“No…” I say slowly.
Emil smiles even more widely, showcasing his teeth. “We are looking for someone to run the arts and entertainment desk. If you take the job, you would be editing all the pieces and pitching your own ideas. It would be a huge thing for your career. You would be at the bottom of the editors food chain but above all the reporters.Ja?”
My eyes widen. Anna makes a choking sound, turning away and reaching for a glass of water on her desk. I glance at Pippa, who gives me a look that saysduh! take it!
I clear my throat. “Thanks. I guess… I mean, how can I say no?”
“That’s the spirit!” cheers Emil. “You will do great, I’m sure.”
He turns to Anna, saying something pointed to her in Danish. Anna’s face colors a little but she just nods and thanks him.
“It was nice to meet you, Margot.” He smiles at everyone, puts his hands together, and bows. Then he marches out of Anna’s office.
Pippa reaches out to me, her eyes wide. “He doesn’t even know my name. And I’ve worked here for over a year!”
Anna glowers at us. “I’m glad that you changed your mind, Margot. You do realize that you will need to beextremelyrespectful when you are dealing with the royal family,ja?”
I wrinkle my nose. My heart still gallops against my ribs. “I know how to act. I wasn’t raised by wolves or anything.”
Anna’s eyebrows lift a fraction. “I don’t understand what you mean. What israised by wolves?”
Yikes. Everyone I’ve encountered so far has spoken flawless English; clearly, I need to brush up on my Danish, not the other way around.
“I’m sorry, I?— “
Anna flicks her hand at me impatiently. “Go set up your employee email and further instructions about this assignment will be sent soon. Now if you would kindly get out of my office, I’ve got an actual job to do.”
She makes a shooing motion with her hands as she sits down again, pointedly looking at her computer instead of us. I beat Pippa in the rush to get out of her office and out of Anna’s earshot.
Pippa pulls me over to her cubicle, still agog. “I can’t believe this is happening. Emil is areallybig deal in journalism here. There’s an award with his name on it given out yearly to the best journalist.”
I pull a chair over from an empty desk and sag into it. Pippa sits in her chair, biting her lip. I lean back, looking up at the ceiling as I let out a sigh.
“What in the world am I doing?” I wonder out loud. “Other than upsetting the natural order of things by getting orders from the royal palace or what the fuck ever.”
Pippa sucks in a breath. “Oh god. Do you think…”
I glance at her. “What?”
“Do you think that Stellan asked for you?”
For a foolish second, my heart clatters around in my chest. Did he? Could it have been him?
Then I frown and shake that thought from my head. “I don’t know. My guess would be no. But then again, Iclearly have no idea who is pulling the strings around here.”
“Hmm.” She puffs out her cheeks. “I can try to find out whenever I talk to Lars next.”
Her familiarity with the royal family makes me give her a crooked smile. “Sure, Pips.”
She bites at her fingernail, swiveling toward her computer. “All right. In the meantime, let’s get your email set up…”
I bob my head, sighing.
Chapter Five
Stellan
“But what if instead of going to this factory and doing a tour, we all just commit suicide instead?” my little sister says, sighing as she looks out the window of the car we’re being shuttled in. Annika is only eighteen and the baby of my family. She’s also the weirdo.
