Scarlett snapped the last branch in
two, put it in the lawn bag, and then rubbed her aching back. Ahh,
sweet relief. There were enough
knots back there to tie every rope in the Coast Guard fleet.
Glancing
up from her stretch, Scarlett caught the glint of light off of peroxide blond
hair. There was only one person she knew
who had hair that shade. She groaned. Anica Mathews, Southern Living, Scarlett
mocked internally. Usually she was accompanied by at least one obedient, worshipful
photographer and journalist each. …Found
them!
Smothering
her deep instinct to duck and run, Scarlett marched over the newly-clear,
bright green park lawn to Anica.
“Anica
Mathews.” Scarlett stood ramrod straight in front of the SL editor.
“Yes?”
Anica looked around for the source of the voice, curious. When her eyes locked
on Scarlett’s, a smirk flitted over her face. “Oh, Scarlett, my dear! It’s been
such a long time! You must tell me –
how have you been?”
Scarlett ignored her saccharine posturing.
“I have a deal for you.”
Anica’s eyebrows rose, and her pale
blue eyes narrowed. “Oh?” She gestured subtly
for the spellbound journalist to start taking notes. “And what might that be?”
“I
give you the Southern Living feature you want, the way you want it. No limits.
Provided everything printed is true, of course.” Scarlett couldn’t resist that
little jab.
Anica
cocked her head, reminiscent of a falcon pinpointing its kill. Her hands rose to her hips. “And what do you
get out of it?”
“Connections.”
Anica rocked back on her heels, caught
off-guard. “What?” Slipped out involuntarily.
Scarlett, sensing her weakness, moved
in for the clinching blow. “I give you the feature you desperately want. You use
your publishing connections to help me publish and promote my book. Easy-peasy.
A win-win.”
“A
win-win,” Anica echoed. “But wait. Your book? If it’s crap, it won’t get
published.” She eyed Scarlett up and down. “There’s nothing even I can do about
that.”
“It’s
not crap,” Scarlett volleyed back confidently. “Do you remember that feature
you did on this town as part of your story 6
Southern Towns Making a Comeback? You didn’t get the material you wanted
because you focused on the wrong part of our…” she paused, “‘…charming city life.’”
The
photographer and journalist took a step forward, unsure if they were protecting
Scarlett or restraining Anica in the imminent explosion that would follow such
provocation. Their boss inhaled heavily through her nose, a red flush suffusing
her cheeks. But to their
incredulousness, she held it together.
Anica spoke through clenched teeth. “And
what is the correct part to focus on,
according to you?”
“Not
our horrible restaurant offerings. Or our dead night life. Or our dilapidated architecture.
Instead: the people. They’re
complicated and crazy enough to write a book about. Which is exactly what I
did.”
Anica
forgot her indignation in her surprise and sudden interest. “Well, Miss White…you
have yourself a deal.” She stuck her hand out and Scarlett shook it firmly,
only to be blinded by a sudden flash.
“Say
cheese!” The obnoxious, peppy photographer beamed.
“Great!
We’ll be in touch!” Scarlett followed her instincts this time and hightailed it
out of there as fast as she could.
Only when she was on the other side of
Howell Park, finally pristine after a day’s worth of whole-town clean-up
efforts, did she relax.
So
this is what a deal with the devil feels like. Scarlett
shook her head, then jumped as her phone rang.
“Scarlett
White, hello?”
“Hey,
Scarlett? Yeah, sorry I was such a pill this morning. Anyway, you wanna go with me to see the
Little Mermaid in the park tonight?”
Now
that she said it, Scarlett fuzzily remembered a tetchy Jenn in the pre-dawn
hallway this morning.
“Eh, no problem. But yeah, I’ve here all day for the
clean-up. Might as well stay for a
little Disney to brighten up my night.”
Scarlett
began howling off-pitch, “Under the sea, under the sea…”
Jenn
yelped. “Hanging up now!”
Scarlett
collapsed into laughter. Jenn should really know by now that I sing
like a skinned cat.
She’d
tell her about the unofficial book deal when Jenn arrived. That would garner a happy explosion. If there
were such things.
