by Amy Patrick
I waited a few hours and tried Aric again. No answer. Again.
By six o’clock, he still hadn’t called me back. Too busy with work. Or with hating me. I took off my clothes and stood in front of my bathroom mirror, imagining following my sister’s advice. I’d ring his doorbell, and Aric would answer. He’d look me up and down, checking out the peace offering… and close the door. Ugh. Or worse, he’d open the door, shirtless and still wearing his suit pants from work, and Colleen would come down the stairs right after him, every bit as naked as me, but pulling it off a whole lot better. I shuddered. No doorstep nudity.
I put my clothes back on and turned on the news while I waited for Hale to arrive. Colleen looked beautiful, of course, but her Valley-girl inflection bugged me as usual. I muted the sound and waited for the sportscast. Colleen and Aric made happy-talk on a two shot then the camera went to a tight shot on Aric. He looked a little rough—and exactly like a guy who’d spent the previous night drinking heavily and boinking a beauty queen. His clothes and hair were perfect, of course, but dark smudges underlined his eyes, and his usual compelling energy was noticeably absent.
I did call one more time after the news ended, but again he didn’t pick up. Okay, he didn’t want to talk to me. How obvious did he have to make it?
Well, he wouldn’t be able to avoid me on Wednesday when I got back from Nashville and we both went back to work. Then we’d no doubt have a reversal of our original positions, with me begging him to get together and talk, and him blowing me off. The thought of it sent a twisting pain through my heart. Too bad, I’d find a way to talk to him anyway. I wasn’t going to give up on us until I’d really given it my best try. No more fear.
And then my doorbell rang.
I think Hale knew as soon as he saw my face. He gave me a tight smile and stepped inside, looking especially nice in a light blue sweater and dark pants. His eyes went immediately to my left hand, which was bare. He registered that fact with a flare of his eyelids, and his gaze dropped to the floor between us.
“Come on in and sit down. Would you like a drink?”
“No thanks. I’d really just like to go ahead and talk. I haven’t been able to think all day. I didn’t sleep last night.”
A twinge caught at my heart. Not of regret over letting him go, but of dread over the pain I was about to cause him. There was no getting around it. There never had been.
“I know what you mean,” I told him honestly. “I didn’t get much sleep either.” I took Hale’s hand. It was time to say it all—everything I’d been afraid to say before. I’d called it being nice, saving his feelings, when the truth was I’d been a coward and probably hurt him more as a result.
“So, I thought about the things you said last night. You were right, Hale. We do get along great, and we never fought. Things between us were good. But I’ve been learning lately that maybe that’s not such a good thing. Maybe the absence of any sort of conflict at all, being with someone who never makes you feel uncomfortable in any way, maybe that’s not the way love is supposed to be. It’s safe and good, but I’m beginning to think there’s something more out there, something better than good… for both of us.”
Hale’s expression took on a new cast, something less hurt and more angry. “This is about him, isn’t it? The sports guy, Aric.”
Courage, Heidi. I’d already found out where trying to take the easy road had gotten me. If I’d been brave enough to be more up-front with Hale in the first place, we wouldn’t be here right now, both embarrassed and hurting. “Not entirely,” I said. “But yes, partially—I do have feelings for him. It really has more to do with me, though. I’m coming to terms with some things that happened in my past, things I’ve been running from that I’ve never discussed with you, unfortunately. It wasn’t fair to you, and I wish I’d been more of a grown-up and better able to explain to you where I was coming from all along. Maybe then you wouldn’t have wasted so much time on me.”
I pulled the gorgeous ring from my pocket and pressed it into Hale’s hand, then wrapped my fingers around his. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, staring at our hands. “I never meant to lead you on, and I want you to know that in many ways you saved me. You were there for me when I really needed someone, and you helped me to heal from the worst damage of my life. I’ll always be grateful to you, and even if you hate me now, I’ll always love you for that.” I glanced up to see his reaction.
He was looking at me with tears in his eyes. “You were never a waste of time, Heidi.” He swallowed loudly. “And I don’t hate you.” He opened his hand, looking down at the glittering ring. “I just wish—I definitely should have done something sooner—as soon as you mentioned Aric. I was too sure of myself, too nice about it. I should have fought for you.”
“Don’t you think it’s significant that you didn’t? One of these days you’re going to meet someone, and you’ll know that nothing could stop you from being with her. Someone who’s just right for you, who wants to stay, to share your life—exactly as it is—more than anything in the world.” I swallowed back a sob, realizing this was likely the last time I’d ever see him. “That girl is out there. And when you meet her, you’ll be very, very glad things happened this way.”
“I seriously doubt that.” Hale’s hand closed over the ring again, hiding it from my view. He nodded and stood up, his flushed face betraying a struggle for control. “Be happy, Heidi,” he said in a choked voice and walked to my front door and out of my life.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The Ultimate Stand Up
When I arrived at work Wednesday afternoon, the station looked different to me, smaller and more dear. I had a heightened appreciation for WPLM and all I’d learned here over the past year. I might not have much longer to spend in this crappy little underfunded, outdated, wonderful old TV station, and the thought was surprisingly bittersweet.
I didn’t have an official offer from Nashville, but the interview and audition had gone extremely well, and the news director had sent me home with a bag-full of WKRN promotional material—a t-shirt, hat, pens, notepads, magnets. He’d also called to make sure I’d gotten home safely yesterday and told me again how much he hoped I’d enjoyed my experience there. Things were looking good.
I entered the newsroom and went straight back to the sports corner to find Aric. He could avoid my phone calls, but he couldn’t avoid me if I was standing right in front of him. I stopped short when I rounded the corner of the last partition, because Aric was there, but not alone. A middle-aged man was with him, tall, fit, olive-skinned and handsome with a head full of thick black hair (maybe a shade too black).
He must have caught motion out of the corner of his eye or either was reacting to Aric’s notice of me, because he turned toward me and broke out in a beautiful, friendly (and a bit lecherous, if I’m being honest) smile.
“Hi.” I raised my hand in a weak wave.
“Well, hello,” his smooth voice greeted me. He turned to Aric. “Son, why don’t you introduce me to your friend?”
Oh—it was Aric’s dad. Now I could see it, not in the coloring, but in the graceful way he moved, the fabulous smile, the incredible facial bone structure. Aric looked extremely uncomfortable, and of course the situation was beyond awkward. We hadn’t seen each other since that mind-scrambling kiss Friday evening before my disastrous date with Hale.
“Uh, Peter, this is Heidi, my… co-anchor. Heidi, this is my father, Peter Serrano.”
Peter was already moving toward me, taking my outstretched hand between both of his in an engulfing embrace too intimate to call a handshake. “Wonderful to meet you, Heidi. Are you one of those Southern peaches I’ve heard so much about?” He winked.
It took me a minute to respond to the odd question. “Oh, uh, well, I think you’re referring to a Georgia Peach, which is what, um, people sometimes call girls from that state. But yes, I am a Southerner. I’m from Mississippi. Welcome. How long are you here visiting?”
“I’m sorry to s
ay I’ll be leaving tomorrow. I flew in on Monday, and I have to get back to New York for work. That’s why I’m here checking out Aric’s new job situation today. It’s too bad we won’t get to spend more time together.” The way he was looking at me, I wasn’t sure if the “we” referred to Aric or to me. “Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t you join Aric and me tonight for a drink after work?”
Aric scowled at the back of his father’s head in a murderous way. Seeing clearly what Aric thought of the ill-timed invitation, I declined and wished Mr. Serrano a wonderful remainder of his visit and a safe trip home. Well, talking to Aric today was out. But tomorrow, he wouldn’t have a horny older man around to scare me off.
# # #
I didn’t see Aric at all on Thursday until the news meeting. He slipped in late, earning a hard glare from an unexpected visitor to the newsroom, Mr. Aubrey.
I assumed Janet had decided today was the day to make her announcement, and he was there to offer some sort of support or kind words, or maybe to assure the troops we’d be okay and the search was on for a new fearless leader. Boy, was I wrong.
“It has come to my attention,” Mr. Aubrey croaked, straightening his outdated tie and holding up an age-spotted hand, “that we have a very serious problem here at WPLM.”
A problem? Understaffing, low pay, obsolete and broken equipment. How did he pick just one?
“I have learned… there has been fraternization within my newsroom staff.” He swept his hand boldly over the room as if he was Moses scattering a plague. Some people actually ducked. His tone suggested the crime was something worse than embezzlement or even plagiarism of the local newspaper, which would get any of us fired on the spot.
Mara turned to me wide-eyed, no doubt afraid he’d found out about Aric and me.
Colleen jumped out of her seat. “It wasn’t me. Nothing happened, I swear. I was only helping him,” She pointed an accusatory finger at Aric. “I was getting him out of the public eye, so he’d stop embarrassing the station. He was the one who was drunk. In public.” If the Starkville Community Theater players could have seen Colleen’s dramatic expression of disdain in that moment, they’d have recruited her immediately for their next production. Taming of the Shrew seemed like a good vehicle for her talents.
But even more amazing than her breathtaking betrayal of Aric was the implication of what she’d said. Nothing happened? My heart leapt with a kind of joy I hadn’t felt since the first time Aric told me he loved me. Okay, yes, my joy at that time had been beaten up and thrown into a gutter by panic, but there had been joy. I could admit it now.
Aric shook his head and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest in a way that said Go ahead and fire me, I don’t really care about anything anymore. He did dart his eyes over at me, almost imperceptibly fast. The first time he’d looked at me since arriving.
Well, I wouldn’t let Aric go down alone. If he got busted for fraternizing, I was going to bear the consequences with him.
I started to speak up, but Mr. Aubrey’s loud voice boomed through the room again. “Miss Burdick?” he said, staring at Colleen. “I was not referring to you. You may sit down, young lady. And that skirt is too short. Immediately after this meeting, you will go home and change.”
“Yes sir.” She meekly took her seat and cast a guilty look toward Aric, who ignored her.
Nothing happened! The joy was now doing spontaneous rapid cell division in my chest, in spite of the likelihood my name would be the one he called. Good thing I had a possible new job lined up.
“I was speaking of our illustrious and libertine sports anchor… Dennis here,” Mr. Aubrey continued, “and one of our rookie reporters… Mara Neely. That is your name, isn’t it, young lady?”
It was my turn to stare wide-eyed at her. She gave me a quick shrug and mouthed the word “himbo” at me. In spite of the seriousness of the situation, I had to suppress a giggle. Of course she hadn’t been able to resist an air-brained, good-looking former jock like Dennis. He was like an open bottle of Oxycontin to an addict.
Mara stood to face the charges, and the levity drained right out of the moment. She looked stressed—I guessed the severity of it was just now hitting her.
Dennis stayed seated and wore his usual above-the-law smirk of unconcern. “Sir…” he addressed Mr. Aubrey.
The old man cut him off. “Rules,” he roared. “You knew the rules when you took the job, people. And I will not tolerate my rules being flouted under my nose any longer. Please go clean out your desks. You.” He pointed at Dennis, who literally recoiled in shock. “And you.” He pointed at Mara then hooked his thumb toward the door. They both froze as if not quite believing what was happening.
I certainly couldn’t believe it. This was crazy. Dennis was wildly popular with viewers and had been there for years. Mara was our best reporter. And my best friend. And she was being fired? For something generations of employees here had probably done? For something I myself had done. I had to do something.
I slowly rose from my chair, raising one hand. “And me.”
“What?” Mr. Aubrey’s face was a blend of annoyance and bewilderment as he stared at me.
“I’m… a fraternizer.”
From the corner of my eye I saw Aric stand to join me. “I’m also a fraternizer.” His deep voice filled the room. And my heart.
On my other side, Ce Ce and Brad stood and clasped hands. “We’re fraternizers, too,” she confessed.
Brad grinned at her and nodded. “We sure are.”
I hadn’t even realized they were dating. I couldn’t stop a smile from bursting across my face. I slapped my hand over my mouth to stop from laughing out loud.
Allison jumped up. “I wanted to fraternize, but Doug wasn’t interested, I guess.”
“You did?” Doug’s face was a picture of shock and wonderment.
The atmosphere in Janet’s office was transforming from horrified stillness to a growing sense of hilarity. I heard a few giggles from behind me. There were seven of us standing now, not counting Mr. Aubrey. If we all went and cleared out our desks, he was going to have a hell of a time putting on a newscast tonight.
Behind Mr. Aubrey, Janet rose from her desk chair and said very soberly, “Mr. Aubrey, I must inform you that I, too, am a fraternizer. This may come as a shock to you, but your main male anchor, Dan Patterson, and I have been engaging in sexual relations for the past twenty-five years. As that is so clearly contrary to station policy, I’d like to offer my resignation.”
Now the room did roar with laughter. Not Mr. Aubrey’s laughter, of course, but as with every other crazy thing about this station, the rest of us were all in it together. Would we be fired for it? With Mr. Aubrey’s reputation, who knew? It was a very real possibility he’d kick us all out, padlock the door and let the station go dark.
# # #
Well, he had kicked us out of Janet’s office, but after speaking privately with her for a half hour, he must have decided there were some things that eclipsed the rules. Like a second bout with breast cancer. And advertising dollars.
After Mr. Aubrey left, Janet gave us our assignments, directing Aric and me to work together as we’d done so often. He went very still for a second after she said it, but then nodded and carried on with getting his things together for the shoot.
An electric excitement filled me as we walked to the news car, him a few steps ahead of me and very purposefully not slowing down. Here was my chance at last to explain to Aric what had happened on Friday night. And to apologize. For that night and for all of my hard-shelled resistance of him over the past few months. And to finally admit how I really felt about him. I only hoped he’d listen to me.
“So… we need to talk—” I began once the car was in motion.
Aric held up a palm. His voice was raspy and dark. “Heidi. Let’s not. Okay? Let’s…” He blew out a long breath. “Let’s just work.”
“But—” I tried again.
“No. There’s nothing
you could possibly say about it that I’m in the mood to hear.”
So, obviously I’d have to come up with some creative way to get him to listen to me on the subject of us. In the meantime, I tried to fill the frosty silence in the car with more benign topics.
“How was your visit with your dad?”
He sighed deeply but then deigned to answer. In a monotone. “It was fine. The usual.”
“Oh.” When he didn’t elaborate, I prodded a little. “What did y’all do?”
Aric’s tone was sour and exhausted-sounding. “He slept and watched sports most of the day, then at night he wanted me to take him out to troll for Southern ‘hotties’ at the local bars. It’s his favorite activity on those rare special occasions when we get together. He figured out when I was seventeen that I might finally be useful to him… at least as far as picking up young women.” He wore a black look.
“Useful? You mean… as bait?”
His lips formed a bitter grin. He had yet to look at me, keeping his eyes on the road ahead of us. “Something like that.”
Wow. I suddenly felt a need to apologize for all the complaining I’d done about my own dad. He was controlling, yes, but he’d never tried to use me for his own benefit. It also hit me again that Aric might have some serious abandonment issues from his childhood. And my running off with Hale and “getting engaged” had probably triggered fears in him that he had a hard time dealing with. I’d be lucky if he’d ever listen to me or even agree to work with me again.
He didn’t offer any further information on his visit with Peter, and I didn’t ask any more questions. My mind went back to the problem at hand—how to explain something to someone who wasn’t interested in explanations. Aric hadn’t let my constant “no’s” stop him when we’d first met, and I wasn’t going to let his stop me.
As we pulled up to the location of our shoot, I realized the perfect opportunity was about to present itself. I smiled to myself, which Aric must have noticed from the corner of his eye, because he turned to me with a disgusted sigh.