"Look, your story gets a bit wild," Alex Fielding confessed, "but I have no doubt that if Matthias Black could get away with even half this shit, that misogynist rat would go for it. And even the mainstream news is indicating that the Lucky Lady shop seems to be going crazy, with all kinds of stories of radically changed women -- and a lot of happy husbands and boyfriends, I'm sorry to say. All right, I'll get right on this and talk to Caitlin." Caitlin Grant was publisher, founder, and general den mother to the paper. "If we're taking on BlackCo for real, we'll need her deep pockets. Keep me apprised. And Joanna -- thank you."
Joanna felt great relief as Alex hung up, but something still nagged at her. This was still a very local story, about which many people could just roll their eyes and decided that some silly city somewhere had just up and gone crazy. Joanna felt a little like a young Kevin McCarthy, wandering wild-eyed across a highway crying out to all the passing cars You're next, you're next! If there could be some national exposure ...
Naomi Fox. It was a long shot, because she knew Naomi only a little. They had briefly attended the same journalism school and Naomi's star had risen quickly as she dedicated herself to feminism and was a regular guest on the national talk show circuit. Naomi was also a prime example of how a feminist could look damn hot.
Joanna worried that she might not have much leverage with Naomi. She suspected it was part of that whole business of disowning one's old friends as mere reminders of a dismal past. Still, she had to try.
Naomi sounded harried but gracious. "Hi, Joanna Ebert, what's up?"
Joanna carefully tried to spell out what was going on, steadily building up to how the Mayor had carried on in front of her with Stafford Stanwood.
"Well," hedged Naomi, "BlackCo has been acting flat out evil lately, and the news coming out of your town concerning that Lucky Lady shop is very concerning -- and hell, I'd just like to give Janice McManus a piece of my mind for wanting to repeal the 19th Amendment! All right, this is a lot of trouble for me, I'll have you know, but I'm coming right out there."
Wed Jul 18 09:30:37 2012