Wearing another Kara Kingston design didn’t help Piper feel any better at work that morning. It felt like espresso martini sweat was seeping through every pore of her body. She kept her sunglasses on as she walked through the foyer, avoiding eye contact with the receptionists and grabbed a copy of the current issue of Aspire on the way.

At least there was no-one in the office yet. Piper put her stupid fake bag under her desk and took out her phone to read Mason’s reply again.

Thank you for making that clear. I won’t bother you again.

Mason.

It was so final.

Piper’s hand trembled as she erased the message. What an idiot she’d been to get herself into this situation. It was going to be a real treat, having to see Mason around at work from now on and knowing that she had loved being kissed by him.

She opened up the Aspire and flicked through it distractedly.

The photos from the Bojangles shoot were all there. They’d worked out beautifully. Even in the state she was in, Piper was pleased to see that Georgie had a whole page in the bikini shoot, with Kara on the other side of the spread. The two models really complemented each other; Georgie was voluptuous in her red gingham bikini, looking out to the horizon, while Kara, angular in her silver costume, lounged at the shoreline. Georgie would be stoked.

Piper flipped the page. The Aztecs were there, but the pictures of them were much smaller. Immediately, the word karma came to mind. She batted it away. Who was she to think about karma? If there truly was such a thing, it wouldn’t be any good for her. She’d cheated on her boyfriend and fucked things up profoundly. Again.

Oh well, she thought, at least things can’t get much worse.

Piper flipped the pages to the feature article. This was part of the new direction: Piper read Wendy’s three-page feature on plastic surgery. This was definitely not a snippet or a grab – it was incisive, interesting and obviously well researched. It was almost disappointing to get to the end. Especially as she then had to return to her own thoughts.

Piper decided she’d just take a quick look at the horoscopes tucked away near the end of the mag, and then she would try to start her day. But then her eye caught on an article titled ‘Sheer Sense.’

Just a few pages from the back cover, there it was – surrounded by some of the photos Piper had sourced. Jennifer Lawrence took prime position in the centre, in a perfect sheer dress. The text was in a box in the upper right-hand corner. Piper’s text. As far as Piper could tell, not a word had been changed. Except for two words in bold font at the very end: Vivian Jacobson.

Piper wasn’t sure how long she’d been sitting there, staring at the article in disbelief, when Lucy came in.

‘Piper. What’s wrong? You look like shit.’

Piper pointed at the article. ‘I wrote this, Lucy,’ she said, suddenly snapping out of it. ‘Vivian stole it.’

She turned to her computer, searching frantically for evidence. The article was gone. There was no trace of it in any of her files. Or in her recycle bin. Slowly, it dawned on her. That’s why her computer had been moved the night after she wrote the article. It wasn’t the cleaners at all; Vivian must have come in during the night.

She looked at Lucy, tears pricking her eyes. ‘You probably don’t believe me,’ she said softly.

Lucy sighed. She put a finger to her lips in a shh gesture. Then she closed the office door, shutting out the growing noise from the hallway. When she came back, she swivelled her chair so it was close to Piper’s.

‘I believe you,’ she whispered. ‘I believe you because I know what she’s like. I haven’t told a soul about this, because I don’t have any evidence either. But stuff keeps going missing. After each shoot, I check things off and sign for them. Then I put them in the fashion cupboard. When I’m ready to send them back to the designers, half the time there’s something missing.’ She paused thoughtfully. ‘Vivian is the only other person who has a key to the fashion cupboard, but it looks bad for me, doesn’t it? I got an email from Rose the other day, letting me know she’s concerned that items have gone missing from other shoots. Basically, if anything else goes missing, I’m cactus.’

‘That is so fucked up,’ Piper said. ‘I’m probably not going to be able to prove what she’s done with my article. But you can. You’ve got to get a camera in the fashion cupboard and then –’

There was a muffled sound coming from the fashion cupboard. Both girls crept towards it, and they opened the sliding doors. Bronwyn was sitting just inside the door, sobbing into a tissue.

‘Jesus, what happened, Bron?’ Lucy asked.

Bronwyn choked back a sob. ‘I showed Vivian my designs,’ she said in a low wail. A terrible feeling settled inside Piper’s stomach. Bronwyn wiped her eyes. ‘She said –,’ Bronwyn started, and then had to pause to collect herself. ‘She said, Just because no-one’s ever going to understand your designs, it doesn’t make you an artist. Then she called my dresses try-hard sacks.’ Piper and Lucy exchanged disgusted looks. ‘After all this time, she still doesn’t know my name,’ Bronwyn continued. ‘And now this.’

Piper and Lucy waited until Bronwyn calmed down, then they led her back into the office, the three of them pulling their chairs close together for support.

‘Wow, you girls look positively conspiratorial,’ said Vivian, striding into the office.

Piper gasped as she saw the new Aspire tucked under Vivian’s sharp elbow, folded open to the ‘Sheer Sense’ article.

Vivian continued as though oblivious. ‘I guess it’s lucky for you, Piper, that there’s no time for gossip in the fashion department.’ Her phone rang.

‘Hi Rose,’ she answered, giving the girls a wink. ‘Yes, of course I can.’ Rose said something at the other end, and Vivian did a little fake laugh. ‘Oh, I couldn’t really handle it all single-handedly. But thanks.’ As she hung up the phone, she clicked her fingers at Bronwyn. ‘You. Down to the art department,’ she barked.

Piper and Lucy shrugged helplessly as Bronwyn left the office.

‘And perhaps you two could see your way to getting some actual work done.’ Vivian smiled coolly over her shoulder as she left the room.