The Price of Fame - KJ1 Read online

  “Hi, gorgeous. Have I told you lately how great you look while crawling on all fours through piles of rubble?”

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  “Very funny, Peter. Now give.”

  The technology expert gave a mock sigh. “I wish I had something for you. The best I can tell you is that whoever did this really knew what they were doing; they used a sophisticated remote detonator and enough material to take down the whole building. The fact that they set off two devices tells me that they weren’t leaving anything to chance. The problem is, it doesn’t look like anything local; it has an international flavor to it, and that doesn’t make any sense to me.”

  “Hmm. No prior intelligence, no warning?”

  “Not that I can find...yet.” Kate knew that her friend wouldn’t rest until he had every answer he could get. “Oh, and Kate?”

  “Yeah,” she sighed, knowing what was coming next.

  “You know you can’t use any of that on the air, right?”

  “Why do I like you again?”

  “It’s my charm and boyish good looks,” he shot back.

  “Oh yeah, remind me of that the next time I see you.”

  “Oh, don’t worry, I will.”

  “No doubt. And Peter, let me know as soon as you’ve got anything I can actually say?”

  “You got it, sweet thing.”

  “Bye, Peter, be careful out there.”

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  CHAPTER SIX

  knock at the door signaled the anchorwoman that it was time for Aher appearance. Kate reached out a hand to Jay, who remained sitting. “Come with me?” she questioned. “You can stand behind the camera and make faces at me if you want. I imagine that kind of torture might appeal to you.”

  “Why, Ms. Kyle, whatever would make you think I was that kind of girl?” Her friend smiled wickedly.

  The two women accompanied a program assistant to the set, standing silently just beyond the fake living room and out of sight of the cameras until the next commercial break. As the red light on the television camera clicked off, a woman easily recognizable to both Kate and Jay got up off the couch on the set and walked towards them. She extended her hand as she reached them. “Ms. Kyle, I’m Wanda Nelson, I’m guest hosting today.”

  As if she needed an introduction, Jay thought. She’s only one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood, and she has a fabulous mind.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Nelson,” Kate responded. Turning to her companion, she added, “This is a very dear friend of mine, Ms.

  Jamison Parker. I hope you don’t mind her standing in the wings?”

  “No, that’s just fine. It’s nice to meet you Ms. Parker. Haven’t I read your byline in Time magazine? My husband Ted and I love your writing.”

  The writer was floored. Wanda Nelson and Ted Graham, the famous presidential biographer, read her stories? “I’m flattered, Ms. Nelson.

  Thank you. It’s nice to meet you.”

  A disembodied voice called out, “Thirty seconds, people.” Wanda did not appear even to have heard, though Jay knew she must have.

  “Clint,” she called to an assistant, “please get Ms. Parker a cup of fresh coffee and show her where to stand to get the best view, will you?”

  To the anchorwoman, she said, “Won’t you come with me?” As Kate 57

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  followed alongside her, the Today Show guest co-host said, “That was fantastic work you did yesterday. Very courageous.”

  “Thank you, Ms. Nelson.”

  “Please, call me Wanda.”

  They sat down and yet another assistant attached a lavaliere microphone to the inside of Kate’s jacket lapel. The disembodied voice called out, “Five, four, three, two, one, and cue the music.” The Today Show theme music played and the camera panned in on Wanda.

  “Good morning, and welcome back to Today on NBC. With us this morning is journalist Katherine Kyle of NBC affiliate WCAP-TV in Albany, New York. Many of you will recognize Ms. Kyle’s face if you were paying any attention whatsoever to the news yesterday...” The co-host went on to recap Kate’s role in the incident at the capitol, replaying taped footage of her first report, followed by images of her running back into the building after the second explosion and shots of her helping to rescue and comfort the wounded.

  When the studio camera went live again, the shot had been widened to include both the show’s co-host and her guest: a classic two shot.

  Wanda asked Kate, “What was going through your mind when you turned around and ran toward the capitol building after the second explosion? Everyone else was running in the opposite direction.”

  The anchorwoman looked at her interviewer, managing to face directly into the camera at the same time. “I was thinking that there was human suffering.” She leaned forward slightly. “I believe strongly that there’s a time when it’s more vital to be a human being than it is to be a journalist.” Kate’s eyes conveyed her earnestness.

  “Weren’t you concerned about compromising your objectivity?”

  “It was important first of all to be a human being. Second, I would hope that viewers didn’t feel that they had gotten cheated, that they didn’t get the story they should have gotten. To me the real story here was that in a world where such cruel and senseless violence exists, there is also compassion and the triumph of the human spirit over terror. I tried very hard to capture that essence in my coverage. And if I helped a few people and eased a little suffering along the way, so much the better.” Kate smiled an ironic smile at Wanda. “Did I break the rules of professional distance? Perhaps. I would hope the viewers didn’t mind too much.” She winked.

  Several more minutes of gentle questions ensued, then the segment was over, guest and interviewer standing and shaking hands. “Thank you for what you did yesterday, Ms. Kyle. In my opinion you gave all journalists a good name.”

  “Thank you, Wanda. I just followed my heart and my guts. In the end, I have to be able to live with my actions or inactions, not some television 58

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  executive reading ‘Q’ numbers on a sheet of paper,” Kate said, referring to the polling data rating a celebrity’s popularity with the viewers.

  “It might surprise you to know, Ms. Kyle, that I’ve already seen yesterday’s numbers. You outscored the president of the United States and me and my husband combined.” She smiled. “Congratulations and good luck.”

  “Thanks,” Kate answered, turning and heading from the set.

  When she and Jay were settled in the limousine once again, Kate turned to her friend. “How did I do?”

  Looking at her with something akin to awe Jay said, “First of all, the camera and you are clearly having a love affair.”

  The tall woman blushed.

  “Secondly, today you made me exceedingly proud to wear the title of journalist. You were phenomenal.”

  “Thanks, Jay.” Kate was plainly embarrassed by the compliment.

  The interviews by the other two networks were equally smooth, and, as they walked down the corridor at ABC’s Good Morning America headquarters near Lincoln Center, Kate reached in her pocket for her watch. She had been unable to wear it because of the stitches and the bandages, but she hated to be without one. It was not even 8:30 in the morning yet.

  She looked over at the small blonde, who appeared to be fairly wide awake, considering that neither of them had gotten more than two and a half hours sleep in the last twenty-four. “I can’t tell you what it’s meant to me to have you here with me through all of this, Jay. You’ve really been a trouper.”

  The writer’s eyes danced. “I would hardly classify the past eight hours as a hardship, Kate. I’ve loved every minute of it. I’m so glad I found you.”

  “You must be exhausted. I’d love to take you out to breakfast, but I don’t want to monopolize your time or keep you from a well-deserved nap.”

  “Kate, I’ve never turned down a goo
d meal in my life,” she laughed lightly, “and I’m not about to start now, especially with such enjoyable company,” she added shyly. “I’d love to have breakfast with you. I know a great place in midtown that makes the most incredible waffles.”

  “Is it a casual place? I’m dying to get out of this suit and back into my jeans.”

  “You bet.”

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  “I’ll just change here then. I won’t be a sec.”

  True to her word, the older woman was back in very short order. She had gone out to the limousine, retrieved her jeans and t-shirt, and told the driver that they would be going to midtown.

  Kate and Jay sat across from each other in a corner booth, enjoying their first real opportunity to spend time together without any distractions. There were so many things they each wanted to know about the other.

  At the same time, they both began, “So, tell me...” They laughed.

  Kate gestured to her companion. “You go first.”

  “Okay. Where do you come from? What was your major when we were at school? How did you end up in Albany as a news anchor? How many kids are there in your family? What’s your favorite pastime? And who’s your favorite author?”

  Kate, whose eyes had gone round, laughed. “Is that all you want to know?”

  “Nope, but I figure it’s a good place to start,” Jay answered playfully.

  Her curiosity about the beautiful woman was very real. Heaven knew she’d been thinking about her long enough.

  “Okay, let’s see. One: I come from a suburb about 25 miles north of where we’re sitting right now.”

  Jay jumped in. “This is your hometown?!”

  “Close enough, and I thought I was going to answer all of your questions just the way you asked them—in rapid succession.”

  The younger woman covered her mouth. “I’m sorry. But you don’t have an accent.”

  “Thank God,” Kate rolled her eyes. “Can I keep going now?”

  Afraid to open her mouth again, Jay just nodded.

  Her companion smiled triumphantly. “Two: I was an American History major with a Psychology minor. Three: Like most great things in life, it was an accident. Four:...”

  Jay started to ask exactly what that meant, but her jaw clicked shut at the raised eyebrow she received.

  “Four,” Kate continued with a smirk, “I’m an only child. Five: That’s a tough one. There are many things I enjoy doing, depending on my mood or the weather or the amount of time I have. Let’s see...sitting in front of the fireplace in my library on a snowy night with a great book and Fred by my side; hiking in the mountains with Fred on a beautiful, clear day; playing tennis against a quality player; exercise; traveling to explore new places or to visit favorite ones; sitting quietly by the ocean 60

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  or a peaceful lake. And six: Charles Dickens and Edith Wharton. Sorry, that one’s a toss-up.”

  Jay was soaking in all of the information like a sponge. She was amazed at how much they had in common.

  “Now you know everything there is to know about me.”

  “Hardly,” Jay blurted without thought. She was fascinated by Kate and doubted that she could ever know enough.

  “Your turn,” the anchorwoman perked up. “Only I’m going to ask my questions one at a time and reserve the right to follow up.”

  Jay rolled her eyes. “Were you a lawyer in your last life or something?”

  “Ahem,” her friend continued, undeterred. “Where are you from originally? I know you’re not from around here.”

  “What makes you so sure?” Jay’s eyes narrowed.

  Kate just gave her a look that said, “What, do you think I’m stupid?”

  “Okay, okay,” the blonde relented. “I’m from Phoenix. Scottsdale, really.”

  “Hmm, I love that part of the country; Sedona in particular, but I’ve climbed Camelback Mountain in Scottsdale many times and had more than my share of ice cream at the Sugar Bowl.”

  Jay was surprised that her companion knew the area so well.

  “Does your family still live there?” The dark-haired woman noticed her friend tense minutely. Interesting.

  Jay did not meet Kate’s eyes, although she knew the older woman was looking at her. “No. They moved a little further south to Tucson a few years back.”

  “Do you have any siblings?”

  “I had a younger sister, but she was killed in a car crash when I was eight.”

  “I’m sorry, Jay.” Reaching out, Kate touched the back of her hand.

  “It’s okay. It happened a very long time ago.”

  Changing the subject, Kate ventured, “I know that you wrote for the college newspaper, and that you played lacrosse...”

  Jay’s head jerked up in surprise. “You do?”

  “Yes. Geez, what kind of reporter would I be if I couldn’t at least find out the basics?”

  Well, she has a point there, Jay thought. Unless you were Jay and you had wanted to keep someone a mystery. She knew she could have found out her companion’s name in college if she had wanted to, but she didn’t figure she would ever really get a chance to know her, the mysterious stranger was so far out of her league, and she preferred to use her imagination to fill in her heroine’s life story. Now there she was sitting across from her, completely entranced, and finding the truth far more 61

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  interesting than anything she had dreamed up. She never would have thought this moment possible.

  Kate’s voice startled her out of her reverie. “What was your major?”

  “Uh, American Literature with a minor in Political Science.”

  “What did you think you wanted to do with your life?”

  Jay didn’t hesitate. “I wanted to be an author.”

  “What kind of books did you want to write and do you write now?

  Other than magazine articles, I mean.”

  “I wanted to chronicle the human condition. You know, write the next great American novel.” The younger woman shook her head self-deprecatingly. “And yes, I still write for pleasure from time to time. I haven’t had anything published yet, though.”

  “You will.”

  It was said with such confidence, Jay wondered how she could know that. The question must have shown in her face, because Kate went on, “I have a really good feeling about that. And besides, I’ve read all of your articles.” She looked down at the table, embarrassed by her admission.

  The writer’s face turned beet red. “You have? You didn’t say anything.”

  “I didn’t want you to think I was some sort of deranged fan or something. Your work is really excellent; I love your writing style, the humanity just shines through.”

  Jay was at a complete loss. She didn’t know what to say and didn’t trust her voice just then, anyway. After a moment to compose herself, she said, “I think that writing is a product of one’s own life experience,”

  surprising herself with the admission. She hadn’t meant to reveal that much.

  Kate gathered as much and proceeded carefully, feeling her way.

  “Jamison is an interesting name. Where did it come from?”

  Squirming in her seat, Jay began picking at a napkin and watching the shredding process with seeming fascination. “My father wanted a boy.

  He got me.” When her companion didn’t say anything, she grudgingly added, “Just one of many disappointments, I guess. We don’t keep in touch much.”

  Kate thought back to their first verbal encounter on the ski slope. The young co-ed had said there was no one to notify when she had asked her about her parents. The older woman knew that there had to be much more to the story, and she hoped beyond hope that her new friend would share it with her. But she wanted it to be Jay’s choice, not because she pushed. So she tried a different tactic and addressed something that had been bothering her for five years.

  “You know, Jay,” she started softly, “I really wanted to com
e and see you after that incident on campus. I was terribly worried about you.”

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  Reaching out, she grasped the blonde’s hand and held it in her larger ones. “But I wasn’t sure that seeing me would have been such a great idea for you. I was afraid I would just be a reminder of what had happened, and I didn’t want to make things worse for you. I hope you never thought I didn’t care, because I did. Very much.” She let her friend’s hand go. She hadn’t been able to bear the thought that Jay would think her well-being didn’t matter to her.

  Jay could hear the self-recrimination in her companion’s voice and was surprised to look up and see unshed tears in those beautiful blue eyes.

  In fact, Kate had kept very close tabs on Jay ever since that night. At first, she had prevailed upon Jen, the EMT, to find out Jay’s condition that night and the next day after she had left her at the hospital. Jen had told her that the rape counselor who had been with the small blonde that night had recommended a therapist who specialized in sexual abuse issues. Ethically, the counselor couldn’t reveal more than that.

  Having seen Jay’s byline in the school newspaper, Kate knew that her good friend Janet, the paper’s managing editor, would be able to give her some information. And so she had bugged Janet repeatedly to tell her everything she knew. She didn’t want to pry into Jay’s private life, but she wanted to be sure that she was doing okay. Janet had been a year behind Kate at school, providing an extra year’s worth of intelligence on Jay’s status.

  In her senior year, Jay had begun writing articles for the alumni magazine, which Kate received quarterly. The supervising faculty member for the magazine was a favorite English professor of Kate’s, so she kept tabs on Jay that way until the young woman graduated. The professor had been both proud and happy to report to her that the petite co-ed was one of the best writers he had ever known. He had gotten her a lower-level position with Time, knowing that, if given a chance, Jay would advance quickly through the ranks. Kate had taken out a subscription to Time immediately, watching with interest as the writer had rapidly become a rising star at the magazine. Now she was penning cover stories on some of the most important political figures in the country; Kate was inordinately proud of her.