The young woman sat down at her computer terminal, easily logging into her email account. Sam Davis looked kind of scruffy, though that was pretty normal for her, dressed in a baggy sweatshirt and casual pants, Her round glasses gleamed, as she waited patiently, her long brown hair flowing down her back in a neat braid. The mail screen came up and she frowned, noticing so much was in her bulk mail bin, opening the folder Sam swiftly marked off files for deleting, only stopping when she noted one of her regular on-line newsletters. Finishing clearing out all of the spam she clicked on the one useful file, her eyes widening in surprise. 'Scandal in Romance publishing!' the banner headline read then the article continued, 'In a shocking revelation, popular romance novelist Nicole Richards has been revealed to be a lesbian. The 'National Star' has obtained photos and testimony revealing the sordid details of her many affairs. Her publisher has declined comment at this time...' "Oh my god," Sam murmured weakly. She skimmed the article with a frown, but there wasn't much more details there. She went to one of her usual media bulletin boards, already finding a topic where it was being discussed. Several pieces of the upcoming article were already posted up there, along with several clearly recognizable photos of Ms. Richards and a gorgeous brown haired woman, including at least one where they were kissing romantically. The article named places and dates, along with details of her private life that made Sam blush, faintly. Along with the news there was a heated debate going on, some posters defending Nicole for being in the closet while writing her heterosexual romance novels while others were harshly condemning her for the deception. Sam read the various points even as her own thoughts raced, trying to decide how she felt about it all. Finally, Sam came to a simple conclusion: it didn't really matter to her. The books that she had read were still the same, still good, even if the writer herself wasn't the person Sam had thought she was. Sam jerked up as a thought zinged her, 'Does Ms. Richards know that she's been outed?' Quickly checking the date on the posts she saw that they had only gone up this morning, along with the email that she had just gotten. She reached for the phone, thinking of calling Ms. Richards, but realized she didn't have her phone number. 'Which doesn't leave me a lot of choices,' Sam thought wryly, getting up from her desk. The little car rumbled ominously as Sam started it up, but it still headed down the street at a good pace. She cut through town, tempted to stop in to see her brother but decided not too. 'He'll find out about Ms. Richards soon enough,' she thought glumly. Out through the commercial zone then up the roads towards the hills and the sea, the way getting considerably worse as Sam continued. Finally with great reluctance she turned onto the gravel road. A pothole nearly threw her out of her seat and Sam grit her teeth as she bumped and lurched her way up to the little house. Sam sat there in her old car for a moment, idly wondering if this was really a very good idea, then she got out, thumping the dented door shut behind her. A peaceful breeze stirred her long hair away from her face as she walked over to the wooden steps and up to the front door. She took a deep breath to steady herself, then knocked firmly. It took a moment for someone to answer, and Sam blinked in surprise at the sight. Nicole had a cellphone to her ear, talking intently to someone as she waved Sam inside. "No, I don't want you to deny it," she said crisply into the phone, "there's not much point, Max." "If you say so," Max rumbled dubiously. "So who do you think did it?" he asked, loud enough for even Sam to hear. "I don't think, I know who," Nicole made a face as she continued irritably, "I had Lynn up here just a few days ago trying to get some money out of me. Once I said no, I guess she decided to sell her story to the papers instead." 'Guess she knows,' Sam thought wryly as she took a seat, nervously wondering if the ghost was going to pop out again. "Sounds like Lynn is trying to portray herself as an innocent who was corrupted by an evil lesbian," Max sounded amused. "Hey, she seduced me," Nicole protested. Max nearly choked at that comment before laughing. "Don't worry about it," he chuckled wickedly, "I advised a few reporter friends to check into her background a bit, so she shouldn't get away with that very long.": "Good to know," Nicole braced herself for bad news, "is this going to set back the release of the latest book?" "No, we're going ahead," Max said, "I figure any publicity is good publicity." "Give me a break," Nicole groaned. She gave Sam an apologetic smile as she asked, "Can I call you back, I've got company." "No problem," Max answered cheerfully before hanging up. Nicole set the phone down, the redhead looking visibly weary. "Sorry about that," she gave Sam a tired smile. "I thought I should come up and make sure you knew," Sam said hesitantly. Nicole flashed her a grateful smile, "That was kind of you." She sat down with a soft thump in one of the chairs, "I got a wake-up call from a reporter I know a few hours ago and my editor and I have been calling back and forth ever since." "It really surprised me," Sam said, a hint of reproach in her voice, "when I read a preview of the article on a fan-site." Nicole smiled at her wryly, "Whenever I had an author's bio written I insisted that they not actually lie about anything, but maybe I should have been more honest." "I don't know," Sam admitted thoughtfully after a moment of thought, "I mean, it's not like readers expect to know all about the writers normally, so why should a lesbian author reveal all?" "True," Nicole's smile was mildly self-mocking, "but even I have to admit that it is a bit odd that a lesbian is writing straight romances." She actually chuckled, "Too bad I ended up being so good at writing them, huh?" Sam smiled back, her eyes lighting up as she remembered something. "You were talking to your editor about a new book?" she asked eagerly. Nicole almost laughed at the sudden switch, Sam's pure eagerness showing in those wide eyes. "Sent the manuscript in a few days ago," she confirmed, "the latest in my series." She added mentally, 'And probably my last.' "Do you think," Sam beamed, "I could read it first?" Nicole hesitated, then smiled, "Just promise not to show it to anyone," she said as she left the room. A few minutes later she returned with a loosely bound ream of sheets, the front page simply carrying the title and Nicole's name. "I promise," Sam beamed as she took the sheets, "thank you, Ms Richards." "Call me Nicole," she smiled. They talked for awhile, then Sam, clutching her book like it was a treasure, headed out to her car and drove off. She looked in the rearview mirror and her eyes widened as she saw two women standing on the porch, one solid and one... not. Nicole smiled to herself wryly as she watched Sam go, "Hope the rest of my readers are as accepting as she was." She nearly jumped out of her skin as Laura spoke from behind Nicole, "If they love your work, I think they will." "You get a perverse pleasure out of startling me, don't you?" Nicole turned to look at her blonde haired lover with a smile. Laura echoed that smile, the gown she wore fluttering gently around her slim body. "Well, yes," she conceded. "Thank you for not scaring Sam this time," Nicole said softly. "I do have some tact," Laura sounded amused. She looked at Nicole, "I still can't believe that someone who claimed she loved you could do this." "It wasn't love," Nicole sighed as she leaned up against the porch, "Lynn's a user, she's just very good at keeping you from figuring it out." "And how's Rachel taking this?" Laura asked, keeping her voice steady. "Spectacularly annoyed," Nicole actually chuckled, "especially when she found out that she was the one who led Lynn up here." Even Laura had to smile at that.
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