CHAPTER THREE
THE TRAIN RIDE BACK to Los Angeles was hardly the longest Lucy had ever been on, but it sure was one of the best she could remember. She felt amazing. Her whole body was alive with such a mixture of emotions that she could hardly keep track of them all. She spent the second and final night of the convention with Elijah again. The sex was just as mind blowing the second time around as it was on that first night. Everything else about the conference was just a blur.
It was weird, but it would have been easy to dismiss what she had with Elijah as just sex, but the truth was that there was something much more to it than that—and she was pretty sure that they both knew it. While it was undeniable that half the night had been spent having a workout between the sheets that didn’t even begin to compare with any of the workouts held by the convention’s experts, it was also true that the other half of the night had been spent talking.
Lucy thought back on her past, but she couldn’t remember having a connection that strong to any man before. The only exception was Michael, but he was more like a brother, that plus, he batted for the other team. Her skin was still tingling from the two nights she had spent with Elijah, and her mind was still on fire from the conversations they had. It was no wonder she still felt wide awake despite the little sleep she had gotten.
After a good forty-five minutes of staring into space, Lucy decided that she’d better get to work. Elijah had given her quite the juicy interview and she was determined to do it justice. After all, this was Elijah Redford and this was why she had attended the convention in the first place—for work, not to have crazy sex and fall in love with him. She froze as soon as the thought entered her head. She was most definitely, she told herself, not falling for Elijah Redford.
Lucy shook her head, fetched the iPod out of her bag, shoved the earbuds in her ears, cranked up the music and got to work.
* * *
By the time the train pulled into its final destination, Lucy had written the entire first draft of her profile. She was thrilled and completely wired at the same time, like there was actual electricity running through her body.
Lucy didn’t bother going home first. Instead, she hurried over to her friend Beth’s house to pick up Toby, her most trusted and loyal companion. Lucy almost canceled the trip to Ojai because she didn’t have a place for Toby to stay. Luckily at the last minute, Beth came through and offered to watch Toby, for which Lucy was eternally grateful.
Toby was a pampered dog and didn’t handle being kenneled well. He needed a proper home to stay in. If it wasn’t for Beth, Lucy never would’ve met Elijah Redford, never would have scored the interview and never would have had the most amazing sex of her life. Lucy met Beth, oddly enough, at a Starbucks on her first day in Los Angeles when the barista had swapped their drink orders by mistake. The mix-up got them talking and from that day on, the two of them became fast friends.
Lucy immediately felt more grounded the moment Toby greeted her with his enthusiastic tail wags, jumps and licks. She stroked his curly honey-colored fur and inhaled deeply as she buried her face in his neck. After she thanked Beth profusely and promised to take her out for dinner and drinks to repay her for the favor, Lucy took Toby back to their home.
The past three days had been a whirlwind and Lucy was glad to be back in her small, but cozy Los Angeles apartment. She settled on the couch with Toby snuggled up against her as she typed up the interview on her laptop. She spent the next few hours editing and polishing it to perfection—or as close to perfection as an inexperienced, yet aspiring journalist could get. When she was satisfied, she found the submissions area on the Clean magazine website and did what she had come to Los Angeles to do. She uploaded her file and hit “submit”.
Her whole body trembled with excitement and anticipation. After checking her email a gazillion times, she decided to leave the safety and comfort of the couch and take Toby for a run. He loved running, and Lucy loved him all the more for it. The people at the shelter had been ecstatic to find out that she was so active, because he too, needed to move well and often. Lucy believed it was a sign that she and Toby were made for each other. When she ran with Toby, the world was a beautiful place filled with possibilities, all of her anxieties melted away and her problems disappeared. While they were running, she shut out the entire outside world—the world of WhatsApp and e-mails and all sorts of annoying text messages, phone calls and other demands.
This was why she almost missed out on the call of a lifetime. Thankfully, however, the phone rang again after she arrived home and had finished showering and taking care of both her and Toby’s post-workout needs. She frowned at the mystery number on her phone.
“Hello?”
“Hello? Ms. Smith?”
The voice on the other end of the line was smooth and professional. “Um…yes, this is she,” Lucy said, uncertain as to what someone with that kind of voice could possibly want with her.
“This is Amanda Booth, assistant to Carey Wayland, Clean magazine’s editor in chief.”
Lucy’s heart and stomach did a simultaneous somersault. She let herself fall butt-first onto the couch, hair and skin still dripping wet from the shower. Toby huffed as he moved just in time to avoid being sat on.
“Yes, I…” Lucy cleared her throat and tried to match the professionalism of Amanda’s voice. “I know who Carey Wayland is.”
“Of course you do,” Amanda said briskly. “We received your submission and Ms. Wayland would like to meet you in person. Would tomorrow morning work for you?”
Oh My God…Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod!!! Lucy could feel her stomach doing somersaults. Somehow though, she was able to completely disguise her inner freak out and said with a perfectly calm and professional voice, “Of course.”
“Perfect. Do you think you can be at our corporate headquarters tomorrow morning at nine?”
“Absolutely!” Lucy said.
“Do you need directions to get here?”
“No thank you. I know exactly where Clean is located.”
“Wonderful. We’ll see you tomorrow, then. Have a great day, Ms. Smith.”
“You too. Thank you,” Lucy said again.
She listened until she heard the phone on the other end hang up. She sat there in stunned silence for a few minutes with her towel wrapped around her and the phone still glued to her ear. She couldn’t believe her extraordinary luck.
* * *
Clean magazine’s headquarters were exactly as amazing as Lucy imagined them to be. Everything was white and sleek, with a touch of rustic wood here and there. The magazine occupied the three top floors of an all-glass building downtown, one of which was dedicated to a gym.
Lucy spent the whole elevator ride to the top floor, trying to get a grip on herself. She had been too excited to sleep again and was running on sheer adrenaline at this point. And yet, she had no intention of slowing down. One more not-so-restful night didn’t seem to have much impact on her young body and mind. Lucy was living her dream and there was no way she was going to let herself sleep through it.
Lucy waited in the reception area nervously perched on a transparent plastic chair that probably cost more than a month’s rent for her whole apartment.
She was greeted in the reception area by Amanda Booth, a young woman, maybe a few years older than Lucy, who appeared competent, efficient, and ambitious. Amanda brought Lucy a coconut water even though she hadn’t asked for it, and quickly and quietly left Lucy to her own affairs. Lucy watched as Amanda worked at her desk with enviable focus. She tried to imagine herself having a desk in these offices. The thought alone was enough to make her whole body tingle.
The phone on Amanda’s desk rang. She picked it up, said a few words and hung up. She looked at Lucy from behind the reception desk.
“Ms. Wayland will see you now.”
Lucy smiled at Amanda graciously. “Thank you.”
She took a deep breath and stood up. She clutched the folder containing her work samples tightly to her chest while she followed Amanda into Carey Wayland’s office.
Carey Wayland’s office was stylish and elegant. It could’ve come straight off of the set from The Devil Wears Prada, but with more color. Despite the sleek and modern look, there were splashes of brightness everywhere—whether it was the painting on the wall or a detail on the desk. Even the two chairs in front of the large desk were bright—one was cerulean blue and the other bright yellow.
When they walked into the room, Carey Wayland looked up from her desk and took off her glasses. “Ah, Ms. Smith. Please, have a seat,” she said, gesturing to the chairs.
Carey Wayland was a woman in her forties with pearly white teeth and wavy black hair that cascaded down around her shoulders. She wore a pair of designer jeans and a smart blazer that showed off her toned and trim figure. The look was simple and classic, yet refined. Everything about Carey Wayland oozed focus and confidence. She held out a hand, which Lucy readily shook before taking a seat. Lucy chose the blue chair.
“So,” Carey paused for a second while looking at Lucy. “That was quite an interesting submission you sent us.”
“Thank you,” Lucy said. She didn’t quite know what to expect from this meeting, so she decided to play it cool and just go with the flow as best as possible.
Carey placed her hands on the desk and laced her fingers. “It’s fake, isn’t it?”
Lucy blinked. And then she blinked again. For a moment, she couldn’t quite comprehend the words, and when she finally did, it took her a minute to find her voice. “Excuse me?” she croaked.
Carey arched a perfectly groomed black eyebrow. “Everyone knows. Elijah Redford doesn’t give out interviews,” she said. “Sometimes even we have trouble getting him to talk to us. I can’t imagine him agreeing to release a full interview to an unknown journalist like you.” Her voice remained calm and impassible, but there was an underlying note of something in her “someone like you” that Lucy didn’t like the sound of at all.
“I assure you, the interview is completely authentic.” Lucy spoke slowly and deliberately. “I attended the health and wellness convention in Ojai last weekend and met Mr. Redford there and he agreed to release an interview for a profile.”
“To you?” Carey said, with pointed skepticism.
“Yes,” Lucy said. She sat up straighter and clenched her jaw. “To me.”
Carey watched Lucy intently for what seemed like an eternity. Lucy did her best to not squirm under the older woman’s gaze. Carey finally said, “What did you do? Sleep with him?”
Lucy felt herself flush with anger. “Pardon?”
“You heard me.”
“That’s none of your business!” Lucy cried out absolutely appalled. How did this woman know?
“It makes perfect sense now. So that’s how you got it!”
“I’ll have you know, I don’t need to sell myself for—”
“Save it, honey.” Carey cut her off sharply. “Either it’s fake or you slept with him to get it. For your sake, we’ll assume it’s a fake. We have high standards for journalistic integrity here at Clean and none of our reporters would ever compromise a source by sleeping with them. I hope you understand but our reputation can’t be associated with something like this.”
Lucy clenched her fists in her lap to stop her hands from shaking with rage. Yes, she had slept with Elijah. But she had done it because she wanted to, not to get the interview. He would’ve given it to her regardless. Or would he? She took a deep breath and pushed those doubts out of her mind.
“If you think what I did was so awful,” she said after a moment, “why did you call me here?”
“I called you here because I wasn’t about to let something like this pass.” Carey stared at her with a steely impenetrable gaze. “Consider this a warning. If you pull another stunt like this, I’ll make damn sure no magazine in town will ever consider working with you.”
Lucy lifted her chin a fraction. “That interview is real,” she said defiantly through gritted teeth.
Carey’s expression softened for a bit. “Hey, you seem like a nice kid. But you’ve got to be careful,” she said. “Mr. Redford may be a genius at what he does, but you’re not the first. I’ve seen plenty of naive and ambitious young girls fall for this only to see their careers ruined for it. Trust me, you’re best to steer clear.”
“Thank you,” Lucy said tersely. “I appreciate the concern, but I don’t need advice on my personal life. If that’s all, Ms. Wayland, I’ll be leaving now.”
Carey watched her curiously. Finally, she leaned back in her chair and shrugged. “Yes, that’s all. Don’t try this again and be careful of who you get involved with.”
Lucy wanted to scream at the woman in front of her. She hadn’t “tried” to get away with anything. But she knew it would be as pointless as screaming into the wind. Carey Wayland had already made up her mind about Lucy.
Lucy quickly marched out the office and past Amanda’s desk without so much as a goodbye. Her eyes were burning, but she was determined not to let them see her cry. But as soon as the elevator doors closed behind her, there was no stopping the tears from rushing down her face.
* * *
Lucy bit her lower lip nervously. “I don’t know if this is such a good idea,” she hesitated.
“Are you kidding me? It’s an excellent idea.”
Lucy looked at Michael skeptically. To her absolute surprise and utter delight, he had flown all the way from Colorado to Los Angeles two days after Lucy had told him about what happened at her meeting at Clean magazine, half sobbing and half cursing into the phone.
Now, three days after her disastrous meeting at Clean and four days after the Ojai conference, Michael was dragging her to yet another health and wellness event with the guest of honor being none other than Elijah Redford himself.
“Trust me,” Michael said as they entered the building, navigating their way through a maze of booths in order to find out where Elijah’s seminar was being held. “This is the only way you’ll redeem yourself.”
“I don’t need to ‘redeem’ myself,” Lucy huffed. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“I know that.” Michael’s light brown eyes stared straight into her green ones as they always did when he was trying to get across something meaningful to her. “But the world doesn’t. If you want any peace of mind, you’re gonna have to stand up for yourself to him and prove that the bitch at Clean was wrong.”
Lucy made a face, but she didn’t bother arguing with him. She knew he had a point. She sighed and took Michael’s hand, both for support and to steer him in the direction of a large poster for the event.
“There,” she said, pointing to the main auditorium. She wasn’t surprised, really. She had imagined it would be the main room, she just hadn’t known where the main room was.
They found it fairly easily, and Michael insisted they sit in one of the front rows. There were still a few seats available and Lucy sank into one as low as she could go. She didn’t want Elijah to see her, not yet.
Meanwhile, Michael sat up straight in his seat, looking around curiously at the people filling the rows of cushioned red auditorium chairs. “So these are your people, huh?”
Lucy had the distinct impression he was actively trying to keep the judgment out of his voice. “They’re not ‘my’ people.” she snorted. “Most of them are wellness snobs and don’t have a clue about anything.”
Michael arched an eyebrow, surprised at her harsh judgment.
“Well, not all of them are bad. The good ones are really good,” Lucy amended, thinking of Alice Baker, whom she met in Ojai.
When Elijah came on stage, Lucy’s stomach did a funny thing that could only be described as the proverbial butterflies going crazy. She took a deep breath and willed herself to calm down. Still, no matter how hard she tried to focus, she ended up listening to only half of what he was saying.
All she could think about was the way his body had felt on top of hers and how her body responded to his. She watched him move on stage, and she remembered how he had moved between the sheets. She remembered the powerful feeling of his enlarged cock inside of her and how it felt when he came inside of her.
At the end of the lecture, Lucy and Michael remained in their seats. They waited for most of the crowd to disperse before they approached him. Michael hung back discreetly, but Lucy all but marched forward. Now that she found herself so close to him, she was anxious to get this done with. She could have kicked herself for not having asked him for his number back in Ojai. If she had, she might have spared herself the trip. Somehow it felt even more degrading that she had to wait in line to speak to him like she was nothing more than an obsessed groupie.
When it was her turn to approach, he looked up at her but didn’t seem at all surprised to see her. She knew that he saw her at the beginning of his lecture. They made eye contact for a brief moment. That was when all of the memories of the last weekend came flooding back. But now as he looked at her, he gave her a half-hearted smile that made her pause and question her own recollection of the events that happened between them back in Ojai. It was less than a week, but it seemed like ages ago.
“Elijah,” she said softly, allowing herself to address him with familiarity now that almost no one was around to hear. “It’s good to see you.”
“How may I help you?” he said tersely and nodded impatiently as if she was a stranger and no intimacy had ever been passed between them.
Lucy blinked. She was taken aback at how he distant he was, so cold and detached. She frowned for a moment, but quickly pushed her confusion away. “I need to talk to you.”
“About…?” He stared at her blankly.
“The interview you gave me back in Ojai. I submitted it to Clean magazine. They think it’s fake and said that the source couldn’t corroborate it.”
He stared at her some more and then burst out laughing. “Shit. Carey can be such a bitch sometimes.”
Lucy pushed down the wave of annoyance that hit her at his dismissive manners. “Can you do something about it?”
He arched an eyebrow and looked at her curiously. “Like what?”
Lucy took a deep, calming breath. “Well, you’re the source. Can you talk to Carey Wayland and let her know that the material I submitted is indeed authentic?”
He stared at her for a moment, and then he shrugged. “I’m sorry, but it’s not my problem. I don’t like getting involved in petty media squabbles. I hope you understand.”
Lucy was stunned. “Are you serious?”
“Look,” he said impatiently. “You wanted an interview and I gave it to you. That’s it as far as I’m concerned. How you handle the rest is your business.”
“She was right, you know. You knew this was going to happen, didn’t you?”
“I don’t have time for this.” He spoke to her sharply. “I can’t help every single person on this planet who thinks I owe them something just because we spent some time together.”
“What the…”
He cut her off before she could finish her sentence. “You’re smart. You’ll figure it out.”
Lucy watched with open disbelief as he gathered up his papers and slung his bag over his shoulder.
“You’re walking away? Just like that?”
“I’m sorry, Lucy, but I can’t help you.”
“You mean you won’t help me,” Lucy corrected him coolly.
He shrugged. “This is between you and Carey to figure out. Thanks for coming. It was good to see you again.” He nodded at her dismissively and walked away. Just like that.
What a fucking asshole! Lucy stared after him, trying (and failing) to make sense of what had just happened. Michael approached her cautiously, visibly cringing.
“Shit,” he said. “That went horribly.”
Lucy turned and looked at him sharply. “You think?”
“Oh my God! What an asshole.” He glared at the auditorium exit as if he could still see Elijah walking away and out of the room. “I can’t believe he did that to you.”
“He hasn’t done anything,” Lucy said quietly. “Which is exactly the problem.”
“Bullshit. He fucking slept with you, agreed to an interview and won’t stand behind it.” Michael reached over and hugged her. “I’m sorry, Lucy,” he said. “You were right, this was a bad idea.”
“No, it was a great idea. It was definitely worth a shot. I appreciate you dragging me all the way here. Because now I know what an absolute prick he is.”
Michael gave her a weak grin and shook his head, “Oh, girl…”
Lucy all but growled, “It’s not your fault he’s a dick.”
Michael patted her shoulder and then finally let his hand fall. “I think we need to go out tonight,” he announced after a moment, as they made their way out of the auditorium. “God knows you need a drink.”
Lucy burst out laughing. “I think you’re very right. It’s been a hell of a week.”