Cosmo, in his infinite wisdom, had decided to let Ryan take charge of the “My Little Luxuries” column, which had been my domain ever since I started atNarrative, and had “forgotten” to let me know. When I sent my copy over to art for the next issue, they replied that they already had copy from Ryan.
“That has always been my column!” I cried as Ryan explainedto me the new order of things on Cosmo’s behalf—he’d conveniently left early for a dinner. “You can’t just take it away from me!”
“Once again, I’m sorry that Cosmo didn’t talk to you about this like he promised he would,” Ryan replied calmly, trying to keep things civil, blushing as the rest of the team turned to look at us. “But when you think about it, it makes sense that the features editor would do that column.”
“It doesnotmake sense! It’s acelebrityevery week saying what their little luxuries would be,” I countered angrily.
“It’s on the weekly round-up double spread that I head up,” he responded, growing impatient. “I edit everything else on those pages. My name is literally on the header across the top.”
“And my name is at the bottom of the ‘My Little Luxuries’ column, see?” I grabbed a previous copy of the magazine, flicked to the correct page, and jabbed my finger at it, reading out loud, “as told to Harper Jenkins.”
“Harper,” he said, rubbing his temples, “I don’t understand. You were literally complaining about having to always write this column the other day. Surely you’re happy to let someone else take over the hassle of doing it.”
“Just because I complain about something, doesn’t mean I want you—” I jabbed my finger at him accusingly “—to come along andstealit from me in an underhanded and unprofessional manner.”
“Cosmo said he would speak to you about it!”
“Well, he didn’t! You are both completely out of order!”
“This is ridiculous,” he said, his cheeks flushing. “This column bores you to death. You’re just angry thatI’mdoing it now!”
“That isnottrue! I’ve put a lot of work into that column! I’ve got lots of great names lined up for it, all of the interviews scheduled—”
“That’s funny,” he interrupted, crossing his arms, “becauseI checked the schedule for that column on the server and there werezeronames listed.”
“I don’t update the schedule on the server, Ryan,” I seethed. “I have it all in my head!”
Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply through his nose, attempting to regain composure.
“How I schedule things is not even relevant,” I continued. “The point is that you and Cosmo made a big change and didn’t tell me. I should have been involved in that conversation!”
“You’re right, and I’m sorryagainfor that,” he said as calmly as he could muster, “but I do also think this column should fall under the remit of the editor of these pages, and, honestly, I thought I was doing you a favor.”
“Oh, so you agree with Cosmo, do you?”
“Yes, I do,” he stated firmly.
“Well… you’re bothwrong.”
Turning away from him, I grabbed my bag and stormed out of the office. I was late anyway for the launch of a TV presenter’s new self-tanning range.
The next morning, I’d cooled slightly. Over coffee, Mimi and I discussed that, although I should have absolutely been informed, it might be nice to no longer worry about “My Little Luxuries.” I often threw it together at the last minute in a whirlwind panic anyway.
When Ryan repeated his apology, I graciously accepted it.
“Thank you, Harper. I really am sorry about you not being told,” he said, swiveling to face me in his chair. “I only hope you won’t miss it too much.”
I noticed he was suppressing a smile as he said this. Glowering at him, I turned my attention back to my screen.
“Oh, and you’ll send me over the list of people you have scheduled, yes?” he added.
“I’m sorry?” I replied.
“The celebrities you have scheduled for the column,” he explained breezily. “You know, the ones you had lined up in your head.”
I noticed Mimi across the way pressing her lips together as she tried not to laugh. He had me and he knew it.
“If you can send those over along with the dates of when you’ve scheduled them in for an interview,” Ryan continued, “I can get in touch to explain I’ll be doing the column now. You shouldn’t have to deal with all that hassle. You’ve already gone to all the work of organizing them.”
