Love Like Theirs

*

Keira headed out into the cold evening, pulling her coat about her. The dinner with her mom and Bryn had been rejuvenating. She’d enjoyed it far more than she’d expected.

Bryn had headed off to Felix’s for the night, so Keira would have the apartment to herself. She was tired, though, and felt like going straight to bed. She’d be back in the office tomorrow and wanted to be fresh for it. She’d been a grump for the last few weeks. Hopefully her positive attitude would carry over until tomorrow.

The subway sign appeared up ahead. As she headed toward it, Keira felt a vibration in her pocket. Her cell phone. She reached inside and took it out.

To her surprise, this time it was a text from Cristiano. Her heart seemed to stop beating as she opened it up.

Whoever this is, leave Cristiano alone. He’s moved on.

Keira stared at the message, blinking in shock. It wasn’t from Cristiano at all, but from someone using his phone. A new girlfriend?

Her stomach sank. All the good work that had been done that evening seemed to suddenly unravel and spool inside of her. How could he have moved on so quickly? After all those conversations they’d had about him only wanting to date women he could imagine marrying. How many were there for him to have found a new one in such a short space of time! Being marriage material in Cristiano’s eyes clearly didn’t mean that much after all. Had Keira been duped?

She thrust her phone back into her purse. Fuming, she hurried down the subway steps and on to the waiting train. She slumped into a seat and gazed at the blackness out the window.

Her mind raced a mile a minute, picking apart all the times they’d spent together, searching for new meaning, new clues in the moments they were together.

But the more she thought, the more her anger lessened. Instead of holding on to the worst possible scenario her mind could conjure – that Cristiano had lied to her about being careful with his heart – she managed to talk herself down to a place of reason. Sometimes the rebound relationship was the best relationship. He’d been her rebound from Shane and the time they’d spent together had been wonderful. Perhaps this new woman was just his rebound rather than his next wife. Perhaps he’d learned that from Keira, that sometimes it was okay to be with a person just because you wanted to, rather than always having some grand plan in place.

She remembered Mallory’s words, about each relationship being an opportunity to learn and grow, to move onward and upward. Cristiano might indeed be going through the same thing. And Keira could feel, tangibly, that she was as well. Rather than holding on to her fury, to her bruised ego, it had only taken her the subway ride to start to let it go.

She got off the train and headed back up to street level, exiting the subway a wiser woman than she’d been when she entered. When she’d gotten on the train she was upset but as she left, she was relieved. This was the real line in the sand with her Cristiano. This was the real ending. It was time to move on, once and for all.

CHAPTER FOUR

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.