Poppy Does Paris (Girls On Tour 1) (Girls On Tour Book) by Nicola Doherty Page B

Chipping. I continue, ‘His agent has been reviewing the offers, and they’ve asked a shortlist of editors to go and meet him, including me.’
    ‘Where does he live?’ asks one of the new publicists, whose name escapes me.
    ‘Paris,’ says Ellen. ‘And he grew up all over – Switzerland, Italy, the States. His father is of course Michael Wilder, very famous too as a writer. Poppy, do you want to add anything?’
    ‘Yes – well, most of you will know his first book. It was set in a private school in New York and made into a film; the critics called him the new Bret Easton Ellis. And now he’s back with his second book, which is about an American diplomat in Paris who wrecks his career with an affair.’
    ‘Sounds great,’ says the publicist. ‘When are we doing it?’
    ‘The deal’s not done yet. He has other offers, so Poppy has to meet him and charm him,’ Ellen says.
    ‘The beauty contest,’ says Melanie. ‘You’ll win that, Poppy.’
    Which is very nice of her. But as we walk out of the meeting room I’m still disappointed about the book I wanted to buy. Charlie strolls by me for a minute, saying, ‘Fingers crossed for Jonathan Wilder. Melanie’s right; you’ll definitely win the beauty competition.’
    ‘Thanks,’ I say briefly. He can flirt all he likes but I’m still miffed at him for cracking jokes about my book.
    As if he’s reading my mind, Charlie continues, ‘Sorry about that other book – I did think it was good, just a hard sell. I wasn’t trying to be funny.’
    ‘Oh . . . that’s all right. Thanks for reading it.’ Mollified, I give him a quick smile to show there are no hard feelings. He’s not a bad guy, Charlie; he just lacks imagination. He’s about to say something else when Melanie collars him, and I slip on ahead.
    I would never admit it to anyone I work with but when he first joined a year ago, I actually fancied Charlie. He is very handsome: he has a sort of young Viking look, with piercing blue eyes and blond hair. But then I began to notice things like his obsession with football, the way he dresses as if he’s in a boy band, and his habit of tossing peanuts into his mouth as if he’s training a seal. We did a bit of flirting at our last Christmas party and I was very briefly tempted, but now I’m so glad I didn’t go there. I later found out he’d slept with at least three girls at work, which is just – icky. As practically the only single straight male in the entire company it must be like shooting fish.
    Back at my desk, I write an email to the agent about the novel I have to turn down. I’d love to have another little cake to cheer myself up, but I make myself put them in the kitchen because soon I’m going to be meeting Jonathan Wilder, in Paris, and I want to be able to get back into my size-twelve jeans.
    As a compensation for not having the cake, I treat myself to a quick look at the
GQ
shoot Jonathan did to publicise his first book. Dark hair, soulful eyes, high cheekbones, bit skinny. I click on a more recent picture; he’s had a few protein shakes since then and he looks even better. Cut me a slice of that, as my friend Anthony would say.
    ‘Poppy?’ It’s Ellen. ‘Can I talk to you for a second?’
    ‘Sure,’ I say, quickly closing the screen. ‘What’s up?’
    ‘It’s about your trip to Paris,’ she says. ‘I thought it would be good if Charlie went with you.’
    ‘Oh. Really?’ I know Charlie’s been involved in the marketing plans, but I didn’t think he was that central to the pitch. And an irrational part of me thinks: this is
my
project – why does he have to come?
    Ellen continues, ‘I just think you could do with some backup, to talk about all our marketing plans.’
    ‘Of course! That would be great. Really helpful,’ I say, telling myself not to be so silly. It will be good to have Charlie’s perspective, and show Jonathan the whole team is on board. It’s just weird that I’m going to be spending two whole