Finally, armed with my “Rachel” haircut and a deflated ego, I submitted resumes to every single printed rag in the city. Now! Magazine was the only place willing to take a chance on a bright-faced, wide-eyed girl from the suburbs, fresh out of school and ready to take on the world.
They assigned me to their reception desk.
After a few months of dropping not-so-subtle hints to anyone within earshot that I was looking for a writing job, I was tipped off to an opening in the copywriting department. It’s where I’d been ever since. But it didn’t mean I had to like it.
I looked at Devin Fields, ten years my senior and lord of my destiny. If he was a less hard-headed supervisor or a more encouraging mentor, I may have had a shot at doing a lot more than just writing ads by then. Oh, I knew I’d get my chance eventually. I’d seen him move some talented writers up the ranks once they’d finally paid their dues. Devin knew I was hungry and that he couldn’t hold me back forever. But it just felt like it was taking so long. Why oh why did he have to be the one responsible for whether or not I made it in this business?
And why did he have to be so damned good-looking?
I crossed my arms, but managed to answer his question without further antagonizing him. “Crystal.”
“Good. Then it’s settled.” He swiped the pages off his blotter and handed them over. “Here. You’ll probably want these for your files. And Layla?”
I didn’t even try to hide my discontent as I answered, “Yes?”
“The piece was very well-written. Nice job.”
I went back out into The Showroom: a mile-wide expanse of linoleum, cubicles, and human misery accented with fluorescent lighting.
Okay, fine, I’m exaggerating. It wasn’t as bad as all that.
The lighting was actually halogen.
My desk had recently been moved to within Devin’s line of sight, so I tried not to look sullen as I took a seat in my chair, just in case he was watching.
I saw a pair of eyes slowly ascend over the cubicle wall to my left, with Paul Slovak’s voice attached to them. “What’s the infraction today, Warren?”
Paul was a huge pain in my ass. He was a typical brown-noser who could never mind his own business. He wore gigantic, coke-bottle glasses which made his big, creepy bug eyes look even bigger, creepier and buggier. I referred to him as Sleestak behind his back.
I ignored his question and instead changed the subject. “Paul, did you happen to get in touch with Dave at The Sneaker Hut yet? He hasn’t approved our copy and I can’t send it to print without his go-ahead.”
Sleestak procured the yellow post-it note I’d left on his desk an hour before. He mumbled something unintelligible before slithering back to his cave and letting us both get back to work.
I refreshed my computer screen and tried to concentrate on the words in front of me. But, as so often happened lately, I found my mind drifting whenever I caught the sparkle on my left hand from the light of the monitor. I absentmindedly fiddled with the diamond ring there, still getting used to the feeling of it on my finger.
My boyfriend—excuse me—my fiancé had only just popped the question two days before. I didn’t normally sleep over at his place on a weeknight, but it just so happened that our anniversary fell on a Wednesday. We’d only been officially dating for one year, but we’d been on and off for quite some time before that, so it’s not as though we were rushing into an engagement.
I was still pretty damned surprised when he asked me, though. And if I was surprised, I couldn’t even begin to imagine how shocked my co-workers would be. It’s not as though I had a bunch of close friends at the office, but I found it pretty strange that no one had noticed, much less even asked about the big, fat, diamond ring on my finger. None of them even knew that I had a boyfriend, never mind a serious, semi-famous one. Which was a good thing, actually, because I really didn’t feel the need to divulge my relationship to any of those people.
Sleestak poked his head back over the cubicle wall. “Dave at Sneaker Hut said we’re go for launch.”
“Thanks, Paul. I’ll drop a note on Devin’s desk on my way out.”
My mention of leaving made Sleestak take notice of the time, unnecessarily announcing to me that it was after five. He quickly shut down his computer, grabbed his man-purse and made a break for the door.
I decided it was time I high-tailed it out of there myself. I only had two hours to get back to my apartment to tweeze, shave or bleach every hair on my body, take a shower, and pour myself into a knockout beige knit dress that I’d bought the day before for the occasion. I had reservations waiting at Ocean, for me and my future husband.
Wow. It was going to take longer than two days before I’d get used to saying that.
I closed down my workstation and headed off into Devin’s office. I was hoping he wouldn’t keep me any later than necessary.
I gave a quick tap on his open door before sauntering in.