Lily should have known that bad news was coming her way, given how Edith stormed into the office that morning after her monthly breakfast with Christian Wexler. Edith didn’t spare Lily a glance or even ask her for a cup of coffee. She simply slammed her door, and for an entire hour and a half, she could be heard banging things around inside of her office. Lily didn’t want to get involved. She was due to meet Dani and Oliver in the lobby at noon for lunch, which was a miracle in and of itself, because Dani rarely followed through on plans. Lily suspected it might have more to do with Dani’s wanting to get to know Oliver, but she was glad to have a reason to spend an hour away from her desk, and if she called attention to herself, Edith might make the prospect of Lily leaving for lunch impossible. But she was anxious to know what Christian might have said to make Edith more upset than usual.
At eleven forty-five a.m., she knocked on Edith’s door and poked her head inside her office. She was stunned to find Edith sitting at her desk with red puffy eyes, staring off into space.
Lily stepped inside and closed the door behind her. “Edith, what’s wrong?”
“Hello, Lily,” Edith said, sitting up straighter. “Come sit down. We have some things to discuss.”
Lily’s stomach tumbled in anxiety as she took the seat across from Edith. Was Edith being fired? Was Lily being fired? Her palms were already drenched in sweat.
“Christian is hiring a new copublisher to help me run the imprint,” Edith said. “Her name is Bernice Gilman, and she’s currently the editor in chief of lifestyle and nonfiction at Welford Press. Christian will make the announcement next week and Bernice will begin working with us in September.”
“Oh.” Lily blinked. She wasn’t familiar with Bernice Gilman, but Welford Press was one of M&M’s biggest competitors. It most likely meant that Christian had poached her.
“Yes. At breakfast he told me that Bernice will bring a ‘fresh perspective’ to the imprint, as if we needed a new perspective in the first place! How insulting. It’s as if he’s hired a babysitter to keep me in check.” Edith took a deep breath and released it with a shudder. “We’ll be doubling the number of books we publish each season, now that Bernice is joining us.”
Lily stared. “Is Bernice bringing an assistant with her?”
“No.” Edith gave her a look like that was the silliest question she could have asked. “You’ll be assisting both of us.”
“What?”
The dull pain of a tension headache began to spread across Lily’s forehead.
“Now my imprint will publish books about yoga and smoothies, and whatever else your generation is obsessed with. It’s ridiculous! And Christian wants me to sign up books about technology and . . . and carbon footprints or some such nonsense. You’ll have to work on those. I won’t touch them, I swear. My poor father is probably turning over in his grave!”
“Edith . . .” Lily swallowed thickly and cleared her throat. Her stomach was queasy with nerves. “If I’m going to be assisting both of you and editing my own books, I think I deserve a promotion to assistant editor.”
Edith stared at Lily in pure astonishment. “How could you ask about a promotion at a time like this when the integrity of the imprint is at stake?! Christian could be bringing Bernice in like a Trojan horse to slowly change the way that we do everything and boot me out. It’s so insensitive that you would even mention a promotion.”
Edith proceeded to burst into tears and Lily sat there, gaping at her boss. Of course Lily deserved a promotion. The fact that Edith refused to acknowledge it only solidified what Lily already knew. Edith was a sinking ship, and if Lily didn’t do something, she was going to drown right along with her.
“I have to go to lunch,” Lily said, standing abruptly.
Edith blubbered an incomprehensible reply, and Lily returned to her desk. She was trying her best not to outright panic.
Once Bernice started in September, Lily would have double the work. It wasn’t unheard of for an editorial assistant to assist two editors, but most editors didn’t need as much hand-holding and managing as Edith. Lily was already up to her ears in stress. How could she assist someone else on top of her overflowing workload? And what would her family think once they found out that she was taking on more work without a promotion?
She opened her personal email account, hoping that she might have received a response to a job application during the last fifteen minutes, but no such luck. She even checked her spam folder and found only fake offers for credit cards. She drummed her fingers against her desk. She had to do something.
She couldn’t sit here and let other people’s decisions affect her career this way, her life. Her situation with Nick hadn’t panned out the way she’d hoped—she still didn’t have a wedding date, and any chance at a relationship with him had crashed and burned, but she’d been bold in the way that she’d taken her life into her own hands and asked for his help. That boldness was what she needed in this moment right now.
Before she could talk herself out of it, she followed up on the email she’d sent Francesca Ng a couple weeks ago.
Hi, Francesca!
I hope all is well! I’m just checking again to see if you’re available for an informational interview? Coffee on me! Please let me know!
She hit send and grimaced at the amount of exclamation points she’d used, but she was desperate and didn’t care if she came across as overeager.
Her phone vibrated then, startling her. It was a text from Dani, saying that she and Oliver were waiting downstairs in the lobby. Lily hurried to gather her wallet and M&M ID, but she paused when she heard the telltale ding of an email hitting her inbox. She blinked at her computer screen. She’d received a reply from Francesca Ng.
Hi, Lily!
I’m so sorry for the late response! You know how nuts summer can be. I’d be happy to set up an informational interview with you, but I’m hoping you might be interested in something a little better. We’re expanding the editorial team here at Happy Go Lucky and hiring an assistant editor, who would work directly with me. I remember you mentioned that you wanted to switch over to children’s publishing. If that’s still the case and you’re interested in the position, please send me your résumé and we can set up an interview. Let me know if you have any questions!
Xx,
Francesca
Lily’s mouth fell open.
After the moment of shock faded, she jumped into action and responded to Francesca, saying that she would love to interview for the position and that her résumé was attached.