Maiv’s office door was open, which wasn’t a normal occurrence. Still, I knocked on the doorframe to get her attention.
“Hi, Maiv. Is now still a good time to—” My words evaporated as she lifted her head in slow motion to look my way. Her green eyes hid behind a set of green frames, and her lips pressed together as she met my stare.
Then the oddest thing in the history of Maiv Sun happened—she smiled.
“Aaliyah, hi, yes. Do come in and close the door behind you.”
I swallowed hard and did as she said, unsure how to take her smile. I’d worked for the woman for years, and I’d never received a smile from her.
I took a seat across from her desk, and my heart sat uncomfortably in my throat.
Maiv smoothed her hands over her gray hair tucked in a perfect high bun, and she sat back in her chair, still staring my way. She picked up the pen from her desk and began twirling it between her fingers.
“So,” she started, “That was quite the wedding—or lack thereof.”
“You came,” I muttered.
“Of course, I came. I told you I was going to come. The ceremony space was very modern. You did a decent job, minus the whole no wedding thing.”
“Oh. Well…thanks?”
She nodded once. “I’m guessing you’re here because you want your job back.”
I tried to push my heart back down to its rightful placement in my chest. Time to grovel. “Yes, ma’am. Even if I can’t go back to being a junior editor, I’ll take any position and work my way up to—”
“You have connections with Connor Roe.”
I sat up a bit straighter, thrown off by her question. “What?”
“I noticed at your almost wedding that Connor Roe was in attendance. He’s the one who dismissed us all from the venue.”
“Uh…yes. I’m sorry, what does that have to do with—”
“Why haven’t you ever told me you knew Connor Roe?”
What exactly was happening? “Um, I didn’t think it was of importance. Plus, I don’t really know him, know him, and—”
“But he came to your wedding? How would you not know someone who was invited to your wedding?”
“I’m sorry, Maiv. I don’t understand what any of this has to do with my job and me getting it back…”
“Oh, yes. Well, I can offer you your position back—”
“Oh my gosh!” I exclaimed.
She held a silencing finger up. “If you do one thing for me.”
“Anything, Maiv. I’ll do anything.”
“Good. I was hoping you’d say that.” She leaned forward on her desk, dropped the pen, and clasped her hands. “I need you to get an exclusive with Connor Roe.”
I choked on my next breath. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Connor Roe is the biggest bachelor in New York City. He is on his way to being one of the richest men in all of New York, if not the world, and he has never once done an interview. Everyone in the industry is clawing at the opportunity to get him on their cover, but he refuses to allow anyone the opportunity.”
Wow. Was Connor truly that successful? Jason had hardly ever talked about work people when we spent time together. Still, I didn’t see how I could help Maiv.
“Well, if he doesn’t want to be interviewed—”
“Senior editor,” she cut in.
“What?”
“If you get Connor Roe to come to Passion to be on the cover of our September issue, I will make you senior editor.”
No way. Senior editors always received the best projects. They were able to travel and see the world. Just a few months earlier, Abby had been in Iceland following a story about an explorer for two months. That was what I’d dreamed about, doing the big stories that allowed me to see the world at the same time, to experience different cultures, different lifestyles, to see lives bigger than my own.
“You mean it?” I pushed out, feeling as if I were dreaming. “I’d be able to travel for work and write the meaningful articles?”
“If you get Connor to do an exclusive with us, you can write whatever you want.” She held up a hand quickly. “Within reason, obviously.”
“Yes, of course.”
“So”—she narrowed her eyes—“you can do it?”
What was it about Connor that made people crave to be inside his brain so much? It was almost as if Maiv was begging for me to get him to agree to the article. Well, as close to begging as she’d ever get, at least.
I nodded. “Yes, of course. Not a problem. I’ll have him on board ASAP.”
“By Friday.”
“Friday? Like…” I gulped hard. “This Friday? Like, in a few days?”
“Yes.”
“As in, one, two, three—”
“If you can’t make it happen, that’s all you have to—”
“No! No! I can make it happen. It’s pretty much already happening. There is no doubt in my mind that Connor Roe will be on the front cover of this magazine come this September. Yup, that’s right, because me and him are buddies. Pals. Amigos. Friends. We’re pretty much Phoebe and Joey. Yup, that’s us. Ketchup and mustard. Tom and—”