Seven Days Grace (A Grace Rose Novel Book 1) (9 page)

13

‘
What can
I do for you
,
Kate?
’

‘
Grace
,
what
’
s with the attitude? We
’
re all down at Café Sydney celebrating Joanna
’
s birthday. Hurry up.
’

‘
Good timing. I finished my story about a minute ago.
’

‘
Fab
,
I
’
ve been trying you for ages
,
no doubt ignoring your phone again in the quest for the latest breaking story. And there
’
s no point leaving you messages because you don
’
t return your calls. You are coming
,
aren
’
t you?
’

‘
I
’
m not talking to you
,
remember?
’
Her phone had rung several times before The Voice called and Grace had noted Kate
’
s number.

‘
Grace
,
I
’
ve already said I
’
m sorry about Jekyll and Hyde. You can
’
t be mad at me forever.
’

Grace half lied and she hated lying to Kate.
‘
I
have another story to finish for the morning edition.
’
She didn
’
t mention she had to be up before dawn again. She was tired last night from her 4 A.M. wake up. She
’
d been apprehensive and excited about the meeting that sleep eluded her. Then there
’
d been the dreaded blind date. It had turned out to be a long day and tonight she needed an early one.

‘
A
nother front page story for the week
,
I
’
ll be sure to give you a gold star when you get here.
’

‘
It
’
s not the front page
,’
she took a deep breath.

‘
What? You had to suffer with page three this time
,
did you?
’

‘
Fine
,
I
’
ll be there.
’
She hung up
,
irritated for a moment.
She
’
s persistent. Oh
,
what is the point of fighting with my best friend?

Nick had run his eyes over Grace
’
s de Silva story in its draft form. She had decided to at least type it up and have it ready in case it was needed. She had called his lawyer who had been adamant about not commenting and said de Silva was suffering from stress and anxiety and didn
’
t know what he was talking about. He advised her not to run the story.

It was even a minefield for Nick so he agreed to hold off on it for now until further information could be uncovered. He had to leave work early so he ordered Grace to save it for now
,
not to mention it to anyone and he would check in with her tomorrow about de Silva
’
s reveal.

‘
Yes
,
Drill Sergeant
,’
she said with a salute.

‘
Grace
,
do we need a snide remark every time?
’

‘
Well
,
don
’
t order me around
,
Nick. You should know by now that when you tell me something it
’
s as good as putting it in an underground safe and throwing away the key.
’
She took a breath and exhaled
.
‘
So
,
w
hat page is my immigrant story going on?
’

‘
Five. Not even you can have the front page every day.
’

‘
See
,
I make an effort and where does it get me? And why does everyone assume I
’
ll have my stories on the front page every day? I certainly don
’
t expect it.
’
Does it give him an inner sense of satisfaction to be spiteful and put me down? I hope it makes him feel better. Actually
,
no
,
I don
’
t.

‘
What
’
s on the front?
’

‘
You
’
ll find out tomorrow
,
won
’
t you?
’
He then gave her instructions to email the other story she
’
d been working on through to the sub-editors for them to layout when she finished with the final touches. She spent another ten minutes on the immigrant piece then hit the send button. She knew Nick loved the thrill of a breaking story appearing in the printed edition instead of online so he held it off for the morning newspaper.
He
’
s definitely old school.

She turned her computer off and made a beeline for the famous watering hole. The views from this particular café on Sydney Harbour had been photographed and sent all around the world in marketing campaigns
,
touting it as the most picturesque harbour city in the world. It would be worth half an hour there to soak in the ambience to soothe her soul.

When she entered
,
the venue was jumping. Grace would have to ensure she had light drinks due to her early morning. Duty had called and though work birthdays were something she usually avoided
,
she had learned it was not good to say no every time. While she thought she was one of the gang
,
Kate had told her that due to her popularity with Nick and her high profile as one of the top journalists on the newspaper
,
many people in the office looked up to her and it would be nice if Grace graced them with her presence.

The bar was a section at the far end of the restaurant with a large and long wooden table top. The piece de resistance was the monstrous balcony overlooking Circular Quay. The architects had been clever enough to think ahead and design thick
,
shatterproof glass as the railing so the view would be uninterrupted. Securing a table with stools closest to the balcony railing was akin to finding gold while panning at an old mining town. Grace was amazed when she spotted Kate at one of the sought-after spots surrounded with work mates.
Brilliant.

Although Grace was a believer
,
she didn
’
t attend church though occasionally sent a prayer skyward when warrante
d
. Tonight s
h
e prayed Nick would not be part of the group. If he left work early
,
was it to come here? Or was he headed out with one of his bimbos? As she approached her gang
,
she scanned the group and cheered up when his familiar
,
leering eyes were nowhere to be seen. She hoped tonight they wouldn
’
t tease her about him as had come to be the ritual lately.

‘
Say it isn
’
t true
,’
she had pleaded.
‘
And besides
,
why is he mean to me i
f
wha
t
you
’
re saying what you
’
re saying?
’

‘
That
’
s exactly why
,
because he likes you
,
yet
,
in some twisted way knows he wouldn
’
t get anywhere
,
therefore
,
he plays mean. It
’
s so high school
,’
they offered.

Grace was sick of Nick
,
his ogling and his women. Some of them figured out she worked with Nick for two years and they would approach her and ask questions.
‘
Is he looking for a girlfriend?
’
‘
When was his last serious relationship?
’
‘
Do you know if he
’
s been in love?
’
Such inane questions caused her skin to itch and she wanted to scream about it. In the end
,
she stopped going to these catch ups. And with another early morning tomorrow
,
the last thing she needed was a lack of sleep resulting in a cloudy
,
foggy mind when meeting with The Voice
.

Grace spotted the birthday girl.
‘
Happy Birthday
,
Joanna
,’
she said close to her ear and then kissed her on the cheek.

‘
Thanks. And thanks for the present.
’

Someone had thrust a card into Grace
’
s face at work and asked her for five dollars.
‘
My pleasure.
’
She wondered what the young girl received as a present.

She found Kate. Immediately
,
as was the routine
,
they became embroiled in a conversation about their days.

‘
Hey
,
there
’
s a guy over there checking you out
,’
Kate said.

‘
How embarrassing.
’

‘
Get used to it. It
’
s not going to change.
’

I loathe being picked up in a bar.
She found meeting a man when she was out having a quiet drink with friends sleazy and cliché. Plus despite her striking exterior
,
and detectable hardened approach
,
she was quite shy with men.

‘
Hi
,’
the tall one said to Grace.

‘
Hi.
’
She looked at Kate
,
not noticing him
,
hoping he would slip away quietly.

‘
I
’
m Jake and this is my buddy
,
Christian.
’

‘
Hi
,
I
’
m Kate and this is my best friend
,
Grace
,’
Kate said as she elbowed her friend.

Kate gave Grace one of her famous looks that meant
,
‘
You-are-not-leaving
,
there-will-be-no-excuses and you-will-enjoy-yourself-and-have-some-fun.
’

‘
Hi
,’
Grace said to both men then stared at the man who was called
‘
Jake
’
.

‘
Hello
,’
Christian said to the girls.

‘
Oh
,
do I detect an accent?
’
Kate asked Christian.

‘
Yes ma
’
am
,
no actually
,
well
,
kind of. Okay. Let me make myself clear
,’
he laughed.
‘
I
’
ve spent the last two years in Canada and returned home about two weeks ago. Can
’
t seem to shake it. Hey
,
you
’
re quick.
’

‘
I guess you could say I
’
ve travelled a lot.
’

Grace listened as Kate struck up a conversation with the young man. Kate talked about her travels and the year she had spent in Canada studying to finish her degree while Christian asked all about Australia and the recent news. Were there any new places to eat in Sydney? And how great it was to meet a nice girl in this place. Kate told him nice girls had to take their friends out to prevent them from becoming dull and boring.