Rock Radio - By Lisa Wainland Page 0,65

arm. “Heather...I like what we have.”

“So do I.”

“Why can’t things just be the way they are? We’re great like this.” Jonny grasped her hand.

Heather pulled away from him and sat up. “Because I want more.”

He let go. “I don’t.”

“So what? I’m a good lay? Is that it?”

“No...that’s...”

“I’m you’re little whore.” She cut him off and wrapped the sheets around her. Suddenly she was embarrassed by her nakedness.

“I never thought of you that way.” Jonny couldn’t believe how quickly the situation turned. He had to handle this carefully. Not only could Heather tell Jill, she could go to his boss, Ted. He’d be in a lot of trouble. Unless you are the President of the United States, an affair with an intern is cause for dismissal.

Heather was out of the bed, pulling on her pants and shirt with record setting speed. “Think about it Jonny. I’d think you’d miss me if I was gone.” Angry tears ran down her face. Heather had fallen hard for Jonny. She really thought they had something special.

“Heather, you know how I feel about you.”

“Prove it,” she said as she left. “Prove it.”

*

Dana turned off the mic and admired the bouquet of roses on the console, one dozen pale pink roses delivered to the studio from Cody. A wonderful surprise.

She’d gotten back from Tampa to find that Sam had moved out as she had asked. Good riddance, she thought as she walked through each room, making sure there was no trace of him. Her apartment did not seem empty this time, now it was filled with possibilities.

She told Jonny about her weekend in Tampa, leaving out a few key details. He told her he was cautiously happy for her, and while she didn’t need his approval, it felt good to have it.

That was two months ago. Since that weekend, she and Cody had spoken every night. He’d kept his promise calling her from every stop. Each conversation brought them closer as they learned more about each other.

“Hey...Dana, it’s Cody.” His voice was muffled. Behind him, Dana could hear the bar crowd.

“Cody...”

“We’re at the club in Savannah, I thought I might catch you.”

“You caught me.”

“What?” he said. It was hard to hear her above the noisy crowd.

“You caught me,” Dana repeated loudly.

“So how are you?”

“Okay.” She debated whether or not to tell him about the crazy listener, Larry. She decided against it. “And you?”

“I’m fine, but get this...and by the way, this is most definitely not for broadcast.”

“What’s up?”

“Alex’s girlfriend is pregnant.”

“What!”

“I know...it’s a shock.”

“What’s he gonna do?”

“He’s been struggling with that since he found out. I’ll tell you one thing though, he’s known for a while and he’s still freaked. He’s not ready to be a dad.”

“Didn’t he think about that at the time?”

“We all asked him the same thing, but you know how some guys can be. Caught in the moment, they think with the wrong head. Anyway, he’s flippin’ out...he wants to keep going with the band...”

“...and doesn’t want a family,” Dana finished glumly.

“Yeah.”

“It’s a rock star thing. You can’t have it all,” she said absentmindedly.

Cody picked up on her sudden distance. “That’s not me.”

“What’s not you?”

“I’m not ‘that guy.’ I don’t want an outrageous life...I really have more simple ideas of what I want.” Cody thought of the life he never had, the family he always wanted.

Dana pondered that for a moment. He was telling her something. Wasn’t he? She took the risk. “I do, too.”

“Listen...they’re telling me it’s time for us to go on...I have to go. I’ll call you tomorrow...oh, and look for a surprise.”

“Good luck, Cody.”

“Bye.”

Cody hung up the phone, unsure of why he was so drawn to Dana. He hoped he didn’t make a mistake by telling her about Alex. He certainly didn’t want that juicy piece of gossip released, but he trusted her and he wanted someone close who he could talk about it with. Talk about things in his life in general...someone to confide in. Cody missed out on the security of family when he was growing up...he never had close friends because of it...and now he wanted that emotional intimacy more than ever.

Dana fingered the petals of the roses thinking of their conversation. Cody kept his promise and bought a ticket to meet her in Nassau. She could not wait to see him again.

She checked her watch. Ten o’clock. It was finally time to go home. One day gone, one day closer to Cody.

Dana gathered her belongings and closed up her office, found George and took