ON AIR

by Hadley Quinn

  Nodding again, I reflected on my options back then. I didn’t have any. I got hired by Ron Stackman straight out of college. He’d been a guest lecturer at the university a few times and he liked me quite a bit. He ended up offering me a job and I took it, no questions asked. I was just excited to be employed right away.

  “So what was the deal with all that?” Steve asked, taking a swig of his beer. “Why’d you leave? You didn’t get fired, right? You left on your own? Was any of that shit happening then?”

  I took my own drink before answering, but eyed him cautiously. “You mean did I have knowledge of anything illegal? Fuck no. And yeah, he was just a lousy boss, always yelling at shit to be done but never doing anything of his own. He was like a dictator. And I never got to work up to my own clients, he pretty much just gave me cookie cutter designs to change a closet here or a window there.”

  “Hmm, sounds like what my brother is doing,” Dalton said. “He’s worked for a firm over in Tennessee for almost four years now and still hasn’t done custom designs yet.”

  “I would die of boredom,” I admitted. “That’s why I left Stackman. It wasn’t worth putting up with him if I didn’t even like working there. My nose was in search of something more challenging.”

  “Thank God you were desperate enough to come to me,” Clive joked.

  “Yeah, thank God,” I agreed.

  Our waitress brought by a round of shots at that moment and said, “From someone who would like to remain anonymous.” She smiled and set all five of them on the table.

  “Wait, no, come on, Jilly,” Madden objected. He held up a five-dollar bill and waved it seductively. “I’m sure you’d be willing to share who it was. I don’t like secrets.”

  Jill giggled playfully. “Well I’m good at keeping them and she tipped me way better than that.”

  “She?” three of us chorused at once.

  As soon as Jill left, each one of us was scoping every patron in the room. It wasn’t a very big establishment, so it allowed an easy perusal of the customers, but after a minute or so, none of us could agree on any one person.

  “Whether it was her or not,” Madden pointed to a blonde across the bar, “I’d thank her anyway.”

  I smiled as I followed his gaze. She did look like a worthy effort to make, but I didn’t believe it’d been her who bought the round of shots. “Then go thank her. When she corrects you just be like, oh well then can I buy you a drink?”

  “She doesn’t exactly look like she wants to be approached,” he frowned.

  This was true. She was sitting by herself in the opposite corner from us, her long blonde hair over one shoulder, sipping a martini. Her phone seemed to be the extent of her interest, and she only looked up every minute or so. She was pretty, though. I could tell from across the room.

  “Dude, maybe it’s Sinclair,” Madden whispered to me. “She’s checking this place out, wearing a wig so no one can think it’s her. Her chest totally gives her away, though.”

  I rolled my eyes at his insistence that Sinclair was a busty redhead.

  “On your way to the bathroom, just say something to her,” I told him.

  “Nah man, not feeling it tonight.”

  I kept my comments to myself. Madden was an extremely rough-around-the-edges kind of guy, but he could be really polite when he wanted to be. I think he was just scared of rejection, more than he’d ever admit.

  “She’s more your type,” Madden winked, tipping his beer at me. “Go make a move, D-man.”

  I wasn’t so sure I had a “type.” But to be honest, this woman kind of intrigued me. It didn’t seem like a place she belonged, which made me curious, but she also didn’t look very happy. I was sort of a people pleaser by nature and wanted to change her mood. Maybe she got stood up?

  Hey, I could save the day.

  As I left the table, I heard the guys chuckling and making jabs behind my back or cheering me on. I couldn’t care less, but it wasn’t really in me to do anything for attention. This wasn’t that sort of thing and I actually wished they would disappear. However, I continued my trek to the other side of the room. The blonde still had her head down, seemingly texting away on her phone. When my presence caught her attention, her head popped up in surprise.

  “Hello,” I said.

  She basically just blinked at me. I paused to make a better assessment of her. She was even better looking up close, which was not usually the case so I was kind of caught off guard. Her eyes were dark blue and she had lips that could probably work a cock pretty well, so I decided right then she was probably a solid “8” on my scale.

  “I noticed you by yourself and wondered if you’d like to join me and my coworkers.” I motioned to somewhere behind me.

  She glanced past me. I wasn’t sure if she knew to which table I was referring to until I turned around and saw every set of eyes from my table staring at us and it became so fucking obvious.

  “Hmm, looks fun,” she smiled politely. I was waiting for the next part: the turndown. But she looked back to me and said, “Okay, but are you really sure you want that to happen?”

  I felt about ten degrees warmer at that moment. I had hoped she’d be intimidated by the idea and decline, or invite me to sit down with her instead. Apparently my psychology didn’t work with this one and she’d inflicted me with some of her own.

  “Not really,” I answered honestly. “Would it have been less forward to have invited myself to sit with you?”

  She pursed her lips and studied me for a second. “I’m fine with either, but have a seat.” She gestured across from her. “I’m Holly.”

  “Dane. Nice to meet you.”

  “It’s nice to meet you too. So…you come here often?” She’d kept a straight face but I knew she was messing with me.

  “Ha, yeah I actually do,” I answered with a chuckle. “I work at Becker & Lewis a few doors down.”

  She slowly nodded. “And what is Becker & Lewis?” she asked, eyeing my Stones t-shirt.

  “It’s an architectural firm.”

  She raised a nicely manicured eyebrow at me. “Oh? So you’re an architect?”

  “Yeah, I try to be.”

  Chuckling, she picked up her martini. “Would you like to order a drink?”

  Realizing I’d left my beer at the other table, I agreed. She evidently wanted me to stay by offering the chance to order, so I was going to take her up on it. As soon as I got a new server’s attention, she took my beer order.

  “So what brings you to this particular bar?” I asked. It was small talk, but definitely the way to start.

  “Do I really stand out that badly?” She was trying to hide a smile, which was cute. “I was actually headed somewhere else but stopped here on a whim.”

  “On a whim, huh? Well sometimes those are the best experiences.”

  Holly studied me for a moment before taking the last sip of her drink. “Maybe so.” After a brief pause while my beer was placed in front of me, she added, “What’s your favorite thing about this place?”

  I slowly exhaled. “Hmm, well…they know us, therefore we get treated well. Um…it’s close to where I work, on my way home. They have a great selection of beer and liquor, always a game of some sort on the screens…”

  “Is it somewhere you’d recommend to people who weren’t just working in the area?”

  I had to pause right there. It was the way she spoke the word ‘recommend’. It seemed familiar. And even though I was telling myself the odds were nearly impossible…

  Madden had planted the mystery of Sinclair and I couldn’t ignore the coincidence.

  6

  My heart had picked up speed at this reckoning. The adrenaline rush from the information colliding had actually hit me physically.

  “Dane?” Holly asked, tilting her head with confusion. “Are you okay?”

  I took a drink of my beer to give me time to compose myself. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Um, well, this place means a lot to me so…I don’t think
I could give it an unbiased opinion, you know?”

  I waited for her response, which was to slowly nod as she looked around the room again. But fuck, did I just screw up a chance for this bar to get some free publicity? I wasn’t sure how it rated when it came to bars in general, but I didn’t want to be responsible for them losing out on something promotional.

  Subtly, I eyed her hair. I was looking for any stray strands of red that weren’t quite tucked up into the wig enough. What a minute, what the hell. Seriously? No, she definitely was not wearing a fucking wig. Madden was out of his damn mind with his theories.

  She looked at me again, so I tried to play it cool by assessing our surroundings too. “I, uh, I would recommend it if someone wants low-key with good service,” I added. “The chili cheese fries are amazing, too.”

  Her eyes widened. “That actually sounds good. Will you share some with me?”

  I couldn’t help but smile. I liked a girl who wasn’t afraid to dig into the really unhealthy shit. I motioned to our waitress and placed an order for us. Holly asked for some water, so while those were being taken care of, I placed my forearms on the table and leaned forward. “So tell me something about yourself.”

  Her lips pursed in thought as she set her elbow on the table with her chin in her hand. “Hmm, let’s see… I come from a large family, I’m a bit obsessed with music, I have a cat but I’m not going to be a crazy cat lady.” She narrowed her eyes playfully. “Um, what else…? Oh, I drink way too much coffee, am slightly obsessed with reruns of the Golden Girls, and my favorite form of exercise is hiking.”

  I would have preferred her to say “sex” but who am I to judge? “Hmm, interesting. I, too, am obsessed with the Golden Girls.”

  She barely snorted but smiled at me suspiciously. “Mmhmm, I’m sure.”

  Laughing, I replied, “Well, I can honestly say my sister is and that I’ve seen dozens of episodes. She used to watch it with our mom all the time. It was kind of their little thing together.”

  “Aw, that’s sweet. What’s your sister’s name?”

  “Chloe,” I answered automatically. “She’s an old soul. Totally eclectic, unique, always wanted to take care of everyone… She has this amazing little coffee shop downtown that…”

  Before I knew it, I realized I’d probably said too much. It’s not that I was trying to deceive her, but if Holly had wanted to remain incognito while she was working, I didn’t want to disturb that.

  Stop. What the hell was I thinking? This girl was not Sinclair. I had nothing to go on except my stupid, far-fetched presumptions. Madden had me thinking too much. But I suppose I still couldn’t rule it out just yet…

  As I glanced up at her, I noticed her expression right away. It was a mix of surprise and…distrust?

  I really didn’t know what I should do. I wasn’t completely sure this was the woman from the radio or not but…it just made sense that way. Even now, as she remained completely still, studying me carefully, she was processing everything I’d just said.

  Finally I asked, “What’s wrong?” I needed to know where her thoughts were before we discussed how I (possibly) knew who she was.

  Her face softened and she shook her head. “Nothing,” she smiled. “It’s just cute how your face lit up like that, talking about your sister.”

  Puzzled, I quickly accepted the direction the conversation was going. Maybe I’d read her wrong. “Yeah, well, she’s my only sibling. We’re pretty close. I’m kind of protective of her.”

  “That’s really sweet,” Holly nodded. The waitress set two glasses of water on the table and informed us the fries were on their way out. “I have three brothers and one sister. All older than me, and they all live on the east coast.”

  “Is that so? They all move out that direction, or did you move here?”

  “I moved here.” She took a sip of her water. “I needed…something new. Had some options I wanted to explore.”

  I nodded as I sorted that information in my head. I cleared my throat to design my next thought. “So…what do you do to pass the time here in Oregon? School? Job?”

  She seemed to search for an answer while staring across the room, just as our order of chili cheese fries were placed on the table.

  “Let me know if you need anything else,” our waitress smiled.

  “Thank you,” Holly smiled back. She directed her attention to the food. “Oh my God, those look so good.”

  I just sat there and waited. She may have been avoiding my question, but I still wanted an answer.

  “Oh, what do I do,” she chuckled with a cheery smile as she delicately chose a loaded fry from the pile. “I’m actually a writer.”

  A bit taken aback, my eyebrows rose. “A writer, huh? What do you write?” I was more curious than ever. I wasn’t sure if she was just covering up the radio thing or not, but I figured I needed to give her a chance here.

  “Well…” She sighed, and then studied the fry for a moment. After blowing on it, she took a bite.

  I gave her the time if she needed it and grabbed a fry of my own, mimicking her same process of blowing on it but sticking the whole thing in my mouth. God, these fries were amazing. A plate of these and another beer, and I’d be in a coma.

  “I write a column for the Portland Voice,” she continued. “It’s…a political column.”

  Politics? That threw me for one. First off, she didn’t look anything like the type to be into the political scene—whatever my opinion’s worth—and second, I immediately felt somewhat emasculated because politics were the one thing I felt completely uneducated in. It’s not like I couldn’t keep up with the basics, but for someone to actually write about politics… She probably knew way more than I did. Not just about that but…everything.

  “Completely caught off guard or are those fries going to disappear if you don’t eat them fast enough?” she smiled.

  I appreciated her quick wit, but she was right. Somehow I’d eaten about five or six of those loaded fries and my mouth was on fire.

  I took a long drink of my beer and paused. “This is basically my dinner,” I explained. It may have been a lame excuse, but it was the truth. “And…political column, huh? I’m intrigued. I’ll have to skim very thoroughly next time and search for articles by a ‘Holly’.”

  I truly assumed she wrote under a pseudonym and she’d have to tell me or admit that I wouldn’t find anyone named Holly, but she only smiled.

  “You don’t mind?” I asked. If she actually shared all of that information with me, she was giving me the go-ahead to check it out. However, I also had the radio show on my mind and was still trying to piece it all together. Maybe she did both?

  “Be my guest, read away. Just don’t write in to complain,” she added with a smile. “I’m not sure I’d want to be friends anymore.”

  “Ha. Afraid of some friendly debates, huh?” I joked. “Meh, I’m not really up-to-par on all that stuff anyway. I support a strong government, but I’m not really into the political aspect of it. I understand it’s necessary for leadership, but ‘politics’ is the practice of influencing people. I’m not really into that part of it all.” I grabbed another fry and chewed until I realized she was staring at me. “What?”

  “Nothing, it’s just…interesting to hear that.”

  “Why?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m not used to being around people who feel that way too.”

  “Too? I don’t understand. You write a ‘political’ column.”

  She was trying to hide a smile but eventually chuckled. “Well yes, so I guess you’ll just have to check it out for yourself. You know the Portland Voice is kind of an off-the-wall publication, right? I mean eighty percent of its readers are activists of some sort or just college hipsters wanting to be well-versed in multiple debates.”

  Damn, this woman was starting to mesmerize me. It was like seeing the tip of an iceberg when there were actually miles that continued under the surface. So she was an opinionated woman,
huh? I’d have to find out just how opinionated, but I liked that nonetheless.

  “Okay,” I said with a playful tone of warning. “I’m gonna check it out.”

  She winked and ate another fry.

  I finished out my next hour at the bar with Holly. I’m guessing she stayed a lot longer than planned and I was glad to have been that reason. My work buddies had already left for the night, so I walked her to her car and headed home a happy man.

  But also mystified. I had no idea who these Holly/Sinclair people really were and if my curiosity about the radio voice had caused me to eagerly build something that wasn’t really there to build from.

  Being an inquisitive soul was tiresome.

  ***

  Holly had given me her phone number so we could meet up sometime. I was a bit hesitant, but my dick was telling me yes. Pathetic? Maybe so. But I was extremely attracted to this woman, and she was not only enjoyable to be around for ninety minutes, but she completely held my interest for the next couple of days.

  On Sunday, I actually acquired a physical copy of the newspaper she said she columned for. Maybe I’d been putting it off because I was afraid I’d read something that turned off my interest, but on the plus side, I convinced myself that it would be a good thing if I did. All these weird coincidences were tripping me up and I wanted to clear things up for myself. I knew I was entertaining impossible conclusions. I knew she really had no connection to radio. Sinclair was the one woman whose voice had captured my attention from the very start, and whom I also had a soft spot for because she’d done my sister so much good. So yeah, I’d developed a special interest in her.

  Her voice. Okay, I’ll admit that I’d been so caught up in talking to Holly the other night I failed to listen for anything else that even remotely resembled Sinclair’s voice. All I had was that one word—recommend—that grabbed my attention. Thinking back, Sinclair from the radio really did have more of a sultry voice like Madden had mentioned. But I didn’t catch that in Holly’s voice. Maybe the same tone was there, but her deliverance wasn’t as smooth. But…maybe that’s something she changed just for the radio? Or maybe she read from a script! And ha! Holly was a writer…