Love, Dodo
Joe→Dolly
Last night, Lulu planted tomato seeds in small pots on our windowsill for the first time in three years. I was moved to tears when she showed them to me. We must not disrupt her fledgling happiness.
Dolly→Joe
Ok, so how do we end this without angering or disrupting anyone? Can we say National Security won’t allow it…？？
Joe→Dolly
That is untrue. We would welcome closer relations with the new regime in X.
Dolly→Joe
Wait—what???? Are you suggesting that Lulu and I should actually GO TO X and make this documentary?
Joe→Dolly
I can easily take another short leave to care for the twins while you are gone.
Dolly→Joe
Jojo, that is OUT OF THE QUESTION. My part in all of it was deplorable, not to mention that I would have to revisit the boiling oil catastrophe.
Joe→Dolly
Are you not the one who first explained to me that Americans love redemption stories precisely because they are so irrevocably tainted by original sin?
Dolly→Joe
This isn’t a redemption story! It’s a story about how I sank so low that I took a job camouflaging the atrocities of a genocidal dictator!
Joe→Dolly
Are you not the one who told me a good publicist can turn a violent coup into a humanitarian rescue mission?
Dolly→Joe
But I’m not a publicist anymore—I’m a gourmet grocer. My good name is everything to me.
Joe→Dolly
Are you not the one who told me that celebrity is a neutral amplifier—positive, negative, it makes no difference?
Dolly→Joe
Gosh, Jojo, I’m amazed that you’ve memorized so many of my pronouncements. And flattered, I will confess.
Joe→Dolly
I sensed that a day would come when recalling your words would prove essential.
9
Ashleigh Avila→Kitty Jackson
Amazing news, Kit Kat:
I have all of the pieces in place for the documentary, the most important being the cooperation and even—dare I say it?—ENTHUSIASM of the present regime in X. You have many fans in the inner circles of government there. Not only do they love your movies, but they regard you as having been pivotal to General B’s “conversion” （might also be “gelding” or “enlightenment,” depends on the translation）。 Of course they’re hoping you’ll be willing to share new “intimate” information about General B, now that your legal fetters are gone—the more shocking the better, obviously, not that I would EVER encourage you to exaggerate or lie （perish the thought!）， although being dead, the general can’t exactly contradict you and I’ve verified that there is no Mandala Cube in the picture…
Finally, they asked whether you’d be interested in riding some rare stallions from a wild herd that roams their beaches. Short video below; note the naturally curly manes!
Please let me know that I can move forward on this.
XxxxooooAsh
Kitty→Ashleigh
Let me get this straight: I’m being asked to provide salacious details about General B, thus outing myself as a prostitute, in exchange for the chance to ride a curly-maned horse. And the person engineering this is NOT an enemy bent on my destruction, but my trusted helpmate and longtime confidante/publicist whom I PAY to protect my reputation and interests.