Page 297 of The Doctors Will See You Now

She had a point. “Touché.”

“But in all seriousness, this whole thing with…yeah…with him…it needs to stay on the down low, okay? Like, no one else can know it happened or else I could lose my job with the firm.”

“I’m not going to say a word. Promise.” I might’ve been a gossip columnist, but I had boundaries, and my best friend’s life was definitely a hard limit for me.

She sighed. “Sometimes it’s a little unnerving that my best friend writes a goddamn gossip column.”

I laughed. “You mean, it’s unnerving when you’re actually in the middle of something completely hot that is totally gossip-worthy, but that I would never in a million years write about?”

“Exactly,” she responded, amused. “Okay, I gotta go now, but you bet your sweet ass we are revisiting the whole you having sex with Dr. Erotic conversation later. I need to know details. Lots and lots of dirty details.”

“Ditto. I’ve heard Spanish guys are really good with their rhythm, and I really need you to confirm that it isn’t a case of stereotyping. And I sure as fuck would love to know if you’re ever going to come back home or if you intend to run away with your new boyfriend.”

It felt like it had been a year since I’d last seen my best friend. Sure, it’d only been about a month, and the PR tour that was supposed to be a month had only been extended to two, but still. I was half tempted to catch a flight to Europe just to make sure she was okay and not living against her will in a random cult inside of a remote village.

She scoffed. “He’s not my boyfriend, Low. And I’m not sure of the exact date I’ll be back. The PR tour is prolonged because Mateo is getting such an amazing response everywhere he goes.”

“Okay. Fine. Your Spanish lover,” I corrected. “And by amazing response do you specifically mean the response he receives from your vagina?”

She snorted. “Shut up.”

“Give your Spanish lover a tongue kiss for me. Loveyoubye!” And before she could toss out a sarcastic retort, I ended the call and got back to work.

And by work, I meant research.

And by research, I meant browsing the internet for funny GIFs and taking BuzzFeed quizzes.

In my defense, though, sometimes it’s these very GIFs that inspire the next column.

Generally, it’s the GIFs where hot male celebrities are shirtless, but still.

Inspiration is inspiration, right?

And in my opinion, nothing says inspiration like Ryan Reynolds and Chris Pratt shirtless…

“Harlow,” my boss’s voice pulled my attention from my laptop. In all of her power-suit glory, with the door now opened, she stood inside of the doorway of my office space.

I cleared my throat. “Yes, Stella?” I asked as I quickly clicked out of the BuzzFeed quiz I was taking and sat up straight in my chair.

She strode across the hardwood floor, her stilettos click-clacking with each step until she reached my desk. Stella McCarthy—my boss and the editor in chief of Gossip—was a real-life doppelgänger of Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada. When she said jump, everyone in the office asked how high. And when she actually took the time to stop by your office, you’d better make damn sure you weren’t fucking around.

I took a quick glance at my laptop screen to make sure only my Word doc was visible. The last thing I needed was for Stella to see me taking a Guess My Age Based on My Olive Garden Selection quiz.

“I need you to cover an extra piece this week.”

Goddammit, Cruella de Vil. I’ve already taken on two extra pieces this week!

“Okay.” I forced a smile. “What’s the piece?”

“That popstar, Smiley Walrus.”

Not only was Stella a pain in the ass to work for, the woman never got celebrity names right. Like, ever. It was honestly a fucking conundrum considering she was the editor in chief for a gossip rag.

“Do you mean Miley Cyrus?” I asked, and she raised a pointed brow in my direction.

Another thing about Stella, the woman refused to admit any mistakes or faults. She was literally the world’s worst human being to work for.

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?” she questioned in irritation.