Different Circles

“But you are required to follow up on valid information that disputes this account,” she said. “Meghan’s mother told Fenton the real story of how Meghan was hired. Her sister is a labor and delivery nurse who assisted in the birth of Cadence Kingsley. While taking care of Laura Kingsley, she told Jake and Laura about her sister Meghan, who worked in a day care center. It was Danielle the nurse who introduced Meghan to Jake and Laura. They did not know what she looked like before they met her. Meghan’s mother is willing to go on record as having provided this information to Fenton. Danielle is willing to go on record as to how the hiring of Meghan came about. How about we start there? You reporter was given this information and provably disregarded it. That would go a long way toward establishing that your publication is purposely attempting to defame Meghan Zachary, wouldn’t it?”

It took a moment for Veneer to answer. Finally, he coughed a little. “If that is true,” he said, “and I have no reason to believe that at the moment, then we will just cut that part of the story out. The rest will stand.”

“That would be the allegations that Meghan’s ‘friends’ advanced that she is required to provide sexual services as a condition of her employment?”

“Exactly,” he said. “How she came by the job is really not the issue here. It’s what happened after she started work.”

“What happened after she started work is that she takes care of their daughter while they are working on music every day in Los Angeles. She lives in a guest bedroom in their home and that is the extent of the relationship.”

“That is your side of the story,” Veneer said, “and if you tell that to Jack, he will include it in the article, as required by journalistic ethics and standards.”

Pauline laughed. “Listening to you spout about journalistic ethics and standards is like listening to fuckin’ Saddam Hussein spout about human rights and justice.”

“That is uncalled for,” Veneer said huffily.

“I don’t really think so,” Pauline countered. “In any case, what if I were to tell you that Meghan Zachary does not really have any friends?”

“That’s absurd,” he said. “Of course she has friends. Jack talked to many of them. That is his primary source for the article.”

“He talked to townspeople and probably some college students at Cal Poly,” Pauline said. “People who do not even know Meghan personally, but have just heard of her because she now works for Jake Kingsley. If you publish this story, we will file a defamation suit against you. And we will demand in court that you name the sources of your information.”

“We cannot be compelled to name sources,” Veneer said. “You know that.”

“Yes, I do,” she said. “But there are two courts we’ll be dealing with here, Veneer. One is the court of law. You don’t have to name your sources for them. The other court is the court of public opinion. That’s the one that really counts in our society. When I told you that we would go to the wall with this thing, I was not fucking around with you. We will pull out all the stops. We will get statements from people who actually know Meghan and who will go on record as saying that the Meghan you are portraying is not even remotely like how she is. We will have her mother, her sister, her father, her kindergarten friends, her professors at Cal Poly, her coworkers at the KinderCare, anyone who can give a true picture of her go on record about her character. And we will continuously demand that you name a single source—fucking anyone—who can validate your accusations. And when you consistently refuse to name even one source—because you know you don’t have any—how is that going to look in the public opinion court? How do you think the jury that is finally seated for the trial after four or five years of this shit is going to view your rag? How is the judge who oversees the trial going to feel? And, in the meantime, how are your readers going to feel? The people who buy your rag in the checkout lines? Are they still going to have faith in your bullshit when they see that you cannot come up with a single source to support your allegations against this cute, innocent girl?”

There was silence on Veneer’s end of the line. A long silence. Finally: “I think you’re bluffing about this.”