Page 88 of Austen Persuaded

But Viviana doesn’t like Kylan.

And he sure as heck doesn’t like Viviana, and with good reason.

How can this possibly work?

And why is he doing this?

I needn’t have worried about Viviana’s reaction to the shocking news. Sure, she’d been astonished, as anyone would be, and she didn’t believe me at first. Shock had transitioned into mistrust and even a hint of the old scorn, until Jack reminded her of how powerful Kylan had become in this industry. After Jack said, “I’ve never known you to be a snob, love,” Viviana softened, nodding in acceptance.

By the time we’d met for lunch the following weekend, Viviana looked ready to jump out of her skin with excitement as she grinned at me. “I have an agent! I’m going to be a real writer with a real agent and a real published book!” I’d just sat back and smiled, glad I could have a role in connecting them and only a little sad that I hadn’t successfully done so years ago, when it mattered most.

It was a warm Tuesday in late June when my phone buzzed with a surprising text: another gushing thank-you text from Viviana, but with an interesting revelation. Not only was Kylan proving to be invaluable as her new agent, but he’d even volunteered to use his influence in publishing to knock down Gregory a peg or two. Hearing that Kylan was angry when he heard how Gregory had treated Viviana was almost as surprising as the fact that they’d even talked about the situation at all. Were they somehow becoming friends?

My heartbeat sped up when my eyes drifted to my computer screen and landed on a new email marked Important. I was requested to appear in Francis’s office in … now. I jumped out of my chair. Francis cared about promptness, and this could be the all-important news.

My heart thudded in my chest, and my stomach roiled as I walked quickly to the boss’s office. At the doorway, Francis called out in a clear, authoritative tone, “Don’t keep us waiting, Annie.”

I walked in quickly, and my eyes widened as I saw two other assistants in the room. One seat was empty near Francis’s desk, and the other seats were occupied by two of my fellow assistants.

Once I’d sat down, I stole a glance at the others. To my right, Jessa’s foot was tapping out a silent but steady rhythm, and her brows were drawn together as she fidgeted. To my left, though, Ambrose looked confident, cocky even. He probably had a right to be. He was the most experienced assistant, likely a shoo-in for the promotion. Still, I lifted my chin in determination.

After what felt like hours of fraught silence, Francis finally spoke, “No doubt you’ve all figured out what this meeting is about. I won’t delay. Congratulations.” Francis looked at us with what was the closest thing to a smile that I’d ever seen from our boss.

The assistants and I glanced at each other with unease, and Ambrose was the first to respond. “Thank you. I’m honored to be chosen, given the top-notch competition from my peers here.” The last part he said with a faux-gracious smile to Jessa and me.

“Indeed, the competition was fierce, and it was impossible to choose.” Francis paused while we all held our breath. “So we didn’t. One of Kylan’s goals has always been expansion, so adding new agents was a natural choice. The three of you will all become agents, and we’ll open up a fifth assistant role to support the additional work.”

Ambrose gasped before arranging his expression into a polite smile. “Congratulations to my two junior colleagues as well then, Jessa and Annie,” he said, again with the faux-gracious tone.

I didn’t much care about Ambrose’s reaction though.

I’m going to be an agent!

As shock coursed through me, I glanced over at Jessa, who appeared terrified but excited.

I’m becoming an agent? What? Me? Me!

After just a couple months of learning the assistant job, I was being promoted.I, Annie York, was becoming an actual agent. It hardly seemed possible.

“As you know, Laina will be leaving soon. Annie, you will move into her office and take on many of her clients. This decision was based only on practicalities. You are already familiar with Laina’s clients and organizational methods. Jessa and Ambrose, you’ll move into your positions in the fall, when we have new offices prepared and new assistants hired and trained.” Francis paused. “You’ll all no doubt have more questions, but that is all, for now.” With an air of finality, Francis stood, tilting their head briefly in the direction of the door.

I rose quickly and thanked Francis, knowing they didn’t like to waste time. Ambrose and Jessa followed, a bit more sluggishly. Ambrose had a distinctly disgruntled air about him as he walked out of the office, and Jessa still seemed to be in a daze. For me, it was all I could do not to literally run to Sofia’s office with the news.

And not long after I plopped into a chair in her office with a mile-wide grin, a familiar voice rang out. Or more like sang out.

“Happy agenting to you, happy agenting to you, happy agenting to Annieeeee—”

“I think she gets the picture,” said Rainn, cutting off our roommate as he laughed. “Stick to dance, Raf.”

Rafael sighed dramatically. “I’m an amazing singer. You just have poor taste.”

“Then I guess everyone else in the world does too,” Rainn said, his lips twitching.

Before Rafael could come up with a suitable retort, I cleared my throat loudly and said, “Hey! Um, hi?”

Both men turned to me, nearly falling over themselves to apologize for the clumsy entrance and to congratulate me on the promotion. I chuckled as I watched them, my heart feeling full for the first time in … forever.

“I found out about the promotion yesterday,” Sofia said. “So I called them up this morning and told them to come on by for some news.”

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