the little bit that was in this morning's paper."
"Your sister?" Jaine's stomach got that sinking feeling again. "Your sister who works for one of the networks?"
"ABC. She's a staffer on Good Morning America." Marci began to look alarmed, too. "Uh – she just had a personal interest, right?"
"She thought it was hilarious. I wouldn't be surprised if you got a call from them, though. She mentioned what a great feature the List would make." Gina sailed to her desk, happy with her part in providing them with publicity. Jaine dug a dollar out of her purse and gave it to Marci, then said four very pithy words.
"Wow." Marci looked impressed. "I've never heard you say that before."
"I save it for emergencies."
Her phone rang. Jaine eyed it. Since it wasn't yet eight o'clock, the phone had no business ringing. There could be nothing but bad news waiting if she answered. On the third ring, Marci scooped it up. "Payroll," she said briskly. "Oh – T.J. This is Marci. We were talking – Oh, damn, honey, I'm sorry," she said, her tone changing to helpless concern.
Jaine snatched the receiver from Marci. "What's happened?" she demanded.
"I'm outed," T.J. said bleakly. "I just picked up my voice mail messages, and there are seven calls from reporters. I bet you have the same calls on your voice mail, too." Jaine looked at the message light. It was blinking like it had a tic.
"Maybe if Marci and I talked to them, that would keep them off you and Luna," she suggested. "All they want is a story, right? They need a face to go with the story; then it's over with and they move on to something else."
"But they have all our names."
"That doesn't mean they need four interviews. Any comment should satisfy them."
Marci, having followed the conversation just by listening to Jaine's end of it, said, "I can do the interviews by myself, if you think it would work."
T.J. heard Marci's offer. "It's worth a shot, I suppose. But I'm not going to run from this. If they aren't satisfied after they talk to you and Marci, or just Marci, then we'll all four sit down and give them their interview, and whatever happens will happen. I refuse to feel guilty and worried because we were having fun and made up a silly list."
"Okay," Marci said when Jaine hung up. "I'll call Luna and fill her in, and then I'll call those reporters back and set up something for lunch. I'll take all the heat, downplay it as much as I can." She crossed her fingers. "This can work." All morning long people stuck their heads in the door and made laughing comments to her; at least, the women did. Jaine also received a couple of measuring offers, as she had expected, from two of the guys and a few sarcastic remarks from others. Leah Street gave her a horrified look and stayed far away, which suited Jaine just fine, though she expected to see a "whore of Babylon" sign appear on her desk at any time. Leah was having more problems with this than T.J. and that was saying a lot. All the messages on her voice mail were from reporters; she deleted them and didn't return any of the calls. Marci must have been busy doing her mop-up campaign, because there weren't any additional calls after about nine. The sharks, promised some chum, were now circling Marci.
Just in case the barbarians were still at the gate, Jaine chickened out and bought her lunch from the snack room vending machines again. If the diversion didn't work and this was only the quiet before the storm, she intended to make the most of it. As it turned out, there wasn't that much quiet, because the snack room was full of people who had brought their lunches that day, including Leah Street, who was sitting alone at a table even though the other tables were crowded.
The buzz of conversation transformed into a mixture of catcalls and applause when Jaine appeared. The applause, predictably, came only from women. There was nothing she could do but take a bow, sweeping as low as her scraped knee and sore ribs would allow. "Thank
"Your sister?" Jaine's stomach got that sinking feeling again. "Your sister who works for one of the networks?"
"ABC. She's a staffer on Good Morning America." Marci began to look alarmed, too. "Uh – she just had a personal interest, right?"
"She thought it was hilarious. I wouldn't be surprised if you got a call from them, though. She mentioned what a great feature the List would make." Gina sailed to her desk, happy with her part in providing them with publicity. Jaine dug a dollar out of her purse and gave it to Marci, then said four very pithy words.
"Wow." Marci looked impressed. "I've never heard you say that before."
"I save it for emergencies."
Her phone rang. Jaine eyed it. Since it wasn't yet eight o'clock, the phone had no business ringing. There could be nothing but bad news waiting if she answered. On the third ring, Marci scooped it up. "Payroll," she said briskly. "Oh – T.J. This is Marci. We were talking – Oh, damn, honey, I'm sorry," she said, her tone changing to helpless concern.
Jaine snatched the receiver from Marci. "What's happened?" she demanded.
"I'm outed," T.J. said bleakly. "I just picked up my voice mail messages, and there are seven calls from reporters. I bet you have the same calls on your voice mail, too." Jaine looked at the message light. It was blinking like it had a tic.
"Maybe if Marci and I talked to them, that would keep them off you and Luna," she suggested. "All they want is a story, right? They need a face to go with the story; then it's over with and they move on to something else."
"But they have all our names."
"That doesn't mean they need four interviews. Any comment should satisfy them."
Marci, having followed the conversation just by listening to Jaine's end of it, said, "I can do the interviews by myself, if you think it would work."
T.J. heard Marci's offer. "It's worth a shot, I suppose. But I'm not going to run from this. If they aren't satisfied after they talk to you and Marci, or just Marci, then we'll all four sit down and give them their interview, and whatever happens will happen. I refuse to feel guilty and worried because we were having fun and made up a silly list."
"Okay," Marci said when Jaine hung up. "I'll call Luna and fill her in, and then I'll call those reporters back and set up something for lunch. I'll take all the heat, downplay it as much as I can." She crossed her fingers. "This can work." All morning long people stuck their heads in the door and made laughing comments to her; at least, the women did. Jaine also received a couple of measuring offers, as she had expected, from two of the guys and a few sarcastic remarks from others. Leah Street gave her a horrified look and stayed far away, which suited Jaine just fine, though she expected to see a "whore of Babylon" sign appear on her desk at any time. Leah was having more problems with this than T.J. and that was saying a lot. All the messages on her voice mail were from reporters; she deleted them and didn't return any of the calls. Marci must have been busy doing her mop-up campaign, because there weren't any additional calls after about nine. The sharks, promised some chum, were now circling Marci.
Just in case the barbarians were still at the gate, Jaine chickened out and bought her lunch from the snack room vending machines again. If the diversion didn't work and this was only the quiet before the storm, she intended to make the most of it. As it turned out, there wasn't that much quiet, because the snack room was full of people who had brought their lunches that day, including Leah Street, who was sitting alone at a table even though the other tables were crowded.
The buzz of conversation transformed into a mixture of catcalls and applause when Jaine appeared. The applause, predictably, came only from women. There was nothing she could do but take a bow, sweeping as low as her scraped knee and sore ribs would allow. "Thank
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