You’ve given me a new task for Catherine. Pillow butler. She’ll love you forever for this suggestion. BTW, what does a pillow butler even do?
I can’t contain my smile as I text him back:
A pillow butler apparently can make all your pillow wishes come true. Whatever pillow you want, they will make it appear. So if I despise the soft down pillows I have now? I can get a firm synthetic one. AMAZING!
Caleb Collings is typing …
This is a necessity. I’m going to have Catherine travel with at least ten to satisfy my pillow whims.
Before I can respond, another message comes through:
Get some sleep. I know you must be tired. It had to take you at least sixteen hours to get here. I’m expecting you to not only be awake tomorrow, but to ask good questions.
I text him back:
Oh, I know better than that. I must not only ask good questions, but I can’t bore you, either.
I bite my lip, waiting for his reply. Soon it drops in:
You could never bore me, Isla. Good night.
Goose bumps sweep over my skin. I stare at his words a little longer than I should, then I put down my phone and get serious about unpacking.
And trying not to think about how much I’m thinking about Caleb.
* * *
Italy is BEAUTIFUL.
Like next-level beautiful.
I breathe in the fresh air and feel the sun warm my skin as I make my way to the villa rented by The Downforce Network. I’m being driven over by the hotel staff in a golf cart, and as we zip along the path, I study the hills around me. They’re full of grapes and olive trees, and I listen to the sound of water splashing in a fountain as we move past it.
In two hours, I’ll be conducting an interview with Caleb that could make my career. Snippets of it will no doubt be picked up by other networks. Shared on social media over and over again. Even if The Downforce Network doesn’t offer me more work, someone else surely will.
And I know my own channels will get loads of traffic no matter what happens.
“The Olive Villa,” my driver, Enzo, says.
“Thank you for the ride,” I say, grabbing my tote bag.
“Have a good day.”
I turn and walk up the stone path to the wisteria-clad villa, thinking how picture-perfect the sun-drenched house looks with the green hills behind it. I know from doing my research that there’s a beautiful view out back—maybe Caleb would want to sit outside for our interview. I’ll have to ask the videographer what he or she thinks about that idea.
I reach the front door and take a moment to smooth out my skirt. Surprisingly, I’m not nervous about meeting my crew today. I don’t know why, but I feel confident about what I can do and all the preparation I put in for this.
I knock. I can hear muffled voices come closer, and then the door is opened by a young woman.
“Hello,” she says, smiling at me. “I’m Allyson, and I’m your PA for today’s shoot.”
I extend my hand to her. “Hello, I’m Isla Foley. Nice to meet you.”
As I step inside, I notice there are quite a few people milling around. I frown, as I was only expecting there to be a PA, an audio person, and a videographer.
Soon people are coming up to me, and I quickly go into focus mode to remember names as I’m being introduced.
“This is Derna, your videographer,” Allyson says. “And Melody, your A1.”