Rock Radio (13 page)

Jonny got the bagels and returned home.

              “Jilly,” he said sweetly using his pet name for her, “I gotta go to the station this afternoon for a few hours.”

“R
eally?” she said dejectedly.

“Yeah, I won’t be long, I promise.”  He kissed her forehead.

Jonny ate breakfast, did a few chores and left.  He wanted to get there before Heather to avoid anything weird in the parking lot.

He
ather arrived to his office twenty minutes late.  She was wearing a light blue halter-top and white shorts.  Her red hair was wet and pulled back.  She was not happy that she had to come in.  Last night’s shift was a pain in the ass.  Surely, Jonny could do better by her.

“I got here as fast as I could.  I went back to sleep after we got off the phone and kinda overslept.”  She breathed heavily and leaned against the wall.  “Overnights are rough.  I’m still really tired.”

“Yes, they are.  It’s the only way to get started in the business though.” He motioned for her to sit.  “Where’s your tape?’

“Here.”  She handed it to him.  “So let me ask you something.”

He turned in his chair to put her tape in his cassette player.  “Okay.”

“Are you still sleeping with your wife?”

Jonny spun around.  “What kind of question is that?”

“A question I think I have a right to ask since I’m sleeping with you.”

“No, you don’t.  My relationship with my wife is my business.”

“Really, is that what Jill would say?”

“How do you know her name?” he said, his blood running cold.

“I know lots of things.  Things like overnights suck.  Why can’t I work in the daylight?”

“Heather our fling has nothing to do with me putting you on the air.”

“Fling?” she raised her voice.  “You mean relationship.”

“No, I mean fling.”

Heather looked at him with hurt and rage in her eyes.  Jonny suddenly realized Heather was not so stable, he needed to tread carefully.  He changed his approach.  Quickly.

“Heather, come here.”

She walked around to his side of the desk and sat on top of it.  Jonny put his hand on her bare, tan thigh.  She smiled.

“Look you caught me off guard.  Of course it’s a relationship.  I just don’t want my wife to know about us.”

“Yet, you mean.”

“Yeah, yet,” he agreed, happy to have found the calming words to her heart.

“Good, because I don’t like sharing you.”  Heather got down from the desk and straddled Jonny.

“Hey, babe, be careful.  There are some people here working.  We still have to keep our
relationship
under wraps.”

“I’d like to put you under wraps.”  She leaned into him, pushing her young, firm b
reasts against his chest and ran her fingers through his hair.  She kissed his forehead, nose and chin, finally ending up on his mouth for a hot, wet kiss.

Jonny groaned and let his hands wander up her body, beneath her shirt, discovering she wasn’t wearing a bra.

She moaned with pleasure.  “You like that, do you?” he said, pulling her top over her head.

             
“Oh yes,” she whispered, her hands working quickly to unbutton his pants.

             
He pushed her slowly onto the desk and gave into temptation.

Nick Coleman stood outside Jonny’s office catching every moment through a thin crack in the door.

He came to the station to catch up on work...instead he got an eyeful.

“My, my,” he said to himself, walking away with a Cheshire grin.  “My, my.”

The Cody Blue Experience returned to Gainesville to record their first album.  Eric forced them to practice tirelessly to tighten their sound, only having them play gigs in the surrounding area so they could focus on the songs they wanted on the album.

“On the road, you have the crowd and bar acoustics.  The studio’s not so forgiving.  Plus they charge me by the hour so we don’t have time to rework anything.  You have to devote yourselves to sounding nothing short of perfect.”

It was a lot of work practicing day in, day out.  The boys were tired.  When Eric heard them a few months later, he finally was happy.

“Now you sound polished.  Now we can go make an album.”

The studio was no reprieve.  The band was on a tight budget.  Every hour in the studio was money spent, so Eric pushed them to finish the CD as quickly as possible.  He wanted it done in four days.  That meant more endless nights and lots of coffee.

Since losing Laura, Cody threw himself even more into the band, writing new songs inspired by his own mistake and heartbreak.

The band was earning some money, not a lot, but enough for Cody to send some to his mother, after he covered his expenses, so she could have some extra cash.  She was grateful.  It helped ease her burden of disappointment over his decision to leave school.  It also helped to allay his guilt.

Cody hadn’t seen his mom in months.  Even though they were close in proximity, he never really had the time or the desire.  His time out of Pinetree, free from the curse of his father, made Cody realize that the abuse he suffered as a child was partly his mother’s fault.  He couldn’t reconcile in his mind why she put up with his dad’s abuse.  Why she let his dad beat him up so violently.  He always thought of her as the victim, but she could have left.  She could have packed them up and slipped out into the night.  He had no such choice.

No, Cody had no desire to go back to the small town that held such big pain.

The recording process, while grueling, was very rewarding.  The band heard the playback tape and couldn’t believe how good they sounded.  The next step was a photo shoot for the album cover.  They carefully dressed in their “we-don’t-really-care-how-we-look” way and posed with vacant expressions on their faces.  Apparently, musicians weren’t supposed to show emotion.  The proofs came back two days later.

Alex, Harper, Bobby and Cody looked like rock stars.

Eric approached them with the pictures for the cover.  They picked a black and white shot of the band in an alleyway.  They all looked off in the distance.  Cody was in the middle of the group, the center focus of the picture.  His rugged good looks shone through.

“It’ll help sell albums,” Eric said.

Alex gritted his teeth.

Eric continued, explaining the layout of the cover.  Beneath the band it would say The
Cody Blue Experience, but they’d also start calling themselves CBE in press releases.  It was catchy, Eric told them.  He’d done right by them so far, so they trusted him.

Two weeks later the CDs were done and ready to go out.  Eric did a mass mailing to radio stations in Florida.  He felt the fact that they were a local band would help get them on the air faster.  Once they had some big stations playing the song, Eric could easily shop it around elsewhere.

The CD release would be accompanied by a statewide tour.

Eric assured them they were now ready to hit Miami and hit it big.

The next few weeks were hard for Dana.  It was getting close to the annual
WORR beginning of the year kick-off party.  Last year she went with Sam and had an awesome time.  She didn’t want to go this year, but she knew she had to.  Attendance at the event was more of a requirement than a choice.

This year the party would be especially bad because it was taking place on a boat.  She’d be trapped for four hours with no way off.

Welcome to schmoozing hell.

Jonny already promised she could hang out with Jill and him.  She was grateful for the offer, but she still didn’t want
to be there.

Dana found herself spending more and more time with Jonny.  He was like the older brother she never had...he had become family.

Her office phone rang.  She looked at the caller ID, it was Jonny.

“Hey...I was just thinking of you,” she said picking up the phone.

“That’s nice to hear.  Do you have a minute?”

“Yes, in fact, I do.”

“Can you come into my office?”

“Sure.”

Two seconds later she was at his door.

“What took you so long?”  Jonny tapped his watch.

“I got lost on the way.  What’s up?”  Dana plopped down in the red beanbag chair in the corner of his office.

“Oh, make yourself comfortable first.”

“Thanks, I will.”  She crossed her legs Indian style.  “Now cut with the pleasantries, what’s the emergency?”

“Listen to this.”  Jonny hit play on his CD player.  A strong raw voice came through the speakers. 
“All you were is all I was...”

“They’re good,” Dana said, leaning forward.  “Who are they?”

“The Cody Blue Experience.”  Jonny threw the CD jewel case to Dana, who caught it with one hand.  “Good catch.”

Dana studied the cover.  “Wow, cute.”

“Now Dana, is that all you care about?” Jonny teased.

Dana stuck her tongue out at him.  “They sound awesome, but you know that already.  I can comment, professionally of course, on the appearance and presentation of the band.”

“They’re from Gainesville.”

“Really?  They’re local?”

“I know I was surprised, too.  The notes say they’ve been together for years.”

“So why haven’t we ever head of them?”

“Wish I knew, but I’ll tell you this.  I want to add them to the playlist.”

“Really,” Dana said surprised.  “You must be impressed.  You don’t want to try them out in the local show first...gauge the response?”  The local show was from eleven to midnight on Sundays, a low listened to, low risk hour ripe for trying new artists.

“C’mon we’re a cutting edge rock station...”

Dana rolled her eyes.  “In theory.  You know the songs are just here to fill time between commercials.”

“Right, but maybe I can start a grass roots effort...put the music first in radio.”  Dana’s jaw dropped in mock horror.  He held his hands up.  “I know, I know, radical stuff.”

She laughed.  “Well, the song is definitely gonna be a hit, why not be the one to break it first?”

“Exactly how I feel...and that’s why I want you to come with me to convince Ted.  I’m going for the two against one approach.”

“I knew you had an ulterior motive for letting me look at cute guys.”

“So are you in?” Jonny said, pushing back from the desk.

“Why not,” Dana agreed grasping Jonny’s outstretched hand to get up.  “Let’s go now before I lose my nerve.”

Ted didn’t need much convincing.

“It’s a hit,” he said after listening to the song.

Jonny preened.  “That’s why I want to put it in regular rotation.”

“I agree with tha...” Dana said.

“Do it, Jonny,” Ted said, talking over Dana, not even acknowledging her presence in the room.

Jonny and Dana left, victorious.

“That was easy,” he said, patting Dana on the back.  “Good work, partner.”

“Why am I invisible?” Dana asked.

Jonny looked over each shoulder.  “Did someone just say something...?”

Dana playfully hit Jonny’s arm.  “It’s not funny.”

“I saw it and I don’t get it either.  Ted’s a jerk, we know that.  But, thanks for coming with me anyway.”

“Yeah, I was such a
big
help.”

“You were.”  Jonny put his arm around Dana.  “So, on another note, did you decide if you’re going to the party tomorrow night?”

“I have a choice?”  She shrugged her shoulders.

“Okay, so Jill and I’ll pick you up.”

“Can’t wait.”

*
                                                       

That afternoon Dana Drew had the privilege of debuting
All You Were
during her show.  The response was intense.  Midway through the song the phones started lighting up.

“Who are they?”

“What’s the name of that song?”

Even Dana was overwhelmed at the positive reception.  Jonny poked his head in the studio.

“So?” he asked.

“Jonny the people love it...the phones are ringing off the hook.”

“Wanna hear more good fortune?”

“Okay.”

“They’re playing tomorrow night at Luna on South Beach.

“Really.”  Dana’s eyes lit up.

“Yes, really.”

“Why didn’t we know about this sooner?  I could’ve interviewed them today on the air to promo the show?”

“Calm down, I just got the press release.  See the time and date.”  Jonny pointed to the top of the fax.  “They’re on a small time label.  Their manager guy probably didn’t think about all that stuff.”

“Too bad.”

“Yes, Dana, too bad for
them
.”