Love is the New Black

by Chrissie Keighery

  ‘Yeah, sure,’ Lucy laughed. She bit her lip as though she wasn’t happy with herself for the sarcasm that seemed to seep out of her last comment. ‘Sorry. That was unprofessional. Vivian does the fashion copy,’ she added seriously.

  Despite Lucy correcting herself, Piper could tell that she thought there was zero chance Piper would be contributing any writing about anything. It was a pretty depressing start.

  But she was glad, at least, that Lucy was taking the time to explain things.

  ‘Don’t worry, you can at least be sure that Vivian will keep you busy,’ Lucy continued. ‘Rose is the visionary. She has the lofty and lovely ideas for the whole mag. Vivian’s the head of the fashion department. So she makes things like fashion shoots happen.’ Lucy tilted her head to the side. ‘Vivian is just a bit stressed at the moment, because there’s still heaps to organise for the Dinnigan shoot at sunset today.’ She tapped her tongue stud against her teeth. ‘Well, actually, Vivian is pretty stressed generally,’ she corrected herself. ‘Getting all the departments in sync to get the mag out on time is always pretty full on. But it’s been an extreme sport since Mason Wakefield took over and started cost cutting.’

  Piper nodded, taking it all in. ‘Who’s Mason Wakefield?’

  Lucy bit her fuchsia lip. ‘Mason is the new boss. The CEO. Well, kind of. He’s the heir apparent of Aspire,’ she explained. She looked around to ensure no-one was within earshot. ‘Our real boss, Patrick Wakefield, is his dad. But Patrick’s on an extended holiday or something. If you believe the rumours, he’s had some kind of breakdown. But he’s probably just on some island drinking martinis while we’re left here to bust our guts.

  ‘Anyway, now his son has rocked up with his MBA from Harvard. And he’s been slashing budgets and sacking people. He calls it streamlining. He even got rid of our champagne fridge, if you can believe that. He keeps talking about working smarter, not harder. But in the meantime, we’re all just running around like chickens without heads, trying to meet deadline with half the usual budget.’

  Piper screwed up her nose. ‘So if he’s sacking people, and he’s got interns working for free, why did they employ me?’

  ‘Ah, let me guess,’ Lucy said, tapping her temple. ‘How old are you?’

  ‘Eighteen,’ Piper replied.

  ‘Well, you’re young. Inexperienced. Cheap. And interns don’t generally stick around for long, since they normally have other commitments with their studies. Think of yourself as slave labour. Just another example of Mason Wakefield’s brilliant streamlining.’ Lucy rolled her eyes.

  ‘Okay, I think I’ve got that. Mason equals …’ Piper mirrored Lucy’s eye-roll.

  ‘Correct,’ Lucy laughed.

  ‘And what’s the story with the sunset shoot?’ Piper asked.

  ‘Well, Miranda pulled out at the last minute because Flynn has a cold,’ Lucy said, looking up at the woman who had emerged from the fashion cupboard with a feathered headdress and was gesturing at Lucy with it. ‘Yes, that’ll be fine, Siobhan,’ she smiled, then continued. ‘But apparently we’ve been able to score Kara Kingston at short notice. It’s quite a coup since you normally have to book ahead for aeons to get her.’

  Piper nodded. She wasn’t big on following the careers of models, but you’d have to be on another planet not to know who Kara Kingston was. If Piper was asked to picture a model, Kara would have been the first one to spring to mind. She’d been on zillions of magazine covers, but she was most famous as the longest serving, and arguably the hottest, Victoria’s Secret Angel.

  Piper could understand why. Kara Kingston had a killer body and a beautiful face. But there seemed to be something extra cool and collected about her. When she stared out from a magazine cover, she looked completely self-possessed. In fact, on one cover Piper had seen, Kara spun the world on her fingertips. Granted, it was just a globe, but the message was clear. Kara might be from Down Under, but she had the X-factor to make the world sit up and pay attention.

  ‘So this shoot is pretty important?’ Piper ventured.

  ‘Totally,’ Lucy said. ‘If we can get a shot to put on the front cover it will guarantee –’

  ‘Seriously, Lucy,’ Vivian’s voice cut through the office, ‘you have time to chat? How lovely for you.’

  It was weird how Vivian just seemed to appear. Even weirder was the fact that a little pug dog with a studded collar, dressed in a silver silk jacket, was standing next to her.

  ‘So, I’m assuming you’ve sourced the twelve bikinis in shades of the sun for our “Summer Sun” piece? And you’ve got all the pant-lengths extended for Brianna Cole’s McCartney shoot, since her legs are about twice the length of the pants?’

  ‘I’m getting onto that now,’ Lucy said. ‘Right away, Vivian.’

  ‘Not so fast,’ Vivian hissed. ‘Kara Kingston has somehow managed to get legless. You need to get to the Langham and sober her up for the shoot. Larry’s there with her at the moment. See if he needs anything. If he has to have a toilet break, give him five minutes. Stay with her until her agent arrives.’

  Piper tried not to let her expression register her surprise. It was kind of early to need sobering up.

  Lucy took in a deep breath, as if she was going to say something, but then stopped herself.

  ‘Now, you,’ said Vivian, looking at Piper and rolling her eyes. ‘Take Rose’s dog for his walk.’

  As soon as the little dog heard the word walk, he started wagging his curly little tail. It wasn’t exactly what Piper had planned for her first day, but at least the dog was seriously cute.

  ‘What’s his name?’ Piper asked.

  Vivian sighed loudly, as though the question didn’t warrant an answer.

  ‘Excuse me. Vivian?’ Lucy ventured. ‘Do you think that maybe Piper could go and check Kara? It’s just … if I go to the Langham I’m not going to be able to finish all the stuff I need to do here.’

  Piper’s heart skipped a beat. She could have hugged Lucy on the spot. Imagine meeting Kara Kingston!

  Vivian, not making way for the stream of people passing her to get to the fashion cupboard, put her hands on her uber-slim hips. As she did so, the poor little pug was dragged towards her on his lead. She shook her head. ‘It’s too important,’ she said sternly. ‘If you can’t cope then I guess I’ll have to do it myself.’

  Piper resisted the urge to roll her eyes. It was as though Vivian was annoyed with Lucy for not being able to be in two places at once. She seemed hell-bent on underestimating Lucy and bullying everyone else. Helping sober someone up wasn’t rocket science.

  Piper cleared her throat. ‘I can do it. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve helped sober someone up.’

  ‘Oh, the eighteen-year-old Woman of the World,’ Vivian sneered. She shook her head. ‘I guess I don’t have much of a choice since Lucy is busy and we’re on skeleton staff.’

  Thanks for the vote of confidence, Piper thought.

  ‘Okay, go,’ Vivian said reluctantly. ‘And take this thing with you.’ She added, as though the dog were a lump of wood. ‘But Piper,’ she warned, looking at her sternly, ‘Kara Kingston cannot be left alone. Do not give her the chance to have a drink. Empty the minibar. Check her room. Check her handbag. Check her pockets. Check her freaking cavities if you have to. God knows she’s good at hiding those mini bottles. Get it?’

  ‘I get it,’ Piper responded.

  ‘Believe me. You fuck this up, you do not get a second chance.’

  Piper took the leash quickly, before Vivian could change her mind, and turned back for a moment to grab her bag. She’d really done a good job of tucking it way, way under the desk. She had to crouch down, the dog pulling her towards the door by her right hand, her left searching underneath the desk.

  ‘Interesting thing to say,’ Piper heard a male voice say just as her hand touched the fake label on her fake Marc Jacobs bag. At this point, her butt was sticking out into the office while her head was shoved under the desk.

  ‘
Fuck this up, you do not get a second chance,’ continued the voice. ‘Maybe I should get some posters printed, since some people seem to be fucking up a lot and yet still get second chances.’

  The dog tugged hard on the leash, yanking Piper out from under the desk. The leash flew out of her hand and the dog jumped up excitedly on the guy’s leg. Piper saw the mustard chinos. Her heart pounded in her chest as she registered, from the ground up, mustard chinos, grey T-shirt, broad shoulders, dark wavy hair.

  The guy glanced over to Piper as she stood to her full height. Jesus. His emerald eyes were piercing, and seemed busy skewering Vivian. Piper was glad he didn’t seem to recognise her from earlier. She noticed that Lucy was setting a cracking pace at her keyboard. Boss-in-the-office pace.

  ‘I am so sorry, Mason.’ Vivian’s whole demeanour was different. The condescending tone was gone. Her hands were balled up into fists but her voice was controlled and soft. ‘I was under the impression that the Kate Spade bags were to be used for the “In the Bag” shoot and then both the dresses and bags were to go back to New York.’

  ‘Correct,’ said Mason. ‘Except that two dresses, two sample dresses that haven’t even been put into production yet, and two very pricey handbags, never made it back to New York. Which is anything but correct.’

  God, this guy was intimidating. It would have been smart to at least look away. To look down, or at her computer. But something about him made that impossible. Piper couldn’t help noticing his perfect abs, easily visible under his soft grey T-shirt. His biceps popped out of his sleeves so it looked like he was flexing, without even being aware of it, as he addressed Vivian. He would only be in his early or mid-twenties. His voice was even and controlled, but had an edge to it, as if he was talking to someone who was completely incompetent.

  ‘Look,’ Vivian said, ‘in some ways Lucy is just learning. There’s a lot of pressure on her to get everything sorted after …’

  As soon as she heard her name, Lucy stopped typing. Her fingers remained poised above her keyboard as if she was frozen.

  Vivian had trailed off, as though she realised there was no excuse that would cut it with Mason Wakefield. She tried another tack. ‘Mason, as head of the fashion department, I know the buck stops with me. It won’t happen again,’ she finished.

  Funny how she managed to blame Lucy and take the high road at the same time, Piper thought.

  Just then, the dog started whimpering.

  ‘Would anyone like to tell me why there is a dog loose in the fashion department?’ Mason asked.

  But Piper was surprised to see him reach down and scratch the dog fondly between the ears. The pug gave a snort of satisfaction that was pretty loud considering the size of the dog.

  ‘Hey, Bruno. It’s okay, buddy,’ said Mason. Then he grabbed the dog’s leash and held it out to Piper. ‘You might need this.’ As Piper took it, he kept hold of it so she couldn’t go anywhere. ‘Just watch out for the revolving doors on your way out,’ he said, before letting go.

  Piper stood outside the doors of the Langham Hotel. She should have thought ahead. She’d promised Vivian that she’d look after Kara Kingston – whatever that involved – but she hadn’t thought about what she was going to do with Bruno when she went inside the hotel. As far as she knew, five-star hotels didn’t welcome pets. The problem was, she hadn’t been able to think straight. She kept thinking of Mason’s comment.

  Watch out for the revolving doors on your way out.

  It was bad enough that she’d accidentally groped the guy who turned out to be the boss on her very first day at Aspire. But that he drew attention to her little disaster and rubbed it in like that? It was just too much. Even now, hours later, she was mortified.

  At least he recognised me, she thought, trying to find the bright side, although she wasn’t quite sure why that was important. Especially as he recognised her for all the wrong reasons. God, how had she managed to mess up on her first day?

  She had a sudden pang of longing for Dylan. She momentarily wished she could be back at Mission Beach, where everything was familiar and safe.

  Snap out of it, Piper, she told herself. You never wanted to stay there. This is an amazing job. You’re about to meet Kara freaking Kingston!

  She looked at the pug and back at the Langham. Then she opened her bag. There had to be something positive about getting the extra-large Hillier Hobo bag. Even if it was a fake.

  Piper stepped out of the elevator and into the foyer of the penthouse suite. It was decorated with the biggest bouquets of flowers she’d ever seen; they almost touched the ceiling.

  She knocked on the door and an enormous bodyguard appeared. He looked ex-army, with a buzz cut and bulging muscles.

  ‘Thank god you’re here!’ he gasped in a hushed tone as soon as he saw Piper, relief flooding his face. ‘I don’t get paid enough for this.’ He took a deep breath and Piper could tell he was trying to calm down. ‘Sorry. I’m Larry.’ He held out his hand and Piper shook it.

  ‘Piper,’ she said. His grip was fierce.

  ‘I rang her agent,’ Larry explained rapidly in a low voice, ‘but she can’t make it here for another couple of hours. Kara was pretty bad when I first got here. Off her face. She’s a bit better now, but I wasn’t sure what to do. She’s been crying, and all over the place and … this ain’t in my job description, you know?’ Larry paused. He took another breath. ‘I made her a cup of tea,’ he added, looking at Piper as though she might be able to confirm this was the right thing to do. He looked completely out of his depth.

  Piper bit her lip. If Larry was out of his depth, then she was about to dive into the ocean without a buoy in sight.

  ‘Bloody newspaper article set her off, I reckon,’ Larry continued, breaking into Piper’s thoughts. ‘Room service must’ve brought it up with breakfast before I arrived. I tried to bin it, but she’s obsessed. Won’t let me touch it.’

  Piper’s bag rustled. For a second, she considered using the dog as an excuse. Sorry, Larry, but I’m going to have to come back later. I forgot I had a dog and all. She could reverse her way back into the elevator, back outside, back to Aspire headquarters. But Larry had already turned around and was entering the suite.

  ‘Kara,’ he called in a cheerful voice. ‘Piper’s here to take care of you. Okay, love?’ The relief in Larry’s voice was palpable.

  The Kara Kingston in front of Piper wasn’t cool, collected or self-possessed. She was flopped on the couch, her eyes closed. She wore a tatty old pink terry towelling dressing gown. On her feet, though, as if to declare that she was, in some ways, dressed, she wore a pair of boots. Amazing boots, really. Piper had never seen anything vaguely like them. They were emerald-green snakeskin with a yellow trim around the top and a cowboy heel. Even in her dishevelled state, with puffy dark rings under her closed eyes. Kara was stunning.

  Although the suite was grand and spacious, with floor-to-ceiling windows along one wall and beautiful parquet floors, the place felt chaotic. The couch was littered with used tissues. Beside Kara on the coffee table was a tacky tabloid. Piper looked at the front page.

  Young Mag Mogul Dumps Our Kara?

  Piper stifled a gasp. Mason Wakefield was Kara’s boyfriend?

  The photo had been taken outside a nightclub, judging by the queue of people and the rope rail. Mason Wakefield was in the background. Piper couldn’t see his expression because he had a hand up, shielding himself from the camera. She could definitely see Kara’s face, though. Kara was crying, her beautiful face crumpled. There was a sense of motion about her too, a slight blur around the arms. A woman with long blonde hair was in the foreground. It looked like Kara was trying to escape from Mason and catch up with the girl.

  Piper sucked in a breath. She scanned the article.

  How much can Kara Kingston take?

  Seen last week leaving the Cristobel Club at 2 a.m., Kara broke away from mag mogul Mason Wakefield. Sources say Kara was comforted by a good friend, DJ Laurie Anderson. Neithe
r Kingston nor Wakefield was available today for comment, but Kingston’s agent, Anita Barnes, insists it was just a lovers’ tiff.

  Do you think Kingston should ditch Wakefield for good? Take the poll at insiders.com.au.

  Piper looked up at Kara. Even with her eyes closed, she could see pain etched across her forehead. Mason Wakefield was causing destruction all over the place. She wondered what he’d done to Kara at the nightclub. Who was he to go around breaking supermodels’ hearts, streamlining businesses and making unsuspecting new girls feel completely inadequate? What an arrogant jerk!

  She put the paper facedown on the coffee table and, very gently, shook Kara’s arm to wake her up.

  Kara awoke with a start. ‘Jesus. Who are you? Where’s Larry?’

  Piper took a step back. ‘Hey, Kara,’ she said, hoping her tone was soothing. ‘Larry is taking a break. I’m from Aspire. Vivian sent me to … help.’

  Kara stared at her blankly. ‘If you want to help,’ she said slowly, ‘then can you do me a favour?’ She grabbed the tabloid from the coffee table and held it against her chest.

  ‘Sure,’ Piper said.

  ‘Leave me alone,’ said Kara. She lay back on the couch and closed her eyes again.

  Piper tiptoed over to the bar fridge with the Bruno bag still slung over her shoulder and checked the contents. There were only soft drinks and juices. Piper supposed she was a little too late to follow Vivian’s instructions to make sure there was no alcohol within Kara’s reach.

  She tiptoed back to the couch, totally unsure of what to do next.

  Suddenly, Bruno snorted loudly.

  Kara opened her eyes with a start. ‘What the fuck was that?’ she asked. She stared at Piper as though waiting for the noise to come again so she could figure out exactly what it was.

  Piper pointed to her handbag. Bruno’s head was sticking over the top.

  When she saw Bruno, Kara’s face changed. A weak smile played on her lips, giving Piper a glimpse of the famous gap between her front teeth.