“Did you talk to Tyler about this?” He asked, and I shook my head. “Does Dawn want to come back?”
“I wanted to come to you first,” I replied. “And I haven’t talked to Dawn.”
Jared let out a laugh. “You want me to hire Dawn back, and you don’t even know if she wants to come back? Are you serious?”
I stared at him calmly, my eyes not wavering. “Please, Jared. I need this.”
Jared sighed, shaking his head at me. “I’ll think about it.”
The rest of the week passed like normal. Jenny was fully settled into her role. Rise and Shine’s ratings were staying steady, and we’d passed up two of the other morning shows in the area. Unlike Dawn, Jenny was completely comfortable as a co-host, loving every minute of it. Everything in my life seemed to have settled. Everything except for Dawn.
On Friday, as I was about to pack up and leave for the day, excited about Dawn’s arrival later that evening, I met Jared in the hall.
“You tell Dawn, if she wants to come back, it’s on my terms.”
“Really?” I erupted into a smile, pulling him into a hug. “Oh my God, thank you, Jared!”
Jared looked skeptical, to say the least, but it was all I wanted to hear from him. I couldn’t wait to tell Dawn. It took me till Sunday to finally tell her the news, and I was surprised how quickly she turned me down. Part of me wondered if she still wasn’t ready to be in a committed relationship. If this was her way of taking the easy way out.
On Monday, it was as hard as ever to watch her go. After she left, I spent a longer time than usual getting ready, mostly sulking. Marty could tell I was in a somber mood when I arrived and worried Dawn and I had broken up.
“We’re fine,” I lied as I settled into my usual chair in the production room.
The morning show went smoothly like normal. The teleprompter messed up during the second broadcast, but Jenny took it like a champ and improvised. When we were nearing the end of the last broadcast, Marty tapped my shoulder as I was listening.
“There’s one more news segment we need to cover,” Marty said. “I’m gonna need you to cut to off-site feed.”
“That wasn’t on the schedule,” I replied, looking over at him. I checked my notes, and sure enough, there was nothing about any stories left to cover. “What’s going on Marty?”
“Just do it,” he nudged me again. When I looked at the connection to the live feed, it looked to be outside of the skyrise. No one was in the shot.
“I swear..” I started, and Marty nudged me again.
“Okay Jenny,” I said into the headset. “When we come back from commercial I’m going to have you announce we have one more news story.” I could see her confused look towards the production room, and I shook my head. “I’m as confused as you are, but I need you to do that for me okay?” When she nodded, I settled back into my chair.
“And we’re back in 5...4...3..2..”
“So before we leave you this afternoon,” Jenny said, smiling into the camera. “We have one last news story coming to you today. We’re going to send it over now.”
As soon as the feed was switched, I nearly fell out of my chair. Standing in the shot was Dawn, mic to her mouth. She was standing outside of the studio, looking as beautiful as ever.
“Good morning, Los Angeles,” Dawn said. “As you can see, I’m standing outside the WATV headquarters in downtown LA. I wanted to take a minute to announce that starting tomorrow, Rise and Shine will have a dedicated field reporter for local, late-breaking news. And I’m happy to say I’ve been offered the position.”
My head spun, and I found myself unable to hold myself up at the desk. Suddenly the world grew dark, and before I could catch myself, I tumbled to the ground.
The next thing I recalled was being shaken gently by Marty, sitting beside me. I was in Jenny’s studio, a crowd of people around me. Jenny had gotten me a washcloth for my head. For a minute, I had forgotten what had happened. That was until I saw Dawn breaking through the crowd to come to me.
“Are you alright?” She asked me worried, squatting down next to the couch. I felt her soft fingers graze the side of my cheek.
“Had a bit of a fall there,” Marty said. “We were worried about you kid.”
“I’m okay,” I said, sitting up. The world spun a little when I did, but it eventually settled.
“Alright, let’s get back to work folks, give Liz a little breathing room. We have promos to shoot.”
Marty and the rest of the crew cleared out, leaving Dawn and me alone in Jenny’s dressing room. Dawn sat down beside me, a small smile on her lips.
“Now I’m going to need a dressing room,” Dawn said abruptly when our eyes met. “And I insist on covering at least two major stories each segment.”
“Wait,” I said, holding up my hand, feeling my heart race in my chest. “Are you serious? You’re coming back to the show?”
“I’m coming back for you,” Dawn said, placing a hand on my cheek. “But like I said, only if I have my own dressing room.”
We smiled at one another for a moment. I still was in disbelief. Finally, Dawn reached out and brushed a strand of hair from my face. After, she rested it on my cheek, stroking my skin softly. I nuzzled into her, sighing.
“Oh, and one last thing,” Dawn said, and my head shook.
“I swear, you are the most high maintenance person--”
“I love you.”
Thanks for reading Traffic & Weather!
If you enjoyed the book, please consider subscribing to my updates for news about my future releases and a chance to be one of my advanced copy readers. You can also find me on Facebook.
More by Magnolia Robbins
Lightkeeper
From the moment Lily Taylor met Morgan Wallace in their third-grade class, she knew they were destined to be best friends. Fourteen years later, she’d become the love of Lily’s life.
When a tragic boating accident takes away years of Lily’s memories, the two soulmates find themselves in uncharted territory. While Morgan is left holding onto the past they’d built together, Lily seeks desperately to fill the void in her life with answers.
Left to rebuild the foundations of their relationship, Morgan fights to stand by Lily against unimaginable odds. The two find themselves learning how to fall in love with one another all over again, and discover that sometimes all you really need is a light to guide you amidst the storm.
Royal Pains
“Es gibt nichts schöneres als dich.” There is nothing more beautiful than you.
Geeky wallflower Penelope Waters hadn’t signed up for falling in love with royalty. A new medical school student, all she’d ever wanted was to be a doctor. When Penny unknowingly meets a young Liechtenstein princess, she finds herself falling hard for more than just her German accent.Charming and beautiful Astrid Vogt was well known in the small country of Liechtenstein. Pressured by her parents to pursue their hopes of her marriage to a Prince, Astrid flees to America with a dream of medicine in mind. When she starts to fall for Penelope, their instant attraction proves to be an additional complication to her already crazy life. Unable to reveal her true identity, Astrid finds herself trapped between her duty to her country and her newfound feelings for Penny.
Will Astrid tell Penny who she truly is? Or will she let her past come between them?
Written Stars
“The stars don’t hold our destiny, our destiny is what holds the stars.”
Megan Riley has always been all work and no play, a mindset that helped her become a successful defense attorney in Portland. With a recognizable name, more money than she knew what to do with and an adoring sister, her life looked like the picture of perfection. Yet all the money in the world couldn’t rid Megan of the idea that she was destined for something more. And it wouldn’t solve the nagging feelings she grappled with about her sexuality.
Eccentric Olivia Ellis was an insecure and struggling author trying to make ends meet. A big believer in d
estiny, she knew something waited just around the corner for her.
When Megan and Olivia meet by chance at a historic book store, they find themselves eyeing the same unique book – and each other. Neither could deny the instant attraction they felt. After a magical night together, Megan finds herself a lot less confused about her sexuality. Olivia, who struggled with her fears of commitment, decided if their meeting was “written in the stars”, they’d run into each other once more.
Will fate bring Olivia and Megan together again?
Winters Solace
Katlynn Walker thought she had it all: a dream job in Silicon Valley. A beautiful California beach house. The love of her life. But her world crumbled beneath her feet the moment she found her best friend in bed with her fiancé.
Desperate to escape her harsh new realities, Katlynn flees to her Massachusetts hometown of Wellesley, to spend Christmas at her sister's cottage. Finding a new love was the last thing on her agenda, but when Katlynn reconnects with an old friend, everything she thought she knew about herself and her future is called into question.
Iris' life changed the minute her mother got sick. With her quiet, cozy world in Wellesley suddenly turned upside-down, there's no room for more complications -- especially not the resurgence of a college crush she thought she'd put out of her mind long ago. But when she finds herself spending the holidays next door to her old classmate Katlynn, Iris can't ignore the chemistry between them.
As the two women navigate their separate heartaches, will they crack under the pressures of life around them? Or can their new bond save them both?
Sweet Pickles
The name is Avery Madison. You can call me Pickles.
Go ahead. Get the jokes out of your system.
I was just an offbeat twenty year old woman from Des Moines, managing an ice cream shop and running a mildly-successful dog photo blog, when an unexpected pregnancy threw a giant curveball into my smooth operations. A baby was the last thing I’d ever expected and I definitely never imagined raising one solo.
Enter Laurel Peterson.
Laurel was quite possibly the most intense person on Earth. A hardcore all-business type with a big “life-plan” that involved having a baby on her own when she turned twenty seven. Not to mention the fact she was definitely the most mind-boggingly annoying human being I’d ever met.
Well, surprise surprise. Turns out that you can still fall for the crazy women who drive you bonkers. And by fall, I mean fall hard.
So what happens when you put two extremely groovy, completely polar opposite but madly in-love pregnant ladies together? I guess you’ll have to read and find out.
And HEA? Well, I can promise you one thing. I definitely know whether it is or not! Amiright?
Traffic & Weather Page 10