BooksBarbecue
Back The Cottage in the Highlands Save as PDF
Chapters (46)
  1. Cover
  2. Chapter One
  3. Chapter Two
  4. Chapter Three
  5. Chapter Four
  6. Chapter Five
  7. Chapter Six
  8. Chapter Seven
  9. Chapter Eight
  10. Chapter Nine
  11. Chapter Ten
  12. Chapter Eleven
  13. Chapter Twelve
  14. Chapter Thirteen
  15. Chapter Fourteen
  16. Chapter Fifteen
  17. Chapter Sixteen
  18. Chapter Seventeen
  19. Chapter Eighteen
  20. Chapter Nineteen
  21. Chapter Twenty
  22. Chapter Twenty-One
  23. Chapter Twenty-Two
  24. Chapter Twenty-Three
  25. Chapter Twenty-Four
  26. Chapter Twenty-Five
  27. Chapter Twenty-Six
  28. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  29. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  30. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  31. Chapter Thirty
  32. Chapter Thirty-One
  33. Chapter Thirty-Two
  34. Chapter Thirty-Three
  35. Chapter Thirty-Four
  36. Chapter Thirty-Five
  37. Chapter Thirty-Six
  38. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  39. Epilogue
  40. Acknowledgments
  41. Thank you for reading…
  42. You will also love…
  43. About the Author
  44. Also by Julie Shackman
  45. One More Chapter...
  46. About the Publisher

I leant forward and began to read.

My eyes widened as I processed what it said.

Chapter Five

We are looking for an investigative journalist who can produce sharp, incisive copy and is an excellent communicator. Goddess, the successful weekly Scottish print publication, is seeking a first-rate individual who is keen to make a difference and who isn’t afraid of asking the difficult questions. A degree in journalism, together with at least two years’ experience of working in a newspaper or magazine environment is desired.

I swallowed and read on:

You will be working directly under editor and Goddess owner Athena Mayhew. So, if you want to be a part of Scotland’s premier magazine for today’s independent woman, apply now with your CV and a two-hundred-word article on why you should become the next member of our team.

My eyes flew to the competitive salary and employment benefits, but all at once they appeared insignificant when faced with the biting reality that Athena Mayhew would be the successful candidate’s boss.

Oh bugger. Athena Mayhew was like the feared lioness of the glossy magazine world. Anybody who worked in journalism knew of her, had heard infamous stories about her or – if you were really unfortunate – had been on the receiving end of one of her tirades.

She was known for not suffering fools gladly and would often take great delight in reminding anyone who cared to listen that she had worked her way up the demanding and competitive ladder of magazine journalism.

There were tales that she had reduced hard-bitten senior executives to quaking jellies prior to staff meetings and instructed her minions to leave their mobiles permanently switched on so that they were never incommunicado.

Athena Mayhew had started at a small weekly publication for women twenty years ago, Promises, answering phones and undertaking clerical work in the advertising department. Within a couple of years, she had become the same magazine’s senior features editor, before leaving them behind and moving on to become editor of several much higher profile fashion and beauty publications. Now she actually owned her own magazine.

I tried not to dwell on the heart-stopping prospect of working for this tyrant and turned my attention back to the job advert. The deadline for applications closed in one week, on October 15th.

I then clicked on the link to Goddess magazine that was quoted in the advert. It took me to Athena Mayhew’s bio. My cursor hovered over her challenging profile: