It Girl

And he's been my friend for fourteen years since the day we met freshman year.

He stepped off the set to greet me as I entered the studio. "Hey, it's The Spitfire!" he said, using my nickname.

"Hi, Scott," I said, as he gave me a strong hug and almost lifted my hundred and thirty-five pounds off the floor.

"There's something I haven't seen between our co-anchors in awhile," said Gavin Karlson.

"Do we have to do a tryout?" asked Scott, as he wrapped one arm around my shoulders. "Can't we just hire her right now?"

"Sorry," said the producer. "This one's not my call. But you've got as much input as I do."

"Yeah, I know," said Scott.

Gavin looked at me. "So, you go by Spitfire?"

"My dad gave me that nickname when I was a little girl since he said I was an out of control ball of fire."

"Nothing's changed," said Scott. I playfully slapped his shoulder. "So, you ready to become the next morning show It Girl?"

"I don't know if I'd get that title, but I'd love to work with you."

"It would be nice to see you more. And my wife would be thrilled if you were my partner. She got a little tired of my bitching about Katrina."

"Well, thank goodness for the NYPD Vice Squad."

Gavin interrupted our little reunion. "You guys ready?"

Scott nodded, then took me by the hand and led me up the riser to the set, a grouping featuring a red leather couch and matching chair, a mahogany coffee table and a couple of giant flat screens hanging off the back wall which was painted royal blue. "We haven't anchored together since college. Remember how we always planned to work together?"

I nodded as we both sat down in the anchor chairs. "I'd forgotten about that, but maybe this is it. Just took ten years to get there."

"Why don't you read through the script a few times before we roll tape," said Gavin, who headed out of the studio. "I'll get someone to run the prompter and leave you two to practice."

"Sure," said Scott, who turned to me. "When was the last time you anchored?"

"I filled in a few times this year, but never more than two days in a row."

"Well, just think back to our college days. Like riding a bike. And remember, this is different than a regular newscast. It's more about personality than anything else."

I couldn't help but smile as the memory of our college newscast flashed through my mind. We had incredible chemistry that only works in television if the anchors like each other. I wondered if it would still show up after a decade apart.

A young brunette entered the studio and sat down at the teleprompter control station.

"That's Mandy," said Scott. "Mandy, this is Veronica."

She waved and gave me a cheerful smile. "Hi!"

"Hi, Mandy," I said, smiling back.

"Her pace is probably a little faster than Katrina's," said Scott.

Mandy nodded.

"Okay, you ready to do this?" he asked.

"Let's rock," I said.

I faced the camera and the words filled the prompter.

"Welcome to the Morning Show, America. I'm Scott Winter … "

"And I'm Veronica Summer. Thank you so much for joining us this Friday morning."

And just like that, I was twenty-two again, anchoring next to my closest friend in the business, looking at a future that was suddenly very bright.

Until I began to stumble through the script like I was twenty-two.

***

The job I didn't want that became the job I had to have had quickly become the "what if" moment I'd look back on for the rest of my life.

Remember my original plan to tank the tryout? This was worse.

The prompter may as well have been filled with Chinese. Even after three practice runs, I had become the victim of the classic rookie anchor mistake: stumbling out of the gate and becoming a snowball rolling downhill as I focused so much on the first screw-up I continued to make more.

Thankfully the mock interview segments we taped didn't require me to actually read, or it would have been even worse.

I knew it was gone. The Chair, the presidential campaign, rides on Air Force One, all history.

I shook my head as I looked at Scott. "I sure screwed the pooch on this opportunity."

"Pffft. Don't worry about it. They know you're not used to anchoring."

"Yeah, but they could find a small market anchor who could read the prompter better than I did."

He shrugged. "Not the biggest factor on this show."

Mandy the prompter girl walked toward the set and extended her hand. "It was nice meeting you," she said, her sad look telling me she knew she'd never see me again.

"You too," I said.

The door to the studio opened. Gavin Karlson walked through it and headed toward the set. For some odd reason he was smiling.

I dipped my head and looked up at him through sad eyes, like I'd been a bad student caught by the teacher. "I promise to buy Hooked on Phonics this afternoon."

He chuckled a bit. "Don't beat yourself up. You were fine."

"Amazing. You're channeling my mother."

He turned to Scott. "She obviously doesn't understand what we're looking for."

"Nope. Sure doesn't," he said.

"Let me guess," I said. "You're looking for an actress to play the before role in a stuttering commercial."

Gavin laughed as he sat down on the couch in the seat previously occupied by our mock interview subject. "Veronica, morning shows are all about personality. I could put any number of people in the chair to read a prompter flawlessly, but I need someone who has both incredible chemistry with Scott and who can connect with the viewers. Especially the female ones."

I cocked my head toward Scott. "I think every woman's dream over here has that covered." Scott tried to hold back a smile and blushed a bit.

"You still don't understand," said Gavin. "We need a woman that every man wants and who every woman wants to be. Someone who's going to attract men but not turn off the women. Someone who's approachable in the eyes of both sexes. If we paired some ice queen with him we'd lose the women even though they love Scott."

"But you said you wanted a harder edge to the show," I said.

"I do," said Gavin, "but it's still crucial that the new co-anchor bring great chemistry to the equation. The fact that you two have been friends for years really came through the screen. It's obvious you like each other. When we brought Scott on two years ago the women responded, but Katrina had no chemistry with him. She started resenting all the attention he got and it showed. She came off like a bitch with some of her snide comments and that turned off a lot of women. I've got a few thousand emails if you wanna read 'em."

"So, I'm still in the running?"

"Very much so."

My spirits lifted a bit and I actually smiled.

Until I saw the competition strut into the studio.

***

Every Sunday for the past five years I've had a standing appointment with my two closest friends. We meet at the same restaurant for brunch at eleven.

And even though I'm about twenty minutes late, I already know the topic of conversation.

Me.

Thankfully, they'll be supportive, which is what I need right now. I guess I should tell you about them.

Layla Starr has been my best friend since high school. The first time I saw her and heard her name, I did the judge-a-book-by-its-cover thing. At fourteen she had reached her current height, five-ten, and current figure, classic supermodel. With huge ice blue eyes that are a striking contrast to her black shoulder length hair, she could have been a model right then. With a name like Layla she was an obvious target for off-color comments from the boys at school.

When she was assigned to be my chemistry lab partner and I caught a glimpse of her killer body and perfect cheekbones, I rolled my eyes knowing I'd be wearing invisibility spray as the males in the classroom would totally ignore me. One of the boys nearly blew up the lab when she came to class one day in her cheerleader uniform that showed off legs up to her neck. Anyway, turned out she was this conservative girl from a strict family much like mine, so we became fast friends. I consider her the sister I never had.

The girl routinely stops Manhattan traffic and gets carded at bars, as the woman has apparently discovered the fountain of youth. She's solid muscle, working as an aerobics instructor, as her body still doesn't have an ounce of fat. You could bounce quarters off the girl's ass.

Savannah is my fish-out-of-water friend, a Southern belle from Mississippi whose main objective in life is to divorce herself from her evil family traditions that exist south of the Mason-Dixon line. This goal came about when, at the age of twenty-two, she graduated from college and was promptly anointed an "old maid" by her mother. After a few months of being compared to her high school cohorts who were already well established in the trailer park and regularly showed off their cereal covered spawn every Friday night at Wal-Mart, Savannah left town with nothing but her devastating looks and incredibly sultry drawl. She headed straight for the Big Apple. Luckily she brought a serious amount of common sense and surprising level of street smarts with her. I happened to meet her the day she arrived while working on a story at the airport, took pity on her and offered her my couch until she got situated. Which she promptly did the next day, as she relocated from my sofa to the apartment of the cute guy who lived next door. He also took pity on her, but in the end she left nothing but an empty husk.

A curvy, five-six brunette whose mahogany tangles end in the middle of her back, she's used her pale green eyes and pouty lips to advance her career as a political consultant who is often the spokesperson for campaigns. Clients seek her out since she's whip smart and can make any man feel like he's the only person in the room. (And by nightfall it often ends up that way.) She can also charm a crowd in a political debate by inserting charming Southernisms into the discussion. Savannah calls herself a "serial dater" but when she says it with that accent it actually sounds charming. She'll pretty much date any decent guy once, as there is apparently a little known congressional bill called "no man left behind." At twenty-eight she's the baby sister in our group.

The girls were already seated at our usual corner table, sipping mimosas as patrons crowded the long buffet line, so deep in conversation they didn't notice my arrival until I pulled out my chair.

Layla looked up and smiled, studied my face, then bit her lower lip. "Uh-oh."

I shook my head and said nothing.

"What?" asked Savannah.

"Well," I said, taking my seat as I flagged down the waiter with the tray of mimosas, "so much for my dream of anchoring the nightly news."

"What happened?" asked Savannah. "Y'all look like someone ran over your dog."

"I couldn't read the prompter. I stumbled through every script. Worse than in college."

"You haven't anchored in forever," said Layla. "I'm sure they know that. How did you do with Scott?"

"That part was okay," I said, as my mimosa arrived. "And the producer said we had great chemistry."

Savannah smiled. "There you go! Chemistry's important. I hate it when anchors don't like each other. Did the producer give you any other feedback?"

"He said I was still in the running, and I believed him," I said. "Until … "

"Until what?" asked Savannah.

"The competition walked in." I took a long sip of my drink. I needed liquid courage before discussing she-who-must-not-be-named.

"And said competition would be?" asked Layla.

I swallowed hard. "Noelle Larson."

Both raised eyebrows and said nothing for a minute. They knew what the implications were. The clanging of silverware and glasses replaced the conversation. The smell of a roast wafted by as a chef wheeled out a huge steamship round.

"Oooh, that looks good," I said.

"I thought Noelle got out of the business when she left the other morning show," said Layla, who obviously wasn't going to drop the subject.

I nodded as I leaned back in my chair. "She did, last year. But rumor had it that she was waiting out her non-compete clause for something else. Rumor was apparently true." I shook my head and stared at my drink. "There's no way they'll pick me instead of her. I mean, she's a morning show icon. And you should have seen her. Six foot blonde, short skirt with perfect legs, four-inch heels. Plus she's had a boob job since America last saw her and looks like she could nurse a small village. She was spilling out of her blouse."

Savannah reached across the table and patted my hand. "Well, y'all don't fret your pretty lil' head. They probably don't want someone who's plastic."

"You should have seen the producer," I said. "Practically tripped over his tongue. Then she heads up to the set, says hello to Scott, pretends she doesn't know me and asks if I'm a production assistant. Bitch."

"They won't pick her," said Layla. "She's older than Scott. It'll look like a cougar newscast."

"She's only forty and she's got a history of delivering ratings in the morning," I said, slugging down the rest of my drink.

"And she's too tall," said Layla. "She'll tower over him."

"Right," said Savannah. "That poor little thing will look like a munchkin next to her."

"Look, I appreciate you guys trying to find excuses to keep me in the running," I said. "But it's game over. What the hell, I've still got a great job. Let's eat."

"It's not over, sweetie," said Layla. "Remember, Scott's gotta have some input as to who they hire."

"He does," I said. "But I can't compete with a real life silicone Barbie doll."

***

As I headed down to the newsstand for the Monday morning papers, I decided it was in my best interests to totally forget about the job, relax and smell the roses. (Or, in the case of this part of Manhattan, the lovely residue of a garbage strike.) It was pointless to worry about something that was out of my control, and with Noelle Larson in the picture the job was a million-to-one longshot anyway. It dawned on me I was probably a courtesy interview to appease Scott.

Yeah, let's go with that.

The air was cool and crisp. At ten o'clock commuters were out of the way and the five block hike to the newsstand was an easy one. I liked buying hard copies from a human being, bypassing the electronic version or the delivery to the door of my apartment. And midtown was still populated by those classic green newsstands, with the dailies in a stack weighted down by half a brick while every magazine available hung from the sides. Besides, it forced me to walk every day and get some exercise, which I loathed. (And canceled out the candy bar I always bought with the papers.) I reached the newsstand, grabbed the city's three dailies and a Fast Break (a wonderful concoction of chocolate and peanut butter) and handed a five to Hal, the grizzled, fiftyish guy running the stand who always had a three day growth of silver whiskers.

"I think you're both, Freckles," he said, using his personal nickname for me.

"Excuse me?"

He pointed at my newspapers as he looked over the top of his silver reading glasses. "Page Six," he said, as he handed me my change.

Uh-oh.

Page Six was the city's clearinghouse for gossip, and obviously it had something to do with me. I opened The Post and saw the headline above side-by-side pictures of myself and Noelle Larson. The huge bold typeface screamed at me.

RED / HOT

Chase is on for Katrina Favor's job

So much for keeping it quiet.

The paparazzi had apparently snapped a photo of me entering the network headquarters yesterday, and done the same with Noelle Larson. Her photo was under the "hot" part of the headline (it was no contest, considering the length of her skirt) while I filled the side of the page under "red."

"Damn," I said out loud.

"Like I said, Freckles, you're both," said Hal. "Red hot Veronica, that's what I'm gonna call you now."

"Gee thanks, Hal," I said, as I leaned against his stand to read the article.

By Gemma Farrington

It's a network catfight in a game of musical chairs.

Producers of The Morning Show didn't waste any time holding tryouts Sunday morning for Katrina Favor's now empty co-anchor spot. Sources tell us that network execs are scrambling to find a replacement after Ms. Favor's arrest last week following her embarrassing dalliance with a male prostitute. Co-anchor Scott Winter was dragged in on his day off Sunday as the network shuttled a parade of info-babes onto the anchor desk. And with ratings sweeps just around the corner, the decision will come quickly.

Despite the long hours of tryouts, we're told the short list has but two names on it. Former morning show queen Noelle Larson, who left her post at the competition a year ago due to a contract dispute, and NYC reporter Veronica Summer, the fiery redhead who makes corrupt politicians run for cover.

While Larson's assets (both journalistically and physically) are well known to viewers, Ms. Summer is a wild card in the deck, having no anchoring or morning show experience. She's also a local reporter, so is unknown to a national audience. While this might seem to leave her at a disadvantage her off-camera relationship with Mr. Winter makes her a formidable challenger. The two attended college together and are said to be close friends; Ms. Summer was even a bridesmaid at Mr. Winter's wedding.

Chemistry could be the deciding factor in the choice, even though Ms. Summer does not seem to possess the typical morning show perkiness that has become the industry standard for women. It's no secret that Katrina Favor did not approve of Winter's hire two years ago, and their relationship off camera was said to be ice cold.

Who would you rather see sitting next to America's Boy Next Door? His attractive best friend from college with whom he has a warm (yet platonic) relationship? Or the towering blonde with the mile-long legs and the cheerful attitude that will give you a cavity? Vote in our Internet poll. Results on Wednesday.

"Sources tell us, my ass," I said aloud.

"Story not true?" asked Hal.

"It was supposed to be a secret."

"Well, I voted for you," he said, holding up an iPad.

"Thank you, Hal." I grabbed another candy bar and tossed him a buck. "Think I need a double today."

I turned and headed back to my apartment, feeling naked as it seemed every person on the street was staring at me. I'm used to being recognized, but not like this. I forced a smile at everyone, but it was through clenched teeth.

Gavin Karlson was pissing me off. I knew damn well he was the "source" and was using the newspaper to float a trial balloon. Yeah, he wanted to keep it quiet. Bullshit. The damn story would be in the paper until Thursday, the day after the results of the "poll" were released. And the whole thing would no doubt be picked up by every entertainment publication in the country.

And speaking of the poll, did it mean I really was on the short list of two? Or was this simply a ploy to find out if people wanted to wake up with Noelle again?

Inquiring minds wanna know.

It was time for this reporter to start digging.

CHAPTER THREE

As an Emmy Award winning reporter, you'd think I'd be able to investigate my own life. But despite the tabloids seemingly permanent pipeline to that network "source" I've not been able to find out a damn thing about the decision to replace Katrina. Even Scott has been no help, apparently being left out of the loop after pleading my case to the network. (He also told the bigwigs his apprehension about working with a glamazon who made him look like a hobbit when she stood next to him in heels that took her up to six-foot-four.)

Oh, and that resolution I made to forget it and smell the roses? Fuhgeddaboudit. That barn door has sailed, as we say in the news business.

By Friday I had turned into a teenage girl hoping for a date to the prom. Every time the phone rang I jumped, waiting for news that would at least resolve the situation. Luckily Savannah has asked me to lunch, obviously noting I had become a walking frayed nerve ending.

While Layla is my best friend, Savannah is a world class expert at putting things in perspective with that Southern way of looking at things. (The laid-back and relaxed view of life, not that of her relatives whose family trees are of the pine variety with reunions that might have been accompanied by banjo music.) And since she works in politics, she always knows how to spin things. The girl could make a colonoscopy sound like fun.

Since I would be off to work in an hour I sadly bypassed the glass of wine I really needed in favor of club soda with lime. Savannah had chosen a quiet, elegant restaurant featuring soft violin music instead of my usual preference, a loud place with flat screens filled with ballgames that served kick-ass fried cheese.

"Y'all look so pretty today," she said, as always starting things off with a compliment.

"Considering I've hardly slept all week, I'm sure you're being polite."

"Well, you can't handle this all by yourself, sweetie. If you don't let go of the worry, you're fixin' to have a nervous breakdown."

"I think that happened when I saw my picture in The Post."

"Hey, you did well in the poll. Against Noelle, that's saying something."

I nodded slightly, realizing she had a point. I had expected a landslide in favor of the competition, but I actually came in a close second with forty-eight percent of the vote. "I was surprised at that, considering the photo of her that they ran."

"Did y'all forget that morning shows are predominantly watched by women? They don't want to tune in and watch a girl who looks like a wanton harlot."

"Wanton harlot?"

"Genteel Southern way of calling her a cheap bimbo." Savannah sipped her glass of wine as she looked over the menu. "That dress she almost wore was not exactly appropriate."

"Yeah, but a few years ago her producer was quoted as saying her legs were worth five share points. Why do you think they never put her behind a desk?"

"Let's not talk about that trollop anymore."

"I guess we could talk about the boyfriend I no longer have."

"You havin' second thoughts about throwin' your dog off the porch?"

I chuckled at the Southernism I'd never heard before. "Hell, no. He needs to move to Connecticut and find himself some Junior Leaguer who will bring him his slippers when he gets home, put on her kneepads and service him when the lights go out. Then send him a thank you note for not taking more than ten minutes."

She snapped her menu closed and waved for the waiter. "Ah'm sorry that didn't work out, but it's for the best. You don't need a man like that. You've got too much goin' for you."

"But not quite enough for the network."

"Will y'all stop it? You're young, you've got that beautiful red hair and those darling little freckles and gorgeous eyes and a great body. Plus you're smart and you've got a great job that you love." She leaned forward and gave me a soulful look. "And friends who love you."

"I know, I shouldn't complain. I really do have a lot to be thankful for. And I do appreciate you guys more than you know. But the shot at the evening anchor job comes along once in a lifetime."

"I guess we're not going to get off that subject. By the way, did you find out who is leaking all that information to the newspaper?"