Rock Radio - By Lisa Wainland Page 0,72

lost in thought. Jill was the love of his life, but something in him was never satisfied. Now that he was losing her he realized he wanted her more than ever. He was so angry with himself for giving into the temptations of Heather. With Jill, his life had structure and meaning. Jill was the type Dana was looking so hard to find and he threw her away.

He rushed through the station to find Dana. Thankfully she was in her office.

“Dana.”

“Hi Jonny, what’s up?” she asked cheerily.

“Jill threw me out.”

“What! Why?”

Jonny entered her office and closed the door. “I blew it.”

“Oh, Jonny,” Dana peered shamefully at him. “It was true wasn’t it? You and Heather?”

He nodded slowly.

Dana looked at her friend differently. “Why? Why would you do something like that?” It was more an admonition than a question.

“I...I don’t know,” he lied, not wanting to admit his own twisted dissatisfaction with his wife’s body, not wanting to reveal his inane shallowness.

Dana was incredibly disappointed in him. “How is Jill?”

“She’s a mess.”

“So now what?”

“Well, I sorta need a place to stay...”

Dana started shaking her head, “Oh no Jonny, don’t you drag me into this. Jill’s my friend, too.”

“Yeah, but I was your friend first.”

“Don’t play that game with me. You’re the one wearing the black hat here.”

“I know that...please, Dana, I have no other place to go.”

“What about Heather?” Her tone cut through him. “Why not stay with her?”

“I’m not involved with her like that.”

Dana raised her eyebrows.

“I mean...it’s not what you think, it didn’t mean anything.”

“That makes what you did even more stupid.” Dana crossed her arms, so upset that her friend was the epitome of everything she feared in a man. “Why would you hurt your wife and betray her with someone you don’t even care about?”

“I have no answer for you,” his voice trailed. He took a deep breath, “Dana, I’m begging you...can I please stay at your place? I won’t get in the way, I swear. I’ll cook for you, clean, whatever you need. Please. I’m calling in a huge favor here, please.”

Dana eyed him with disdain. “I have no idea why I’m doing this...fine, you can stay.”

“Oh, thank you,” he said, throwing his arms around her.

She shook him off. “Don’t thank me. I feel guilty enough as it is.”

“Okay, I get it. So I guess I’ll just hang out here with you till your shift is over, then we can go home?”

“My home. To my home. This is not permanent and I really think you should look into other arrangements.”

“I will. Thanks again.”

“Don’t mention it...really, don’t mention it.”

Chapter 50

It was time for Larry to outline his plan and to do that, he needed space.

He cleared off his kitchen table and took out a stack of crisp white paper, a brand new fine tip black marker and a ruler. Larry had examined his two-story townhouse very carefully, devising a solution to his lovesick heart. He recalled hanging a painting in his dining area three years ago. The nail he had pounded a bit too hard broke through the wall revealing a small crawl space beneath the stairs. Larry sealed the wall and painted it. No one could ever tell that there was an imperfection. It was the painting, a scene of a lone man by the river that inspired Larry.

He measured the wall, visually determining how the stairs ascended upwards. On the paper he drew the diagonal wall, indicating the staircase railing with two lines. He measured three feet down from the railing and marked the spot. It was three feet up from the floor as well. Larry diligently began to sketch the outline for his project.

A secret room beneath the stairs.

Nimbly his hands moved across the paper, transcribing the idea in his head. When it was complete, he took out another sheet of paper and began retracing his drawing with the ruler, creating his project to scale.

Larry eyed his drawing. It was perfect.

He got in his beat up car and drove to the local home hardware store. The day was sunny and clear. It was as if God was giving him his blessing with easy weather for driving. He entered the store, fortunately it wasn’t that busy. He was greeted by a man whose badge identified him as Trevor.

“Can I help you, sir?”

Sir.

“Yes,” Larry said, taking out his crude blueprint, “I need wood to build a storage space under my stairs.”

Trevor looked at his plans. “You going through cinderblock?”

“I think so.”

“You got a drill?”

“Yes.”

“Good, you’ll want