Chapter 11

Michael didn’t expect such a reaction. He knew perfectly well what Alex wanted to tell him and what he would inevitably hear. To avoid a controversial discussion on the sensitive topic of women, or rather his attitude towards them, he spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness.

He hoped that this time Alex would let go and skip a lecture about his outrageous, even scandalous, rowdy lifestyle that he didn’t accept.

“So what's going on?” He asked sincerely, hoping to finally find out the reason for his friend's strange behavior.

"If the chief editor reads my curriculum vitae, I'll end up in Alaska or the South Pole, so you'd better shut up." Alex said softly.

“It won't be that bad! Don't worry! At most, she will send you to the Paris-Dakar race in a Trabant!

Alex was in no mood to laugh. On his face, Michael could see a real sadness. He wondered what else he wrote in his resume? For sure, nothing he didn’t know. So what is the problem?

His friend graduated with honors in journalism, was fluent in three languages, and after graduation he received a scholarship at a prestigious university in the United States. So what could he be afraid of?

He is a brilliant, talented journalist, who was often pursued by competition magazines in order to poach him. Does he want to leave? Impossible.

Despite the large age difference, they understood each other perfectly. They spent their free time together. Alex was a frequent visitor to his house. He had unlimited access to his private empire and was free to use the rich library collections accumulated by him and his ancestors.

Michael felt that the ground was burning under his feet. This was just what he lacked for his friend to leave the competition. It was he who should change his job as he did not become the chief editor.

The previous evening, he was talking to his friends in a pub. He had publicly said that he was leaving the magazine because he saw no possibility of further cooperation with Williams and the new chief editor. He also tried to find out what was going on with the competition, where it would pay off to move.

An old friend from college gave him an offer to move to a public relations agency, but he refused almost immediately, realizing that he would be plowing there for a lot more money, and that the working day would be at least two or three hours longer. Not a profitable change.

Besides, he was constantly thinking how and where to move his ‘bar’ before the chief editor found out about it. He wanted to ask Alex for help, but found it impossible to talk to him today.

***

The next day, Alice was the first person to come to the magazines’ office again; then Nicolas, Alex with Thomas and all the women working for the magazine, who immediately took up their duties.

Alex and Thomas were sitting focused, waiting for the further development of events, because judging by the face of the chief editor, it was going to be another day full of emotions.

At exactly fifteen past nine, Alice got up from the almost empty collegiate table, went to the front door and to the surprise of those present, closed it, and then went back to her office. After a while, she returned with her laptop, sat down and began to work in complete silence.

Alex and Thomas didn’t want to accompany her. Anyway, there was no point in sitting further and waiting for their friends. Taking advantage of Jack's absence, who was also late, they went to the newsroom.

At about eleven-thirty, journalists began to gather outside the front door. The sounds of their loud discussions came from the corridor. The fact that they found the door closed was a shock to them. They thought there was no one there yet.

It happened many times that only Nicolas, his assistant Kate and someone from the advertising department sat in the editorial office until lunch time. There would be nothing extraordinary about it, if not for the fact that in the parking lot there was the chief editor’s jaguar, this time without a chauffeur, and also a car belonging to their boss Williams, and Thomas and Alex.

Attempts to reach both: the official lines of the editorial office and colleagues, were unsuccessful. All lines were busy and their colleagues' phones were off. It was then that they realised that something was wrong!

They waited patiently and discussed the previous day’s meeting in the Tavern, where they were partying until the premises was closed.

Eventually, Adam had the idea to go downstairs - the elevator, unfortunately, wasn't working again - to take the emergency keys from the concierge desk. Instead of the keys, the porter pointed him to an A4 sheet of paper hanging on the black ads board.

‘Dear ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to keep working, please be on time!’ It was signed: “Chief editor: A. McNielsen’.

Adam was speechless. He took off the note and took it upstairs to show it to his friends.

“She's a mean witch! Vengeful bastard! In the night club, she should dance by the pole, not manage the editorial office!” Michael summed up the content of the information.

“Gentlemen, there is nothing to worry about! After all, she won’t dismiss all of us.” Jack delivered his opinion.

“Why not?” Adam said, terrified of the situation. He managed to notice on the morning of the previous day that the chief editor had a tough character and won’t let them all get on her head.

"We don't know anything about her.” He continued. “Williams doesn’t care about us for about three months, he doesn't talk to anyone, except advertisers and friends visiting him on business. In fact...” He thought for a moment, analyzing the facts. “We don't know what's going on. Maybe the owners want to close the magazine, maybe we're just going bankrupt?”

“You might be right, man!” Simon nodded loudly to him. “We don't know anything since Nicolas stopped talking to us. As far as I know, the financial condition of the magazine, and the publishing house in general, is pretty good, we get our salaries on time so don't worry.”

"Unless... the new chief editor has already completed another team.” Adam expressed his assumptions.