Keira wrapped her knuckles against Elliot's office door. It was open, but she still felt the need to be polite.
"Morning, Keira," he said, turning over his shoulder to look at her. "Come in, come in."
Keira entered, taking a seat opposite him. She always felt intimidated by Elliot's office, like she was a school kid facing the principal.
"Everything okay?" he asked, tipping his gaze up to meet hers.
Keira swallowed the little lump of nerves that always formed in her throat when speaking to her boss. "Yes. I wanted to apologize, actually."
"For what?" Elliot replied, frowning.
"For the last few weeks since I got back from France. I haven't been my best." Now that she'd begun speaking, she wanted to get it all out, and her words spilled off her tongue quickly. "And I know I've been avoiding picking a location for the new assignment, I think I just needed time after Cristiano. I was worried, you know? Another assignment, another broken heart. But I should have just been honest rather than avoiding the topic, so I'm sorry." She took a deep breath, then smiled, feeling satisfied to have finally aired her worries.
"Oh," Elliot replied, a bit blankly. "To be honest, I hadn't noticed."
Keira frowned. "You hadn't? But you've emailed me pretty much every day asking where I wanted to go on my next assignment."
Elliot shrugged. "I send a lot of emails, Keira. Look, I'm writing one to you as we speak. Guess I don't need to now." He clicked some buttons and then folded his arms and looked at her.
There was a long pause. Keira blinked. "Well, what was in the email?"
"Oh yes," Elliot said, snapping back to attention. "It was about your new assignment abroad."
"My…" Keira let that sink in. She narrowed her eyes. "You mean you've decided where it is?"
They were supposed to consult her! That was the agreement they'd come to, that she'd pick her own locations from now on. Elliot had agreed to it. How could they go back on that now?
"Well, I asked for your input," Elliot replied simply. "And I didn't get it so I asked Heather to go ahead and book something anyway. This is a fast-paced environment, Keira. If people don't get back to me, I'm not going to sit around waiting forever."
He sounded completely emotionless. But Keira felt totally betrayed. Not only did they exploit her heart for entertainment, but now they were going back on their word? Frustration boiled inside of her.
"Where are you sending me?" she asked in a clipped voice.
Elliot looked at his watch. "I'll tell you in the team meeting." Then he clapped his hands. "Come on."
Keira's head spun from her talk with Elliot. It hadn't gone how she'd expected at all. She watched Elliot waltz from the room, her mind reeling. Had he forgotten their arrangement or did he just not care? And what about Nina? She, at the very least, should have known not to plow ahead without Keira's consent! She was supposed to be Keira's friend, be on her side, but as she progressed through the Viatorum ranks she'd started siding more and more with Elliot.
Dazed, Keira stood and followed Elliot from the room, into the adjoining conference room. Other writers had started to file in, coffees in hand, and take seats. Keira realized that there were yet more new faces among them. She'd been so cloistered in her own office for the last few weeks she hadn't even noticed or bothered to speak to any of them. She felt guilty about that now. It wasn't that long ago that she was a brand new writer here, desperate for assurance and friendship. She resolved to try harder.
"How's everyone doing today?" she asked a group of newbies, directing her question at a young woman with long braided hair and a septum ring.
The girl blinked, as though shocked Keira was speaking to her. "Good," she said in a high-pitched squeak. "It's assignment day, so I'm looking forward to finding out my new assignment."
The rest of the group just nodded. One of them even blushed. Keira had never had such an effect on people before. It was easy to forget that she was in a senior role here, that she was a writer who breezed in to meetings and then was out of the office for weeks at a time. They probably thought of her what she thought of Elliot, or of Lance once upon a time. It was the most peculiar feeling.
"I'm Keira, by the way," she said, reaching out to shake the girl's hand.
"Yes, I know," the girl said. "I'm Meredith." She had a warm smile.
Keira took a seat beside her. "You're new, right?"
"Ish," Meredith replied. "I started while you were in France." She looked suddenly shy. "I loved your article, by the way."
"Oh," Keira said, "thanks. I'm kinda trying to move on from all that."
"All what? You mean Romance Guru articles?" Meredith's eyes widened. "You can't! They're amazing!"
Keira didn't have time to reply because Elliot began the meeting.
She felt a pit of dread open up in her stomach. Whatever they had planned for her, she had to be strong. If she didn't want to do it, she'd quit. It was that simple. Though of course, easier said than done.
"Let's start with a huge round of applause for Meredith," Elliot started. "Her New York City graffiti tour e-article was a smash hit."
Everyone clapped and Meredith beamed. Keira felt happy for her. When she'd started at the magazine, it had been under Joshua's command. He made everyone feel like a failure. The work environment was much better now, much more supportive.
Elliot continued. "Next, I think you're all interested to know where our Romance Guru is off to for our special December publication."
"Lapland?" one of the new kids said.
"See if she can seduce Santa," a fresh-faced boy added.
Everyone laughed. Everyone but Keira.
"No," Elliot said. "We decided on something a little different."
This was it. Crunch time. Every muscle in Keira's body tensed.
"We're sending her on a cruise of Scandinavia. This time, the assignment is to prove that someone suffering from a breakup can avoid a knee-jerk rebound affair. This time, we want our Guru to not fall in love."
Keira was stunned. She'd had the words I quit waiting on the tip of her tongue, but now she had to swallow them down.
"Impossible," the fresh-faced joker from before said. "She'll fall for the tour guide, and you all know it."
He was teasing, of course, but Keira was in too much shock to pay him any attention at all.
"Which is why we're not having a tour guide," Elliot added. He looked at Keira. "You have fifteen days. Other than the course of the ship-which will take you through Denmark, Finland, and Sweden-the rest is up to you. You'll be navigating yourself entirely."
Keira was lost for words. As it began to sink in, she felt her worries melt away. She wasn't going to be expected to bruise her heart this time! Sure, she would still have to dig deep and make her article personal, but she wouldn't need to put herself on the line.
The joker had one last quip to make. "So, basically she's just writing a travel article?"
Everyone laughed. But Keira only had one thing to say, only one word to describe what her mind was imagining; the Northern Lights, fjords, snow-capped mountains, and meatballs galore! Finally, she managed to untie her tongue. "Wow."
