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.
How could she write about love when her heart had been shattered into a thousand pieces? In Ireland she’d struggled with the assignment because she was naive, foolish, and inexperienced. This time she was going in bitter and jaded. It would never work.
“Is there any flexibility
