Because He Torments Me by Hannah Ford Page B

of when
it came to Callum Wilder was that he valued his privacy. But still.   The whole thing was humiliating on so
many levels.   “Ms. Brickett, I don’t
know what Callum told you, but I can assure you I never asked him to recommend
me for this position.”
She flitted my concerns away with her hand.   “Please, Adriana,” she said.   “Don’t worry about it.   Publishing is an extremely competitive
business, and everyone has to get their start
somewhere.   I got my first job
through a sorority sister of my mother’s.”
    I let out a sigh of relief.  
    “But you do like books?” she said, raising her
eyebrows.
    “Oh, yes!” I said.   “I love books.   Publishing is my passion.   I’ve been applying for every position I
can find.”   Then, realizing how that
sounded, I rushed on, “I mean, not every position.”
    She smiled.   “So ultimately you want to work in
editorial?”
    I nodded.
    “Publicity can be a great springboard for
that,” she said.   “With the
downsizing that’s been taking place and the merging of departments, an editor
really is a publicist in a lot of ways nowadays.”   She leaned forward.   “Who are your favorite authors?”
    “I have so many,” I said.   “The classics are J.D. Salinger,
Charlotte Bronte.   For genre
fiction, I’m obsessed with Stephen King and Rachel Gibson.”
    “And non-fiction?”
    “I’m drawn to memoirs,” I said.   “I love learning about people’s lives.”
    “Have you read the new book by Aubrey Zane?”
Kiersten asked.   “It just came out
last week.   We worked really hard on
her launch.”
    “No.”   I shook my head.   “But I’ve
been wanting to.   It’s on my to be
read list.” Aubrey Zane was a pop star, one of those girls who’d been on a
G-rated kids show before turning into a teen sensation.   Her career had been in trouble when
she’d been outed as a bulimic drug addict, but she
was clean now and she’d recently written a book about her quest for sobriety which was being pitched as a vehicle for her
comeback.
    “You have to read it,” Kristin said.   “It’s getting great press.   Usually people don’t take the memoir of
a twenty-year-old seriously, but the book dives into some really important
topics about celebrity and the dangers of young Hollywood.”
    I nodded.   “I will definitely check it out.”
    “Good.” She tilted her head.   “Two questions.”
    “Okay.”
    “Do you know your way around twitter and facebook ?”
    “I can tweet and friend with the best of them,”
I quipped, earning me another   smile .
    “Can you start tomorrow?”
    “Yes,” I said.   “Yes, of course.”
    “Seven am ?”
    “Seven am,” I said confidently, not caring that
the day started so early.    Hell, I wouldn’t have cared if she’d asked me to come in at midnight to
work an all-nighter.   I had a
job!   At a real live publishing
house!
    “Great.”   She pushed her chair back and stood up, and I did the same.   “I’m looking forward to working with
you, Adriana. Do you remember the way out?”
    “I’m sure I can figure it out.”
    Kiersten reached across the desk to take my
hand, and this time, her handshake felt firmer somehow, and she held my hand
for a beat longer than was necessary.  
    Then her eyes turned slightly colder than they
were before, and her voice got steely.
    “One more thing,” she said.   “If I find out there’s something
unprofessional going on between you and Callum Wilder, if there’s even any hint
that the two of you are engaged in anything inappropriate, I will fire you
immediately.   Do you understand?”
    My mouth went dry.   Did that mean Callum and I would be
working together?   Is that why she
was warning me?      And if so, how the hell was
I going to be able to handle that?
    But something told me if I asked questions or
got defensive, it wasn’t going to go over well.
    So instead I met Kiersten’s eye.
    “Of course,” I said,