The day after

It had been a humiliating commute for Mackenzie. Three separate people had recognized her on her way into work, each taking a picture of her, much to her chagrin. She had also learned that #NakedWeathergirl was trending across every social media platform, accompanied by the full unedited video of Mackenzie losing her clothes during the storm. Every time one version of the video was taken down, two more popped up in its place, like a hydra of humiliation.

"Anyway, I'm a reporter, not a weather girl..." Mackenzie grumbled as she strode into the studio offices. "Not for much longer though..."

She was dreading the meeting she was about to walk into. She knew she was going to be fired. There was no way around it. Channel 6 had live broadcasted a naked woman during peak viewing hours. They were about to be hit by a huge fine and someone was going to get punished for that. And there was no way that her boss would believe she had just suffered a series of catastrophic wardrobe malfunctions.

Mackenzie hadn't even bothered to dress professionally, opting for just jeans and a sweatshirt, since she figured she'd be cleaning out her desk before lunch anyway.

"He's waiting for you." the secretary said while motioning towards the room.

Mackenzie took a deep breath and walked into her boss's office.

"Y'know," he said, "When I said 'Knock em dead' that wasn't what I meant..."

"Steve, I'm so so sorry." Mackenzie began. "The storm, it-"

"Save it, Macky." he said with a stern look, "I don't know what kinda stunt you were trying to pull out there, but it really bit us in the ass. The FCC's slapping us with a huge fine, and the higher ups are super pissed."

"I'm so sorry..." Mackenzie said, resigned to her fate.

"I wish I didn't have to do this, but my hands are tied. Macky, you're-"

He was interrupted by a gray haired man in a crisp business suit bursting into the room. "Don't finish that sentence, Steve!"

"Wha? Gary?" Steve asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

"Gary Powers." he said, holding his hand out to Mackenzie, "Owner of Channel 6 News."

Mackenzie numbly shook his hand. "Mackenzie Fairbairn." she said.

"I know exactly who you are!" he replied jovially, "You're the solution to our problems right now!"

"Gary, what are you talking about?" Steve asked.

"Do you know how much our ratings have increased by this morning, Steve?" he asked before immediately stating, "700%. And climbing! We have more people tuning into Channel 6 than ever before!"

"I get how a temporary spike in viewers might look, but the FCC..."

Gary whipped out a laptop and set it on Steve's desk. He brought up a video that Mackenzie recognized all too well. She had hoped to never watch it herself, somehow hoping that ignoring it made it less real. But now those hopes were dashed as she watched the image of her own naked body appear on the screen. She blushed as the realization crashed freshly over her: the entire world was seeing her naked!

"Now if you roll it back a bit..." Gary said, manipulating the video. Soon the image changed to Mackenzie with a failing skirt and a bared midriff. "Here!"

'...dangerous conditions. But we don't let a few minor wardrobe malfunctions keep us from-'

Gary paused the video. "Right there!" he exclaimed, "Wardrobe malfunctions. That's the ticket!"

"I'm not following." said Steve.

"There's a loophole with the FCC. They can fine us for broadcasting nudity all they want, but not if that nudity is the direct result of a wardrobe malfunction." Gary said, beaming. "So, YOU" he said, pointing to Mackenzie, "are most certainly NOT fired."

Mackenzie's breath caught in her throat. "Th-that's fantastic!" she was able to utter.

"In fact, we are promoting you to a regular on-scene reporter."

Mackenzie practically leapt for joy. "Oh, thank you! Thank you!" she cheered.

"Think nothing of it! Your smiling face is going to bring a lot of viewers to the channel. It's a win-win! Now, you take the rest of the day off, and tomorrow we'll have you back out in the field!"

Mackenzie left the office feeling elated. Not only had she not been fired, she'd been promoted! Maybe her luck was finally turning around.

Back in the office, Steve asked, "And just how do you plan on keeping such a large crowd tuned to Channel 6 in the longterm? You know they won't stick around."

"You leave that to me..." Gary said, staring at the retreating Mackenzie.