She sat back in the wooden chair and grinned. It was exciting and fulfilling to be ‘in flow’ with the words that bounced off her fingertips. Her thoughts drifted to the kitchen, and a pang of guilt lurched in her chest about keeping Matthew prisoner like this, but it wouldn’t do him any harm to spend a few hours in the storeroom. Although it was actually another twenty-four hours until Blair Robertson’s party, when they planned to make the announcement, and they couldn’t risk releasing him until then, in case he blabbed. Ah well, he’d survive. It might do him good to be locked up with nothing but his conscience for a while. Eleanor chuckled as she realised that Matthew had Joseph for company in the kitchen at the moment. That was probably annoying him more than anything else.
She could hear Joseph talking on the phone back there and she wondered what he was up to. But she didn’t have time to think about it. Another hour and she’d finish this story – then they could set up the printing press and run off a couple of thousand copies to give out at the party tomorrow night. A keepsake for all the guests – as well as an advert for Eleanor’s journalistic skills.
She poised her fingers over the keyboard, but the kitchen door squeaked open and Joseph wandered out. His face was battered and bruised, but she was unable to pull her gaze away from him. They smiled into each other’s eyes as he strolled over, then he perched on the edge of her desk, looming like a god from on high.
“How’s it going, hot stuff?” he asked.
She grinned as excitement spiralled through her. “This is what I’ve always dreamed of, Joseph. Getting under the skin of a story like this. Knowing that I’ll be exposing the bad guys, saving the day, and… getting the guy.” She chuckled at this last part.
He smiled tenderly. “I’m glad I’m included in that list of things you’ve always dreamed of.”
She held his hand. “You definitely are.”
“It’s important to follow your dreams, right?” he said.
“Just like you did?”
He shrugged. “I’m working as a musician; it’s what I always wanted.”
“But the music you’re making isn’t what you always wanted.”
“Yeah… I feel like I sold my soul to the highest bidder. But sometimes you’ve got to sell-out if you want success, right? Go into the mainstream… just like you did with the tabloid....”
She stood up and he wrapped his arms around her waist – remaining seated on the edge of the desk. She gazed mischievously into his eyes. “But what if you can sell out, become huge, quit, then start again?”
He grinned. “Are you suggesting I break my contract with Robertson Records?”
“Why not?”
“He’ll sue the fuck out of me.”
“Probably. But he’s likely to have a few lawsuits of his own as from tomorrow night. Once the police seize the list of people who’ve been hacked and bribed by his reporters, he’s going to have a lot of questions to answer.”
“Yeah, and I might put in my own lawsuit against his paper – he was hacking me after all, or at least Gerald Stinger was.”
She raised a pensive eyebrow. “How about starting your own record company? Quinlan Records?”
He laughed. “Ellie, I don’t really know that much about the music industry.”
“You know a lot about music. And you said you were doing business studies at college. And I’m sure your brothers can help you get started. I bet they’d leap at the opportunity to expand their empire. They could probably poach someone from Robertson Records for you. What do you think?”
He pulled her close and kissed her. “I think I love you.”
She stared at him in shock. Did he really just say that? He was smiling resolutely – gazing confidently into her eyes. It obviously wasn’t a slip of the tongue.
Her face broke into a grin. “Do you?”
“It would seem that way. All those insults you’ve thrown at me over the last six months have truly meant a lot.”
“They’ve been fun. And – I never thought I’d say this – but I think I love you too.”
Joseph ran his fingers through her hair. “You’ve gotta work hard in life, but there’s always time to step back and smell the flowers, right?”
She frowned. “What does that mean?”
He grinned. “It means, there’s always time for a bit of fun. Can you take a break for an hour?”
She gazed at her laptop. She was so close to finishing and she wanted to continue… but more than that she wanted to spend time with Joseph. “Sure. What for?”