Page 7 of Long Story Short

Awesome start to our trip.

‘It’s me,’ he confirmed. I was unable to read his expression but he must have been pissed off. ‘Shall we pick up your things?’ He was wearing a suit, which felt kind of crazy for a long-haul flight, and his hair was as immaculate as ever along with his perfectly styled stubble. I must have looked completely chaotic to him in my knee-length, polka dot dress and cowboy boots, my auburn hair wild after leaving it to dry naturally. I felt it too.

‘Oh.’ I looked around at my belongings strewn across the floor and could only hope the pencil topped with a rubber penis that I had kept from a friend’s hen do last year was not in Jake’s eyeline.

‘Here.’ He held out my notebook with Hayley’s instructions in and the aforementioned pen. ‘Your favourite?’ he asked, his mouth pursed as he handed them over.

‘No! Oh my God…’ I yelped and snatched the items from him then grabbed my bag, hastily stuffing them in. Jake edged backwards from me and I couldn’t blame him wanting to make a swift escape if he could. Grumpily, I bent down and hurriedly collected my other things before he could see anything else embarrassing. Once the floor was clear, I turned around. ‘I think I’ll just go to the ladies,’ I said, trying to sound dignified when I had proved I was anything but.

‘I’ll be over there with coffee,’ Jake said, striding away with his usual confidence. I watched him go with dismay. My plan to start off with him having everything in hand had failed completely.

‘Why am I incapable of not embarrassing myself in front of this man?’ I muttered aloud as I shuffled off to the bathroom to try to compose myself. I had no idea how I’d ever turn around his opinion of me now. But I supposed when you hit rock bottom, the only way is up. So, maybe by the end of this trip, I could convince him that I was an actual functioning adult.

I walked into the loos and looked at my reflection, my hair standing in all directions, my face still red, my make-up sliding off it, my dress strap hanging down on one side, and the penis-shaped pencil sticking out of my bag, and decided that I had my work very much cut out for me.

5

When I returned from the bathroom mildly fresher looking after fixing my hair and make-up and blotting the sweat off my body, Jake was at a table in the corner. He looked the epitome of calm, sipping black coffee and reading a newspaper.

I took a deep breath and walked over to the refreshment area, and grabbed myself a coffee and a sandwich and then reluctantly went to join him. ‘That could have been a meet-cute,’ I blurted out as I slid into the chair opposite him.

His eyes left the newspaper and slid to me. ‘I’m sorry?’

‘Like in one of your books,’ I said, inwardly telling myself to stop talking but I was somehow unable to. ‘You know, a woman falls to the floor in front of you, then you help her up and then the two of you fall in…’ I stumbled under his piercing gaze. I let out a nervous laugh when he said nothing, further mortification rolling over me. I waved my hand. ‘Never mind. Let’s just hope the rest of this trip is uneventful,’ I said, hoping he couldn’t see how red my face was again. I grabbed the coffee cup and took a long gulp even though it was too hot to enjoy doing so.

‘Quite,’ he replied coolly, going back to his newspaper like I was an irritating fly.

I leaned back in the chair and pulled out my phone, cringing at myself. So much for being less intimidated by Jake. Now I was back in front of him, I was worse than ever. It was like the more embarrassing I was, the more composed he became. It was bloody annoying. I kind of longed to see what would happen if that coolness cracked for a minute. I wondered if I would ever be able to witness it.

I sent Liv a panicked message, knowing her flight was a couple of hours later than ours.

Yet again, I have made a fool of myself in front of Jake. How do I salvage the situation?

Liv replied instantly.

Focus on the fact you are there to help save his career. He needs you. You have the upper hand! Enjoy first class, future literary agent…

I read her message twice then put my phone away, and cleared my throat. She was right. The key was focusing on the reason why we were here together and heading to New York, and not how much I had made a fool of myself in front of this man. I tried to adjust my face into an expression that would show how capable I was. Fake it until you make it and all that. ‘So, should we discuss our strategy for this week?’ I asked, straightening in a vain attempt to look as tall as him.

Jake sighed but put the newspaper down. ‘Hayley sent me a long email yesterday all about it.’

I nodded. ‘She copied me in. Our main goal is to get as much good publicity for you as possible. So, you need to be the perfect author for the next five days. Engaged, open, chatty and polite and above all, enthusiastic about not only your books but the other authors at the conference, and love stories in general. Also, do not mentionthatarticle. If anyone asks about it, Hayley advised?—’

‘To say I legally cannot discuss it,’ Jake cut in. He looked at me. ‘She told me you disapproved of our statement when the article came out.’

‘She did?’ I replied, startled. I had tried not to let her see how upset I had been about it all, but clearly she’d realised anyway. Jake was giving me a scrutinising gaze across the table and my nerves dialled up again. My mind went fuzzy as I looked back into his eyes. I had never met a man who could make you feel like he was looking into your soul like that before. It made me feel like I couldn’t lie to him. I blinked but he was still watching me and the truth came tumbling out. ‘Well…’ I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. ‘I supposed I would have handled it differently. I don’t believe in lying like that and I think readers probably found your statement… impersonal.’

‘So, how would you have handled it then?’ he asked, raising an eyebrow. I couldn’t tell if he was pissed off by what I had said or not. I knew that he was our client and I should be professional, but I also wanted to be honest like I always was. I had no idea if Jake would respect me more if I was, or even less than he did already.

‘I think I would have accepted what I had said and been honest and admitted in the statement that I had said it. I would have asked my readers for their forgiveness, if that was what I wanted. I would maybe have explained why I had said those things in the first place.’ Curiosity sat deeply in me about why someone who had a career in writing romance had suddenly slagged it off like he had done. Was he really so materialistic that he had written all his lovely books just for the money? Did he really not believe in love and romance at all?

After meeting Jake Richards, I had found it hard to believe he had written things that had made my heart swell, my knees weak and my cheeks blush. That he believed in happy ever afters. But I assumed that was because I was nothing to him. A lowly assistant he only saw in a business setting. That underneath the stone-cold exterior, he did have a romantic heart like mine. Then he made those comments and I thought maybe the exterior he showed was actually the real man after all, and that made me feel betrayed like his other readers. I wondered if he realised how personally we had all taken his comments.

Jake sat silently for a moment and I wasn’t sure he was going to answer me then he opened his mouth to speak. He was cut off though as an announcement came on over the speaker, and we heard that our flight was now open for boarding.

‘Shall we?’ Jake said, getting up and gathering his things in one smooth motion. He started for the door and I was left scrambling to hurry after him, grabbing my croissant to eat on the way, feeling like he had been saved by the bell.

I followed Jake to the boarding queue and when our passes were checked, we walked onto the plane and headed for the front. I tried not to let my eyes widen too much when I saw first class for the first time in my life but it was really hard not to. Excitement replaced the earlier stress of the day. I couldn’t believe I was travelling this way. I took in the separate pods and the amount of space, the leg room I’d have, the fancy TV screens and the freebies they had left out for everyone. My eyes fell on a pair of silky pyjamas folded ready for me in my pod. ‘Oh my God, this is amazing,’ I said breathily in wonder.

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