Author's Note: This series continues the story of television reporter Lisa Marvell. Any necessary background is provided within the stories that follow; however, reading the earlier series called "A Daring Reporter" will provide more detail on some of the characters as well as earlier events. Comments and feedback are always appreciated.
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The weeks since Lisa Marvell had last anchored Channel 4's 6:00 and 11:00 news broadcasts had flown by for the star reporter. She had negotiated a leave of absence partly to give herself some time to come up with fresh ideas for a new series of feature reports for the local television station where she had served as co-anchor for several years. But she also desperately needed a break after working virtually nonstop for months.
It had all started the previous winter when Lisa decided to boost her station's declining ratings by appearing braless at the end of a late night Friday newscast. The stunt worked, viewership increased, and each week Lisa (with the support of her producer Bill Reinhart) devised ways to appear at the end of the week during the 11:00 broadcast in progressively revealing outfits. This gave rise to a series of stories on women who "dare to bare," with Lisa reporting on ladies engaged in activities that called on them to wear little or no clothing. And, as part of each feature, the reporter joined in the activity. Over the weeks, Lisa appeared in a see-through gown, modeled in the buff for an art class, visited a nudist colony, posed for racy photographs (along with her colleague and weather reporter, Natalie Johnson), and performed a striptease at a local club. Lisa retained tight control over the series, including just how much of her body would be revealed in each report. Then, as the demands on her time became overwhelming, Lisa struck an agreement with Bill allowing her to take a well-earned leave, but not before performing an on-air strip during her farewell broadcast that left her wearing nothing by a c-string and pasties. And then she disappeared.
Bill received an occasional text saying she was well, but she never told him where she was or what she was doing. Finally, one afternoon, the station manager Ken Barber surprised Bill by revealing that Lisa had just signed a new contract that involved some significant changes. Lisa would be returning to the station primarily to co-anchor the 11:00 Friday Night newscasts and to report on stories with a more mature theme (or, in the language of the contract, "adult-oriented news items"), including segments focusing on Lisa herself. "And not to worry," Ken had explained to Bill, "this won't mean extra work for you. It's still all under your control, but we've asked Natalie Johnson to serve as associate producer for Lisa's segments on the Friday Night Specials. So she'll be in charge of all of the details."
In addition, Bill learned that Lisa had agreed that an announcement could be made on that night's 11:00 news saying that she would returning to Channel 4 for the series of special late night reports. Those segments would allow her to explore daring ideas and challenges, many of them provided by the audience, who were encouraged to email their suggestions to lisamarvelldares@gmail.com. It seemed like Lisa was no longer content to simply report on a story; during her time off, she had decided that she wanted to be the story. And, with Natalie designated as her producer, it was implied that the young, dark-haired anchorwoman was going to be in control of Lisa's performances.
The next Monday, when Bill arrived at the studio, he was startled to see a very relaxed Lisa sitting in his office, thumbing through a fashion magazine with one leg draped casually over the arm of the only comfortable chair in the room. With a stunning tan that showed off her long blonde hair and natural good looks, she was dressed in jeans and a tee shirt. Whatever she had been doing during her time away, it was clear she had been staying in great shape. Her jeans clung to her long legs, and Bill was reasonably sure that she wasn't wearing a bra under her top. At 5' 8", she was still under 130 lbs, and her svelte 34-25-34 figure had never looked better.
"Lisa," Bill began, trying to recover from the surprise of seeing her again, "it's wonderful to have you back." She let the magazine slip back into her bag and stood up and hugged him briefly. Bill took a step back and made a point of scanning her from head to toe. "The time off must have agreed with you. You look great."
"Thanks, Bill. I can't remember when I've felt this good. And I owe it all to you for allowing me to take a break. I promise you won't regret it."
"I haven't regretted going along with any of your ideas so far, and I can't imagine why that would change." He continued, "We announced your return last week, and the suggestions are already pouring in for you."
"Are they?" Lisa said, with a gleam in her eye. "I guess there are still a few people out there who remember me." She paused, then added with just a little edge in her voice, "Even though you've got Natalie anchoring the broadcasts now."
Bill had wondered how much of a sore spot this would be with the reporter. He suspected that Lisa, in spite of the fact that she had asked to give up the news desk, hadn't anticipated that her colleague and former weather girl, Natalie Johnson, would take over the position. Bill knew that experienced on-air talent could grow resentful when a younger coworker was given a break or offered a promotion that had taken them longer to attain. But in the view of station management, Natalie was the logical choice to step in. Her participation in some of Lisa's reports, including her willingness to pose for sexy lingerie photos in one of the "dare-to-bare" reports, had made her a hit with viewers. And no one wanted to lose the audience that had been tuning in to see Lisa, so who better to hold their attention than Natalie.
"Natalie's doing a great job," Bill responded. "She's been continuing in the spirit of the Friday night special reports, and no one's been more supportive of your return to the news team than she has. In fact, she's insisting on reviewing all of the ideas coming in from viewers and wants to sit in on all our meetings with the writers when we kick around the suggestions."
The reporter stretched back out in the chair and looked at Bill. What he didn't know was that Natalie had initiated a romantic relationship with Lisa that had continued even after Natalie took over the anchor slot. And having agreed that they wanted to pursue an open relationship, they had also decided that the chance to work together again could be used to push their boundaries and allow Lisa to explore her burgeoning sexual and exhibitionist desires.
"That doesn't surprise me at all. I'm sure she's very eager to have me try some of these dares," Lisa replied, just the trace of a smile forming at the corners of her mouth. "And you know, I am, too," she said. "One thing I've realized about myself is that I find it exciting to try new things, even if I occasionally need a bit of a push. I'm open to just about anything, especially if it makes for compelling television. And if this turns out the way I think it might, we could end up with something that's really new and different and maybe shakes things up a bit."
"Like you haven't shaken things up already?" Bill said with a huge grin. "You know, we hired a new weather forecaster and a young reporter, and on occasion Natalie has encouraged them to compete to see who can wear the sexiest outfit on Friday night."
"I'd heard about that and seen some of the clips. Very daring, Bill," Lisa added with just a touch of irony in her voice. "In fact, I'm counting on the fact that I'll be able to recruit some of my colleagues for these Friday Night Special reports," she replied, raising her eyebrows as if to say "just wait until you see what I have in mind."
"That would be fantastic for our ratings, so you'll get no objections from me," Bill assured her. "But you do understand that the dares themselves will be given to you by the news anchor?"
"Which, of course, I realize is Natalie." Lisa glanced around as if deciding just what else to say and then looked back at Bill with just the hint of a laugh. "Let's just say that was something that was discussed at length and I thought it was essential to what we're going to do. I realize I'll be too busy filming the segments for Friday, so I'll have to trust the editing of my reports to others, I guess," she continued as if confessing some deep, dark secret to Bill.
