counter guy set down Cassidy’s food, Nicole said, “In about fifteen minutes, could you bring us a black-and-tan brownie and three spoons?”
After he nodded and left, she turned back to Cassidy. “Are you sure there really is a difference?”
“Hey, her parents have begged for coverage. They want everyone to know what Katie looks like, what a good girl she is. They think it will help.”
Allison pushed the remains of her salad away. “Sometimes I worry that this much coverage just gives people ideas. Now any sicko who wants his own little piece of the six o’clock news knows that all he needs to do is go out and get his own girl.”
Instead of taking offense, Cassidy dropped her eyes and smiled a private smile. “That’s what Rick says, too. He says I’m just encouraging them.”
Nicole pounced. “Rick! So you’ve got yourself a new man? You’ve been holding out on us, girl!”
“This one’s a cop. So he understands the hours. He gets that when a story breaks I’ve got to go.”
“Where’d you meet him?” Allison couldn’t imagine what it would be like to still be dating. She and Marshall had been together since they were sophomores in college.
“I interviewed him when that 7-Eleven clerk got shot, and afterward we ended up going out for coffee.”
Nicole arched an eyebrow. “So is he fine?”
Cassidy licked her lips. “He is very fine. He reminds me of a fox, or maybe a wolf. He’s got these pale blue eyes and dark brown hair and a very muscular body.”
Nicole made a show of fanning herself.
Despite complaining that all the good men were taken or gay, Cassidy managed to find dates every place she went. Dates, yes. Long-term boy-friends, no.
Cassidy was a contradiction. She was always sure of herself when it came to covering a story, but in her personal life she needed constant reassurance. Though she exercised obsessively, she complained about being fat, and worried aloud about growing old—and waited for some-one to contradict her. And she twisted herself into a pretzel to gain the approval of whatever guy she was dating.
Three years earlier, she had been a windsurfer for about two weeks when she had a boyfriend who loved windsurfing. Then she had briefly become a vegetarian when she dated someone who abstained. And there was the time she was “seriously considering” converting to Catholicism until she realized the guy she had met on Match.com expected her to stay home and have babies. Lots of babies.
Maybe this Rick guy would be different.
But Cassidy was still the same. Even over dinner with friends, she couldn’t stop looking for a story. “Jerry wants a minute-forty-five package about Katie on the news every night. That’s an unbelievable amount of time. The world coming to an end would be lucky to get a minute and a half. Normally I would start with the latest update and reverse to the B-roll—but it doesn’t seem like there’s anything new. Right?” She eyed Nicole closely.
Nicole shot Allison a look, which Allison answered with a little nod. None of this got past Cassidy, who grinned in anticipation.
“I wouldn’t say that.” Nicole shook a cautionary finger. “But you can’t use this, Cassidy. Not yet.”
“All right.” She nodded so hard that her artfully highlighted hair swung back and forth.
“I mean it. You can’t. I’ll give you a heads-up when we’re ready to release this. But Katie had a MySpace account, and she kept a blog on it.”
Cassidy’s eyebrows went up. “And her parents didn’t take it down?”
“They didn’t know anything about it,” Nicole said, reaching out to grab some of Cassidy’s fries. “It’s anonymous, or at least as anonymous as a seventeen-year-old girl can think of how to be.”
“In other words,” Allison said, “not very.” Reading the blog had left her with a residue of sadness. It brought Katie alive for her—and yet as she read her words, Allison grew even more afraid for the girl.
“Right,”
After he nodded and left, she turned back to Cassidy. “Are you sure there really is a difference?”
“Hey, her parents have begged for coverage. They want everyone to know what Katie looks like, what a good girl she is. They think it will help.”
Allison pushed the remains of her salad away. “Sometimes I worry that this much coverage just gives people ideas. Now any sicko who wants his own little piece of the six o’clock news knows that all he needs to do is go out and get his own girl.”
Instead of taking offense, Cassidy dropped her eyes and smiled a private smile. “That’s what Rick says, too. He says I’m just encouraging them.”
Nicole pounced. “Rick! So you’ve got yourself a new man? You’ve been holding out on us, girl!”
“This one’s a cop. So he understands the hours. He gets that when a story breaks I’ve got to go.”
“Where’d you meet him?” Allison couldn’t imagine what it would be like to still be dating. She and Marshall had been together since they were sophomores in college.
“I interviewed him when that 7-Eleven clerk got shot, and afterward we ended up going out for coffee.”
Nicole arched an eyebrow. “So is he fine?”
Cassidy licked her lips. “He is very fine. He reminds me of a fox, or maybe a wolf. He’s got these pale blue eyes and dark brown hair and a very muscular body.”
Nicole made a show of fanning herself.
Despite complaining that all the good men were taken or gay, Cassidy managed to find dates every place she went. Dates, yes. Long-term boy-friends, no.
Cassidy was a contradiction. She was always sure of herself when it came to covering a story, but in her personal life she needed constant reassurance. Though she exercised obsessively, she complained about being fat, and worried aloud about growing old—and waited for some-one to contradict her. And she twisted herself into a pretzel to gain the approval of whatever guy she was dating.
Three years earlier, she had been a windsurfer for about two weeks when she had a boyfriend who loved windsurfing. Then she had briefly become a vegetarian when she dated someone who abstained. And there was the time she was “seriously considering” converting to Catholicism until she realized the guy she had met on Match.com expected her to stay home and have babies. Lots of babies.
Maybe this Rick guy would be different.
But Cassidy was still the same. Even over dinner with friends, she couldn’t stop looking for a story. “Jerry wants a minute-forty-five package about Katie on the news every night. That’s an unbelievable amount of time. The world coming to an end would be lucky to get a minute and a half. Normally I would start with the latest update and reverse to the B-roll—but it doesn’t seem like there’s anything new. Right?” She eyed Nicole closely.
Nicole shot Allison a look, which Allison answered with a little nod. None of this got past Cassidy, who grinned in anticipation.
“I wouldn’t say that.” Nicole shook a cautionary finger. “But you can’t use this, Cassidy. Not yet.”
“All right.” She nodded so hard that her artfully highlighted hair swung back and forth.
“I mean it. You can’t. I’ll give you a heads-up when we’re ready to release this. But Katie had a MySpace account, and she kept a blog on it.”
Cassidy’s eyebrows went up. “And her parents didn’t take it down?”
“They didn’t know anything about it,” Nicole said, reaching out to grab some of Cassidy’s fries. “It’s anonymous, or at least as anonymous as a seventeen-year-old girl can think of how to be.”
“In other words,” Allison said, “not very.” Reading the blog had left her with a residue of sadness. It brought Katie alive for her—and yet as she read her words, Allison grew even more afraid for the girl.
“Right,”
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