“Dawn,” Liz gasped, reaching out to wrap her hand around my head. “Please.”
My mouth came over the top of her, tongue swirling around her middle. Two fingers found their way back inside of her. Our eyes met, and she worked my head in rhythm with my long firm strokes. It didn’t take long before her head fell back against the wall of the van. She cried out loudly, spasming against my fingers.
As Liz relaxed, I quickly climbed on top of her straddling her leg. I rocked my body against her thigh, feeling the friction on my pulsing middle. Liz reached behind me, grasping tightly onto my ass as our mouths met once more. We kissed furiously, and in moments a shattering orgasm overcame me. As I cried out, Liz moved her mouth into my neck, biting at the flesh there. She stayed until I finally relaxed.
For the next hour, the two of us lay tangled in one another along the seats in the back of the van. We took turns stroking one another softly, giving soft kisses and brushing our noses together. It was the first time I could ever recall wanting to stay that way forever. Wrapped in another woman’s embrace.
When I’d returned back to the condo that night, I found myself lost in thought. For the first time since I had dated Robert, I was feeling things. Strange things that I wasn’t used to. I made myself a cup of tea and watched the late night news. Finally, I started to drift off to sleep, so I found my way to bed.
Just as I went to lay down, I noticed the picture on my nightstand. The picture of Robert and I together that had sat there for nearly eight years. I picked it up and looked at it for a moment. It was a nice picture. A picture we’d used as a Christmas card one year if I remembered right. My fingers ran over the glass frame for a moment before I pulled open the drawer of the nightstand and put it inside.
Chapter 7
Liz
Dawn brought bagels and coffee for the production meeting the following day. She sat beside me while we worked. Between the casual games of footsie under the table and Dawn’s hand grazing mine when I’d set it down, I could hardly focus.
“We have ten minutes,” I gasped when I shut the door to her dressing room after the meeting.
“I can do it in five,” Dawn replied with a smirk, pushing me onto the couch.
All the hard work with the social media campaign seemed to be paying off. Before the first show aired at four, Marty came to me in the production room waving a piece of paper.
“The viewers want to know your answer,” Marty said with a grin. When I looked at what he handed me, I realized they wanted to know if I’d gone out with Dawn.
“Seriously?” I replied, feeling my face grow hot.
“It bumped our ratings quite a bit. Maybe we should have you on the show.”
“Never,” I shook my head. “And we’re not dignifying this with a response.”
“It’s what the viewers want, Liz,” Marty argued, still smiling. I sighed, making my way out onto the set. Dawn was busy fixing her lapel and straightening her hair. She smiled when she saw me. I made my way over to her, giving Kate a wave. I leaned against the desk, staring at Dawn.
“You’re going to tell them we went out on a date, and we had a nice time.”
Dawn studied me curiously. “I’m going to say what?”
“I need you to say, at some point in the broadcast, that we had a nice date.” I handed her the paper, embarrassed to say the least. I watched Dawn’s face erupt into a smile.
“It’s nice to know I still have an effect on ratings,” she replied, handing the paper back to me.
“I’m pretty sure I was the one who had the effect on ratings,” I replied with a small smile as I took off back across the set to the control room.
Again, the show was all I could hope for. Dawn and Kate had developed a good banter with one another and even seemed like they liked each other somewhat. We were able to secure more guests, and our segments were improving thanks to the suggestions of viewers. I couldn’t imagine Tyler saying anything other than good things.
When he showed up that afternoon at my cubicle, I was sorely disappointed.
“You’re doing a good job,” he started off, and I knew by the way he’d said it, it was going to be followed by bad news. “The ratings still aren’t good enough to justify keeping the show though.”
I sighed loudly, letting my head fall on my desk. “Seriously? We’ve been jumping through hoops over here. I don’t know what else we can do.”
“Like I said,” Tyler replied. “I gave you a sinking ship. It’s not really your fault.”
“It’s not a sinking ship, Tyler!” My voice escalated louder than I had expected it too and it took Tyler aback. I apologized quickly after. “You need to give me a little more time. We’re so close to having a breakthrough. Dawn needs a little more time to settle. The social media campaign just barely started..”
“I’m under a lot of pressure by the network to pull the plug,” Tyler explained. “I don’t know how much more time I have to offer, but I’ll do the best I can.”
He left me, a mess of emotions, at my desk. It wasn’t till I was alone that I realized Marty had been standing nearby.
“How much of that did you hear?” I asked him, and he gave me a solemn look.
“You’re doing the best you can, kid. Don’t stress yourself out.”
“If I were doing the best I could, Tyler wouldn’t be threatening to shut down the show.”
Marty stayed with me the majority of the afternoon. We ran through every possible idea we could think of. I called dozens of places begging for guests that we’d never been able to land before, to no avail.
Finally, Marty left me for the day, reminding me to go home and get some rest. I doubted rest would come, no matter how hard I tried, but I humored him anyway nodding.
After he left, I printed off some stories and scripts from various other stations and headed back to my desk. Just as I was about to sit down, a bag of Chinese food appeared at my desk.
“You need to eat,” Dawn said, taking Marty’s seat beside my desk. When I met eyes with her, she leaned in to kiss me softly on the lips. I sighed when she did.
“What are you doing here? I thought you already went home.”
“I was working,” Dawn replied. “And then I assumed you were working, so I went and got food. I thought you could use a break.”
“I don’t have time for a break,” I said frustrated, but Dawn ignored me. She pulled out the various containers spreading them across my desk. Finally, I gave in, taking one of the containers and a pair of chopsticks. Dawn sat beside me, digging into some egg noodles.
We sat mostly in silence, enjoying our food. When I’d finished, I sat right back to work.
“You should go home,” Dawn said, resting a hand on my shoulder. “Take a break. Why don’t you come over to my condo?” I looked up at her for a moment, and she leaned over to press her lips to mine. My body relaxed into hers for a moment as she ran her fingers down the side of my cheek. “I’ll make it worth your while.”
“I can’t,” I sighed, looking back at the computer. “I have to figure this out.”
Dawn took the hint, running a hand over my back for a moment before she let me be. My attention returned fully to my work, ignoring the mess of Chinese food boxes spread across my desk. I worked until the late hours of the night. It was eerily quiet until my phone rang out through the building.
“Shit,” I gasped, surprised. Quickly, I answered.
“You’re still at work,” Marty said, sounding aggravated. “Go home, Liz. It’ll be there tomorrow.”
“We might not be here tomorrow,” I retorted.
Instead of letting me be, Marty stayed on the phone with me for a long while as I ran over thoughts with him. Finally, I grew so tired, and he’d yawned so many times, I finally hung up with him. Just as I did, I felt my head lay against my desk.
The next thing I knew, I was being shaken awake, a coffee placed in front of me. Justin, the runner, looked down at me. “Did you sleep here?”
“I guess I did,” I said, taking the coffee graciously.
Marty arrived a few minutes later, and I could tell he was frustrated with me. I needed a shower desperately. Instead, I made my way to the conference room for our production meeting.
Dawn sat beside me when she arrived. I could tell by her look she was as concerned as Marty had been. “Did you figure out anything?”
“Some little things,” I admitted with a yawn. “But I don’t know if it’s going to be enough.”
“Are you feeling up for a date tonight?” She asked. “I have a surprise if you’re up for it.” I studied her for a minute, taking a sip of coffee. While I wasn’t feeling up for anything remotely like a date, I could tell by the expression on her face she was genuinely excited.
“Sure,” I replied, offering a small smile. “Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise,” Dawn replied. “But I think you’ll like it even better than our first date.” I raised a brow. Better than watching a sting operation go down? I couldn’t imagine what she had in store.
The production meeting went smoothly, in spite of my somber mood. I made a few changes to the schedule, and we opened a spot for a last minute guest I’d managed to squeeze in.
Since the short time that I’d started, the show had changed so much. As I watched it, I couldn’t help but feel frustrated that it wasn’t getting more of a chance. All I could hope was that Tyler was putting up a good fight to keep it on a little while longer.
After the show ended, Dawn pulled me into her dressing room for a moment. I was surprised when she sat down and wanted to talk, instead of other things.
“We should report more news stories,” Dawn said firmly. “Let me go out on the field and get some good material. I think that would help the ratings.”
For a split second I considered it, but then I felt slightly annoyed, wondering if this was her journalist side itching for her old life. “It’s an entertainment show, Dawn. The evening news is where all the stories are.”
“We could have stories too,” Dawn argued. “Viewers deserve that sort of thing in the morning too.”
“I’m sorry if you’re itching to be back in the field,” I told her flatly. “It’s just not going to happen. We have to focus on the segments we have already. Adding a whole news element at this point is going to just be a big headache.”
Dawn looked slightly frustrated but finally nodded. “Okay. It was just a thought.”
We left each other for the majority of the morning and afternoon. When dinnertime finally rolled around and Marty had left, Dawn came back to my desk to get me.
“Are you ready?” She asked. When I looked up at her confused, she smiled. “For our date.”
“Right.” I felt guilty for a moment that I’d forgotten. My mind had been so consumed with work that it was hard to focus on anything else. After I’d finished up, I grabbed my jacket and purse, and the two of us headed out. When Dawn reached for my hand, I felt my troubles melt away. I squeezed hers gently, and she turned to look at me.
Dawn drove us across town and for a while I hadn’t a clue where we were going. Finally, when we reached the outskirts of Hollywood, I began to grow more curious.
“I’m not going to be an extra in a movie or anything, am I?” I gave her a look, and she smiled. “Please say I’m not going to be an extra.”
“Just an audience member,” Dawn smiled as we rolled into a parking garage. Once she’d parked we made our way out onto the street, my curiosity getting the best of me. We were in the backlots of studios. Dawn took my hand again and led us into a nearby building. When the set came into view, I recognized it as a late night talk show. One that I’d watched quite a few times growing up.
Dawn weaved me onto the set. Before I knew it, we’d met the entire crew. By the time we sat down in our front row seats, I was floored. When I thought the date couldn’t get any better, the host called Dawn out during the first few minutes of the show. She held my hand the entire time she spoke, and before the camera left her, I watched her pitch our show.
As soon as she finished, she turned to look at me, and I kissed her. “You just got us more viewers,” I said excitedly, and she smiled.
“I hope so,” she replied.
The show was fantastic. I’d never been to a live taping before, in all my years of living in southern California. By the time we left, it was late in the evening. Dawn drove us to a greasy spoon diner not far outside of Hollywood to grab a bite to eat. We shared a basket of fries and a malt shake. The entire time, I was floored, talking about Rise and Shine. At first Dawn seemed as enthusiastic as I was, but eventually, I could tell I was going off on a tangent.
“Sorry,” I replied, finally, realizing I’d gotten carried away. “I get so obsessive sometimes.”
“It’s one of the things I like most about you,” Dawn said, reaching across the table for my hand. “A woman after my own heart.” She smiled.
We paid for our food and Dawn took me back across town to Kathy’s. When we reached the house, I turned to look at her. “Would you want to come inside?”
Dawn didn’t have to be asked twice. We made our way through the backyard to the guest house. I could feel her closely at my heel as we walked and the anticipation building inside of me as I unlocked the door. When we were inside, our clothes fell quickly to the floor. Our heated affair took place all over the house. Finally, when we laid in bed, I curled up next to Dawn, looking up at her in the faint light of the bedroom. Even still, after everything that happened, it was still surreal that she was lying naked in my bed next to me. When she noticed me staring, she placed a hand on my cheek and stroked it softly.
A few minutes later, I found myself drifting off to sleep, Dawn’s beautiful blue eyes watching me as I did.
Chapter 8
Dawn
I woke up in the middle of the night in a panic. The sheets were pooled in sweat. It took me a moment to realize where I was. When I did, I noticed Liz’s body nestled beside mine. She looked so peaceful sleeping. Seeing her sent me into a frenzy. Carefully I pulled myself from her and slid from the bed. As quietly as I could, I hunted for my clothes by the front door and slipped them on. Just as I was about to slip out, I heard the bedsheets rustle.
“Are you leaving?” Liz asked me in the darkness. I turned to look at her, unsure of what to say at first. Finally, I walked over as she sat up, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek.
“I can’t sleep,” I admitted, which was a partial truth. Mostly I just felt out of place.
“Can I make you some tea?” Liz offered, starting to get out of bed. I waved her off, situating myself in my jacket.
“Go back to sleep, I’ll see you in a few hours.”
Even in the darkness, I could see the disappointed look on her face. I didn’t give myself long to think about it, slipping outside. The drive home took only a few minutes. By the time I’d made it to my couch, I felt exhausted.
Sleep didn’t come. Instead, I turned on the news and stared mindlessly. What had I been thinking? I shouldn’t have left. Something about spending the night felt awkward and too personal. The only thing I had regretted was upsetting Liz.
At the studio, she still seemed to be bothered by my disappearance but kept our interaction pleasant. When I kissed her good morning, she kissed back, however briefly. Before our morning broadcast, while I was sitting at my desk enjoying a coffee, my phone rang. It was David.
“I’m probably going to get in a lot of shit for telling you this, but I thought you could use a little break,” he said when I answered. “There’s a major story about to break, and I thought Rise and Shine could use the coverage.”
David gave me what little information he could provide before we hung up. As soon as we did, I went straight to Liz’s desk.
“We’re going on a road trip,” I said. It wasn’t a question.
Liz looked up at me sternly. “Don’t you think it’s a little premature to be planning road trips? Especially if you can�
��t even stay the night.” She was still angry about last night. I didn’t completely blame her, but I ignored it.
“Right now,” I replied.
“Dawn,” Liz said, shaking her head. “We’re on in thirty minutes. What the hell are you talking about a road trip?”
“I have a guest that wants to be interviewed for the show,” I replied, which was mostly a lie. “It’s a surprise, but I need you to come with me.”
“Are you serious?” Liz got up from her seat, giving me a questionable look. “We’re about to get the plug pulled on this show, and you want to go on a joy ride?”
“Just come with me,” I said somewhat aggravated. Liz seemed as if she wanted to continue to argue but she paused. Eventually, she grabbed her jacket, and we headed towards the control room.
“Marty, I need you to hold down the fort this morning,” Liz said when we met up with him. He looked at each of us, somewhat confused.
“We have a show in ten minutes,” Marty replied, and Liz shrugged.
“Dawn has a segment she wants to do. Says she has an important person to interview, but it’s a surprise.”
“An actor from the new sci-fi movie?” Marty inquired.
I shrugged. “Maybe. It’s a surprise.”
Much to Marty and Liz’s disapproval, we took off in the van, picking up David before we left. He looked as anxious as I felt.
“Is there something you aren’t telling me?” Liz asked as we made our way out of the city. I didn’t answer her, looking to David.
“You’re sure?” I asked him, and he nodded.
“One hundred percent.”
Rise and Shine’s radio broadcast played over the van speakers as we drove. It took us nearly an hour to get to the ritzy neighborhood outside of Los Angeles. When we pulled up to the gated driveway, Liz’s eyes went wide.
“Is this the mayor's house? Dawn, what are we doing at the mayor's house?”
I chose to ignore her, hopping from the van and making my way to the buzzer at the gate. After it rang a few times, someone answered. It was a voice I recognized immediately.
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