by Tara Mills
“—and in outlying Fremont, sustained winds of sixty miles an hour with gusts up to ninety were reported. We’ll be back with all the latest updates as we continue to track this severe storm system. This is Sunny Saunders for KBHY News.”
“You’re clear,” Van told the studio.
Becky pulled off her earpiece and walked away from the blue screen.
“Jackson, can I talk to you for a second?” she asked.
He hit the intercom. “I’ll be right out.”
She nodded and Jackson turned to Van. “What have we got for footage?”
“WBSY has a lot of video and we’ve been rolling with that, but Willis is out getting some of our own right now.”
“Good. When’s the next update?”
“We’re looking at every ten minutes unless a funnel cloud forms.”
Jackson nodded and left the booth. Becky was waiting for him by the conference room door.
“Step inside?” he asked her. She nodded and went in first.
Jackson closed the door. “What’s up?”
“I want to change my name. Sunny Saunders? It sounds so stupid.”
“You picked it.”
“I know, but I was in a rush to come up with something, and I panicked.”
“Well I’m afraid you’re stuck with it here. You won’t be able to change it until you move to a different market.”
“That’s what I thought you’d say.”
“Hey, you’re a product and we’ve built your product loyalty based on that name. Suck it up, kiddo.” He smiled at her unhappy scowl. “It could have been worse. We could have called you Windy Day or something just as bad.”
“Funny,” she said with a snort.
“Beck, it’s not that bad.”
“I guess.”
“Just go out there and be that sunny, perky personality we’ve all come to love.”
“Thanks anyway.”
“It’s what I’m here for.”
She walked out, and Jackson was just about to do the same when Derek came screeching into the room and burst out, “Did you see it yet?”
“See what?”
“Justin’s fan site.”
Jackson pointed triumphantly at the ceiling. “Yes! I called that one. I told Van someone was going to start a fan club once we put him on air.”
“In under two weeks, too.”
“No way.”
“I kid you not. Come on, this is going to make your day.”
They joined a group of employees gathered around Tawny’s monitor.
“So what have we got?” Jackson asked, and several people moved back so he could take a closer look. “Awww. Our little boy’s growing up. Whose body is that, anyway?”
It clearly wasn’t Justin’s. Someone had taken the time to photo shop his head onto an Adonis.
“By the tattoos, I’d say that’s David Beckham,” said Derek. Their sports anchor would know.
Jackson chuckled. “Well someone better tell Justin not to take his shirt off in public until he’s spent some time in the gym first. Can’t let his girls down.”
“There’s a couple of videos on YouTube, and a rap, too.”
Jackson’s eyes danced with delight. “Oh, we have to see the rap, don’t we?”
A murmur of agreement broke out.
“Bring it up, Tawny,” Jackson said.
Fifteen seconds later they were all bopping to the video of two pre-teen girls singing their hearts out to KBHY’s boy wonder.
“Has he seen this yet?” Jackson asked, looking at Van.
He shrugged. “No idea.”
“I love it.” Jackson chuckled and walked away with a huge grin on his face.
Van caught up with him. “Listen, I’m sorry about last night, but you’ve gotta admit, she was worth the humiliation, right?”
“Van, step into my office.”
“You’re still pissed, aren’t you?” Van asked, following his boss, mounting dread evident.
Jackson sat in his chair and looked up. “Shut the door.”
“Shit, you’re going to ream me out now. I knew I should have called in sick.”
“Do you know who you fixed me up with last night?”
Van slowly dropped to the chair in front of him, his eyes wide with disbelief. “No.”
Jackson nodded.
“You never said she was hot!”
“What’s that got to do with it?”
“I don’t know. Any other guy would have mentioned it.”
“Sorry. I was too busy protecting my family jewels to notice.”
Van chuckled. “I’m really sorry. So what happened to you last night?”
“We went out for drinks, then back to my place, and she spent the night in my bed. Nothing special.”
“And you’re still walking? I’d be afraid she was going to break my boner off at the balls.”
“It was my back I was worried about.”
“No kidding?”
Jackson rolled his eyes and said sarcastically, “She passed out in my car. I didn’t know where she lived, couldn’t wake her, so I had to take her home with me. I crashed on the couch. There was no hanky-panky.”
“Another nightmare.”
Jackson shrugged. Why spoil the convenient impression when even he didn’t know how to read what happened between them yet?
“Anyway, I figured it was safer to keep a close eye on her.”
“I’ll bet.”
Jack fixed him with a steely eye. “Don’t ever do anything like that to me again.”
Van held up his hand and made an oath, “Never again, I swear.” He smiled cautiously. “Well, I’m glad to see you were able to come in this morning on your own two feet. She could just as easily have put you in a wheelchair next.”
“Disasters come in threes. I’d like to think I’ve had all the run-ins I’m going to have with Sabrina Eckhart.”
“Sabrina Eckhart, huh? Pretty name.”
“It is,” Jackson agreed. “You know, she manages the Oasis.”
“No kidding?”
“I’m never setting foot in there again.”
“I don’t blame you. So can I have the dinner for two you won last night?”
“I won a dinner for two?”
“You didn’t know?”
“I was out of there too fast to care.”
“That’s the prize.”
“Take it.”
Van stood to go. “Thanks.”
Jackson leaned forward. “Out of curiosity, who are you thinking of asking?”
“Tawny.”
Jack grinned. “I thought so.”
“You did not.”
“You’ve had your eye on her for a while. I notice these things.”
“Damn it, I thought I was playing it close to the vest.”
“I’m sure she’ll be flattered.”
Van shook his head and reached for the doorknob.
Jackson waited a beat before saying, “Oh, Van, no screwing around in editing. Too many things could get broken in there.”
“Ha, ha.”
****
Left alone, Jackson kicked back in his chair and allowed his mind to stray to Sabrina and all the reasons he was determined to run in the opposite direction if he even caught a whiff of her intoxicating perfume again.
He worked impossible hours, going in at midday and finishing up around eleven p.m. He didn’t have time for a social life. Forget it. How could he even ask a woman out for a simple dinner when he was working flat out between one newscast and the next? Answer—he couldn’t. And if a way to juggle and maneuver his way into a relationship presented itself, it would not be with Sabrina Eckhart. Nah-uh, she was completely off the table. Hell, she wasn’t even in the same dining room.
No, he needed to concentrate on saving this news department. A lot of people were depending on him to keep his shit together. He had one year, less than that now. Oh, sure, viewer feedback was positive, and yes, they were slowly bringing their rat
ings up, but they had a long way to go before they nailed the numbers Simon Yeager was looking for.
He wasn’t about to waste another second of his valuable time thinking about Sabrina, in his bed, filling his hands, his head, his heart? Oh, no, don’t even trip in that direction. Pull it back, Slick, and vanquish the woman right now. Now! Damn it, you’re not listening to yourself. Knock it off.
This wasn’t funny anymore. Distractions—what he needed were productive distractions. Springing out of his chair, Jackson went back to the newsroom to find some.
Chapter 12
“Holy underwear,” Tanya gasped, collapsing into the chair across Sabrina’s desk.
Sabrina grinned. “You look like a drowned cat.”
“You have no idea what’s going on out there. The parking lot is flooded. Do you see my pants? Halfway to my knees! And the wind is strong enough to sandblast my freckles right off.”
Sabrina craned her neck across the top of the desk, and her eyes widened at the dark marks circling Tanya’s calves. “Wow. Here I thought you were exaggerating.”
“Driving was fricking scary. Cars are hydroplaning right and left. I had to go two blocks out of my way coming back because there was an accident blocking Delaney. That could have been me.” Tanya rolled up her pant legs.
“What are you doing?” Sabrina asked in alarm as Tanya pulled off her shoes and started rolling down her wet socks.
“Like I want athlete’s foot. I’m not wearing wet shoes and socks. I brought a dry pair, so don’t worry.”
“But you can’t hang those in here.”
“Where else am I going to put them, the women’s bathroom? Come on.”
Sabrina grimaced and waved her hand at the wall behind the open door. “Over there, out of sight. If they start smelling, I’m going to make you throw them away.”
“I’ll do it now if you promise to buy the replacement pair.”
“Done. Toss those nasty things into a plastic bag or something and put them in the trash.”
“Jeez, you’re such a fussbudget sometimes.”
Tanya changed into her dry footwear and left with the dripping socks cupped in her hands. Her sopping shoes oozed water just inside the doorway and there was a puddle on the floor from the wet socks. Sabrina yanked a handful of tissues out of the box on her desk and went to wipe up the water. She shuddered in disgust at the sloppy wad in her hand and pitched it into the wastebasket, then went looking for the nearest hand sink.
Tanya wandered back as Sabrina dried her hands.
“I doubt we get much of a dinner rush with this storm,” Tanya said. “People are going to hunker down at home and order pizza delivery.”
“It’s really that bad?” Sabrina asked, turning. “I have to see this.”
“I’ll go with you.”
They went through to the dining room and over to the front windows to look out over the parking lot. There were whitecaps racing across the pavement, and the few customers still in the restaurant were getting ready to leave, their eyes anxiously glued to the windows.
A bright horizontal fork of lightning sliced across the sky, and not a minute later a booming crash shook the building.
“That was close,” Sabrina said, watching their last customers splash their way to their car with their heads bowed. As they climbed in, the power cut off to the entire area and voices yelled in surprise from the back of the restaurant.
“Whoa, think the lightning hit a transformer?” Tanya asked as they headed for the kitchen.
“Maybe.” Sabrina held the door open, letting what little light she could into the big kitchen. “Mario, better shut everything down—grill, burners, everything. With the exhaust fans out, we’re going to fill the whole place with smoke in no time.”
Sabrina wedged the door open and returned to the front to turn the open sign to closed and lock the front door.
Tanya went back to the windows and stared at the heavy curtain of rain. “I wonder how long the power’s going to be out.”
“We’ll just have to sit tight and see. Why don’t you get yourself something to drink?”
“Want anything?”
“I’ll take a blueberry spritzer.”
“Ooh, I think I’ll have one of those too.”
Mario and Craig shuffled out of the dark kitchen without their aprons, and Darla, the daytime bartender, stepped out from behind the bar. They all plopped down in the dim dining room and stared out the windows with interest. Another bright flash of lightning was followed by an equally impressive boom.
Tanya wandered back and set the two bottles on the table. She slid in beside Sabrina on the booth.
“I just love a good storm. I was in the mood for an easy day anyway,” Tanya said.
“That’s because you don’t count on tips,” Darla told her.
Craig grumbled. “If I knew we were going to get a chance to sit down for a bit, I would have made something to eat.”
Sabrina turned and waved over the two servers. “You might as well join us. Come over here and sit down.”
Trace and Missy wandered over and sat by Darla. They went right into a discussion about the front of the restaurant while the cooks talked video games.
Tanya looked at Sabrina and nudged her with an elbow.
“What?” Sabrina asked.
Tanya hushed her and passed a magazine under the table. Sabrina leaned back to see what all the secrecy was about, and her face flushed with heat and her eyes popped. She stared at Tanya, who grinned and nodded back.
Sabrina slipped the magazine under her butt and tried to stay cool and forget about it for the moment. She had a delicious blueberry spritzer in front of her. Just focus on that. It would have been nice to take the magazine back to her office and hide it away somewhere, but with no windows or lights to show her where the hell she was, an embarrassing accident was a given. Then when everyone charged to the rescue, how would she explain the porn?
She leaned over and whispered, “Is this why you had to run home?”
“Yep.”
“I could have waited. It’s not like it was urgent or anything.”
“And with this weather, it wasn’t like I was missed, either.”
“Too bad we don’t have a radio in here,” said Mario.
“If the power doesn’t come back in ten minutes, I’ll make a call, but I doubt I’ll get through,” said Sabrina.
“I’d just like a weather report. Is this supposed to last all night?” Darla asked with a frown. “ ’Cause if it is, that means baseball camp is cancelled and I’m going to have to leave to pick up my son.”
“I’m guessing it’s cancelled, but that’s just me,” said Trace.
Darla’s phone rang and she walked off to speak privately.
“You know,” Missy said thoughtfully, “If our power is out, so is the school’s. Bet they release the summer school kids early. He could probably catch a ride home that way.”
“No way,” Trace said. “They’ll keep the kids until power is restored. It’s a lot safer than sending them home on the buses if the traffic lights are out too.”
“And don’t forget about the kids who walk to school,” Darla pointed out.
“Oh, yeah. You’re probably right.”
“Anyone interested in going out to listen to their car radio for a few minutes?” Sabrina asked hopefully.
Mario pushed back his chair and stood. “I’ll do it. I wouldn’t mind a smoke anyway.”
“I’ll go with you,” said Craig, stretching.
“I’m going to have to send someone home,” Sabrina whispered to Tanya.
“Who?”
“I’ll let people draw for it.”
“Can I go too?”
“No.”
“But I did you a favor,” she whined.
“Is that how you see it? Well, forget it. I’m not looking at that thing by myself and it’s not staying here. When you leave it goes with you.”
“Maybe we should have gone out to a ca
r.”
“I’m not getting wet for smut.” She groaned and scowled at Tanya. “Don’t say it. I know that came out wrong.”
Tanya smirked. “Well, it’s too late for me.”
Sabrina shook her head and looked over at the two servers and the bartender sprawled at another table. “Why don’t you three decide who gets to go home?”
“I think I should go,” Darla said instantly. Big surprise. “I have kids to worry about.”
“I can handle both the bar and the dining room if Missy wants to go too,” Trace offered.
“Really?” Missy asked him gratefully.
“Sure. It’s not like we’ll be busy.”
“Famous last words,” Sabrina said with a sigh. “You sure about that, Trace?”
“Let’s get the weather report first, but I feel pretty comfortable.”
“Fair enough.”
****
The storm parked over the region and gutters and sewers were overflowing by the time power came back on over an hour later. Sabrina sent Craig home as soon as he came back from his cigarette break. Missy and Darla left with her blessings just a few minutes later. Tanya told Trace to give her a holler if he needed help, but so far no one was braving their lake out front. From what they could see, all the businesses down the strip seemed to be similarly afflicted.
With Trace circulating among the tables, topping off salt and pepper shakers, Sabrina decided it was a good time to slip away with the magazine. “We’ll be in my office if you need us,” she called to him from a safe distance.
“No problem.”
“Come on,” Sabrina said, wagging her head toward the back. Tanya followed her.
They closed the office door and pulled both chairs to the same side of the desk, placing the magazine in front of them.
“You do it,” Sabrina said, keeping her hands safely in her lap.
Tanya chuckled and peeled back the cover.
“Oh, my god—gross! Look at that make-up,” Sabrina said in horror.
“They like to vamp it up in these things.” Tanya agreed. “Her hair is cute, though. I like that style.”
“But it’s too frosted, and what’s with the striping on this one?”
“I know. Tell me what’s wrong with a beautiful brown head of hair anyway?”
“Nothing, absolutely nothing. It would look a hell of a lot better than this fake red or that nasty blonde. They’re totally damaging their hair,” said Sabrina.