Free The Boys' Club by Wendy Squires Page B

hurt. 'You know Alicia,
though, she prefers to deal direct with you. I have tried, honestly.'
    'Well, if you really want to help me, you can make sure she knows
you're on top of things, give her daily updates – make that hourly,
considering it's Alicia. And she really has to start letting us know just
exactly what she's planning here. Keith and Johnno, not to mention
Simon Nash, have given her creative licence with this drama but god
only knows what that means to Alicia.'
    Keith referred to his drama head as batty but Alicia was saved
from his total scorn because she 'knew about television'. An enduring
family drama was something Keith had failed to get up in his entire
career at Six and he wanted one badly. Alicia had runs on the board
in this respect, having created the phenomenally successful series Moving On for Network Three several years earlier.
    Like Keith, Rosie admired Alicia's success but still wasn't sure
if she was the smartest woman alive or the flukiest when it came
to TV. Having experienced what she described as 'my triumphant
life crisis' following the death of her fifth husband, Alicia decided
to spend her inheritance by coming out as a lesbian and travelling
around the world on numerous animal rescue missions with her
activist girlfriend. Being the personality powerhouse she was, Alicia
soon found herself in expensive legal stoushes with police, poachers
and government heads, and baksheeshing her savings away buying
animals out of torture.
    When the money ran out, Alicia got clever, turning her travel
journals into a thirteen-part drama series. Of course, by the time Moving On debuted, Alicia's female protagonist was straight, half her
age, half her size and not even half as charismatic, but the eighteen- to
thirty-five-year-olds loved her – especially the males. And as anyone
who 'knows about television' is aware, they're the hard ones to hook
and keep with local drama.
    'Well, I did overhear her describing the lead character she wants
actress Lisa McCune to play as a butch lesbian with a heart of gold,'
Portia continued.
    'Tell me you're kidding, Portia – please!' Rosie felt as though she
was about to choke.
    'Er, sorry, I wish I could.'
    Rosie's head suddenly felt heavy and she rested it in her hands on
the desk. 'I can't believe this,' she snuffled. Alicia's turning Australia's
sweetheart into a bulldyke!
    'I need your help here, Portia,' Rosie said, raising her head. 'We
need to get through to Alicia that Big Keith does not understand
lesbians, that the network is not sympathetic to our Sapphic sisters,
and that seven-thirty is not the time working-class Australians want
to sit down and explain rug-munching to their kids!'
    'I'll do my best, Rosie, I promise, but in reality, isn't that Simon
Nash's job?'
    Portia had a point. What was Nash doing letting a drama get this
far along if it featured a national treasure as a lesbian lead?
    'You're right,' Rosie replied. 'I'll get Lisa to organise a meeting with
Nash, Johnno, Keith, Alicia, you and me first thing next week. In the
meantime, can you try to find out what else she has planned? I mean,
bless her, but Alicia's pretty damn out there. We'll need to rein her
in fairly quickly before the press get wind that we're panicking. A
lesbian lead! Can you imagine Keith? He'll spontaneously combust,
I swear.'
    'Will do,' Portia said with a chuckle, before adopting a more
serious demeanour. 'I'll call her now . . . but before I do, can I ask
you, Rosie, is there any bad blood between us? You don't seem to
include me in discussions any more and . . .'
    Rosie looked up at her 2IC and decided she had no choice. It was
time to show her cards. 'Portia, things are crazy around here at the
moment as you well know. Management is so angry with the leaks in
this place that as of today they're no longer allowing me to attend the
daily meetings, so I don't have a lot to tell you. As you know, I have
my hands full with Graham Hunt and right now I just need you to
back