Chapter 1
“You messed up big time, Beth.”
Here it comes, like a cresting wave of a tsunami and just as unstoppable. Beth’s throat constricts as she attempts to swallow around the unwanted lump of emotion.
“You’ve left me in a difficult situation and I can’t say I’m not disappointed.”
“Please, Josh,” she says in a pleading tone. “It won’t happen again. It was a one-time mistake.” She can’t believe she let herself slip up so bad. Her head wasn’t in the game, she got careless and released an unconfirmed story from an unreliable source. A rookie mistake.
Josh sighs and clasps his hand together. “I don’t understand how you let this happen. You’ve worked here for five years and you’ve been exceptional.”
Beth can sense what’s coming next and she’s willing to do anything to stop him from firing her. The breath meant to steady her stutters from her lips and the tears she’s been holding back come spilling out. She can’t lose her job. Too much relies on it. “I understand and I‘m so sorry. I’m willing to do anything to fix this. Please.”
Josh leans forward, “I must admit I was tempted to take drastic action but I was persuaded by the great work you’ve done for the magazine. So this time I’ll let you off with a warning.”
Beth lets out a huge breath. She can’t believe what she’s just heard. “Oh, my God. Thank you! Thank you so much, Josh. I promise I’ll make this right. You won’t regret this.”
“I had better not,” he replies. “Well, you should get back to work.”
“Yes. Thank you, once again. I’m so grateful,” she says and gets up to leave.
When she gets back to her office, she sits down heavily on her chair, feeling an immense wave of relief. How did she come so close to losing her job? Her job is her only chance of saving up enough money. She shakes those thoughts out of her head. There’s no point asking questions she can’t provide answers to. Besides, she has work to do.
Iris walks into Beth’s office and hurries toward her. “So, what happened?” she asks eagerly.
Beth sighs. “I wasn’t fired but I’m on some sort of ‘probation’.”
“I guess that’s not so bad,” Iris says slowly. She grabs the seat in front of Beth’s desk and settles into it.
“I guess,” Beth replies as she turns on her desktop. “You know, I still can’t believe I made such a mistake. How stupid.”
“Come on. You need to cut yourself some slack. You had a lot on your mind and you were under so much pressure to publish the story,” Iris says in a consoling tone. Her expression turns solemn. “How’s Alex doing?”
Beth sighs again. Her brother, Alex, had to undergo surgery to remove a hematoma this weekend. “He’s much better now. It was a minor surgery. It’s just...”
“Hey, it’s going to be okay. He’s going to be okay.” Iris reaches over to give Beth a pat on her shoulder.
Beth smiles weakly. “Thanks.” Eager to change the topic, she quickly asks, “Have you had time to read through my last submission?”
“Yeah. It’s been approved actually.”
“So what’s my next assignment?” Beth asks, anxious to get to work and redeem herself.
“There really isn’t much left to do. We’re almost done with the next issue. I think we have just one story left. I have an interview for it scheduled for this afternoon.”
“Let me stand in for you. Please?” She attempts a puppy-dog face.
Iris gives her a look.
“I really need this.”
“Oh, alright,” Iris says with a playful smile.
“Thank you. You’re the best!” She leans in and kisses Iris on both cheeks.
“Just know I’m doing you a solid, giving up an interview with Adrian Dane.”
Beth raises a brow. “Who?”
Iris’s eyes widen in surprise “Who’s Adrian Dane?! How have you worked for a celebrity magazine for five years and don’t know who Adrian Dane is?”
Beth shrugs. “You know me, Iris. I have no interest in the self-important spoon-fed rich people we write stories about.”
Iris rolls her eyes. “Whatever. Adrian Dane is a famous tech billionaire. Practically the king of the entire industry. I guess I’ll have to send you a brief on his profile before the interview since you live under a rock.”
Beth can’t care less. All she cares about is that this Adrian Dane is her ticket to getting Josh’s approval back.
****
Adrian stands in the doorway of his guest bedroom, his gaze fixed on the woman sprawled out across his bed.
He has no idea who she is or how she got here. He vaguely remembers last night; surrounded by women in evening dresses with manicured nails and painted faces. But it doesn’t explain how she ended up here. Getting wasted is very uncharacteristic of him. Sure, he parties, sleeps around, and does all the things expected of someone of his status—but he’s never careless enough to let a woman spend the night in his house.
At least he remembered to take her to the guest bedroom and not his master bedroom.
He moves toward the bed, places a hand on her shoulder, and shakes her softly.
She stirs and slowly opens her eyes. “Hey.”
“Hey,” he replies. “Last night was great,” he continues, knowing it’s exactly what she wants to hear even though he has no recollection of last night. And he’s right, because her face immediately lights up with a smile.
“Yeah. It was.”
“But I have to get to work.” He stands up to gather her things and dumps them by her side. Her smile fades and she looks disappointed.
He leaves her in the bedroom and heads to the kitchen.
He’s sitting at the dining table, skimming through an email on his laptop when she walks in.
She stands there like she’s waiting for him to take her in his arms and kiss her goodbye. But all he cares about is finding out whether he was careful; he has no desire to deal with any consequences. So he looks at her levelly and asks, "Did we take any precautions against the possible consequences of last night?"
Her face flushes and she simply nods.
“Well then, it was lovely meeting you.” He attempts a smile but she doesn’t see it because she’s already halfway to the door.
Good riddance.
A message pops on his screen; it’s an email from his assistant, Amy, reminding him about a consultancy meeting he’s to attend this morning. He closes his laptop and heads to the shower.
In the next 30 minutes, he’s set for work and on his way out of the house. He notices a phone tossed carelessly on the credenza by the entrance and he suddenly remembers what happened last night.
Fuck.
He’ll have to deal with that later, but in the meantime, he sends a quick message to Amy to set an appointment. He heads out of the house and his driver, Ivan, is already standing by the car holding the door open for him.
“Morning, Ivan,” he greets as he approaches the car, reaching a hand out to shake Ivan’s.
“Good morning, sir.” His greeting is warm, matching his face. The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes suggest a life filled with laughter, and the grey of his hair hinted at the possibility of a child or two.
Adrian slides into the car, unbuttoning his blazer as Ivan closes the door behind him.
Ivan speaks again as he climbs into his seat. “Where to, sir?”
“The coffee shop.”
He nods and pulls the gear shift into drive. “Yes, sir.”