Page 47 of The One That I Want

‘Well, fuck,’ she says and I blink at her. This is only the second time I’ve heard her use that word. The first was when she slammed her fingers in her office door a few years back.

‘We have to kill the column, don’t we?’

‘Yes. I can’t see how we can publish it without looking like copycats.’

It goes without saying that althoughPanacheis a competitor,Nouveauis still considered the premier fashion magazine in the world. We don’tfollowtrends – wesetthem.

‘I thought so – it’s disappointing, though.’

‘It is,’ she says, her gaze drifting.

It’s obvious she’s mulling something over and I wait for her to tell me what it is, but she doesn’t. Then it hits me – Poppy’s cover. She’s only atNouveau Lifebecause of me – to play matchmaker. Without the column, there’s no reason for Poppy to stick around. Anjali must be wondering how this will impact her (not-so-secret) plan.

Should I say something? Or would that reveal I’m aware of her true intentions? Then I come up with the perfect solution – one that will address Anjali’s dilemma without divulging what I know.

‘You know, Poppy and I have taken to meeting at The Daily Grind whenever we need to discuss the details of my assignment. We figured it’s safer than meeting here and risking the team finding outI’mthe contributor. We could just keep doing that instead of her coming into the office.’

Anjali meets my eye, the corners of her mouth twitching. ‘How did you know that’s what I was thinking about?’

I shrug. ‘Just following the logical fallout of killing the column.’

She grins. ‘Spoken like a true managing editor.’

I lift my chin, happily accepting the praise, then I catch sight of the clock on the wall over her shoulder. ‘Oops – staff meeting. I’ll let you know how it goes.’

The team has mixed reactions to my news, with Taj taking it the hardest – not surprising since they’ve always been the most invested in Poppy’s column.

Lisa raises her hand, even though I’ve asked her a dozen times not to – we’re not in school.

‘Yes, Lisa?’

‘Why can’t we keep the column? Theirs is in the print format, not the digital,’ she says, tapping on the page with her forefinger. ‘Isn’t that enough of a point of difference?’

Bex, who has been quiet until now, her lips pressed into a thin line and her brows knitted, lifts her gaze to reply. ‘We can’t,’ she says quietly. ‘We’reNouveau– we’re leaders, not followers. They beat us to it – fair and square.’

‘But that’s just the thing…’ says Taj. ‘Isit “fair and square”? Don’t you think it’s a little suspicious?’

‘What is?’ I ask.

I glance at Bex then Lisa but they’re both staring at Taj.

‘ThatPanachejusthappensto publish their column right as we’re planning to launch ours. I mean, the timing is oddly coincidental, don’t you think?’

‘But their print issue would have been planned ages ago, just likeNouveau’s,’ says Bex. ‘It’s just bad luck.’

‘OrPanacheonly recently decided to print an advice column and appropriated space they’d set aside for news items.’

Taj’s words hang in the air like a bad smell – because what if they’re right?

And if they are, then how the hell didPanacheget wind of our plans?

We stare at each other in silence for a few moments until Lisa says, ‘Well, that’s just shite, that is.’

13

POPPY

‘Well, that’s a bit of a bugger,’ I mutter after I hang up from Greta.

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