Rock Radio - By Lisa Wainland Page 0,98

wiggly. Dana jerked her body with all her might. Larry lost control and dropped Dana. She fell fast and hard, her head hitting the folding chair beneath her.

Suddenly there was silence and blood. Lots of blood.

“Dana...Dana...” Larry said at her side as he watched a river of blood run down the chair and onto his spotless beige carpet.

He leaned over her and put his head on her chest.

He could hear her heart, but just barely.

The blood poured out of her body.

Larry saw her life slipping away.

What was he supposed to do now?

Chapter 68

Jonny woke up with a huge hangover. An empty bottle of rum lay next to him. Butterscotch coated popcorn was scattered on the couch and floor. Groggily, he rubbed his eyes and checked the clock.

It was ten a.m.

Shit. His meeting was at eleven. He needed to get to the station and fast. He pulled himself from the couch, his body heavy from the night before, and jumped in the shower. In a minute he was out, drying off and slipping on dress pants and a button down shirt. He needed to look nice and respectable. He walked by Dana’s room. In his drunkenness, he never heard her come home. Her door was open, bed neatly made. Had she gone to the station already? She’s working too hard, he thought, making a mental note to tell her to take it easy when he saw her.

Jonny drove over to the station arriving at ten forty-five. It was good that he was early. It would show Ted how serious he was.

Jonny weaved through the sales cubicles and up to the second floor. He stopped by Dana’s office to fill her in and see how her weekend went, but her door was locked, lights out. That’s weird, he thought, unless Dana didn’t come home last night. He smiled at the thought of Dana taking an extra day to spend with Cody. And here he was thinking of telling her to stop working so hard. Obviously, she had.

He retreated to his office and took in his surroundings. Gold albums of bands they played hung on the walls. On his desk stood the complete collection of the Super Friends action figure series. They were lined up across the top in different poses. In what other line of work would this be acceptable? he thought, realizing his days in radio were probably numbered. Next to the figures was a picture of Jill and himself taken last year over the holidays. They looked so happy. She looked so pretty.

And now everything had changed.

The magnitude of what was happening at this very moment scared him. Everything he had was slipping through his fingers.

“Stop acting like the victim!” he could hear Dana say. “You brought this on yourself!”

And she’d be right. He wrecked his marriage and his career in one single swoop. An affair with Heather, some loose girl who wanted to be a radio star. She used him and he let himself be used, deluding himself with the idea that she was attracted to him and not what he could do for her. When would he learn? Jonny Rock was Jonathan Roeker and would always be Jonathan Roeker. Awkward, insecure and alone.

He put his head in his hands and sighed. Waiting for Ted’s phone call was torture. Pure torture.

With that the phone rang. Jonny’s heart skipped two beats. “Hello,” he answered, sweat beading on his forehead.

“Hey Jonny, it’s Sharon.”

“Oh, hey,” he said, angry with her for calling and freaking him out that way. “What is it?”

“I was just getting things together for the promotion you have this weekend.”

If I’m still working here, Jonny thought. “Yeah. It’s the surf shop thing, right?”

“Yep, that’s the one. Nick’s been on me to confirm that you’re locked in for this one.”

“That’s Nick.”

“Cool. I’ll tell him it’s a go. By the way, did Dana tell you about the great time we had this weekend?”

“I didn’t see Dana. I don’t think she came home last night...I figured she decided to stay an extra night...”

“No,” Sharon responded, confused, “I flew home with Dana. Cody was going back home, of that I’m certain. He told us all that at our good-bye lunch. In fact, he sent a limo for Dana when we got back to the airport.”

“Oh. That’s weird,” he said distractedly.

“Yeah...did you try her cell?”

“Uh, no, good thought, I’ll do that.”

“Let me know what happens...I’ll feel better knowing Dana’s okay.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Jonny hung up the phone confused. He pulled out his phone list and