As soon as her meeting with Elliot was over, Keira grabbed her cell phone and hurried outside to call Cristiano. The streets were as busy with traffic and people as they ever were. The thought of leaving it all behind made Keira excited.
She rang his number and after a moment he answered.
"I have some news," she announced.
"Oh?" he asked. "You're not pregnant are you?"
"No!" Keira cried, laughing. "We're going to Paris!"
"We are?" He sounded thrilled.
"Yup. My new assignment. Turns out the readers love you so much they want you to come along. What do you think?"
"I think that's amazing!" he replied. "I can't wait. When do we go?"
"Tomorrow."
She bit her lip, worried about his response. She needn't have been concerned.
"Wow!" Cristiano cried. "Amazing!"
In the background, she heard the sound of honking horns and ambulance sirens.
"How is your solo tour of New York City going?" she asked him.
"It's great," he replied with childish enthusiasm. "I rode the subway to a few different places, walked around some parks. Now I'm besided a place called Teardrop Park."
Keira was stunned. "You're right around the corner from my office!"
"I am?" Cristiano asked, surprised.
"Yes! You should come and see me," she added, thinking of how everyone at the magazine wanted to meet him. "I could introduce you to some people."
"I'd love that," he replied.
Keira gave him directions to walk the short distance to where her office was located. Several minutes later, she saw him in the distance rounding the corner. His beauty stunned her, making her heart flutter.
When he reached her, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. Then she took his hand and led him inside.
"Guys," she announced. "This is Cristiano."
Everyone rushed to meet him. Denise looked like she'd come face to face with a celebrity. Lisa looked like she might faint. For the first time, Keira felt the thrill of being with someone everyone adored, rather than the fear of him being stolen from her.
Elliot came out of his office, sizing Cristiano up with his eyes. He clearly approved of what he saw and came over to shake Cristiano's hand.
"Has Keira told you the news?" he asked.
"About Paris?" Cristiano replied with a nod. "Yes, and I can't wait. Thanks so much for arranging for me to go as well. It's a dream come true to travel the world with the woman I love."
He hugged Keira tightly against him. Denise and Lisa visibly swooned.
Nina came over next to meet Cristiano. At least she was respectful enough not to drop her jaw to the floor. She just shook his hand cordially. But there was a brightness behind her eyes that made Keira suspicious.
"Did you know that Stella's coming in today?" she asked Keira.
"Stella the cover designer?" Keira replied. "No. Why?"
Nina's gaze was focused intently on Cristiano, like she was sizing him up. "I'm just wondering about getting a profile picture of you two. One we can put in the byline."
Keira frowned. At the moment, it was her face and bio in the byline. She was the writer after all. They were her words, not Cristiano's.
"I don't know about that," she said, sounding a little stilted.
"You're right," Nina nodded. "The byline is too small. You two should be the cover stars."
Elliot started clapping, thrilled by the prospect.
"Wait one minute," Keira cried, her eyes widening with shock. She looked at Cristiano. "We can't be on the cover."
Cristiano clearly wasn't experiencing the same dread over it as Keira was. He didn't seem fazed in the slightest by the suggestion.
Nina and Elliot ignored her protests, too busy talking to one another, going over the details, tapping their chins as they looked at Cristiano like he was one of the models Stella hired for her shoots.
"Guys!" Keira cried, trying to get their attention. "We're not doing it."
Elliot turned to her at last and frowned. "Your articles are the most popular. It's why the majority of our readers subscribe to Viatorum."
He said it simply, like it was nothing more than a logical business decision.
"Nina, maybe we should show her the graph from the market research?" he added.
"I don't need to see a graph to make my decision," Keira stammered. "I don't want to be on the cover, period. I'm not attractive enough. You know there's a reason some people chose to spend their days hiding behind a laptop!"
"Don't be silly, Keira!" Cristiano cried. "You're beautiful. You just don't see it. Maybe a professional photoshoot would be just the thing to boost your confidence."
Keira shook her head, stunned, shocked. This couldn't be happening. This was her nightmare, stepping out from behind the scenes and taking the limelight. She thought of Bryn, the actually beautiful one. She wouldn't look plain standing next to Cristiano like Keira would.
Just then, the doors opened then and Stella came in, her large black camera case slung over her shoulder. It looked so intimidating to Keira.
Nina waved her over.
"We were just telling Keira and Cristiano about the cover shot," she said to Stella. "Do you have time to do it today?"
"Absolutely," Stella said, her gaze fixed on Cristiano approvingly.
Keira felt even worse. He was all anyone wanted to see, not her. She'd just ruin the photos.
"Come on my love," Cristiano said to her gently. "It's just a bit of fun. A memory we can look back on. Something to show our parents. And our children, one day."
Keira couldn't help but let his gentle cajoling sooth her fears. If Cristiano was thinking of future children then he was at least hoping to be in this for the long haul. Maybe capturing some images of their love while they were young and wrinkle free wasn't the worst idea in the world.
"What would I have to do?" she asked Stella, relenting just a smidgen.
"It's France," Stella said. "So we're doing a black and white romantic movie theme. Rooftops. Skyline with the Eiffel Tower backdrop. Pretty dress. A romantic kiss."
"A kiss?" Keira groaned, her anxiety returning.
"But black and white," Cristiano said, grinning. "Everyone looks perfect in black and white."
He took her hand and gently tugged her. She let him guide her over to the photoshoot area, where there were bright lights pointing at a large white screen, two similar screens either side to make a sort of three-walled box. There was also a makeup artist there, working on a beautiful model, and a rack of clothes.
"Oh God," Keira muttered.
Stella went over and spoke to the makeup artist. Their conversation was out of earshot for Keira, but they were both looking at her. Of course she'd need to be made up for the shot, unlike Cristiano who pretty much woke up camera ready.
The artist spoke to the model, who then stood and went over to the couch, looking a bit put out that she'd been interrupted halfway through her makeover. Keira watched her go, looking at her incredible figure and long lean legs. She was so tall, unlike Keira whose height was a little below average.
Stella whisked over and took Keira's hand.
"Free professional makeover," Cristiano said, shrugging. "It's worth it just for that."
Keira clenched her teeth and allowed Stella to pull her to the makeup chair.
"I won't need to do much," the artist told Keira. "This shot is all about looking classic. Black and white movie style. Just some mascara and lipstick really."
Keira felt no choice but to go along with it. After getting her makeup and hair done, she put on a pretty blue dress of billowing lace.
"It's too long for me," Keira said, looking at the piles of fabric by her feet.
"It's fine," Stella said. "We're having you stand on this."
Keira looked over then and saw that there was a prop chimney top protruding from the prop rooftops. So in this shot they were going to be kissing on the roofs of Paris. It just got more and more intimidating by the moment.
Keira was reunited with Cristiano, who'd been dressed in dark trousers and a striped top, his hair swept to one side in an old movie-star style. He looked stunning, as usual. If there was any good to be taken from his whole ordeal, it was that mental picture of Cristiano!
They stepped onto the set and listened to Stella's instructions. Keira was to stand on the chimney top, one leg bent, kissing Cristiano.
The whole thing was mortifying for her. She felt so self conscious as she twisted her body into the uncomfortable position, kissing on demand. Cristiano on the other hand seemed to be loving it.
"How are you enjoying this so much?" she asked him.
"I get to kiss you over and over again," he said. "What's not to love?"
An audience of admiring women swooned as they watched on. The thought of getting out of New York couldn't come soon enough for Keira. She wanted everything back to how it had been before, when it was just the two of them, instead of everyone trying to get a piece of Cristiano.
At last, the flashing lights stopped.
"I think we've got it," Stella said.
Cristiano helped her down from the chimney step and they went over to see the digital pictures on Stella's camera reel.
"Imagine the Paris skyline," Stella said. "We're photoshopping that in."
If Keira hadn't been in the photo, she'd probably love it. It was romantic, and the chemistry between her and Cristiano was very real. Even though she'd felt nothing but awkward during the whole shot, Stella had somehow managed to capture one perfect moment. But the problem was that it was her in the image. Not just Cristiano, who looked like the French movie star he was portraying.
"Don't you just love it?" Stella said. "You'll be celebrities in no time!"
Maybe Cristiano would, Keira thought. He was clearly the star of the shoot, and the star of the article by the sounds of it. What if he found someone better as a result of all this? She couldn't help wondering what would happen if they broke up. These photos would be a horrible reminder. And awkward, for her to be on the front of a magazine declaring her love with a guy who had left her for someone better.
Elliot took Keira to one side then.
"I've been thinking about what you said in my office," he said. "About this being your life. I think that maybe we've given you a schedule that's been a bit gruelling. Why don't you take the rest of the day off? There's no need for you to be in the office and it would be better to have some time to get your ducks in a row, say goodbye to your family, that sort of thing."
"You're just worried I'll get home sick again and want to quit," Keira said, seeing straight through Elliot's intentions.
"I just want you to be happy and relaxed," he said, unconvincingly.
But Keira wasn't about to argue. She'd had about as much of people swanning around Cristiano as she could handle. She went over to where he was surrounded by a group of writers swooning over the photo, and took him by the arm.
"We have the rest of the day to ourselves," she told him. "Let's get out of here."
"Oh, okay," Cristiano said, giving in to her gentle tug. He waved at the Viatorum staff. "I guess I'll see you all another time. Nice to have met you! Bye!"
They watched him all the way out the doors.
As soon as they were outside, Keira took a deep breath. That whole thing had been so stressful, she felt like she needed the rest of the day just to recover.
They headed for the subway. But they'd barely made it down one street before Keira received the first of what was to become a succession of emails, some from Nina, some from Elliot, others from Heather with the Paris itinerary, flight times, boarding pass code, hotel details. So much for having the rest of the day off!
They'd just reached the stairs and were about to head down into the subway when Keira's phone pinged again, this time with a text message. To Keira's surprise, it was from Zachary. For one brief second she allowed herself to feel excited that it may be confirmation that he'd returned her money, but those hopes were immediately dashed when she read it.
Hey K. Bad news. My cousin said there's a ton of renovation work to do on our old apartment so he's going to have to keep the deposit. Sorry. Let's go for a drink when I'm back in NYC, ok?
Keira fumed as she read the message. The cheek of it! She was relying on that money to sort out a new apartment and Zach knew it. There was no way they had caused thousands of dollars worth of damage to the apartment; either Zach was lying or his cousin was conning them. Plus the way he so casually told her she wasn't getting any of it back, like it was just a bit of an inconvenience. And then to ask her out for a drink after!
Irate, Keira typed out a quick, harsh reply.
A drink with you is the last thing I want. Get out of my life.
A moment later, Zachary responded.
You don't have to be such a bitch about it. Should have known the only thing that mattered to you was the $.
Keira slung her cell phone in her purse, furious.
"What is wrong?" Cristiano asked her, sounding concerned.
"Nothing. Just my bastard of an ex."
"Zachary?" he asked.
"Yes," she mumbled.
"Did he do something to hurt you? Do you need me to punch him?"
"God, no!" Keira cried. "I don't want to talk about him. Or think about him."
In fact, all she wanted now was to get out of this city--no, this whole goddamn country--and have Cristiano to herself all over again!