Look for the Girl With the Broken Smile

"You're late." The receptionist, Olivia, looked up from filing her nails. She smirked at SJ, who was standing before her, breathless.

"I know. Something came up," SJ lied. Making out with her boyfriend in his car—something definitely came up. "Any messages for Chris?" Chris Davis was the editor-in-chief, her boss. Actually, basically everyone's boss.

"Sure." Olivia stretched as though she didn't have a care in the world.

"Well…?" SJ knew Olivia disliked her because she had wanted the job SJ had. Well, tough luck.

Olivia tossed her blond hair. "You know you're supposed to be at that meeting?"

SJ froze. "What meeting?"

"You know…" Olivia pretended to think. "That meeting with that really important French advertiser?"

"What?" SJ yelped. "Holy shit, I'm late."

"That's what I told you," Olivia said smugly. She slipped out from behind her desk and followed SJ to the elevator.

SJ stabbed the elevator button about twenty times. "Shit," she mumbled again. "Hurry up, hurry up…"

"See, this is why I should be Chris' assistant," Olivia was saying as the elevator door opened. She entered it leisurely as SJ ran in. "I'm always on time."

"Yeah, but you also don't have half a brain," SJ said under her breath.

"You know, Chris was considering me until…" Olivia droned on. SJ searched her purse for something to eat. She had been planning on stopping by the cafeteria to pick something up, but now she definitely didn't have time. She found a Reese's peanut butter bar and pulled it out triumphantly. Reese's cups were her favorite. She tore open the wrapper and took a piece.

Olivia stared at her. "OMG, you're not actually going to eat that! Do you know how many calories that has?" she gasped. Her navy blue eyes were wide as the elevator tinged open and SJ hurried out, with Olivia still following. "Sweetie, I know you're really skinny now, but chocolate! That can make anyone fat." She whispered the last word as though it was some profanity.

SJ ignored her and broke off another piece to eat. She turned the corner. There, in the conference room, sat about half the magazine staff. Shit. SJ hated to walk in late in front of that many people. She tucked the Reese's in her purse and cautiously walked in. Olivia flounced in after her, probably just to watch SJ get yelled at.

Everyone turned to look at them. "Sorry," SJ apologized. "I was running late."

"Just sit down." Chris looked annoyed. SJ gulped. Chris, as Olivia liked to remind SJ, had gone through twenty-two assistants in the past year alone.

"So, Madame Marie," Chris said to the rich French advertiser, who was sitting fanning herself with an entourage of black-suited men around her. "This number is a statistic of how many twenty- to thirty-year-olds read Vogue. This percentage demonstrates how many could potentially be attracted to your ads—"

"But I don't understand," Madame Marie interrupted in heavily accented English. "Je suis—comment-dit-on en Anglais?—Je suis très confused. Peut-être…explain-vous from le beginning," she instructed.

Chris sighed and looked around the room. Usually he was a smooth-talker and could quickly get advertisers to sign contracts, but today it wasn't working for him. "Does anyone here speak fluent French?" he asked, frustrated.

SJ raised her hand. Chris gestured for her to come to the front, and sat her next to Madame Marie. "Okay, translate what I say," he told her.

SJ began to translate in rapid French what Chris was saying. Madame Marie seemed to be understanding it now. Or maybe not. Her face was turning a little red, and she fanned a little faster.

She suddenly gasped, cutting off SJ. Her eyes were bulging. "Quoi?" SJ said uncertainly. Madame Marie's face looked like it was breaking out into hives.

"I cannot breathe," she croaked. "Call an ambulance!"

"Elle est allergique à les cacahuètes," a member of her entourage told SJ before pulling out his phone.

"She's allergic to peanut butter?" SJ repeated in English. Oh, shit.

"Who the fuck has peanut butter in here?" Chris roared.

Olivia pointed at SJ smugly from across the room. "SJ had a Reese's peanut butter cup."

Chris turned to SJ, looking absolutely furious as an ambulance wailed outside. SJ gulped. This was not going to be good.