Rock Radio

by Lisa Wainland

  “Hello…Dana Drew here.”

  “Hi Dana, it’s Larry.”

  “Larry, hi, what can I do you for?”

  “Dana, it’s your friend, Larry. We finally met in person last night.”

  “Oh, right, Larry. How the hell are ya?” Dana shrugged her shoulders at Jonny and mouthed, “chronic.” He understood immediately. Some listeners truly believed the deejays were their friends. They listened every day and felt close to the jocks. Unlike TV, radio deejays were accessible. You could call them and see them at appearances. “Chronics” were the ones who confused the line between show and reality.

  “I’m great now that we finally met. I gotta thank you for your advice. You were right. I could do much better than my ex.”

  “Glad I could help.” Dana distractedly flipped through the liner cards for her show that evening.

  “Me too. So what’s new in your life?”

  “Everything’s okay Larry…” she motioned to Jonny to interrupt the call.

  “Dana,” Jonny said loudly, “I have to talk to you.”

  “Oh, sorry Larry, I have to go. That’s my boss. He needs me.”

  “Sure Dana, I understand. I’ll call you later.”

  “Great,” she answered and hung up, then turned to Jonny. “Thanks. That guy’s been calling like crazy today. He left some messages on my voicemail and he showed up last night at Scully’s, wanted a picture with me.”

  “Maybe he’ll make you forget about Sam.”

  “Oh, yeah, right.”

  “Dana, you’ll get over him and you’ll start to feel better. You’re still young.”

  “I may be young, but that doesn’t mean I’m not ready to settle down.”

  “Don’t let your fans hear that. Somehow Dana Drew in a house with a white picket fence and two point five kids doesn’t fit the image.”

  “The image is when I’m at work, not at home.”

  “You can let yourself believe that Dana, but you know as well as I do it’s hard to leave the job behind.”

  “I know. I still want to do it though.”

  “You’ll get what you want. Sam just wasn’t the one, but, hey…maybe he’ll hear your voice in his car and realize what a mistake he’s made.”

  Dana’s face brightened. “You think?”

  “Who knows? Don’t count on it though, just get on with your life.”

  “Easy for you to say.” She twirled a lock of black hair through her fingers. “How’s Jill by the way?”

  “She’s fine. She’s swamped with a big project at work. She has to partner with Nick Coleman.”

  “Poor Jill.”

  “I know.”

  “Well, send her my sympathies.”

  “I will.” He looked at his watch. “Speaking of Jill, I better go. Don’t want to be late for dinner.”

  “No, we wouldn’t want that.”

  “Have a good night Dana,” Jonny said, his voice softening. “I mean it, take care of yourself.”

  “Thanks I appreciate it.”

  Chapter 18

  Larry Carter took out the picture from the night before and studied it. Dana’s smile looked fake he decided. She didn’t seem genuinely happy. Although, he did have to admit, they made a stunning couple.

  He had doubles made of the photo and was going to send her a copy. He wanted to enclose a letter, he just wasn’t sure what to write. He bought a sweet card with a picture of a rose on the front. The card was blank inside. None of the messages in the other cards said what he wanted to say. He stared at the blank space in front of him. He didn’t know exactly what to say either.

  Larry pulled a scrap piece of paper and began writing, scribbling out words as he went along. Two hours later he had the perfect message. Carefully he wrote his inscription inside the card, taking time to make sure each letter was even with the last.

  Dearest Dana,

  Roses are red

  Violets are blue

  You were meant for me

  And I was meant for you

  Love,

  Larry

  He was impressed at his own heartfelt creativity. Beneath the last line he printed his phone number, then he placed the picture inside the card and put it in a bright red envelope. He wanted to catch her attention. With a thin black marker he addressed the card to Miss Dana Drew care of the radio station, placed a stamp on the envelope so it made a perfect right angle with the corner and drove to the post office to mail it.

  Romance was definitely in the air.

  Chapter 19

  Jonny and his wife actually had a romantic Friday night.

  Jonny arrived home to find a candlelit dinner and soft music. Jill was dressed in a short black silk nightgown.

  She looked good.

  Jonny and Jill ate dinner and had the comfortable conversation that only comes from years together. They laughed over wine, flirted and ended up in bed.

  It was nice for Jonny to be with his wife. They shared an intimacy that wasn’t easily duplicated. He did truly love her. It felt good to fall asleep in her arms.

  At three-twenty four a.m. the phone rang.

  “Hello,” Jill answered sleepily.

  “Hey I’m looking for Jonny,” a woman’s voice said.

  Jill was instantly awake. “And you are?”

  “Heather, I’m on the air and I’m having a problem. Is Jonny there?”

  “Oh, hang on.” Jill was used to problem calls from the new overnighters. She shook Jonny. “Hey, wake up. It’s someone named Heather from the station.”

  Jonny jumped awake, sleep making him forget she was on the air tonight. “Why is she calling here…?” he said without thinking.

  “She says she’s having a problem on the air.”

  “Oh, yeah,” he said quickly, grabbing the phone from Jill.

  “This is Jonny, what’s up?”

  “Jonny, it’s Heather…did you hear my last break? The guy I was talking about was you.”

  “So the computer isn’t loading the next song on the log?” he replied. Jonny couldn’t believe this. It was the middle of the night. He was in bed with his wife. Where was her discretion? Then again, what did he expect? She was so young.

  “Oh, you can’t talk,” she said, catching on slowly.

  “Yeah, just locate the song in the computer and drag it over.”

  “Listen to my next break, I’m thinking of you.”

  “Keep it professional,” he warned.

  “I will baby, thanks.”

  Jonny gave the phone back to Jill who he knew heard the whole conversation. Well, just his half he hoped.

  “Inexperience, huh?” she said rolling on top of Jonny.

  “Yeah,” he answered, distracted. Jill tried to start something, but he didn’t want to. Heather was starting to make him nervous and when he was afraid, he had no desire.

  “What’s the matter? Don’t you want me?”

  “I’m tired Jill, sorry.” Jonny rolled over.

  Jill breathed heavily. Frustrated.

  *

  Jonny woke up Saturday morning knowing he had to talk to Heather. She wasn’t going to the station today, he wasn’t due there either, but he knew he needed to see her to cool things off.

  “Jill, I’m going to take a quick ride to the store to get bagels. I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay.”

  Jonny got in his car and called Heather immediately. It was nine in the morning, she got off the air just three hours ago so she was still asleep.

  “Hello.” She sounded groggy.

  “Heather it’s Jonny. We need to talk. Meet me at the station at noon.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Oh, so it’s something good,” she said.

  “Uh, yeah, just meet me there. And bring your air check tape.” He hung up the phone abruptly, throwing in the line about the air check tape to give some credence to their meeting in case it was ever questioned. The station was open twenty-four hours a da
y, seven day a week with people working there all the time - on air personalities and sometimes even salespeople who needed the quiet of the weekend to get things done. While the weekends were significantly less busy than the weekdays, they would still be seen. He thought of meeting her someplace out of Miami, but that, he felt, was even more dangerous. At the station they could be there for a legitimate reason, any place else was suspect.

  Jonny got the bagels and returned home.

  “Jilly,” he said sweetly using his pet name for her, “I gotta go to the station this afternoon for a few hours.”

  “Really?” she said dejectedly.

  “Yeah, I won’t be long, I promise.” He kissed her forehead.

  Jonny ate breakfast, did a few chores and left. He wanted to get there before Heather to avoid anything weird in the parking lot.

  Heather arrived to his office twenty minutes late. She was wearing a light blue halter-top and white shorts. Her red hair was wet and pulled back. She was not happy that she had to come in. Last night’s shift was a pain in the ass. Surely, Jonny could do better by her.

  “I got here as fast as I could. I went back to sleep after we got off the phone and kinda overslept.” She breathed heavily and leaned against the wall. “Overnights are rough. I’m still really tired.”

  “Yes, they are. It’s the only way to get started in the business though.” He motioned for her to sit. “Where’s your tape?’

  “Here.” She handed it to him. “So let me ask you something.”

  He turned in his chair to put her tape in his cassette player. “Okay.”

  “Are you still sleeping with your wife?”

  Jonny spun around. “What kind of question is that?”

  “A question I think I have a right to ask since I’m sleeping with you.”

  “No, you don’t. My relationship with my wife is my business.”

  “Really, is that what Jill would say?”

  “How do you know her name?” he said, his blood running cold.

  “I know lots of things. Things like overnights suck. Why can’t I work in the daylight?”

  “Heather our fling has nothing to do with me putting you on the air.”

  “Fling?” she raised her voice. “You mean relationship.”

  “No, I mean fling.”

  Heather looked at him with hurt and rage in her eyes. Jonny suddenly realized Heather was not so stable, he needed to tread carefully. He changed his approach. Quickly.

  “Heather, come here.”

  She walked around to his side of the desk and sat on top of it. Jonny put his hand on her bare, tan thigh. She smiled.

  “Look you caught me off guard. Of course it’s a relationship. I just don’t want my wife to know about us.”

  “Yet, you mean.”

  “Yeah, yet,” he agreed, happy to have found the calming words to her heart.

  “Good, because I don’t like sharing you.” Heather got down from the desk and straddled Jonny.

  “Hey, babe, be careful. There are some people here working. We still have to keep our relationship under wraps.”

  “I’d like to put you under wraps.” She leaned into him, pushing her young, firm breasts against his chest and ran her fingers through his hair. She kissed his forehead, nose and chin, finally ending up on his mouth for a hot, wet kiss.

  Jonny groaned and let his hands wander up her body, beneath her shirt, discovering she wasn’t wearing a bra.

  She moaned with pleasure. “You like that, do you?” he said, pulling her top over her head.

  “Oh yes,” she whispered, her hands working quickly to unbutton his pants.

  He pushed her slowly onto the desk and gave into temptation.

  Nick Coleman stood outside Jonny’s office catching every moment through a thin crack in the door.

  He came to the station to catch up on work…instead he got an eyeful.

  “My, my,” he said to himself, walking away with a Cheshire grin. “My, my.”

  Chapter 20

  The Cody Blue Experience returned to Gainesville to record their first album. Eric forced them to practice tirelessly to tighten their sound, only having them play gigs in the surrounding area so they could focus on the songs they wanted on the album.

  “On the road, you have the crowd and bar acoustics. The studio’s not so forgiving. Plus they charge me by the hour so we don’t have time to rework anything. You have to devote yourselves to sounding nothing short of perfect.”

  It was a lot of work practicing day in, day out. The boys were tired. When Eric heard them a few months later, he finally was happy.

  “Now you sound polished. Now we can go make an album.”

  The studio was no reprieve. The band was on a tight budget. Every hour in the studio was money spent, so Eric pushed them to finish the CD as quickly as possible. He wanted it done in four days. That meant more endless nights and lots of coffee.

  Since losing Laura, Cody threw himself even more into the band, writing new songs inspired by his own mistake and heartbreak.

  The band was earning some money, not a lot, but enough for Cody to send some to his mother, after he covered his expenses, so she could have some extra cash. She was grateful. It helped ease her burden of disappointment over his decision to leave school. It also helped to allay his guilt.

  Cody hadn’t seen his mom in months. Even though they were close in proximity, he never really had the time or the desire. His time out of Pinetree, free from the curse of his father, made Cody realize that the abuse he suffered as a child was partly his mother’s fault. He couldn’t reconcile in his mind why she put up with his dad’s abuse. Why she let his dad beat him up so violently. He always thought of her as the victim, but she could have left. She could have packed them up and slipped out into the night. He had no such choice.

  No, Cody had no desire to go back to the small town that held such big pain.

  The recording process, while grueling, was very rewarding. The band heard the playback tape and couldn’t believe how good they sounded. The next step was a photo shoot for the album cover. They carefully dressed in their “we-don’t-really-care-how-we-look” way and posed with vacant expressions on their faces. Apparently, musicians weren’t supposed to show emotion. The proofs came back two days later.

  Alex, Harper, Bobby and Cody looked like rock stars.

  Eric approached them with the pictures for the cover. They picked a black and white shot of the band in an alleyway. They all looked off in the distance. Cody was in the middle of the group, the center focus of the picture. His rugged good looks shone through.

  “It’ll help sell albums,” Eric said.

  Alex gritted his teeth.

  Eric continued, explaining the layout of the cover. Beneath the band it would say The Cody Blue Experience, but they’d also start calling themselves CBE in press releases. It was catchy, Eric told them. He’d done right by them so far, so they trusted him.

  Two weeks later the CDs were done and ready to go out. Eric did a mass mailing to radio stations in Florida. He felt the fact that they were a local band would help get them on the air faster. Once they had some big stations playing the song, Eric could easily shop it around elsewhere.

  The CD release would be accompanied by a statewide tour.

  Eric assured them they were now ready to hit Miami and hit it big.

  Chapter 21

  The next few weeks were hard for Dana. It was getting close to the annual WORR beginning of the year kickoff party. Last year she went with Sam and had an awesome time. She didn’t want to go this year, but she knew she had to. Attendance at the event was more of a requirement than a choice.

  This year the party would be especially bad because it was taking place on a boat. She’d be trapped for four hours with no way off.

  Welcome to schmoozing hell.

  Jonny already promised she could hang out with Jill and him. She was grateful for the offer, but she still didn’t want to be there.

  Dana f
ound herself spending more and more time with Jonny. He was like the older brother she never had…he had become family.

  Her office phone rang. She looked at the caller ID, it was Jonny.

  “Hey…I was just thinking of you,” she said picking up the phone.

  “That’s nice to hear. Do you have a minute?”

  “Yes, in fact, I do.”

  “Can you come into my office?”

  “Sure.”

  Two seconds later she was at his door.

  “What took you so long?” Jonny tapped his watch.

  “I got lost on the way. What’s up?” Dana plopped down in the red beanbag chair in the corner of his office.

  “Oh, make yourself comfortable first.”

  “Thanks, I will.” She crossed her legs Indian style. “Now cut with the pleasantries, what’s the emergency?”

  “Listen to this.” Jonny hit play on his CD player. A strong raw voice came through the speakers. “All you were is all I was…”

  “They’re good,” Dana said, leaning forward. “Who are they?”

  “The Cody Blue Experience.” Jonny threw the CD jewel case to Dana, who caught it with one hand. “Good catch.”

  Dana studied the cover. “Wow, cute.”

  “Now Dana, is that all you care about?” Jonny teased.

  Dana stuck her tongue out at him. “They sound awesome, but you know that already. I can comment, professionally of course, on the appearance and presentation of the band.”

  “They’re from Gainesville.”

  “Really? They’re local?”

  “I know I was surprised, too. The notes say they’ve been together for years.”

  “So why haven’t we ever head of them?”

  “Wish I knew, but I’ll tell you this. I want to add them to the playlist.”

  “Really,” Dana said surprised. “You must be impressed. You don’t want to try them out in the local show first…gauge the response?” The local show was from eleven to midnight on Sundays, a low listened to, low risk hour ripe for trying new artists.

  “C’mon we’re a cutting edge rock station…”

  Dana rolled her eyes. “In theory. You know the songs are just here to fill time between commercials.”