Romance: Rockstar Romance: Rock My World (A Bad Boy Rock Star and a College Girl Romance) (Contemporary New Adult Second Chance Romance) (6 page)

''Wow. I had no idea. Thanks for telling me,'' Olivia said. Her mind conjured up an image of the lead singer in a lesbian punk band trying to seduce her.

''Olivia, I will be he honest with you. We want you on board. You are by far the best candidate. What do you say?'' Gretta asked.

''I'd love to work with you, thank you. When do I start?''

''How about Monday?''

On the flight back to Boston, Olivia wondered how she was going to manage to find a place in New York and move her stuff into it in the space of six days. When she got off the plane, she rang an agent and put her house up for rent. She asked the same agent to find her a place in New York.

Olivia spent a few days sorting through her things. When the
postman
knocked
on her door,
he handed her a package from Amazon. It was what she'd been
waiting for
. She opened it and eagerly sat down to read, 'How to Make a Man Love You' by Ralph
Penworthy
. She finished the book in an afternoon and threw it in the garbage, regretting the five dollars it had cost her.

*****

''Welcome to your first day, Olivia,'' Gretta said when they were sitting in her office. ''I've asked Mark to take you under his wing for the first few days. He'll show you the ropes and make sure you get off to a good start. I've prepared you a little welcome pack. There's some information about our company in there. Do you have any questions?''

''Not yet. But I'm sure I will,'' Olivia said.

Olivia had
been allocated
a desk in a large open
plane
office alongside a few other more senior journalists. Mark introduced her to everyone and sat down with her to talk through what they would be doing over the next few days. After he'd briefed her, he told her she should spend the rest of the day reading the information Gretta had given her and familiarize herself with company policy.

She got a coffee from a seedy
looking vending
machine, and sat at her desk with a thick folder in front of her called 'DR PUBLISHING -?? COMPANY INFORMATION.' She turned over the first page and began to read.

''Fuck me, you're joking,'' she cried. Everyone looked at her quizzically.

''Are you okay?'' her neighbor, a handsome young man asked.

''Yes. I've just had a bit of a shock that's all,'' she replied. She thought for a moment, ''what do you know about Daniel Raleigh?'' she asked.

''He's the owner of DR Publishing, our parent company. I think in all,  his company owns sixty other publications. He's a billionaire, well up in the Forbes rankings.''

''What kind of man is he?''

''I don't know him personally, I'm just a very little fish way down at the bottom of his pond.  I hear he's a generous man but that he can be ruthless if needed. Do you know him?''

''No. I just wondered that's all,'' she lied.

What an irony. She was working for the man she'd had sex with a few weeks earlier. A man who she'd stupidly fallen for and who'd never bothered to call her. All the feelings she'd tried to suppress over the last few days came rushing back to the fore. She'd thought she was over it, but just the sight of his name tore her heart open once more.

She spent the next few days on the road with Mark, doing interviews. Their main story for the weekly magazine was an interview with a Somalian rock star who'd fled his war-torn country and landed in New York to great acclaim and instant stardom. He'd filled Madison Square Garden five nights in a row. He was a phenomenon the like of which the States had never seen before. Why the Americans had fallen in love with a Somalian rocker, nobody had a clue, but they had. Mark had made an appointment with him and was very excited about being the only music journalist
Haybee
had agreed to
speak to
.

''What?'' Mark shouted into his phone when they were standing
outside the hotel
they'd agreed to meet in. ''You are kidding, right? Well, tell him we're here now.'' When the conversation finished, Mark was so angry he threw his phone against the building.

''What?'' Olivia asked surprised at his sudden outburst.

''He's gone and canceled on us.''

''Who?
Haybee
?''

''Yes
Haybee
. What an ass-hole. That's
gonna
leave us with a major space to fill in
this week’s
edition. These people never think, they just treat us like dirt.''

She could see the disappointment on his face. She too was disappointed not to get to meet the great man.

''He did what?'' Gretta shouted at the top of her voice when they got back to the office. ''That's left us with a real headache. What the hell are we going to fill three full pages with at such short notice?'' she added.

Olivia looked at the distraught faces and excused herself. She took a cab back to the Lavender Hotel and went inside. The young woman at reception wasn't at all helpful.

''You and thousands of others,'' she said when Olivia asked to see
Haybee
.

''I need to see him, tell him it's an urgent family matter,'' Olivia said. The woman looked at her suspiciously but picked up the phone.

''A lady here wants to speak to
Haybee
. She says it's a family matter.'' When the answer
came,
the woman scowled and pointed to the elevator. ''
Sixth
floor, someone will meet you.''

The elevator walls were mirrors and Olivia looked at herself. She straightened her hair and pressed her lips together. The woman waiting on the sixth floor was a
very pretty
Somali woman.

''What family business?'' she asked.

''Sorry, I think the receptionist must have been confused. I'm here for the interview.''

''That has
been canceled
,'' the woman said abruptly.

''Has it? Nobody told me. Shoot. And I made all this effort,'' Olivia said, trying to make her lies as convincing as possible. ''Why has it been canceled?''

''Because
Haybee
has discovered that your magazine isn't a small underground publication as he was led to believe, but part of a huge corporate conglomerate owned  by a billionaire businessman.''

''Why does that make a difference?''

''You haven't done any research into
Haybee's
beliefs have you?''

''Of course, I have,'' Olivia protested.

The woman looked down at her sandals and shuffled from one foot to the other. ''
Haybee
is a socialist. He hates the corporate world. There's no way he'll talk to you, especially since, what's his name lied to him.''

''Mark?''

''Yes, Mark. He should have known better than to lie.''

''Then let me just see if I understand correctly.
Haybee
won't talk to the mainstream media.''

''You've got it.''

''May I ask who you are?'' Olivia said.

''His wife, Afraxo.''

''I understand. I'm sorry Mark lied to you. I'm just a junior
journalist; it
's my first day at work today.''

A door to her left
opened,
and a tall, very dark man came to the foyer. ''What's you name?'' he asked.

''Olivia Halfpenny, Mr. Haybee,'' Olivia answered.

''You are a liar and the rag you work for is
a cheap
gossip-laden pile of shit.''

Olivia's heart rate picked up. ''Er.......I'm sorry you feel like that.....''

''So you should be. I'm going to call your bosses and have you fired. You lied to us to get up here, didn't you? Don't think I was born yesterday. Do you know how low it is to pretend you are delivering family news when all you
really
want is an interview? Now leave before I call the cops.''

When Olivia stepped back in the office, Gretta shouted to her. ''Get yourself in here now.'' Olivia entered her
office
and Gretta closed the door. ''Your first day and
I'm
already getting calls complaining about your behavior. Why did you do it?''

Olivia looked at Gretta's face. It was red with rage. ''Sorry, I just thought I could make him change his mind and do an interview.''

''Oh you did, did you? Well, what makes you so
special
? Why did you think he would talk to you?''

''I don't know. I was only trying to help.''

''But you won't help if all you do is antagonize people.''

''But
Haybee's
philosophy is all wrong. He won't talk to the press. He calls us part of the dangerous corporate world. What he doesn't know is that all those people who buy his records are part of that world as well.''

Gretta lowered her spectacles to the end of her nose and rubbed the bridge of her nose. It had been a long
day,
and she was
very worried
about what she was going to fill her
newspaper with
.

''Okay. If you feel there is an argument against his stance, write it. If it's
good,
I'll publish it.''

''Really?'' Olivia said.

''Yes. You're right. He needs to
be taught
a lesson. He should realize he can't treat us like this. Write it.''

*****

''Maureen, come here a moment please.'' Maureen tottered into Daniel's office on incredibly high heels and waited. ''Who is Jenny Jones?''

''Er....I have no idea?''

''Have you read this article?'' he asked. Maureen walked around his desk and looked at the copy of New York Street Scene that lay in front of him.

''No.''

''It is the most wonderfully written piece I have read in a long time. This woman, whoever she is, is a genius. It's a stinging criticism of
Haybee
and his double standards. And the best bit,'' he said pointing a finger to a long paragraph, ''she says I'm an inspiration to the youth of America.''

Maureen looked at him and wondered when it was going to be her turn. She so wanted him to make love to her.
He's had
Tracy and
Emma; surely
she would be next. ''That's great,'' she offered.

''Get hold of Gretta at NYSS and ask her to get Jenny Jones to Skype me.''

Maureen disappeared for a while. Daniel swiveled his leather chair to the left and looked out of the window across the Boston Skyline.

''She refuses to talk to you,'' Maureen said.

''What?''

''Gretta asked her to Skype you, but she refused. I don't know why.''

''Does she know who I am?''

''I think she does. Whatever, she won't do it.''

''Who the hell does she think she is? I'm her boss. Tell her to Skype me or I'll fire her.''

Maureen left and came back a few minutes later with a wide grin on her face. ''Mr. Raleigh, she says you can stick your job up your.......er..........ass if you so want. She's not going to speak to you.''

''When am I next in New York?''

Maureen looked it up in her diary. ''On Tuesday, next week.''

*****

''Gretta, lovely to see you. How are things?'' Daniel asked.

''Okay. We're doing fine. Sales are steadily
increasing, advertising
revenue is up, so I can't complain. I'm
very happy
with the newspaper's performance.''

''Where's Jenny Jones?''

''Who?''

''Jenny Jones? I want to talk to her.''

''Ah. Sorry, I forgot it's her pen name. Her real name is Olivia Halfpenny.''

Daniels' eyebrows raised as he remembered her name, her body and how much he'd enjoyed gorging on the delights she'd had to offer. ''Olivia Halfpenny.''

''Do you know her?'' Gretta asked when it sounded as if he recognized her name.

''I believe I do. Go and get her, and give us a meeting room. I want a chat with her.''

Daniel followed Gretta to room three of the five meeting rooms the newspaper had at its disposal and sat down in the sterile room. Gretta went to find Olivia.

''You're an asshole,'' Olivia said as soon as she entered the room. ''A misogynist. I believe they would have called you a
cad
years ago.''

Daniel looked at her and noticed the rage in her eyes. She was even more beautiful than he remembered. ''The world is indeed a small place. How are you?''

''Don't give me that shit? You don't care how I am. All you care about is getting inside as many panties as possible without a single thought to the consequences.''