Read Online One Hundred Names by Cecelia Ahern - Free Book Online Page A

desk?’
    ‘You on to something?’
    ‘I’m going to contact the names directly to see if Constance was speaking to them. Who is that lady at my desk?’
    ‘How can you contact them?’
    ‘From the phone directory,’ she said, trying not to show that she was well aware it was a stupid idea.
    ‘That’s it?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘And how many people are on the list?’
    ‘One hundred. Who is the lady at my desk?’
    ‘One hundred? Jesus, Kitty, that will take for ever.’
    ‘I’ve already worked my way through most of the first name.’
    ‘And? Any luck?’
    ‘Not yet.’
    He stared at her angrily.
    ‘Her name is “McGowan”; it might as well be “Smith” in this country. I’ve made about one hundred calls already. Pete, what do you expect me to do? There’s no other way. I started by googling them all and Archie Hamilton is either a clown available for kids’ parties, he works at Davy’s stockbrokers, he died ten years ago or he went to prison five years ago for assault. Which one do you think I should just guess it is?’
    He sighed. ‘Look, you can’t work here.’
    ‘Why not?’ She looked out the window, then pointedly back at her desk.
    ‘That’s Bernie Mulligan. I’ve asked her to write a story in your place in this month’s issue. The Cox Brothers called, along with a few other of our major advertisers. They’ve come under severe pressure to pull this month’s advertising.’
    ‘Why?’
    Silence.
    ‘Oh. Because of me.’
    ‘They’ve been put under pressure for months but after the court case now they feel that they can’t support the magazine without it been seen to at least reprimand you in some way.’
    ‘But the television network have already suspended me. It has nothing to do with
Etcetera
.’
    ‘Somebody is stirring trouble for them.’
    ‘Colin Maguire’s crowd,’ she said. ‘They’re doing whatever they can to destroy me.’
    ‘We don’t know it’s them,’ he said, but with very little energy and belief behind it. He ran his hand through his hair. It was so glossy and perfect it fell straight back into place and reminded Kitty of a Head & Shoulders commercial. For the first time, she noticed he was actually quite handsome.
    ‘So you’re suspending me.’
    ‘No … I’m asking you not to work in the office for the next three weeks while I try to convince them.’
    ‘But what about Constance’s story?’
    He rubbed his eyes tiredly.
    ‘That’s why you didn’t want me to write it, isn’t it? That’s why you asked Cheryl.’
    ‘My hands are tied, Kitty. They’re our biggest advertisers. We lose them, it’s suicide and I can’t afford to let that happen.’
    ‘Does Bob know?’
    ‘No, and you’re not to tell him either. He doesn’t need this on his plate. That’s why Cheryl and I are here.’
    ‘I want to work on the story,’ Kitty said. She suddenly very much needed to do this story. It was all she had.
    ‘If they do as they say then we can’t publish your name,’ he said, appearing tired. ‘I don’t see a way round it.’
    Kitty suddenly liked this side of him. He seemed human, not like his usual bulldog self. ‘I was thinking of writing under Kitty Logan from now on. You know, drop Katherine. Nobody but my mother calls me it anyway …’ She swallowed. Katherine Logan carried such weight, she felt embarrassed saying it aloud, self-conscious when she phoned up the names on the list, paranoid about their reaction and what they must be thinking but not saying. She was ashamed of her own name. Kitty could be her fresh start.
    Pete looked at her rather pityingly.
    ‘Or even better,’ she fought off his pity and brightened as a new idea sprung to her mind, ‘we put Constance’s name to it. It’s her final story.’
    ‘We can’t do that, Kitty, not if it’s your story.’ He seemed surprised, but in a good way, impressed that she was suggesting not putting her name to her own hard work. He softened. ‘We’ll work something out. Just keep