For the Record (Record #3)(89)

“Mollie was freaking out. She was talking with one of her friends who works for CNN.” Liz didn’t like where this was going. “They were out to lunch and her friend mentioned that they were writing an article on the real identity of Dear Congress.”

Liz placed her hand on the table to steady herself. “Okay. So CNN is writing an article about me?”

He splayed his hands out in front of him. “I’m so sorry.”

“Did she say who told CNN that it was me?” Liz asked, trying to remain calm.

He shook his head. “I don’t know. Her friend was just gossiping, I guess, and didn’t think it would matter. Mollie pretended to use the restroom to tell me, she was so frantic.”

“So, what’s going to happen?” Victoria asked. “Who even cares about some stupid articles Liz wrote? She’s not running for office. Brady is. And they weren’t even controversial articles.”

Chris shrugged again. “I don’t know their spin on the issue. I just know that Brady should know so that he can get Heather to find out.”

Liz knew he was right. She looked over at Brady smiling casually for the camera as he delivered his lines effortlessly. He finished that run-through and caught her staring at him. He must have realized something was wrong, because he stood, spoke to the director, and then walked over to them.

“What is it?”

Chris and Liz exchanged a glance and she nodded. Chris dove into the story he had just told Liz. Brady’s face grew darker and darker.

“Great,” he said, blowing out a breath. “I’ll get on the phone with Heather immediately.”

“I should probably get a hold of my editor to talk about damage control,” Liz said. “How do you think they’ll spin it?”

“How would you spin it?”

Liz slowed her mind enough to think about it from a reporting side. “Congressman Maxwell’s girlfriend is spinning articles on policy to promote his platform. Or maybe Congressman’s girlfriend hiding behind another pseudonym—what else are they hiding?”

Everyone stared at her and she clenched her jaw. “I only think of the worst because it was my job.”

“I’ll go call Heather.”

“Just when she was starting to like me,” Liz whispered.

“It’ll be okay,” he insisted before pulling out his phone and making the call.

Liz wasn’t so sure. She had a decision to make. She had had something like this blow up in her face before, and she had no intention of it happening again. Before she had sat idly by as the media displayed her life how they saw fit. She had an opportunity to take control and she was going to need to seize it now before anything destroyed all that she and Brady had worked toward.

She opened up her email and wasn’t all that surprised to already see one waiting for her from the editor, Tom Vernon. So, he already knew, and he wanted to speak with her on the phone. He had listed his number.

Tom answered on the second ring. “Hello?”

“Tom, this is Liz Dougherty. How are you today?”

“Miss Dougherty, what a pleasure to finally speak to the person behind Dear Congress.”

“Thank you, sir. You are headquartered in New York City, correct?”

“What? Oh yes.”

“As this is a difficult situation, would you mind if we met today to discuss it in person? I’m in the city until late this evening.”

After a brief pause, he responded. “I believe that can be arranged.”

Tom Vernon’s office was cluttered with old cups of coffee, empty 5-hour Energy shots, and piles and piles of paper. The sight of the office probably explained why it took so long for him to get back to her most days.

“Miss Dougherty, so nice to finally meet you.”

“You too,” she said politely.

“I trust you found the office just fine.”

“Yes, I did.” Liz crossed her legs and sat up straighter. “Do you mind if we get to the point of this matter? It’s clearly out to the public that I’m Dear Congress.”

Tom straightened his tie at her curt demeanor. “Well, yes, of course. I was the one who contacted CNN about it.”

Liz’s mouth fell open slightly. “You did what?”

“It’s an election year, Ms. Dougherty, and we’re always trying to garner more readers. So I made a discreet call to a source at CNN. With your celebrity status we could be huge!”

“You outed me to the press for more media coverage?” she asked, shocked.

“Look, we love your work here as Dear Congress and we’d like to keep you on. You generate buzz. You’re popular. People are interested in reading what you have to say, and they were interested in it before finding out who you are. Do you know what it will be like come Monday when it appears on CNN? Through the roof.”

His eyes were shifty, his smile too big; his entire body language was overly enthusiastic. All she saw when she looked at him was desperation oozing out of every pore. He wanted her to stay and he wanted it badly. He liked the controversy. He liked the promise of increased readership to the online column that the scandal could deliver. He would probably pay her double or triple what he had been paying her. All because her name was attached to it.

“Thank you for the offer, Mr. Vernon, but I have to decline,” she said, standing.