Against All Odds

Chapter 33

"You're in a good mood today," Zahra grumbled. "Clearly you don't have Dylan on your ass day in and day out."

"Aw, so it isn't true what they say then? Treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen? Huh, funny that."

"Ignoring all the gibberish you are spouting and moving forward, I'm calling to tell you that we went through your submission." There was a pause on the other end of the line and I fidgeted with the handle of my coffee cup. Anxiety cast a dark cloud over me in that moment of silence- what if what I had written was shit? Diabolically pretentious asshattery of the first degree? And here I was just pitching it to any random source who'd- "It's great, Stella, just what the client is looking for."

I expelled a relieved breath. Zahra, if anything, knew how to draw out the tension of a moment. Sadistic bitch- thought with much fondness, of course.

"That's amazing!" And it was. Receiving affirmation that something you had produced was worthwhile and readable by a high-end publication? My confidence notched up about several levels and I just refrained from strutting around the quiet restaurant like a territorial rooster, cawing out my successes to anybody within earshot.

"Right, so there are several things we should discuss, but before that I am sending some documentation to your email now." As she was talking, my inbox pinged with several new messages that jumped onto my screen. "First, your flight itinerary. Don't fuck it up and be late or some other stupid shit because you got drunk in the terminal lounge."

"That happened one time-"

"Second, your accommodation reservation," Zahra went on, ignoring my indignant protest. "There is a speedboat transfer from Malé, complements of the resort, that will take you onwards to the island. They have been availed of your arrival time, so don't dawdle and think you have time to go wandering around the city when you land."

"Yes, boss." I rolled my eyes. You mess up once with these people and they never let you hear the end of it.

"Third, your new revised contract stipulated for this particular piece." Zahra paused which allowed me time to pull up the aforementioned document. A lot of legal jargon met my eyes which I skimmed through, formalities I was not unfamiliar with having worked with Zahra's company before. In the past, however, I had never signed on prior to travelling somewhere. My work had always been published on my personal blog during and after one of my adventures, which was then picked up by the publishers and further pushed to their own digital platforms after various bouts of edits. The Mongolia piece has pricked interest from a few, cursory posts I had made on one of my social media accounts that had apparently drawn attention from a brand that I could benefit from - and I was eagerly awaiting Zahra to give me more information on that front.

"Stella, we need you to understand that this is going to be a bit different to what you are normally used to," she told me.

I had just got to the part about my contractual obligations on the document, a few emboldened texts catching my gaze and alerting me already to what was coming next. "Uh huh."

"This is a promotional piece, not a review."

"Riiiight."

"The resort is newly opened- nine months, I believe- so they are looking for exposure." She paused, then reiterated with an emphasis, "Positive exposure."

"I'm not sure what you are insinuating," I said pointedly. "I get it- positive exposure."

"You can't write anything you please," Zahra remarked, her tone dry. "And because your prose has a tendency to... and I mean this with affection... go off the rails, we're going to require daily updates from your end."

"Go off the rails? I write honest experiences that I've been through myself personally!"

"Look, you'll just be sending through edited photographs every day, with a five hundred word description of activities that day. We'll be looking through what you send to pinpoint an interesting hook to develop further, but that's what we will be needing from you while you are there. Think you can manage that?"

I thought about it for less than a few seconds because, honestly, it sounded like a walk in the park. Staying at a luxury resort that was paying me to be there and writing about it each day? No Mr Beckett distracting me in a pair of grey sweats with tattooed arms on display? Pffft. Child's play. "Yeah, no issues my end," I affirmed cheerfully.

"OK, great. Now, lastly, in the next week you'll be receiving an outline of your new expectations regarding the branding line you'll be working with in the next year- if they like and approve the recent piece. I can't say much for now, but money-wise you'll be gaining most of your income from what you publish, but the company is going to be paying for your gallavants around the globe- so long as you wear their clothes and write about how great they are."

"Somehow, just somehow, I think I'll manage."

"Yes, well, we hope so. Are there any questions on your end?"

"Mmm, is everything alright financially with the company, Zahra?" I asked, tapping my nail against my mug. Around me, the restaurant began to fill with more people as evening began to encroach and the sun hung even lower in the sky.

"Yes, why?"

"Just thought there might be some financial troubles going on over there with a multinational corporation in Dubai considering I've been issued an economy class flight tick-"

"Just be grateful you got a ticket," Zahra drawled. "If you've got no serious questions to ask me, can we conclude this call? I do have other work to do."

"More important than me?"

"Goodbye, Stella."

The call ended abruptly and I put away my phone. It was done then- a new trajectory had been set and I was destined to follow, hopefully with no fuck ups along the way. It was something to look forward to, a goal that I could push towards and keep me occupied.

And I had a feeling I would need all the occupying possible as encroaching thoughts of Killian Beckett continued to intrude into every waking second of my consciousness, and the looming prospect of spending eleven hours in a car ride with him tomorrow filled me with equal parts dread and anticipation.