Authors: Eileen Cook
“Good to see you. I imagine you’re glad to get your show back.”
“Did you come down when you heard?”
“Heard what?”
“The show,” he said in an exasperated voice. I could see various heads poking up over cubicle walls like prairie dogs.
“I haven’t been listening to the show.”
“It’s on now. You have to listen.” Kevin grabbed my forearm and started to pull me back toward his cube.
“I don’t have a lot time right now. I need to talk to Wayne.”
“No, you have to hear this.” Kevin leaned over and turned up the volume on his computer. It was playing what was going out over the air live. Colin was taking calls.
“
I love you two. You have to find a way to get her back,”
a woman’s voice said.
“We all love her. Just keep those calls coming in. Tell us what you love about Erin and let the station management know you aren’t going to take this lying down. You folks don’t want He Said, He Said Some More. What kind of show is that? Is that the kind of show you want? You’re the listeners, you tell us!” Colin said.
Kevin turned the volume back down.
“Colin has hijacked the station!”
“What are you talking about?”
“He, Avita, and some girl have locked themselves in the sound room. They went public with the fact that you had been let go and that the whole thing was a political maneuver. Calls are flooding in. They can’t keep up with the volume. Management is running around trying to decide what the heck to do. Advertisers are calling and threatening the sales department. Management is terrified that if they cut the feed then the station goes off the air and listeners will be even more ticked.”
“Holy shit.”
“Holy shit is right. The syndication group called. They made it perfectly clear that they were prepared to offer a syndication deal, but that the deal was based on the show having the He Said, She Said format. Wayne has been trying to get you on the phone all day.”
“I turned my phone off.” I felt a bit faint. Kevin was flushed. I stepped past him and hobbled as fast as I could down the hall. There were a crowd of people around the sound studios, but they parted as I came toward them. I peered through the narrow window slot in the door. I could see Colin with his headset on ranting into the microphone. Avita was running the sound board, her face intent and serious. Diana was also there. She looked like she was having a great time. I gave the door a pound, but no one looked over.
“They’ve locked it and aren’t answering,” Wayne said.
I spun around to face him.
“I’ve been trying to call you,” Wayne said.
“So I hear. I didn’t know about all this until now.”
“Why did you come down here then?”
“I came down to ask for my job back. I’m done being screwed by Jonathon.”
Wayne winced at my word choice.
“If I deserved to lose this job, that’s one thing, but I didn’t deserve what happened. I took it at the time because I thought I deserved to be punished, but I realize now, not like this. I’ll apologize to his wife and I’ll only have regrets, but I’m not going to let him drive me away from what I want to do. You know the situation didn’t play out the way Jonathon stated it. Firing me was the wrong thing to do, and I’ve got proof.”
“You don’t need proof of anything. You’ve got your job if you want it.”
I briefly considered playing hard to get, but I was tired of playing games.
“You have to hold Jonathon accountable. He can’t get away with this anymore.”
“Fair enough.”
“And I want an office. With a door.”
“No problem.” There was a sheen of sweat on his forehead.
“I’ll take the job.”
Wayne’s face telecast his relief.
“Can someone call Bonnie and Clyde in the sound room and tell them they’ve won? Get them to open the door!” He looked over at me. “You ready?”
“Ready?”
“You’re supposed to be on the air, Ms. Callighan. This is your show.”
I paused, yanking my sleeves down attempting to pull myself together.
Someone must have called the sound room because suddenly Colin’s face was pressed against the glass, his smile spread wide. The door flung open and he swept me up. “You’re partially right. It’s at least half mine,” Colin said. Again with the picking up. Some people never learn.
“Put me down.”
Avita was still working the board; she must have taken the show to a commercial break.
“Isn’t this the best ever?” Diana squealed. “We’ve been sticking it to the man!”
Colin plunked me down in my chair and tossed me my headphones. Avita looked up from her work and smiled. I shot back a smile and slid the headphones on. A perfect fit.
“What you did? It was a good thing,” I said to Colin.
“I know,” he said. I rolled my eyes and then Colin leaned over and pulled my head to his, his hands wound in my hair. He kissed me softly. In the far distance Diana gave a wolf whistle. Colin let go with a small push and my chair rolled slightly backward. I could feel that my lipstick was smudged, the headphones off-kilter, and my hair standing on end. Avita yelled out that we were live.
“I don’t want to alarm you folks, but our kind gesture seems to have left Miss Callighan at a loss for words. Now generally you know how I like that, but it’s been too quiet lately. We all want to hear from her. The power of the people have won out, so let’s hear it for the return of He Said, She Said. That is, if you’ve got anything to say.”
“Colin, I’ve always got something to say.”
“I’m counting on that.”
Colin reached under the desk and took my hand, giving it a squeeze. He was off and running. Avita looked over and gave me a thumbs-up. Outside the studio I could see my coworkers clapping. In the window I could see a faint reflection of all of us. Colin was in motion, Avita hard at work, and Diana bouncing in her seat with the excitement of it all. The headphones were still perched oddly on my head, a bit like a crown.
There comes a time in a woman’s life when she must admit that the quest for Prince Charming is not going as expected. At that time she has several ways she can respond.
The wise woman realizes that a woman doesn’t need a prince to make her a princess. She had it in her all along.
###
Eileen Cook is a multi-published author with her novels appearing in six different languages. She spent most of her teen years wishing she were someone else or somewhere else, which is great training for a writer.
You can read more about Eileen, her books, and the things that strike her as funny at
www.eileencook.com
.
Eileen lives in Vancouver with her husband and two dogs and no longer wishes to be anyone or anywhere else.
Unpredictable
What Would Emma Do
Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood
The Education of Hailey Kendrick
Unraveling Isobel
The Fourth Grade Fairy series