The Social Diary

by Ros Reines

  Tim shook his head sadly. ‘She really did confess in the end, Savannah. I’m so sorry you had to experience that.’

  ‘But why would she admit to something like that?’

  ‘Erica had a fault on her computer and when the technicians went to check it out they mentioned that she had a top secret folder that was taking up a lot of her available space. That’s when the original version of the poison-pen letter was discovered, along with a list of the recipients. She had also been working on an even more damning version.’

  ‘Really?’ I wondered what that new missive might include. Was Erica onto the Daniel connection? Who knew what she was going to pull out next in her determination to get rid of me and regain her place on top of the social pile.

  ‘Now, I don’t want you to be upset about it—and in fact, because of the stellar work you are doing, we have decided to give you quite a sizeable raise. You’ll notice it in your next pay packet.’

  It was a lot to take in. I wished now that I could go back to my desk to think about what to do next. What was the etiquette for telling your boss that you were resigning just after he’d given you a massive bonus?

  I supposed I could try to pretend to be so outraged by what Erica had done that I felt I had no other alternative but to leave the company. But playing a helpless victim just wasn’t my style.

  ‘Are you okay, Savannah? Would you like a cup of tea? It’s no problem for Janet to go and fetch you one, if you would like one or something to eat?’ Tim must have noticed the sudden change in my demeanour. I was pretty sure my face had completely drained of colour.

  ‘No, thanks, I’m fine,’ I assured him.

  ‘Well, it’s all very unfortunate,’ he said reassuringly. ‘We do have special people in the personnel department if you feel that you would like to have some counselling about what has been going on.’

  I shook my head vigorously, which did nothing for the sick feeling in my stomach. ‘Really, it’s okay; that won’t be necessary at all.’

  He gazed at me for a few minutes, probably trying to ascertain whether I was just being brave or I had taken it in my stride. ‘So,’ he said, sounding quite caring, ‘what did you want to see me about?’

  I was about to say that it had been nothing in particular and that I had just wanted to chat about the wedding and see whether he thought I should write some more about the aftermath. Or would the readers be bored with it? That way I could buy myself a little time and think up a new way of explaining to him that I was quitting my job. But Wednesday’s proposed departure was coming up fast and there was no time to waste.

  Then I thought about Daniel again, which was hard to do clearly; just the image of his green-blue eyes looking intently into mine was enough to make me short of breath. If he really was right for me would I lose him forever if I didn’t go to Morocco? Surely if he cared for me as much as he said, he wouldn’t wish me to sacrifice everything I had achieved just to keep him company as some kind of fugitive? As a director of Leisure Time, Daniel was probably already a person of interest to the Australian government. If I joined him, I would become guilty by association when, in fact, I had little knowledge of the dealings of the company. What was I thinking?

  Tim nodded at me encouragingly.

  ‘Well,’ I started, not entirely sure what was going to come out of my mouth. ‘You know how everyone is now looking for Alex and Jacqueline Evans?’

  ‘Yes?’ he said, his gaze sharpening.

  ‘Well, I think you will find that they have left for Tangier in Morocco and I have a rough idea of where we might be able to track them down there.’

  ‘You’re kidding!’ he said, excitedly. ‘How did you get this information, Savannah?’

  ‘Let’s just say that it’s a very long story,’ I explained, ‘and you will just have to trust that my sources are pretty good. But for now I do not wish to reveal them.’

  ‘Okay, then just do this. I want you to go back to your desk and type out everything that you know in point form—any information that you feel might be relevant.’

  Tim bounded up from his couch to shake my hand and pat me on the back. He was almost beside himself at the thought of what this could all mean for the paper. ‘If this all checks out, Savannah, it’s a story that will go around the world and your name will be front and centre. I can promise you that.’

  It probably wasn’t the time to tell him that this was the last thing I wanted because I already felt duplicitous. What exactly had I done to Daniel? I could only blame it on the small voice inside, which despite everything was still not convinced by him. Well, it was too late now to change my mind again, I thought as I carefully slid out my resignation letter from my pad and crumpled it up in a tight ball. I hoped that one day Daniel would forgive me and also understand that it was a lot of pressure to put on a gossip columnist. This story was too tantalising not to be told, but my problem was that I just didn’t want to be embroiled in the middle of it. Granted, I’d made my decision on the spur of the moment as I had been ambushed by what had happened to Erica and the way Tim had handled it, but I was now sure it was the right one. Erica had just lost her job over me and, at the very least, I owed it to the fashion editor to stick around.

  Of course, meeting someone who seems to understand and care for you can be a life-affirming event, but really nothing is as seductive as success and the fame that goes with it. I was already a gossip columnist in my DNA and nothing would ever change that.

  Acknowledgements

  Special thanks to Claire Kingston, who encouraged me to write fiction again. I would also like to thank the following newspaper editors for their patience and faith in me including Eric Beecher, Andrew Clark, Roy (Rocky) Miller, Jeni O’Dowd, Neil Breen and Michael Carroll.

  Special mention to Lachlan Murdoch who brought me over from The Sun Herald to The Sunday Telegraph where the real fun and games began eighteen years ago.

  I would also like to thank the following buddies for always cheering me on from the sidelines: Jackie Milijash, Judy Romano, Ann Peacock, Roxy Jacenko, Jessica Adams, Andrew Rayment, Alex Perry, Tikki Merrillees and the late great Charlotte Dawson.