Chapter 5

Needless to say, Tori did continue to put out during my stay in Banff. We spent quite a bit of time in bed, but we managed to have some other good times as well. After we'd been together about a week, I rented a car, and we drove to Lake Louise for a few days.

We stayed at the grand old Chateau Lake Louise, where we had what was called a "one bedroom suite" -- a two-room suite of sitting room and bedroom. Lake Louise is a great ski resort. Neither of us were skiers, but we could certainly enjoy the scenery. Just being in those surroundings was marvelous. The mountains were amazing. Lake Louise was that special colour that comes only from glacial waters. On the sides of the mountains, we could see the mountain goats walking their paths. We had a terrific time. Until one evening.

I was puttering around the internet on my laptop while Tori was watching the TV news from Calgary. Suddenly, she yelled at me.

"Pat! Come here, you gotta see this!"

I walked over and looked at the TV. It was tuned to an independent station, not one of the networks. On the screen was a picture of Tori and me. It had obviously been taken in the last couple of days. We were on the walkway around Lake Louise. We had our arms around each other and were kissing. The caption was "Pat's Paramour." Tori turned up the sound.

"CBC political news hound Pat Connolly was spotted this week in Lake Louise. Apparently he's staying at the Chateau Lake Louise with a very young woman. The two seem quite affectionate. Several weeks ago, Frank magazine published a story about Pat's sexual escapades. The story was never denied by either Connolly or the CBC brass. This latest chapter would seem to give it some credence. Hotel officials refused to confirm that the couple were staying there, but neither did they deny it. We'll keep you updated on this story."

Tori grinned at me. "Jesus, Pat! Is that cool or what?"

"No, my little love, this is not cool. This is very uncool. My bosses will no doubt take a very dim view of this. There's only one thing to do."

I called the TV station. A very young-sounding female voice answered. "Calgary 8, Southern Alberta's independent voice."

"Hello. This is Pat Connolly."

She said, "Jesus. I mean, yes, Mr. Connolly. What can I do for you?"

"Could I please speak to someone in your newsroom?"

"Certainly, sir. I'll redirect your call."

In about twenty seconds, a man's voice said, "Mr. Connolly, it's Bill Vance here, news director of Calgary 8. What can I do for you?"

"For one thing, you can stop running stories about me like the one I just saw."

"But we had it on good authority..."

"Not good enough, I'm afraid. The young lady in the picture is my partner, Tori Fisher. How would you feel if you were on holiday with your wife or girlfriend and someone was showing pictures of your intimate moments on television?"

"Well, I guess that I'd be..."

"Upset? Yes, I'm upset, but not nearly as upset as my partner, Ms. Fisher. In fact, she'd like to sue your station. I've managed to convince her not to, but she'd definitely like for you to straighten things out. On the air, please."

"But I had no idea..."

"Obviously not. There are some parts of my life that I'd like to remain private. My personal relationship is one of them. I'm sure that you can understand that."

"But after the Frank article..."

"I sincerely hope that your station doesn't consider itself in the same category as a scandal sheet like Frank. In any case, that matter is in the hands of my lawyer."

"Well, I'm sure that we'd like to make amends. If you could just give me the proper information..."

"I certainly will. Ms. Fisher and I have had an exclusive relationship for a while now. In fact, she was with me during the time that Frank reports that I was involved in great debauchery. I think that fact alone puts the lie to the Frank article. Even if I were inclined to engage in such things, I'd hardly do it in the presence of my partner."

"No, I suppose not. Could you tell me something about Ms. Fisher?"

"Certainly. She's a professional musician and a damned fine one. She's an oboist with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra. This summer, she's been taking part in chamber music events at the Banff Centre for the Arts, and the timing worked out extremely well. I was at the Television Festival at the same time that Tori was playing concerts at the Banff Centre. Tori and I both love this area, so after the festival I asked my bosses for a little time off so that we could have a little holiday in the Rockies. It's been really terrific until now."

"Mr. Connolly, I'm terribly sorry. We'll have the retraction on the evening news. Could I perhaps speak to Ms. Fisher? I'd like to apologize in person."

Tori had been listening to my end of the conversation. She was desperately trying to stifle her laughter. I looked at her and raised my eyebrows. I spoke rather more loudly than necessary, since she was only a few feet from me.

"Tori, darling, Mr. Vance, the man from the television station would like to speak to you. Would you please pick up the phone in the bedroom?"

Tori played her part very well. She walked slowly into the bedroom and picked up the phone. She answered softly. Her voice sounded as though she'd been crying.

"Hello."

"Hello, Ms. Fisher?"

"Yes."

"Hi. It's Bill Vance here from Calgary 8. I'm sorry if we've caused you distress."

"Yes, you have. Please make it go away. I've been here with Pat having a wonderful vacation, and then I see this thing on the news. Oh God, it's terrible..." Tori actually managed a sob.

"Ms. Fisher, please accept my apology. Please watch the evening news. We'll set everything right."

"I certainly hope so. Please don't do it again. What have we ever done to you?"

"Once again, Ms. Fisher, please accept my apology. Just for the information of our listeners, how long have you and Mr. Connolly been together?"

"That's none of their business. I'll just say that Pat and I are coming up to an important anniversary. That's one of the reasons that we decided to take this vacation."

"I'm sorry for asking. Ms. Fisher. Please accept my apology."

"I'm sorry, too. I can't talk to you any more, after what you've done to me -- to us. I still think that I should sue you, but Pat says I shouldn't. Anyway, good-bye."

"Good-bye."

I broke in. "Mr. Vance, I hope that this answers your questions."

"Mr. Connolly, I'd very much appreciate it if you could give us a few minutes on camera. I'd be happy to send a crew to Lake Louise."

"I'm sure that you would. What would be accomplished by that?"

"Our viewers could see you and Ms. Fisher for themselves. They could see that you're simply a happy couple on holiday."

"I think that they could pretty well decide that for themselves."

"Yes, but I'm sure that you can see the advantages..."

"I'm not sure that I can, and I'm fairly certain that Tori would not agree to be on camera."

At that moment Tori kicked me. Then she did a little pirouette to demonstrate just how ready she was to appear on camera.

"Mr. Connolly, I can understand that you and Ms. Fisher may need some time to talk about this. Please feel free to call me. My private number is 403-240-5631. Call any time."

"I'll let you know what we decide. Good-bye, Mr. Vance."

"Good-bye, Mr. Connolly."

I hung up the phone. I turned around just in time to be tackled by Tori.

"Oh Pat!," she squealed, "you had him by the balls and twisted. We had him by the balls." Tori jumped up and down and burst into poetry. "'And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?'" She quoted. "'Come to my arms, my beamish boy! Oh frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'"

I recognized the reference. I hugged her and grinned. "Tori, you're not Lewis Carroll or Alice in Wonderland. So cool it, and let's look at how we can play this for our advantage. But first, let me congratulate you on a wonderful job of acting."