The Man Who Broke Hearts. Stephanie Howard

favourite acting editor’s feeling a bit frazzled,’ she confessed.

      ‘Well, she doesn’t look it.’ Mike seated himself on the edge of the desk. ‘She’s looking as serenely beautiful as ever.’

      

      Then as Tina smiled and shook her head—her standard response to Mike’s compliments—he enquired sympathetically, ‘Overworking you, are they?’

      ‘Not really.’

      Tina ran a hand through her silky blonde hair. She was doing two jobs these days, but that didn’t bother her. In fact, to tell the truth, she relished the challenge, and she’d been coping perfectly till thoughts of Justin had come to torment her! However, there was one problem, as she explained now to Mike.

      ‘One of my regular freelances has let me down rather badly. She’s handed in this article that’s a total disaster. I can’t understand it. She’s generally so reliable.’ She cast an irritated glance at the manuscript she’d been working on. ‘It’s going to take me hours to pull this gibberish into shape.’

      ‘Throw it back at her. Get her to redo it.’

      ‘I would, only she’s not here. She’s out of the country. She’s gone off to France or somewhere on an assignment for some other magazine. And she was late handing this in. The printers need it by Monday. I’ve got no choice, I’m afraid. I’ve got to do it myself.’

      Mike pulled a sympathetic face, then he winked and leaned towards her. ‘I reckon you deserve a treat for working so hard. Let me take you out for a drink after work.’

      ‘I wish I could, Mike—’

      

      ‘I’ve discovered this great new wine bar,’ he cut in quickly before she could say ‘but’. ‘The food’s terrific and they play great jazz.’

      But Tina smiled and shook her head. ‘I really can’t, Mike. I’m going to be stuck at my desk till late.’

      Mike looked disappointed, but he didn’t push her. He never did. He knew it got him nowhere. Just like all the other men in Tina’s life these days, he knew he would never be more than just a friend.

      For Tina had become an expert at keeping men at a distance. Sometimes it surprised her how easily she did it. Maybe I’m turning into a bit of a dragon myself, she’d sometimes thought. For just one cool warning flicker from those china-blue eyes of hers and they got the message loud and clear.

      But, dragon or not, that was the way she wanted it. No mess. No entanglements. No more broken hearts. Maybe one day—though only maybe—things would be different, but for now where her heart belonged was in her work.

      Mike proceeded to change the subject now, regarding her with interest. ‘Hey, your chief sub-editor’s just been telling me that you collared Justin Marlowe at the reception yesterday. What did he have to say for himself?’

      Tina felt a jolt inside her at the mention of Justin’s name. Over the past couple of minutes she’d actually managed not to think of him, but here he was springing out of the shadows to torment her again!

      

      ‘So, Vicki told you, did she?’ Tina smiled a small smile. Vicki, Scope’s chief sub, had been with her at the reception yesterday and she’d been telling everyone about Tina’s encounter with Justin Marlowe—even though, Tina reflected, she didn’t know the half of it!

      ‘Well, she probably also told you that the news isn’t good. If this take-over goes ahead, Scope will go under. He plans to merge us with Miranda.’

      Mike looked surprised. ‘Did he actually say that?’

      ‘More or less.’ Tina pulled a wry face. ‘I’m afraid you were wrong and I was right.’

      In the past, Mike had frequently expressed the opinion that it might not be a bad thing if JM Publishing took over Berry’s. He was an enthusiastic admirer of Justin’s thrusting young company—and not just because JM gave him a lot of work! ‘They know how to make money and keep up standards,’ he’d often said.

      But his opinion about the take-over was totally misguided, as Tina had constantly argued over the weeks. She told him now, ‘Somehow, Marlowe’s got to be stopped.’

      ‘If you’re right, yes, he has. That would be a disaster.’ Mike frowned. ‘But I can’t understand why he would do that. It doesn’t make sense. Scope’s a successful magazine.’ Then he shrugged. ‘Maybe business-wise his judgement’s a little impaired these days. I understand he’s got other things on his mind.’

      Tina was instantly curious. ‘Like what?’ she demanded.

      

      But at that moment they were interrupted as Sasha, Scope’s fashion editor, stuck her brightly hennaed head round the office door.

      ‘Excuse me.’ She smiled at Tina. Then she turned to Mike. ‘Ready when you are with those transparencies.’

      Mike started to stand up. ‘I’ll be right with you.’ Then he winked down at Tina. ‘I’ll leave you to get on with your work.’

      But Tina was no longer thinking of work. She narrowed her blue eyes at him. ‘What did you mean when you said Justin Marlowe had other things on his mind?’

      ‘Haven’t you heard?’ Mike was heading for the door. ‘He and the Red Dragon are finally about to get spliced. The word is she’s been out scouring Bond Street for a wedding-dress. It looks as though she’s finally bagged him after all these years.’

      ‘Good luck to her.’

      Tina said it as though she really meant it and her gaze was perfectly steady as she watched Mike disappear out through the door. And she did mean it. Surely? Hadn’t she just been thinking that it would be a relief when Justin and the Red Dragon finally married?

      But as she sat frozen in her chair she was aware that she’d stopped breathing and that her stomach had suddenly turned to lead.

      Tina remained at her desk that night until well after seven, but by then there was no point in staying on any longer. She’d done all the work she could for now on the faulty manuscript, though it definitely still wasn’t up to scratch.

      She pushed it aside wearily. She’d have to fix up another interview to fill in the gaps and give it a bit more substance. And that would probably mean a trip to the Cotswolds over the weekend. She tossed down her pen. But for tonight she was through.

      But she still didn’t make a move. She sat staring into space and let her mind roam over the subject she had kept shut out for the past few hours. Justin and the Red Dragon. And the long-threatened wedding. So, it was actually about to happen after all.

      She’d got over the stupid paralysis that had struck her on first hearing the news. And heaven knew why it had shocked her anyway. She felt composed now and genuinely glad that it was about to happen. This was the final line in the final chapter. At last she’d be able to close the book.

      At that thought she felt a wry smile touch her lips. Chapter one had promised a very different ending. Who ever would have guessed then that things would turn out the way they had?

      Tina had been twenty-one years old, fresh out of college and as keen as mustard to make a name for herself in journalism when she had joined Miranda as a sub-editor nearly five years ago.

      As she’d told her new boss at the interview, ‘It’s always been my dream to work in magazines. There’s nothing else I’ve ever wanted to do.’

      Her new boss had been a woman nearly ten years her senior, a tall, stunning redhead with the reed-thin figure of a model and a wardrobe that came straight out of the pages of her own glossy magazine. Her name was Eunice Robinson and though Tina had guessed even then that she probably had a temperament to match her hair she’d had no idea that she’d end up dubbing her the Red Dragon!

      On