YOUR FAVORITE time of year, people.” Carl addressed the mandatory staff meeting early one August morning. While the new intern, Davie, operated the control booth, everyone else gathered in Carl’s office for what Nick referred to as “the annual ass-chewing.”
“I thought the big office party wasn’t until Christmas,” Nick said as he lounged on Carl’s sofa, his bum leg propped in front of him. He’d recently graduated from wheelchair to crutches which, he claimed on his show, made it easy to pick up women who felt sorry for him.
Carl ignored the dig and continued. “As you know, September begins the new fiscal year for the station, so we have to close out the old year. That means it’s time to take inventory.”
Groans greeted this announcement. For one long weekend every August, the station switched to a music-only format while every available person took shifts counting and cataloging the thousands of CDs in the station’s collection. Duplicates and out-of-date material were donated to charity or used as prizes in future station giveaways.
It was boring, repetitive work that everyone did their best to get out of. “Ohhh, I feel a relapse coming on.” Nick grabbed at his leg. “I don’t think I’ll be able to come in, boss.”
“Nice try, but it won’t work. I’m putting you with Davie, Bonnie will work with Audra. Jerry and Charlie will take a shift, and Erica and Adam can pull the evening shift.” He looked up from his list. “Any questions?”
Erica stuck her hand up. “I have one, but it’s not about inventory.”
Adam gave her a questioning look. “What is it?” Carl asked.
“Your policy about on-air personalities dating each other. How open would you be to changing it?”
Carl’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you want to know?”
She looked around the room, confident smile in place. “That new guy, Davie, is kind of cute. I was thinking of asking him out.”
“Forget it. There’s a reason for that rule. If you don’t know what it is, you should ask your partner, Adam.”
Adam slid lower in his chair. Erica spoke again, unfazed. “I don’t think everyone should be punished just because a couple of people made a mistake.”
“Well, I’m the manager here, and I do think so.” He set his notebook on the edge of his desk. “Anything else we need to address?”
No one said anything. Carl clapped his hands together. “All right then. Inventory starts Friday.”
They rose to leave. Carl put a hand on Adam’s shoulder. “You stay a minute. I want to talk to you.”
Adam suppressed a groan. Talks with Carl almost never ended on a positive note.
While the others filed out, Bonnie stayed behind. “I need to talk to you,” she said to Carl.
“What about?”
She glanced at Adam. “I have some pictures to show you I think you’ll find very interesting.”
“Did Playboy ask you to pose again?” He shook his head. “Believe me, Bonnie, I’m not interested.”
Color flooded her cheeks. It took Adam a second to realize Bonnie was actually blushing. “These aren’t pictures of me,” she said.
“I don’t have time for this now.” Carl put a hand on her shoulder and steered her toward the door. “Maybe later. Right now I’m busy.” He pushed her out the door and shut it behind her.
“What was that all about, I wonder?” Adam asked.
“With Bonnie, who knows? She’s always bitching about something. Last week it was the fact that she’s mentioned last on the Web site. The week before it was her picture on our new billboards.” He sank into the chair behind his desk. “The woman is a pain in the ass. If she weren’t so popular with listeners, she’d have been out of here a long time ago.”
“Maybe she feels like she has to push to get any recognition.” Adam never thought he’d defend Bonnie, but Carl did come down hard on her sometimes, and despite her questionable personal behavior, she was good at her job, and popular with listeners.
“I didn’t keep you here to talk about Bonnie.”
“Then what is it?”
“What’s up with Erica? Why is she asking about that dating rule?”
He shrugged. “You heard her. She wants to go out with Davie.”
Carl studied him a moment. “That’s strange. I would have thought she had the hots for you.”
Adam shifted in his chair, somehow managing to keep a straight face. “Why would you think that?”
“The way you two flirt on air—you sound pretty into it sometimes.”
“Guess we’re both good actors.”
“So you have no personal interest in each other?”
“We’re friends.” True enough, though what he felt for Erica