Book Bitch by Ashleigh Royce Read Free Book Online

passed my old desk , expecting to see it sadly abandoned. Someone new occupied it. A thin, beautiful redhead spoke on the phone. She looked up to see me staring. She said good-bye and hung up the phone. “Can I help you?” she asked. Green eyes sparkled in the fluorescent light.
    “Sorry. I used to sit here.”
    “So you’re the Alex Ryan that moved up in the company.”
    I laughed. “Yeah, I guess so.”
    “Well, it proves that I’m not wasting my time busting my hump buried in this slush.” She held her hand out to a stack of paper. It brought back memories of the endless stack of manuscripts I had read sitting in the same chair.
    “It’s not all bad, sometimes you find a diamond in the rough. It makes it worth it when you find a good one.”
    “ I’ll keep that in mind.” She stuck out her hand. “Katherine Shea. You can call me Katie.”
    I shook her hand. “You already know my name.” She smiled. “Well, I’ll let you get back to work.” I continued on my journey to the break room. Less than an ounce of brown slush remained in the pot, burning and making an awful smell. “Things haven’t changed.” I took the pot and washed it before making a fresh batch. I sat at the small round table as I waited for it to drip. Lindsey walked into the room.
    “Hey stranger. What brings you to this side of the office?” She rested her empty coffee mug on the table and sat across from me.
    “I’m sorry about the other night. I should have told you that Connor was there.”
    She looked down and smiled. “Nah, it’s okay. He’s a great guy.” She looked up. “In fact, we’re getting together this coming Saturday.”
    Wow, I didn’t think they’d hit it off so well. “Great. Looks like I’ll be spending Saturday nights on my own from now on then.”
    She laughed. “So how’s it going over there with Madam Literary?”
    My shoulders fell. “She’s not like that. She’s assertive, but she’s not the bitch that everyone thinks she is.” Lindsey looked at me with apprehension. “Really, Linds. She’s not bad at all. She’s driven and wants to succeed.”
    Lindsey surrendered. “Okay, Alex. I’ll stop with the names, but don’t expect me to go for mannis and peddi es with her.”
    I smiled.
    The coffee was ready. I filled two mugs and walked back to my office. Rebecca was shouting at someone on the other end of the telephone. “George, that’s not what I told you. Alison is not the kind of woman who works well under pressure. You need to extend the time frame for the next novel. I’m reading it now and it still needs some more edits. It won’t be completed in a week. I need until the end of the month… Well, you can demand all you want, you’re not getting it before the first of next month… If you don’t like it, I can find another publisher who’d love to pick up an author who’s been on the New York Times Best Seller List for six weeks.”
    I held up seven fingers.
    “Sorry, seven weeks… That’s what I thought. If she’s finished with it before the first, I will be happy to hand it over, but until then keep your team busy… Okay then. Talk to you soon. Bye.”
    “Wow, that was something,” I said, standing in front of her desk with the coffee.
    “Take it as a lesson, Alex. You just can’t back down when you want something. You have to take it.” She took the coffee from me. “Thank you. And thank you for giving me the correct number that Alison’s been on the list.”
    “I can’t have people thinking that the great Rebecca Stratford had her facts off.” I smiled before taking a sip of coffee.
    “We’ll leave here at noon. I’ve already called Craig. He said the suit’s ready. You can change at my place.”
    “Um, okay.”
    I was able to read through four more queries before Rebecca collected her purse and headed out the door. “See you tomorrow, Rose,” she said. I quickly shut my computer and raced out to catch her at the elevator bank. My watch read twelve