Page 31 of How To Tackle A Crush
My stomach drops slightly.
“Yes?”
She studies me another moment, like she’s deciding how to say something.
“Jack Westland has offered the Gazette an exclusive interview.”
“That’s… good… I guess.”
“It is,” she agrees. “Exclusives usually are.”
She pauses.
“There is a condition.”
“What condition?” I ask.
Her mouth curves slightly, like she still finds it strange herself.
“He will only do it if you conduct the interview.”
For a second I think I have misunderstood.
“I’m sorry?”
“He asked for you by name,” she says. “Apparently he found your question… refreshing.”
My brain goes very quiet for a second.
That must be a mistake.
That has to be a mistake.
“I am not a journalist.”
“You are employed by a newspaper.”
“I correct spelling.”
“You also asked the only original question in that room yesterday.”
I don’t know what to say to that.
I also don’t know what to do with the small, unexpected warmth that spreads through my chest at the idea that he remembered me. Not just the question. Me.
That is not a useful thought.
I push it away immediately.
“I think he misunderstood,” I say eventually.
Marie-Louise almost smiles.
“I don’t think he did.”
Silence settles between us.
I can feel my carefully ordered world shifting slightly off centre.
