Holiday Fantasy by Adrianne Byrd

Author:Adrianne Byrd
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kimani Press
Published: 2011-08-22T04:00:00+00:00

Tre turned off the radio, his office lights, and went out the door—just as Summer walked by.

He stood in his doorway and watched her walk down the corridor, that slow seductive sway of her hips like a hypnotic metronome. He wanted to say something, hear what she had to say about the show. Tell her he’d tuned in and wondered how she felt about the angry caller. But he didn’t.

Maybe some other time.

For the next two weeks James called every night. His verbal assaults on her, the show, the callers, and the topics were getting out of control. Leslie tried to screen the calls, but James would disguise his voice, change his name and slip through, identifying himself once he got on the air. It seemed as though he’d developed a personal vendetta against her, and it was totally dismantling her confidence and her concentration.

The worst part came about a week after the calls started, when she was called into Stan’s office.

“See these letters on my desk?” It wasn’t a question.

Summer sat down. She briefly glanced at the stack of assorted letters and unopened envelopes in Stan’s IN box. “Yes.”

“They’re all about you and your caller. Our audience isn’t happy. And when my audience isn’t happy, I’m not happy.”

“I’m doing everything I can,” Summer replied in her doctor-patient-soothing tone, even though her insides were a jumble of frayed nerves.

“Whatever you’re doing is not enough. You were hired on the recommendation of someone I think very highly of. Your background indicated to me that you had experience in handling…these types of problems.” He cleared his throat. “Don’t get me wrong, up until now I’ve had no complaints. You know how I’ve felt about the way you took the show and ran with it. ’Round Midnight has been our number-one draw almost from the beginning.” He began pacing the short expanse of the crowded room. “There’s no other way to put this, Summer.” He stopped his pacing, turned to face her. She had the sudden sensation of being hustled off to radio purgatory, that elusive black hole in the time slot when no one was listening.

“Your ratings are down. And if they keep falling…we may have to think at replacing the show.”

Her heart knocked once, hard, then seemed to rush up to her throat where it stuck, pounding. She took in a slow lungful of air, giving the declaration an opportunity to wind its way through the labyrinth of her mind. This was worse than purgatory, where at least you had the chance to repent for your sins and be reassigned back to the Pearly Gates of primetime. This was most certainly the slow elevator to that other place, down below. Banishment.

Stan took a breath, then reached down on his desk for his pack of Newports. He lit up and blew a cloud of smoke into the air. He held the cigarette almost daintily between his fingers, Summer thought for an abstract moment, thinking the affectation so odd for someone who strutted around like Napoleon incarnate.

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