The Price of Fame - KJ1 (36 page)

“We just can’t afford to lose that kind of money, Kate. Nothing personal,” Randy added. “Listen, we’re going to honor the remainder of your contract, which is another two years, and pay it out to you in a lump sum. In fact, here’s the check.” He handed her an envelope that he pulled from an inside pocket of his suit jacket.

She glanced down at it and up into his eyes, cobalt blue burning into him. “Are you firing me, Randy?” Her voice was low and measured, without a hint of the anger, incredulity, or disappointment she felt.

He looked to the others for support. “Um, I’d rather not call it that, Kate. I’d rather just say that you have decided to pursue other opportunities and leave it at that. In fact, we have prepared a statement to that effect that we’re ready to release as soon as you agree.” He handed her a piece of paper.

With a shock she realized that this had all been rehearsed and choreographed; they were just going through the motions. “In fact,” she emphasized, using Randy’s terminology and taking a step forward, “I’m guessing it doesn’t really matter one way or the other what I want or how 217

Lynn Ames

I want to play this. You seem to have everything figured out.” There was no rancor in her statement, just a frank assessment.

“I’m sorry whom I love or how I love offends some of your viewers.

That’s most unfortunate for them. I have always had the utmost respect for all of you and this news operation. I wish you all the best.” She started to leave. With her hand on the knob, she turned back and said,

“As for what you say in the press release, you do what you feel you must, but I will not be quoted in it, is that clear? You may lie or put a pretty face on it if you choose, but I will not demean my credibility for the sake of expedience. Good luck, gentlemen, I will always be grateful for the opportunity you gave me. Thanks.”

With that, she was gone.

The men waited until the door clicked closed, then slumped back in their respective chairs. “Whew. Glad that’s over with,” Randy said, running two fingers under his shirt collar.

“Yeah, you got that right,” John agreed. “That was easier than I thought it would be. I thought she would put up a fight. Well, you can’t say we weren’t prepared for anything. Sitting down with the lawyers in that conference call before she got here was a stroke of genius, boss. I’m sure they’re right and paying off her contract will keep her from suing or making a public fuss; heck, we treated her better than most places would’ve.”

“I’ve got to admit,” Les threw in with a note of grudging respect, “I thought she was pretty classy and pretty gutsy about the whole thing. She never once lost her cool.”

“Like an ice princess,” John agreed.

“I can’t believe she’s really a lesbian. She’s so hot; she could have any guy she wanted. What a waste,” Randy intoned. “I don’t know what I’m going to tell my kid when she asks why she can’t talk to her anymore.”

Phil just sat there glumly, knowing that the station had just lost the finest anchorwoman and one of the best reporters it had ever had and that he had lost a good friend. He didn’t know how he could ever face her again, or if he would ever get the chance, but he hoped he would, someday.

At 9:34 a.m. Jay was riding the subway on her way to the office. She was standing in one of the middle cars, as was her custom, thinking about what she wanted to outfit her home office with when her stomach suddenly clenched. Caught off guard, she nearly doubled over.
What the
hell?
Just as she was regaining her equilibrium a surge of adrenaline pumped through her, as if she were responding to some sort of 218

The Price of Fame

threatening situation. She looked around her for the source of her discomfort, but could find nothing.

After getting off at her stop, she made her way into the building and onto the elevator. She was alone in the car when she was bombarded with a rush of anger so strong it scared her. What was going on? She shook her head to clear her mind. What could she possibly be angry about? She was completely puzzled. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before.

Once at her floor, she went directly to the ladies’ room, where she splashed her face with cold water in an attempt to alleviate the pressure in her head. When she reached her desk she relegated the odd sensations to the back of her mind, focusing instead on organizing her workspace and seeking out Trish to find out what her next assignment might be.

“Hiya, kid. Hey, that’s some tan you got there. You look great. And it’s a good thing you’re well rested, ’cause I got a doozy for you. How do you feel about being a globetrotter?”

“Okay, Trish, now you’ve really lost me.”

“I know you were hiding away somewhere and probably didn’t pay too much attention to the news, but did you hear about the
Stark
?”

“The what?”

“The USS
Stark
. Got blown up on Sunday, killed thirty-seven and another five or more were injured. They’ve been taken to the military hospital at Wiesbaden, near Frankfurt, Germany. I want you to go over there and interview some of the injured.”

“Okay. Now I remember seeing something last night about it. The USS
Stark
, hit by two Iraqi Exocet missiles in the Persian Gulf while out protecting the shipping lanes for oil.”

“Right. I want you to do a little research and then fly over there tonight. We’ve got you clearance to be on the base tomorrow for the interviews. Then I need you to be flexible, ’cause we’re thinking there might be a memorial service somewhere. If there is, you’re going to cover it.”

“Okay. I’ll get right on it.” Making her way back to her desk to plan her next steps, Jay tried to order her thoughts. She needed to get the newspapers for the last several days, as well as the Associated Press wire reports, and talk to sources at the Pentagon to see what she could find out about the injured sailors ahead of time. And she’d need to make plane reservations for later that day.

But first, she wanted to call Kate and tell her that she wouldn’t be home that night, and probably not the next night either. She might not be able to get home for the rest of the week, which was a depressing thought. Dialing the now-familiar number, she was surprised when the answering machine picked up. She looked at her watch: 10:22 a.m. That 219

Lynn Ames

was odd, her lover should have been home. One thing Jay had quickly discovered about the anchorwoman was that she was a creature of habit.

By 10:00 a.m. she would have worked out and run, played ball with Fred, and been inside reading the newspaper or a book in the library, or out on the deck.

“This is Kate. I’m not home right now to take your call, so please leave a message after the beep and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks.”

Beep.

“Hi, sweetheart, it’s me. I can’t imagine where you are, but I’ll try you again in a little while. Seems like I’m heading to Germany to interview injured sailors from the USS
Stark
, which was attacked in the Persian Gulf over the weekend. Unfortunately, that means I won’t be home tonight, and probably not tomorrow night, either. I’m bummed.”

She thought about mentioning the unsettling emotions she’d been experiencing all morning, but decided to wait to tell her in person.

“Anyway, I’ll try you again, or you can try me at the office. I’ve got some background research to do, so I may be away from my desk for a while, but you can leave a message if you want.” Lowering her voice, she added, “I love you, Kate. Bye.”

At 12:30 p.m. Jay was just getting back to her desk from the research room. She couldn’t shake the roiling feeling of misery and despair that had seeped into her consciousness for the past couple of hours, replacing the anger that had preceded it. Was she just upset at having to go out of the country and not being able to see Kate? It seemed to her as though the reaction was out of proportion to the situation, if that was the case. But she didn’t think it was. Something else was going on, although she couldn’t imagine what, and it was really disconcerting.

Trish appearing at her elbow interrupted her ruminations. “Hey, kiddo. Have you seen this yet?” She pointed to something she held in her hand.

Jay glanced at the newspaper and shook her head.

“Well, it seems there’s a little something we didn’t tell our readers,”

she said glibly, offering the writer the newspaper.

Jay unfolded it and realized that it was the
National Enquirer
, hardly something she would have taken notice of. Then she saw the big, bold headline, caught a glimpse of the pictures, and read the caption. Her face drained of color.

“Are you okay, kid? You look like you saw a ghost or something.”

Jay took a moment to compose herself, a thousand thoughts running through her head at the same time, but one overwhelming desire: she had 220

The Price of Fame

to find Kate. God, what if she had seen it? What if her bosses had? Did that explain the strange emotions Jay had been experiencing all day? She looked again at the pictures with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Kate was clearly identifiable, though anyone would have been hard-pressed to know that it was Jay with the anchorwoman. She refocused on Trish. No, she didn’t seem to have figured it out.

Trying to control the quaver in her voice and the angry sparks in her eyes, Jay pointed at the pictures and said, “I didn’t think that was something the reading public needed to know. It wasn’t germane to the story. Does it matter to you?”

“What, that the woman is gay? Nah. Love is love. I told you we were only interested in her professional life, and I meant it. This kind of crap isn’t anybody’s business but hers and her lover’s.”

Relieved beyond measure by her boss’s attitude, Jay considered telling Trish that she was the other woman in the photo, but she didn’t want to take anything away from the story she had done about Kate. It had been a fair piece, a good piece, and she didn’t want to taint it, or the anchorwoman, by raising questions in her editor’s mind of objectivity.

All she could think about was getting to her lover as soon as possible.

Then she remembered that she needed to be on a plane in five hours.

Damn
. She needed to get moving.

“Thanks, Trish. You know, I’ve got to hustle if I’m going to catch that plane. I’ve got to go home and pack. I’ve done all the preliminary research I can from here. I’ve got three or four interviews lined up for tomorrow at the hospital in Wiesbaden and I hope to catch up with some of the family members of the injured, as well. I’ll call you when I’m done with that to find out if you want me to cover the memorial service, if there is one, okay?” She was already gathering her things and putting them in her briefcase.

“Sounds good. You have a safe flight, you hear? Be careful over there.”

“I will. Thanks, Trish.”

As the editor moved away, Jay immediately picked up the phone, looking at her watch. It was just after 1:00 p.m.; surely Kate would be at home. She dialed the number and was greeted by the answering machine.

She hung up and tried Kate’s work number.

The receptionist picked up. “WCAP-TV, may I help you?”

That had never happened before; Jay knew that she had dialed Kate’s personal extension. “Is Katherine Kyle there, please?”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Kyle is not available at the moment.”

“Is she in? When will she be available?”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Kyle is not in today. Would you like to talk to the news director?”

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The news director? Not in today? What is going on?
“No, thank you,”

Jay said distractedly, hanging up the phone and hustling out the door.

After leaving the station, Kate had gone directly home. She put on her favorite pair of ripped jeans and a black t-shirt, then went into the yard to play ball with Fred. She was furious, but not surprised, at the spinelessness of the station management. When she had taken over the anchoring chair the station had been number three of the three major networks in the market. Within a month she had taken them to number one, where they had remained the entire time she had been in the hot seat.

Even so, they were unwilling to stick with her and ride out a little adverse publicity that probably would have increased their ratings anyway; she had no doubt that people would have tuned in just for the curiosity factor. But viewers didn’t account for profits, advertisers did, and a threat to pull ads was the kiss of death. The thing that stung the most was not even that they had fired her; it was the machinations and the premeditation of it all. It was clear to her that the station lawyers had been consulted and had called the shots. Did those idiots honestly think she was going to sue them? Fools; the job was never about the money to her.

Well, this wasn’t getting her anywhere. Her biggest concern at the moment was Jay. It was clear that Les and Phil hadn’t put two and two together and figured out who the other woman was, but what about Jay’s boss? Would she see it and would she know? Kate couldn’t bear the thought that this could jeopardize her lover’s career. She needed to get to Jay as soon as possible and make sure she was okay.

Within a half-hour she was on a train bound for New York City; she would be at the apartment by 1:30 p.m. The question was what would she do once she got there? As she sat looking out the window at the river passing by, she considered her options. Some things she knew with absolute certainty. The first was that her face had just become one of the most recognizable in the country. And the second was that she would protect Jay no matter what, which meant that she had to stay away from her. It was the only way to guarantee that no one could connect them.

She knew that making this decision unilaterally without getting Jay’s input would likely destroy any trust that she had earned; after all, walking away without explanation would no doubt make her lover question Kate’s true feelings for her. And hadn’t she promised that whenever trust issues came up they would discuss them until there were no doubts? Tears formed in her eyes and leaked out as she thought about the idea of leaving her lover and breaking that vow, even if it was the 222