.”

Everyone began to chuckle. Keira looked around, completely shocked. Since when had Viatorum been a place for office pranks?

“You mean you were always going to give it to me?” she asked.

“Yes!” Lance replied, still laughing heartily.

And to Keira’s great surprise, everyone else was light-hearted about it. They seemed happy for her. There was no envy anymore, no ruthlessness.

“They’ve all got great assignments too,” Lance explained. “Don’t you worry about that. I don’t like in-fighting, can’t stand it. Everyone has strengths. And yours is to travel abroad and write those amazing pieces.”

Keira wanted to pinch herself. Was this a dream? Was she still asleep on Bryn’s lumpy couch fantasizing about what she wanted her first day back at work to be like?

But no, it was real. Without Joshua, Viatorum had transformed into her dream job. And she had just landed her dream assignment.

“It’s our way of saying thank you,” Denise piped up. “For getting rid of Josh.”

Keira laughed, delighted. She was so excited about the new assignment. But she was also very nervous. Whether it was something that Joshua had instilled in her or whether it was just a part of her personality, a new assignment always brought anxiety and self-doubt with it. Deep down she wasn’t sure if she was up for it, especially since she was still reeling from Shane. But she also knew she couldn’t say no. Everyone was looking at her so eagerly. She had to get back onto the horse, so to speak.

“What’s the title of the piece?” she asked, trying to focus on the task at hand in order to keep her mind off of Shane.

“The Country of Love,” Lance said, spreading his hands in front of him theatrically.

“Another love piece?” Keira asked, shocked.

“Of course!” Lance cried. “It’s your talent, Keira. Your last piece was remarkable.”

“Only because I fell in love…” she said.

Lance nodded eagerly. “Exactly. It was beautiful. I want to see that again. So I’m sending you to the most romantic places. I want you to speak to the locals, discover their secrets. Do the Italians really know about true love? Why is it considered the most romantic place on earth? What secrets do they hold about romance?”

He was grinning widely, encouragingly. But for Keira, panic was starting to set in.