A Love of My Own Read Online Free PDF

I know your daddy and I would love to see you too,” Mother said.
    â€œLet’s both think about what will be best as long as it involves me getting a hug soon from the woman I love the most,” I said as I walked back to my desk and sat down.
    â€œI love you, Zola,” Mother said.
    â€œI love you, too, Mother. Promise me you’re going to stop worrying.”
    â€œI’ll try.”
    â€œPromise.”
    â€œI promise,” Mother said, and we both hung up the phone, drained by an ungrateful Pamela.

    Later that evening, around seven-thirty, I was reviewing the details of a cover-shoot schedule for pop star Yancey B., who was making her movie debut and getting ready to release her second CD. Yancey B. was at the top of her game, but I was beginning to wish I’d selected someone else for the December cover. A couple of designers had mentioned that they would love seeing Yancey B. wearing their clothes, so I acquiesced.
    Yancey B. and her manager were carrying on like she was a diva with a capital D. They had a list of requirements two pages long. I wanted to assign the story to Veronica Chambers, one of the best writers in the country, but I knew she’d never agree to Yancey B.’s demands. We had to use the photographer of her choice as well as her stylist and her hair-and-makeup guy. But it didn’t stop there. The list of food we were required to have on the set included caviar, green seedless grapes, Fiji bottled water, Grich Hills Chardonnay, DeLoach Merlot, and Sunkist orange soda in addition to cold shrimp, which each needed to measure at least two inches.
    Normally I would have told Yancey B. and her people where to go, but they had chosen
Bling Bling
to do an exclusive promotion with our readers that involved screening her new movie at Yancey B.’s South Beach penthouse. We had beat out several of our competitors, including
Sister 2 Sister, Essence, Honey,
and
O
and we’d never been in a position to compete with them before. I saw this as a tremendously positive sign that we were a few issues away from increasing circulation.
    Just as I was making sure I had my two-way pager in my bag, Cyndi came in with a look on her face I didn’t like.
    â€œThere’s a phone call for you,” she said dryly. I knew this wasn’t a good sign, because she usually just buzzed me. When she came into the office, I always knew something was wrong.
    â€œWho is it?”
    â€œYou’re not going to like this.”
    â€œCyndi, tell me who it is.”
    â€œIt’s Lena Ford, Yancey B.’s publicist. When I asked if I could help, thinking it had something to do with the shoot, she said she had to speak to you. I told her I was handling all of the arrangements, including that tacky white limo they requested. She said she needed to speak to you no matter where you were.” Lena Ford was a powerhouse publicist who was known in the industry as being more difficult than many of her high-profile clients.
    â€œThanks, Cyndi. You’re right, this doesn’t sound good,” I said, and picked up the phone. Cyndi gave me a sour look as she left the office.
    â€œHi, Lena,” I said cheerfully.
    â€œZola, I’ve got some bad news,” she said quickly.
    â€œWhat?” I asked as I sank to my seat.
    â€œThere’s a problem with the shoot.”
    â€œWhat problem? Is something wrong with Yancey B.?”
    â€œNo, we’ll be there bright and early,” Lena said.
    â€œThen everything’s fine. What’s the problem?”
    â€œIs there any way we can delay the cover?”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œWe can still do the shoot tomorrow, but I was wondering if we could move the publication back a couple of months.”
    â€œA couple of months?” I asked, raising my voice.
    â€œYeah, just a couple of months. Since magazines are always on the stands a month early, it shouldn’t matter anyway. Some scheduling