“Holidays aren’t for catching up on work, Harper!” Rakhee points out. “Honestly, I hope Liam is the kind of person who likes to be busy; otherwise he’s in for a rude awakening on your first couples trip.”
“Ooh, speaking of Liam,” Mimi says. “Will you bring him to my birthday party? It would be nice to spend more time with him, since I’ve only met him once. Rakhee, you’re coming too, right?”
“Yes, thank you for inviting me.”
“Quite a lot of theNarrativeteam are coming,” Mimi tells me.
“Tell me you didn’t invite Cosmo,” I check.
She balks at the suggestion. “Don’t be stupid.”
“Okay, I’ll ask if Liam’s free. Although, I’m not sure your birthday party is the best occasion to introduce someone new.”
Mimi grins. “If he can’t handle a spot of rounders and some silly games, he’s not The One. It’s the ultimate test.”
Every year, Mimi spends her birthday in Brockwell Park, in South London, where she splits the group into two teams and we play rounders, before taking part in ridiculous drinking games. It’s always a lot of fun and gets quite rowdy and competitive.
“Let’s hope we’re still together by the end of the day,” I laugh, before checking the time. “Right, I better go, or I’ll miss the start of the reading.”
Rakhee looks disappointed. “You’re leaving already?”
“I might actually be on time if I go now,” I say proudly.
“Before you go, I actually… I need to tell you both something,” Rakhee announces, setting down her glass, her tone serious and urgent.
I share a concerned look with Mimi. “Is everything okay?”
She nods. “Yes, yes. Well. In some ways, it’s great. In otherways…” She trails off and then takes a deep breath. “I’ve got a new job.”
Mimi gasps. “What?”
“Those doctor and dentist appointments I’ve been going to? They’ve been interviews,” Rakhee admits with a nervous smile. “I’ve been offered the job of deputy editor atSleekmagazine.”
“Rakhee!” I gasp. “That’s amazing! Congratulations!”
“Wow, I loveSleek!” Mimi enthuses. “Well done, you!”
“Thank you,” she says, smiling modestly. “I’m really excited, although I’ll be sad to leave theNarrativeteam.”
In my first flush of happiness for her landing such a brilliant new job, I hadn’t actually considered that Rakhee won’t be sitting next to me every day. I can’t believe I’ll lose my partner-in-crime when it comes to standing up to Cosmo.
“We’ll miss you, but huge congratulations!” Mimi says quickly, reading my mind. She stands to give Rakhee a hug. “You deserve this.Sleekis one of the best. They couldn’t have hired a better person for the job.”
“I second that,” I say, getting up to throw my arms round her, too.
Rakhee is not a natural hugger, all angles and awkwardness, but I hold her close anyway. I really will miss her.
“When do you start?” Mimi asks, sitting back down.
“In a month. I handed in my notice to Cosmo yesterday,” she tells us. “You should have seen his face. He had to act happy for me, but he looked furious.”
“What did he say?” I laugh, curious.
“Something along the lines of, ‘I guess this means I’ll have extra work on my plate as I’ll have to start interviewing for your replacement.’”
“Oh god, please tell me you’ll be helping out with the interview process,” I plead. “You have to make sure I end up sitting next to someone good! Not one of Cosmo’s golfing buddies.”
Having a good relationship with the features editor atNarrativeis very important to my job as celebrity editor—although the two roles are distinct and both report to the editor-in-chief, they’re fairly intertwined and can even overlap, depending on who my subject is.
