by Bill Evans
“That’s right,” said Jack. “I think we just outed Don James.”
The three looked at each other, not quite knowing what to think. Tom was the first to speak.
“We didn’t out him. He had to know the risk of being visible at a function like this. Are we sure he wasn’t already out? He did this. We didn’t do anything wrong on this story.” Tom went on and on to make the news director feel better about the story. The anchor always tried to protect the station. His heart and soul were deeply committed to TV3.
“I’m going to reach out to Don,” Jack said. “He’s a good friend of ours and I want to talk to him about this to make sure he’s okay. If he wasn’t prepared for this kind of exposure, then this could be devastating. Make sure this footage doesn’t air again.”
***
Stewart Simpson sat with Gene Autry in the back corner of the bar inside the hotel that carried the Cowboy’s name.
“Gene, what do think Sonny’s going to do? Is he going to come through for you and give you the renovation?”
“Not likely, Stewart. I think he wants to, but the city can’t possibly do a renovation, especially one that has a ten-million-dollar price tag. Even Sonny Bono can’t sell this one to the council.”
“That’s going to be terrible for the desert. It’s going to cost the area a lot of money.” The TV3 owner was thinking about his station. Losing the Angels would not be good for anyone except Arizona, who would gain another major league team for their spring training complex.
The ten games the Angels played every year brought an estimated million dollars a day to Palm Springs in hotel and other hospitality revenue. To a lot of the desert business people, losing the Angels would be a big hurt. Their presence helped make the desert a spring break destination. It was a huge part of that “family atmosphere” that the mayor said he wanted for Palm Springs.
The major league club gave a big boost to the minor league team playing at the Palm Springs Stadium from April through August. The minor league team struggled with attendance most of the time, but over the past couple of years things were improving with the local fan base. This was mainly because of the media partnership with TV3—another reason Simpson was interested in what his friend, the Cowboy, was going to do.
***
Jack Router didn’t like losing key people. Jennie Neeley had been the co-anchor on the main news shows for some six years now. She grew up in Palm Springs. Graduated from Palm Springs High and then went to USC. She was as local a girl as anyone.
“You sure you want to leave?” the news director asked his anchor.
“Jack, we both know if I don’t leave now, I will never leave. I’ve got a really great opportunity in Portland with Hearst. I need to see if I have what it takes.”
“Okay. You know I only want what’s best for you. You better go up and tell John. He’s not going to be very happy.”
John Miller and his wife had become close friends with Jennie. She was a favorite among the viewers as well as the employees. Replacing someone like Jennie would not be easy. At least, that was what everyone told her, and in this case, it was true.
John’s door was usually open, so he always saw whoever approached his office. Seeing Jennie coming his way made him curious. She was not usually one to talk business with her GM.
“Jennie, come in. You don’t get up to my office very often. What do I owe this surprise to?”
“John, I wanted to tell you myself. I’ve just given Jack my notice. I’ve got an opportunity in Portland that I need to pursue.” The anchor thought that if she kept talking, then her friend wouldn’t be able to try and talk her out of it.
“Jennie, that’s great.” John was sincere. He understood that the station was lucky when someone with Jennie’s talent stayed as long as she had. “When do you have to be up there?”
Jennie was a little taken aback. Her ego questioned why there was no effort to talk her out of going. Am I not worth a fight? Newspeople were funny in the way they thought sometimes.
“They want me by the May sweeps.” Then, with a little sadness, she said, “This station is my home. I don’t know if you know, but I interned here my senior year in high school and all the way through college.”
“Jennie, you’ve been a huge part of this station and our success. The viewers love you. Everybody here loves you. But it’s time. You need to go see if bigger markets are your thing. We’re going to miss you.”
John rose and walked around his desk to give his anchor a hug. He knew this was a tough decision for Jennie. He also knew it was the right decision.
“Let me know if I can do anything for you. And, look, if it doesn’t work out, you can always come back here. As long as I’m here you’ll have a job.”
***
Typical newsroom, the word spread fast about Jennie’s decision to leave TV3. One of the first calls was between Tom Preston and Blake Summer.
“Blake, just thought you should know that Jennie just turned in her notice.” Not waiting for Blake to respond, he continued, “That means there is an opening on the anchor desk.”
Blake and Tom didn’t really date, but they did have benefits. Once Tom helped Blake get noticed as a pretty good reporter, she stopped hanging out with him. His ego didn’t really connect the two things. She would need to have a talk with Tom and lay out her new ground rules.
“Tom, maybe we should have dinner after your six o’clock news is over. I’ll fix you dinner.”
Tom was clueless that Blake was running a game on him a second time. Not that it would matter to him if he knew.
“That would be great.” The anchor believed the two of them belonged together. The two or three times they had sex were some of the most passionate times in his life. That was part of Tom’s weakness—he was delusional when it came to his heart. As many encounters as he allowed himself, he always had difficulty letting go.
Blake hung up and immediately started planning the evening. She knew the way to get to Tom Preston was through his penis first and his stomach second. Just a few years ago, she set her goal at being TV3’s main anchor. This was her chance, and Tom Preston could help her get there.
Twenty minutes after the six o’clock news ended, Tom Preston stood in front of Blake’s door ready to ring the doorbell. She answered before he pushed the button.
“Tom, come on in. There’s a bottle of wine on the counter. Will you pour a couple of glasses?”
Tom liked coming over to Blake’s condo. She had made it a comfortable home, and he often imagined living here with her. She was very aware of how Tom felt but never let him take it too far. Of course, that was before the main anchor position became available.
Blake set the atmosphere with low lights, a few candles—not too many—and some light music on her sound system. Tom thought of himself as quite the music aficionado. The truth was that Tom was boring. That was why he was alone. After the newness, the anchorman’s relationships died of tedium. All he thought and talked about was work and he had no outside life.
Blake knew that getting the co-anchor job was going to be Jack Router’s decision as well as general manager John Miller’s. Tom’s endorsement could help, but it had no force. Blake already had Jack over a barrel because of their brief affair—or at least that’s what she thought. Having Tom in her corner should seal the deal.
Blake took her time with dinner and serving it up. Tom had to be back at the station no later than nine for the eleven o’clock news; if she dragged dinner out, talk was all they would do tonight. She knew Tom Preston always had hopes for other things.
“Tom, what do you think about Jennie’s leaving?”
“Honestly, it surprised me. She grew up here. She is Palm Springs, but she got a good offer, and in a major city. Good for her.”
“Did Jack talk to you today about what he wanted to do with your co-anchor position?”
Tom wasn’t the brightest candle when it came to relationships, but he picked up on Blake’s line of questioning. The
anchor called his host out on her bluntness.
“You’re not the most subtle person I know. Would you just happen to be interested?”
Blake smiled across the small table. “You know I am. I told you a couple of years ago I wanted to sit next to you on the desk.”
“You weren’t ready then.”
“I know, but I’m ready now. I’ve spent the last couple of years getting ready.”
“I told you back then, when you arrived at TV3, that I could make your dream come true.”
Tom believed he was more than capable of moving the needle on his coworkers’ careers if he wanted to. He especially believed that about this young female talent. Blake was a project he wanted from the moment they met each other.
“Blake, I can help you get this if you really want it.”
Blake picked up the bottle of wine and stood behind her guest, leaning down to pick up Tom’s glass. Her arm brushed Tom’s neck.
“Yep, you are about as subtle as—” Before he finished, he turned around in his chair and pulled Blake onto his lap. Tom kissed her. This time there was no resistance.
***
Lisa was in Monterey to attend the California Broadcasters Convention with John Miller and his wife, Melissa, and Jack Router. Monterey was a beautiful location for the meeting. Every year the convention drew a great contingency of radio and TV people from around the state because of the Monterey area.
The convention was held at the Del Monte Hotel, one of the older hotels where the rooms smelled like seawater mold. It reminded everyone of old people. If you had asthma, these were not the rooms you wanted to stay in. The TV3 group booked their rooms at the Doubletree Resort, which was newer and located on the waterfront.
John Miller liked attending the meetings but especially enjoyed the golf that the syndicators expensed out during these three days. The GM was on the California Board of Directors for this state organization. Lisa would attend several of the sessions, especially the ones focused on sales and marketing. Jack was there to participate in a couple of panel discussions on local news.
The TV3 group arrived on a Wednesday afternoon. The festivities would start with an opening cocktail party for all attendees at the Monterey Aquarium. It was a perfect setting for their kickoff reception.
Lisa stood in line at one of the many portable cocktail bars. The person in front of her looked familiar, but she couldn’t place him. He certainly noticed the most beautiful lady in the room. The last three years had only improved the sales manager’s looks. The maturity that came to a woman with age was certainly evident.
“Excuse me,” the tanned, light-haired gentleman said. “Aren’t you from Palm Springs?”
“Yes, I am. I’m Lisa Addelson. I’m with TV3.”
“Of course, it’s nice to meet you. I’m surprised I haven’t run into you before. I’m Walter Campbell. I’m the general manager for Clear Channel Radio in Palm Springs.”
John Miller walked up.
“Hey, Walter. It’s good to see you. I was hoping you would be here. You know my wife, don’t you? This is Melissa.”
“Hi, Walter. It’s good to see you again.”
The line moved closer until Walter was at the front.
“John, what can I get you and your wife?”
“Two red wines, please.”
Walter turned his attention back to Lisa. “And I’m guessing you’re a chardonnay.”
“Very good. What else can you tell me?”
Lisa surprised herself by flirting, but there was something she found attractive about the radio GM. She was unusually comfortable. Walter Campbell spent a few minutes mixing with the TV3 group and then got pulled away by some radio people.
Lisa quietly asked her general manager, “What’s Walter’s story?”
“He’s a great guy.”
“And he’s single,” added Melissa Miller. “He’s good-looking, successful, single and, most importantly, straight. And did I mention? He’s single.”
The three laughed. “Straight” always seemed to be a key factor. In Palm Springs the ladies found themselves asking that question right up front. And sometimes that didn’t tell them everything, either. It was good to have someone like the Millers to confirm that Walter Campbell was single and straight.
Later that night, Lisa got a call from Stewart, who was in New York. He knew she was in Monterey at the convention.
“Lisa, see if you can find a guy by the name of David Stenner. He owns a TV station in Santa Barbara.”
“Okay. Anything in particular that you want me to talk to him about?”
“No, I’m just curious as to what kind of guy he is. Just observe him. I’m going to be back in the desert this weekend. Plan on coming out to the house Saturday night, okay?”
Lisa stood at the door to her small patio overlooking the Monterey Wharf while she talked to Stewart. She thought she saw Walter Campbell standing on the pier.
“I look forward to seeing you next Saturday. Travel safe, Stewart.” Lisa ended the call faster than normal. She scrambled through the door, slipping on her sandals. If that was Walter, then maybe he’d like a nightcap.
Lisa got to the pier entrance as fast as she could without looking like she was running. The person she saw was no longer standing there.
“Lisa?”
The voice came from behind her. Somewhat startled, she turned to see her handsome stranger from the cocktail party.
“It’s Walter, isn’t it?”
“You remembered. Out for a nighttime stroll?”
“It was so nice tonight, and I love the water. I thought I’d walk the pier. Care to join me?”
Walter liked that Lisa was confident enough to invite him and didn’t need him to invite her. He would soon find out how confident she was.
“There’s a little jazz bar on the wharf just down from here. It’s a short walk. Can I buy you glass of wine?”
“Jazz and wine—that is perfect. So, what is it you do again?”
Walter thought that she had to be putting him on. As the local sales manager in the same market as my radio stations, how could she not know me or what I do?
“I run the six Clear Channel radio stations in Palm Springs.” Walter noticed Lisa’s smirk. “You little shit. You know what I do.”
Walter and Lisa laughed the rest of the way to the little jazz bar. The bar sat on the dock and had indoor and outdoor seating. There were gas heaters on the patio, and that is where Walter and Lisa sat the night away. At one in the morning, the two walked the pier back to the Doubletree. Walter was staying at the moldy Del Monte.
Lisa thought that this was a good thing; if Walter had been staying at her hotel, she might have been tempted. He was the first man she’d had any quasi-interest in since moving to the desert, outside of Stewart. These feelings were new to her. At first, she thought it was just a passing interest. As she reflected, she began to realize that maybe she was lonely for someone full-time in her life. Lisa realized she’d better be careful with her thoughts and how they could affect her current life with Stewart.
The next day the California broadcasters gathered for breakfast before splitting off into their different meetings. Lisa kept a lookout for David Stenner. She wanted to be able to report back to Stewart.
Maybe it was just a coincidence—Lisa found a seat at a partially occupied table. The other TV3 people were late sleepers. Before she sat she introduced herself to the five already people sitting. The last person she shook hands with, and the one sitting directly to her right, introduced himself as David Stenner.
David Stenner was an attractive man in his late fifties or early sixties. At first glance, he looked like he was in pretty good shape.
Lisa was turned off almost immediately when Stenner leaned over and invited her to go back to his room instead of attending the meetings. It wasn’t the invitation itself that turned her off—when you looked like Lisa, you got propositioned a lot. No, it was his slimy approach. She wanted to go wash her hands.
Lisa thought, What does this guy expect me to say? Yes, please take me back to your room and ravage me? What a jerk. Just another in a long line of douchebags that had approached her over the years.
Ignoring the comment, Lisa tried to do her reconnaissance for Stewart Simpson.
“Mr. Stenner, why are you here with the broadcasters?”
Stenner was almost hurt that the most beautiful woman in the room didn’t already know who he was.
“I own a little TV station in Santa Barbara.”
The person sitting on Stenner’s right, presumably his friend, chuckled.
“So, is there something I should know about your little station in Santa Barbara?” Lisa asked.
Stenner smiled at his friend as if to say You tell her.
“David used to own a group of television and radio stations throughout the country. He split them off several years ago and made a very large fortune.”
Lisa, without skipping a beat, asked “What’s a large fortune?”
Since meeting Stewart Simpson, Lisa had been introduced to some real wealth. The key to real wealth was that the people who had it very seldom, if ever, talked about it. Stenner was talking more than his wealth could back up.
Stenner waved his friend off from answering.
“Let’s change the subject.” The TV owner turned and looked right in Lisa’s eyes, giving her his full attention now. “Why are you here?”
Lisa thought that maybe, just maybe, he was more than just talk. He kept his friend from answering her personal wealth question and then he made himself present to her. These were things that impressed her.
“I’m the sales manager for TV3 in the Palm Springs market.”
“No shit.” David Stenner’s answer surprised Lisa. He seemed to lack the class she was used to seeing from Stewart. She was once again unimpressed. “You work for Stewart Simpson. That just takes it. He has six stations that I wanted to buy. Palm Springs was especially on my list. How is Mr. Simpson doing?”
“I really don’t know. I rarely interact with the owner.” Lisa was lying, of course.
“Please tell him the next time you see him that I said hello.”