She and Him

Chapter One

“Isabelle... The work you have done for us these last few years, well, it's been incredible. You know how much we value you, and for that reason we would love to offer you a promotion.” This was it. The moment I had been waiting for was FINALLY here after years and years of working my butt off. The deputy editor of Gloss magazine had recently left to launch the Parisian version and I had been certain I would be offered the job... It was actually happening!

“As you know, Mandy has gone to take care of Gloss Paris and Sarah Parsons will be taking her role.” Sorry, what?! “We came to that decision purely based on the fact that you seem to be wanted all over the place Isabelle! We want to do what is best for the company, She and Him have poached you Belle, and as our sister magazine we know you would be honoured to work for them. You will only be upstairs so you can still see us all the time but you will be taking over Sarah's role as deputy editor for them! A little swap over to mix things up! She and Him is obviously the bigger magazine so I'm sure you're thrilled!”

My editor, Louise, grinned at me. I stared back in complete shock. I had come into her office expecting to get the role of our small, but lovely, magazine and was instead being shipped off upstairs to one of the biggest glossies in the country. In normal circumstances I would have been ecstatic, but in this case I was anything but.

“Lou... I'm honoured, but I can't. I cannot work for him.” I stuttered, and Louise looked at me as though I was completely mental.

“Harry James?! He's the best editor in the country, if not the world, he's amazing to work for and of course is incredibly handsome. What the hell is wrong with you?!” Louise wasn't one for sugar coating.

“It's personal. I understand that this is great and all but please, can I not just have Sarah's position here?!” I begged.

“No. Sarah has been in the business forever and wants a slower pace, she's about to keel over if she works any harder. Gloss can provide a more relaxed atmosphere for her, and as a respected member of the Richard James Magazine Group it's the least we can do for her. We look after our staff Isabelle, I'm trying to look after you by offering you the job of a lifetime. You need to put whatever personal crap it is behind you. Did you sleep with him?” She asked me, bluntly. I gawped at her, frantically shaking my head.

"NO! No, of course not! He was engaged to my best friend, he broke it off with absolutely no warning and broke her heart then went around sleeping with every socialite in London. He's disgusting. I don't want to work for a boss I have no respect for.”

Harry James had swanned into my life five years ago. Of course I had seen him around and briefly met him on several occasions – in this industry everyone knew everyone. But then my best friend ran into my room in the house we shared, giggling like a teenager, screaming that she had met the love of her life, the one.

I was happy for Ruby, of course I was, she had fallen head over heels for some gorgeous guy she had met in a bar. She mentioned he worked in magazines and his name was Harry, it never clicked in my mind it would be him until she dragged me to a restaurant in Mayfair and there he was. Harry James. Over six foot tall, muscled and toned with caramel coloured skin, dark hair with a slight curl, bright green eyes and the cheek bones that had made him one of the world's biggest models in his late teens/early twenties until his father, the infamous Richard James owner of Richard James Magazine Group, decided his son needed a 'real' career and put him in charge of She and Him.

With an English degree from Oxford and a Masters in business, he had the skills to run the magazine, which in some ways made him all the more irritating. He wasn't just daddy's little trust fund child playing at editor, he actually had brains.

“Ah, so you are the best friend Ruby has been talking about so much! I think we've met? You work for Gloss?” His green eyes twinkled and he smiled. He was absolutely divine, there was no denying it. But he was Ruby's, very much hers.

“Yes... Yes I do. When Ruby told me about you, she didn't mention you were the editor of She and Him!” I glared at her, feeling completely unprepared.

“Oh, Harry and I don't talk about stupid, boring work! Do we darling?” She grinned up at him, fluttering her eyelashes, and I knew then that she was completely gone.

I got to know Harry well over the years, I liked him and I can't lie, there were a few times when I felt the flutterings of lust when he was around. I comforted myself in the fact that any sane women would feel the same, he was beautiful and charming and oozed charisma. Ruby was completely in love with him, however, and whenever I caught her staring at him I suppressed any romantic thoughts I had for the man. She was my best friend for god's sake!

When he proposed to her I was thrilled, even more so when she asked me to be maid of honour. I was happy with my boyfriend at the time, Charlie, and happy that my best friend had found the man of her dreams. We began planning, both of us content and in love, feeling on top of the world.

After a year, however, Charlie and I had fizzled out and suddenly Harry began being distant with Ruby, refusing to set a date for the wedding, always going away on 'business' and then suddenly he ended it with her, said he had stopped loving her and that was that. A few days later he was pictured all over the papers with various models and socialites, apparently Ruby was a thing of the past and she was devastated.

Luckily, a year later she met the wonderful Alex and they were happily living together and completely in love. I had lost my roommate and I missed her like crazy, but I was so thrilled she had met a decent guy. Since then I had completely avoided Harry, I hated the cocky, evil, arrogant man.

"You mean, the best friend who is completely in love with the UK's top tennis player Alex Hill? That best friend?!” Louise dragged me out of my trip down memory lane and was looking at me as though I was a complete moron.

“Well... Yes... She's happy now, but he broke her heart once! And he's horrible!” I suddenly realised that my argument was beginning to sound a little weak.

"Okay... Belle, I like you, you know that. I don't want you to be unhappy at work, but this is what Richard James wants, it's what Harry wants. He's seen your work, he wants you on his team. I can't do anything about this, especially not for the sake of some lovers tiff a million years ago.” She sighed and I knew I had lost this one. “He wants to see you, upstairs, now.”

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Author's Note

Helloooo! I like my stories to actually have a plot, which is why it's a little slow to begin with - I want to actually introduce characters and storylines properly before jumping into all the racy stuff! Anyway, hope you enjoy it and please leave comments/votes as I really appreciate feedback! Thanks :) x