Calling Invisible Women Page 19
“Your old station!” Alice said, and everyone applauded.
“Invisible woman on television,” Ariana said, and wiped her eyes with a napkin. “I never thought I’d live to see day.”
The next day, when it came, was far beyond anything we could have imagined. There were women who complained that it happened too fast, that it wasn’t possible for them to make it to the rally, but I think in the end Ariana was right. We had seized the energy of the moment, and by coming together so quickly we sent a message to the world that it would be impossible for invisible women to stand by for another day pretending that nothing was wrong. We poured into the campus of Dexter-White wearing nothing but our INVISIBLE = INDIVISIBLE T-shirts. We locked arms, Jane on my right, Lila on my left, and sang that Phil Collins song from the 80’s, “Against All Odds.” People were just sobbing, and I mean the visible people, the people who came out to stand with us and show their support: all of the Kemptons and Arthur and Nick and Evie and Vlad and Vlad’s dad, Bob, who had shown up at the last minute, and about a thousand others. We had found the place from which we were all lit from within, and oh, but we were shining.
Does this story have a happy ending? I guess that depends on what makes you happy. We brought down Dexter-White like a house of cards. Premacore and Ostafoss came off the market within the week. Singsall stayed on. Suits have been filed but I haven’t made myself a part of that. They also say they’re making great strides on a drug that would bring us back again but I won’t be the first person in line to swallow anything from Dexter-White. I am much more interested in what Erica Schultz has to say. She’s leading seminars and has written a best-selling book called Seeing Me. It turns out there was a high-profile New York literary agent at the demonstration who had been invisible herself for some time. The minute she started talking to Erica, she saw the potential for a blockbuster. As per the book’s instructions, I am drinking wheatgrass juice, which does taste like my front lawn, and taking vitamin D. I would like to go to an ashram someday but I don’t know when that’s going to be. I’ve been so busy at the paper I hardly have time for anything else. There is a great deal of work for invisible reporters. Jane has made some real progress following Erica’s program. She says on her website that she has entirely visible days. The rest of us have had a few flickers but nothing sustained. Still, we are not unhappy. Lila is the vice principal of the high school, Roberta is working as a nurse. Laura Worthington is actually back on Channel Four as the Invisible Weather Girl and Channel Four’s ratings have gone through the roof.
Here at home, Arthur and I have gotten serious about making more time for each other after everything that’s happened. We were putting aside some money, thinking maybe we could buy a little boat, but then Nick got into law school at Columbia. We both think that Nick is a better investment. Recently I asked Arthur how he would feel if I never came back.
“You haven’t gone anywhere,” he said. “You’re right here.” He went in to kiss me but he wound up hitting my collarbone, so he acted like he meant to kiss my collarbone.
“What if I come back years from now and I’m old and I don’t look anything like you remember me looking?” I think showing up five or ten years from now and aging all at once is a bad idea.
“Clover,” he said, putting a hand on either of my shoulders. “Look at me. Do you see me?”
“I do,” I told him.
“Well, I see you too,” he said. “I see you just fine.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JEANNE RAY worked as a registered nurse for forty years before she wrote her first novel at the age of sixty. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband and her dog, Red. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Julie and Romeo, Julie and Romeo Get Lucky, Eat Cake, and Step-Ball Change.
Table of Contents
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
About the Author