A spacious light room with palm trees and hammocks appeared before her eyes. Birds chirped, artificial mini-waterfalls murmured. The desks were brightly colored: crimson, lemon, fuchsia, azure. On one side of the wall was a tall bookshelf, lined with at least a couple of hundred books. At the opposite end was a large dressing room with clothes and shoes.
People scurried back and forth, dressed in colorful outfits as if they were going to a party. The women were in tuxedos and trousers, the guys in... tight dresses and heels? Emily blinked several times, the picture did not disappear. She closed her eyes and counted to five, opened them.
A thin, tall guy walked past her, limping on his left foot and talking on the phone. Heels with a height of ten centimeters clearly did not add grace to his gait.
"Who do we have here? A fresh duplicate of Mrs. Parkinson?"
Emily turned around and saw a stunning blonde, staring at the girl with interest in return. If there were people in the world who could attract others, regardless of gender, this individual was one of them.
Emily caught her breath as if she were standing on stage with Miss Universe and handing her the tiara. The blonde was lovely in all places. For the first time, the girl saw such a beautiful person near her.
"Oh, are you that Emily girl?" the beauty pointed her finger at the girl's badge, "Kelly recommended you, right?"
"Yes, it's me," Emily suddenly felt embarrassed. What the hell is this? It was the first time with her. Even her ex-boyfriend didn't provoke such a reaction from her as this super-model did with one glance.
The blonde narrowed her eyes, looked at the new one with an appraising glance, and exclaimed, "Awesome! She didn't say you were such a beauty! This month the room bonus will definitely be ours! Ho-ho-ho, I'm already looking forward to Gregor's face being green with anger when he sees you!" she grabbed Emily's hands and squeezed them, the grip of the fragile-looking girl was very strong.
"Excuse me, who?"
"Gregor! Acting editor-in-chief of the magazine!" the blonde nodded, "Oh, you don't know him yet! Sorry, I'm being dumb a little in the morning. Ha, life without coffee is just creepy, do you agree? By the way, my name is Catherine Joyce. You can just call me Kat," the new colleague winked.
"Nice," Emily smiled back. The girl's name seemed familiar to her, but she (of course) could not remember where she heard it. By the law of the genre or the Murphy's law, to be exact, Emily had to strain her brains or just call Kelly and ask her friend.
In the end, thanks to this very friend, she ended up here, not yet knowing where.
"Today is my first workday, and I'm a little late."
"Oh yes, we have already heard about the reason for your lateness," Kat mysteriously grinned, "What a nice thing you did - to kick your own boss out of his own workplace is quite something!"
She leaned over to Emily and in a conspiratorial tone clarified, "Can you tell me why he didn't eat you on the spot? Justin Evans is a wolf, especially for cute little red caps like you, Emily."
Emily flushed with embarrassment and indignation. She had not yet crossed the threshold of the department, and was everyone already aware of her morning incident? And she got angry when Evans mentioned the gossiping?! Yes, such things scattered here faster than the speed of sound!
"It just happened by accident," she managed to say, no longer overjoyed at the friendliness of her new colleague.
"Come on, I was joking, just take it easy," Kat slapped Emily on the shoulder, "But I will warn you right away: if something happens, don't come to me to cry."
"Why would I have to worry about that?" the girl did not understand.
"What do you mean, why?" the blonde threw back her golden curl behind her back, raised her index finger, and nodded her chin up, "Justin Evans is a high-flying bird. And it hurts to fall from above."
Emily looked at the girl seriously. There was no malice or mockery in Catherine's tone. The usual statement of fact, which was obvious and so. Hayes harbored no illusions about princes on white horses or in black Maybachs.
The boulevard romance novels sparked wild outbursts of imagination among the infantile high school girls, to whom Emily had not considered herself for a long time. Sobering adult relationships alone were enough to take off rose-colored glasses and put on tighter lenses.
She adjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose and calmly replied, "Catherine, whatever you think, there is nothing like that between me and Mr. Evans. I came here to work."
"Darling, whatever I and others think about this, this does not concern us. Remember this. And about work - you're damn right! Let me give you a quick tour, introduce you to the guys and get down to business. I suggest you wipe Gregor's nose with the best sales of the quarter!"
Kat grabbed Emily by the elbow and dragged her to the hammocks, where several girls swayed imposingly, reading books. If this was a work environment, it was very unusual.
"Catherine, my question sounds stupid, but," Emily paused, holding her colleague. Hayes thought it was strange getting to know the others when she didn't really understand exactly where she was working. "What does our department do? What books does it publish?"
"Books?" the blonde raised her eyebrows in surprise, and then laughed out loud, "We don't publish books. We publish Pharaoh magazine. A magazine for adults."
That's what it is. A magazine for adults.
"I see," Emily put on an innocent smile, but a fire-breathing dragon was already raging inside her.
It seems that one of her best friends will soon be killed. Emily Hayes will take care of that.
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