Rock Radio - By Lisa Wainland Page 0,20

this guy has a lot of money to burn. He could go elsewhere, but he likes Jay Jay. He thinks people will listen to him.”

“They will,” Jonny agreed.

“I know, it baffles me, too, Jay Jay’s reluctance,” Carlos implied Jonny’s unspoken disbelief, making them partners on the issue. Yes, Carlos was good.

“Carlos, Jay Jay is firm on this.”

“Jonny we could go back and forth on this, but the fact remains, if I take this to Bill, he’s going to side with me.” Bill was Bill Fox, the radio station’s General Manager.

“I realize that may be true; however, Jay Jay is allowed to have standards.” It was hard for Jonny to say that with a straight face.

Carlos laughed. “Please Jonny, he was talking about drinking breast milk this morning. You can only take this standards argument so far.” Carlos folded his hands in front of him. “Here are the facts. Jay Jay will get paid for every live spot he does. Maybe you can remind Mr. Jay Jay he has to talk to fill the time anyway, these extra words he gets paid for. So, do not say we are not thinking of his best interest.”

Jonny nodded.

“Now, the client is planning on doing five live spots a morning. That’s a lot of extra cash for doing what you’re already getting paid for. Right now, the client is talking about a two month run with live appearances by Jay Jay and the gang. Now, true, they may not do five spots a day for more than a few weeks before they scale it down, but you do the math. We’re talking thousands of extra dollars for Mr. Jay Jay. So why don’t you take this information to him and see if he does not realize he loves flashlights, too.” He tapped his calculator. “And don’t forget to mention the extras.”

Jonny couldn’t say much. “Okay, Carlos, I’ll talk to him.”

“Thank you Jonny, you’re a smart man.”

Chapter 10

Cody fell into his role as singer songwriter for Red Lawn with ease. He moved into the house and for the first time in his life felt like he was part of a family. Alex, Harper and Bobby shared their wealth of songs without lyrics with Cody. Cody loved matching his words to music and, unlike running track, this came easy. Cody pulled out his journal and drew on his own personal experiences to write lyrics. His words were emotional and deep, multi-dimensional feelings that were extremely relatable. Alex, Harper and Bobby couldn’t believe their luck. Cody was a godsend for the band. They realized that now there was potential for something to happen. They needed to get serious about practice. Their neighbors however did not agree. So in the interest of keeping the police away, the band rented out a storage unit to practice in. It was a great set up. No one cared about the noise and they could leave their instruments in the locked air-conditioned space.

“Hello! Hello! Everyone! Are you guys here!” Harper ran yelling through the house.

“What’s up?” Alex and Cody appeared in the kitchen.

“Where’s Bobby?”

Alex took a bite of an apple. “Probably sleeping. What’s going on?”

“Let me get him.” Harper ran into Bobby’s room and shook him awake. “Dude get up.”

Bobby got out of bed and joined the guys in the kitchen.

“All right, spill it,” Cody said.

“I got us a gig.”

“What!” they all screamed. “Are you kidding? Where?”

“We’re playing Saturday night at Chloe’s Backroom.”

“How?” Alex asked incredulously.

“I took a tape from our last session to the owner today. He booked us to play Saturday...at one a.m., but we’re on the bill.”

Chloe’s Backroom was the hottest club in their college town. This was huge.

“We gotta practice,” Cody said, suddenly aware of the time pressure.

“Let’s go.”

Red Lawn rushed to their storage space and began practice. Cody grabbed the microphone and sang his heart out. He closed his eyes and let the emotion flow. Behind him the band played.

“Hey! Hey!” The music stopped. The voice belonged to a female. Cody squinted up. He first saw her shadow on the ground. His eyes followed the silhouette up to meet the gaze of a beautiful girl. Ash blonde hair, hazel eyes and a slight frame.

“Can I help you?” Cody said, hoping his nervousness didn’t show.

“Hey, I’m Laura.” She extended her hand.

“I’m Cody.” He met her grasp with his hand. Her skin was soft.

“Ahem.” Alex cleared his throat.

“Oh, this is Alex, Harper and Bobby.” He motioned behind him.

“Nice to meet you. I just transferred here. My apartment’s not ready