Every week, Channel 4 anchorwoman Natalie Johnson had come up with a provocative dare for her colleague Lisa Marvell to perform as part of the station's 11:00 Friday Night Special newscast. And each daring activity inevitably led to the attractive blonde reporter getting naked –in a video showing her colleagues welcoming her back to work, at a college's swimming pool, in a local pizza place, while getting her body painted, and most recently in an on-air strip game where Lisa lost a piece of clothing for each correct answer provided by a studio guest. In televising these dares, Lisa and Natalie had gotten progressively bolder. At first the camera only caught glimpses of the 32-year old reporter's well-shaped ass, something permitted by the network's Standards and Practices. But in recent weeks, viewers were also able to catch brief shots of frontal nudity as well.
But Friday's strip trivia game had gone too far – not only were Lisa's breasts prominently displayed, but Natalie had used her stockings to tie Lisa to a chair as the rest of her clothing was removed. Despite the playful nature of the segment – and the tens of thousands of viewers who tuned in to watch while only a handful registered any complaints – station manager Ken Barber decided the reports were too risky and had to end.
Lisa got the first inkling of the bad news Saturday morning when she woke to the repeated sound of incoming text messages on her cell phone. Most of them were from Bill Reinhart, Channel 4's news producer, alerting her to the fact that he was meeting with the station manager and their lawyers later that day and that she should be in his office Monday morning at 9:00 AM for a meeting.
The blonde reporter immediately texted Natalie to see if she had heard from Bill. "I'm heading out to get some coffee, so why don't I pick up something for you and stop by?" Lisa replied when Natalie acknowledged that Bill had updated her on the situation as well.
"Sounds great, but can you make it two coffees? Both with cream and extra sugar," Natalie replied. "Nicole's here."
"Oh, another piece of happy news to start the day," Lisa thought to herself, realizing that this meant that Natalie had just spent the night with her latest crush, weather reporter Nicole Lewis.
Lisa had nothing against Nicole; in fact, she actually liked her a great deal. An attractive woman in her late twenties, Nicole had worked her way up quickly in the broadcasting world, moving three times in five years before landing at Channel 4 when Natalie shifted from the weather desk to the anchor position. Standing roughly the same height as Lisa, Nicole's most striking features were her long auburn hair offset by startling blue eyes. However, the blonde reporter had to acknowledge that she was envious of the younger women's svelte 32-24-33 figure, which she managed to keep under 120 pounds.
Attractive on camera and thoroughly professional in her forecasting, Nicole had made a great addition to the late night news team. And it wasn't long before Lisa sensed Natalie's growing attraction to the meteorologist. Lisa had no right to complain, as she and Natalie had agreed from the start that they would maintain an open relationship and that they would keep it hidden from their colleagues at Channel 4. For Lisa, it was her first affair with another woman and Natalie, although infatuated with the older reporter, knew that she needed her freedom as well. Neither felt that a long-term commitment was going to happen, but nevertheless knowing that Nicole had just spent the night with Natalie added to her sadness at the start of what was turning out to be a very bad day.
By the time Lisa arrived with the coffee, Natalie was seated in a silk robe on her sofa while Nicole answered the front door looking cute in cutoffs and a tee shirt.
Sensing that her colleague was slightly embarrassed to be "caught" at Natalie's place, Lisa greeted her with a warm smile. "Hi, Nicole," Lisa said as she placed the coffees down. "It's good to see you here," she added as she gave the weather girl a big hug.
"Thanks, Lisa," the woman responded, her body noticeably relaxing as she lightly squeezed Lisa's hand. "I know that Natalie is worried and I know how special you are to her, so I'm glad you were able to come over."
"It feels good to be with the two of you while we figure this thing out," the blonde reporter said as she handed out the coffees and then seated herself in a chair across from the anchorwoman. "Now, what's the latest from Bill?"
"Not much really. Just that he'll let us know on Monday if there will be any changes. But I don't like the sound of that," she added as Nicole sat down next to her on the sofa and put her arm around Natalie's shoulder.
Lisa leaned back in the chair, deep in thought. She recalled a morning only a few months earlier right here in Natalie's apartment after the two women had spent their first night together. At that point, Lisa had been terribly confused about what was happening with her "dare to bare" series. Natalie had been the calm voice of reason, helping her to make the decisions that led to her time off from the station and eventually her return to the Friday Night Specials. As she reflected on all of the exciting things that had happened since then, Lisa realized two things: they would figure out a way to get through the current situation and it was now time for her to take control, just as Natalie had stepped in before.
"Well, there's no point in getting too worried until we know exactly what we're facing," the blonde reporter said as she slowly sipped on her coffee. "On Monday when we've heard from Bill, I'll come up with a plan. The most important thing to remember is that our audience loves what we're doing and that we need to make sure they keep watching. I'm sure I can figure out a way to do that." She leaned forward looking directly at Natalie and Nicole. "Besides," she said with a big smile, "I'm having too much fun to give this up without a fight."
"I know you and Natalie have really done all the work to make the Friday Night Specials so successful," Nicole joined in. "But anything I can do to help, count me in."
"Absolutely. I suspect we'll need a lot of help on this. But for now, I suggest we all enjoy the weekend," she said as she started to rise from her chair. "I've got some things to do, and I'm sure you two can find some way to keep busy."
"All of a sudden, you seem to be in a big rush," Natalie said as she motioned her friend to sit back down. "What's so important anyway?"
"For one thing, I have to get in touch with Manny. I told him I'd fly out to the coast to see him next weekend, but I realized I can't go then because of the annual broadcasters' dinner. So I need to check to see if he's around the following week and then make plane reservations."
"Oh, and are you two going to be making any new tapes while you're out there?" Natalie asked with a droll look on her face
.
"Wasn't the first one good enough?" Lisa replied.
Glancing at Nicole, the blonde reporter could tell that she had no idea what the two women were talking about. Turning to Natalie, she asked, "Is it okay if I tell her?"
"Well, first I should correct myself. It's a DVD and not a tape," the anchorwoman explained. "But sure," she continued as she turned to Lisa, "go ahead and tell her."
Manny Bareda, Lisa reminded Nicole, was the highly regarded videographer that Bill had hired to prepare the video for the first of the dares, the one that featured her getting naked on the studio set surrounded by her colleagues. She omitted the fact that the two nights of shooting on a deserted studio set had included a brief sexual encounter between her and the photographer, but she did describe the 3 AM phone call she placed to Natalie on the second night asking her to come to studio. Once there, Manny shot some additional footage that ended up in a special "Director's Cut," which Lisa had then shared with Natalie.
"Wow, I had no idea," Nicole said.
"You weren't supposed to," Lisa said with a devilish grin. "Only the three of us knew about it."
"And now you," Natalie said, softly squeezing Nicole's hand.
"Since then, Manny and I have stayed in touch and he's invited me to visit him in California. And that's why," she added as she got up and headed to the door, "I should be home checking on flights to the coast."
The other women jumped to their feet, each hugging Lisa before she left.
"Oh, and don't be surprised," Lisa added as she turned to leave, "if we have to let a few more people know about that Director's Cut. But first, let's see what Bill has to say on Monday." And with that, she exited Natalie's apartment, leaving the two women wondering just what the daring reporter had in mind.
*****
Lisa had been certain from the moment she received Bill's first text that she was going to be either suspended or fired from her job at Channel 4. Over the course of the weekend, she concluded that being terminated might be the simplest and best path forward for her – she was continually approached with new job offers that represented a lot more money. But that was not necessarily the best solution for her colleagues or for the newscasts. And she was not going to give up on everything she had worked so hard to achieve at Channel 4, nor was she going to let her audience down. Her only message to Bill was this: "I don't care if they suspend me, but do everything you can to prevent me from being fired before the broadcasting awards banquet next Saturday." She followed that up with a short text that read, "I'll take care of the rest."
So, the bad news came as no surprise to the blonde reporter when she and Natalie sat down with Bill on Monday morning. He had just been informed minutes before in his meeting with station manager Ken Barber that he was relieved of his role as producer for the daily newscasts and demoted to handling the weekend reports because of his "bad judgment and failure to protect the integrity of the station's public image." Furthermore, he told them, Natalie was being taken off the anchor desk and reassigned to feature reports on Saturday and Sunday nights while Lisa was suspended for violating Standards and Practices guidelines.
