Little Pink Slips by Sally Koslow Read Free Book Online

Natalie was
    like every other editor, who believed what was yours was yours—
    writers, headlines, ideas—until she decided it was "in the public
    domain," a time which could arrive with surprising alacrity.
    "So, I shouldn't appeal to Jock's higher plane of reason?" Magnolia
    asked, getting up from her chair and walking to the window. If
    Magnolia wasn't mistaken, that was Darlene getting into a car with a
    rotund redhead poured into black leather pants, a fitted jacket, and
    spiky boots.
    "There's no such place," Natalie said with a laugh. "Right now
    Jock's thinking Bebe Blake will lead him to Oscar parties, weekends in
    Malibu, and his own pilot and plane." They both knew how it got to
    Jock that his kid brother, who headed a media company deep in the
    corn of Nebraska, had a GV at his disposal, when he didn't even have
    a share in a NetJet.
       "But, Natalie, it doesn't make sense," Magnolia said. " The Bebe Show is sliding in the Nielsen's. Will she even get an option to renew?"
       "Magnolia, have I taught you nothing? Use a little sechel for a change." Only with Magnolia did Natalie throw around Yiddish, this
    time invoking the term for shrewd judgment. They were often the
    only Jews at Scary meetings and on those occasions Natalie used less
    Yiddish than your average Leno-watching Southern Baptist.
    "Get all orgasmic about Bebe?" Magnolia asked.
    "Precisely. What's to lose?"
    Integrity? Face? Time? Still, she tried to focus on the bigger picture.
    "I get your drift."
    "Besides, Bebe's not that bad," Natalie said as she twisted a stray
    tendril into her unruly topknot.
    "And you would know this how?"
    "We had lunch recently and she's hilarious. Curses a blue streak.
    I was peeing in my pants."
       This was the first time Natalie had ever mentioned lunching with Bebe. In fact, after her last Dazzle cover, which featured a paparazzi photo which made the entertainer look like the blue-ribbon sow at
    the Texas state fair, there was talk of lawsuits. Magnolia weighed the
    options. Should she ask Natalie if she was aware of Bebe's proposal
    before her meeting with Jock and the gang—or let it go? Better not. If
    she knew nothing, Natalie would do a slow burn at the implication
    that she was sitting on dynamite.
    "How's that friend of yours with the jewelry?" Natalie said as she
    poured green tea from a fragile celadon teapot.
    Magnolia sometimes felt that before a conversation with Natalie
    she should pop a Ritalin, but frankly she was relieved that they'd
    moved to a new topic.
    "Abbey?" Magnolia asked.
    "I can never remember her name," Natalie said. "Was that one of
    her necklaces I saw Charlotte wearing the other day?"
    "Could be," Magnolia said. She knew where this was going and decided to get there fast. "Want me to see if she'd give you a friends
    and-family discount?"
    Natalie feigned surprise. "Magnolia," she said. "You are the sweet
    est. But now that you mention it, maybe something from the new line
    I hear she has coming out. The one at Bergdorf's"
    In the next ten minutes they discussed whether or not Magnolia
    would go out with Natalie's husband's partner (Magnolia waffled— he was a troll), why the editor of Elegance r an Penélope Cruz on the cover every six months (desperate), and who'd become the next editor of the Star (each of them offered a short list). When Natalie's assistant buzzed her, Magnolia was glad. It was almost two, and their
    lunch had failed to have its desired effect of making her feel fabulous
    merely from being in Natalie's wake.
    "Oh, I know it's last minute, but I'd love it if you'd join us for cock
    tails in the country a week from Saturday," Natalie said as Magnolia
    got up to leave. "Throwing a book party for Dr. Winnie. A small group.
    Very casual."
    Magnolia couldn't remember when she'd ever actually had fun at
    one of Natalie's parties, but if she declined, Natalie might be angry.
    Magnolia couldn't risk it. Natalie shifted from friend to foe like other
    women changed