times, right sis? The two of us trading barbs across the table.”
“Almost ,” I reply. “Except back then, our battles were small and harmless. Not the scorched earth campaigns they are now.”
“I’m not sure I know what you mean.”
“Oh, Madison, the innocence routine may enchant other members of the press, but it stopped working on me in grammar school. So do us both a favor and drop it, will you?” She smarts a little at the comment, but says nothing. A supreme accomplishment for a woman who talks for a living, I might add. “Despite our differences, I never thought you’d be complicit in getting me fired from a job.”
“I did n’t get you fired from anything, and I resent that accusation.”
“No, you didn’t, but your boss did. And frankly I don’t give a damn what you resent.”
The waiter arrives with our wine and asks us for our order. Neither one of us is hungry by this point, so he is promptly dismissed. Once he flees out of earshot, Madison leans forward, a flash of anger in her eyes.
“He did no such thing, and the mere insinuation that he did is insulting. Congressman Beaumont is an honest and capable servant of the people who would never jeopardize his position to force the firing of a second rate journalist making unsubstantiated claims.” Second-rate journalist. That was meant to hurt.
“Well, this second- rate journalist has it on good authority, from reliable sources, that Winston Beaumont was instrumental in passing legislation favorable to the Lexington Group.”
“There’s nothing illegal about that , Kylie.”
“No, but when he personally benefits from it to the tune of over $300,000 in financial compensation not made directly to his campaign, it’s called a kickback. And that, my dear little sister, is very illegal.”
I just played the best card in my hand. There were only a couple of news outlets that covered the allegation, and none of them put a monetary value on it. I did, because that was the number the two sources gave me. One more person to corroborate and I could have run the story, even in the left-leaning paper I served.
“You’ve been watching too much Fox N ews and reading too many right-wing blogs. You got fired because of all the time you spent railing against modern politics. Everybody knows that.”
“Everybody knows only what they have been told. It’s even what I was told by my editor. But you know what? It just didn’t sit right with me. So I dug, and eventually uncovered the truth,” I say as I lean forward. She looks at me, the anger in her face replaced with another familiar emotion: fear.
“ Madison, you’re either lying, or completely brainwashed if you think for a second that Winston Beaumont didn’t get me fired because I have the story in all its gory detail. Fox and a couple of others made a few reports, but so what, right? Winston Beaumont’s not scared of Fox News. But having it plastered on the front page of The New York Times ? That’s another thing altogether.”
I know my sister. I can read her expressions and mannerisms. Even though we’ve never really been close, I spent enough time growing up with her to be able to decipher her non-verbal tells. And although she’s doing her best to hide it, she just can’t. Not with me.
“What happened to you , Kylie? You’ve become so jaded. You think the whole world is out to get you. It’s too bad.”
Madison retrieves her purse and stands, the chair screeching against the tile floor as she rises. Her exit won’t be as graceful as her entrance. No longer is she on top of the world, taking a pity lunch with her loser big sister. I have her, and now it’s time to go for her throat.
“I told you what I was working on.” Madison stops a few steps from the table, but she doesn’t look back at me. “I didn’t give you many specifics that night we talked on the phone. You remember, the one where we talked like we did from time-to-time growing up. You were in emotional
“Almost ,” I reply. “Except back then, our battles were small and harmless. Not the scorched earth campaigns they are now.”
“I’m not sure I know what you mean.”
“Oh, Madison, the innocence routine may enchant other members of the press, but it stopped working on me in grammar school. So do us both a favor and drop it, will you?” She smarts a little at the comment, but says nothing. A supreme accomplishment for a woman who talks for a living, I might add. “Despite our differences, I never thought you’d be complicit in getting me fired from a job.”
“I did n’t get you fired from anything, and I resent that accusation.”
“No, you didn’t, but your boss did. And frankly I don’t give a damn what you resent.”
The waiter arrives with our wine and asks us for our order. Neither one of us is hungry by this point, so he is promptly dismissed. Once he flees out of earshot, Madison leans forward, a flash of anger in her eyes.
“He did no such thing, and the mere insinuation that he did is insulting. Congressman Beaumont is an honest and capable servant of the people who would never jeopardize his position to force the firing of a second rate journalist making unsubstantiated claims.” Second-rate journalist. That was meant to hurt.
“Well, this second- rate journalist has it on good authority, from reliable sources, that Winston Beaumont was instrumental in passing legislation favorable to the Lexington Group.”
“There’s nothing illegal about that , Kylie.”
“No, but when he personally benefits from it to the tune of over $300,000 in financial compensation not made directly to his campaign, it’s called a kickback. And that, my dear little sister, is very illegal.”
I just played the best card in my hand. There were only a couple of news outlets that covered the allegation, and none of them put a monetary value on it. I did, because that was the number the two sources gave me. One more person to corroborate and I could have run the story, even in the left-leaning paper I served.
“You’ve been watching too much Fox N ews and reading too many right-wing blogs. You got fired because of all the time you spent railing against modern politics. Everybody knows that.”
“Everybody knows only what they have been told. It’s even what I was told by my editor. But you know what? It just didn’t sit right with me. So I dug, and eventually uncovered the truth,” I say as I lean forward. She looks at me, the anger in her face replaced with another familiar emotion: fear.
“ Madison, you’re either lying, or completely brainwashed if you think for a second that Winston Beaumont didn’t get me fired because I have the story in all its gory detail. Fox and a couple of others made a few reports, but so what, right? Winston Beaumont’s not scared of Fox News. But having it plastered on the front page of The New York Times ? That’s another thing altogether.”
I know my sister. I can read her expressions and mannerisms. Even though we’ve never really been close, I spent enough time growing up with her to be able to decipher her non-verbal tells. And although she’s doing her best to hide it, she just can’t. Not with me.
“What happened to you , Kylie? You’ve become so jaded. You think the whole world is out to get you. It’s too bad.”
Madison retrieves her purse and stands, the chair screeching against the tile floor as she rises. Her exit won’t be as graceful as her entrance. No longer is she on top of the world, taking a pity lunch with her loser big sister. I have her, and now it’s time to go for her throat.
“I told you what I was working on.” Madison stops a few steps from the table, but she doesn’t look back at me. “I didn’t give you many specifics that night we talked on the phone. You remember, the one where we talked like we did from time-to-time growing up. You were in emotional
Similar Books
