Page 31 of Let's Kiss and Tell

We got some free donuts over here and I snagged a couple. Want one?

There’s a warm, fleeting feeling in my chest. The fact that Lucy thought of me shouldn’t mean as much as it does.

Marsh:

Oh thanks for thinking of me. Sure, why not?

Lucy:

Be right down!

It takes barely another sip of my now stale coffee before Lucy’s at my door. She’s wearing some cream-colored oversize knit sweater with jeans. “Knock, knock,” she says.

“Hey,” I say. “Come in.”

She heads straight for the chair she sat in yesterday, offering me a choice of a chocolate glazed doughnut or a French cruller.

“Thank you.” I take the cruller. “What’s the occasion?”

“Someone’s birthday.” She takes a bite of her chocolate doughnut. “How goes it? Working on anything fun?”

“The peg is the recent development about Alf Olson’s involvement with the escort service.”

I don’t go into too much detail about the divorce because working atThe Rueand being as social media savvy as she is, Lucy most likely knows the details. As I predicted, she nods like she’s already understanding.

“What direction are you going in?” she asks. “There are so many.”

“Like?” I ask, my curiosity piqued.

“Well, I mean there’s the nuances of sex work.”

“Right,” I reply in agreement.

“Or you can get ethical and keep the focus on infidelity,” she says. “Or could something like the history of sex workers work?”

“It would be a great read, but when I think of that, it’s more of atopicthan a story. I’d have to dig a little deeper.”

She sits up, something in her curious. “What about why women go into escorting, having ownership of your body, the stigma of sex workers…”

“You’re absolutely right, and I love those angles,” I say. “That voice is—”

“Opinionated.” Lucy finishes my sentence, already knowing the problem. “I know that’s news journalism 101, but I would find it so hard to be unbiased in stories.”

“You get used to it,” I say. “But yeah, sometimes it’s challenging. Don’t get me started on how many times I had to report oncertain political views and interview people I didn’t want to. I just sat there and bit my tongue.”

“Oh my god.” Lucy’s face scrunches. “How do you do it?”

“I just accept I have to write things I don’t want to sometimes.” I tip my forehead in her direction. “Kind of like your column.”

Her lips purse and she looks down. “You know…that oddly helps.”

“Yeah?”

She smiles. “I think I needed to hear that.”

I slide over the printed documents and let her read them. “I’m working on getting interviews with the names on that other paper. I have two locked down already and I should find out more next week.”

“Which ones?” Lucy looks at me.