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2021-08-22 06:13:14This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, except as noted below, and actual events is entirely coincidental. Some real people, such as radio personalities appear as actual persons in the book by their oral or written permission. Others appear as characters and events in the book to give a sense of historical accuracy; however specific incidents are entirely fictitious and should not be considered real or factual.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.
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Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter One
Another long block of music coming up after news, weather, and sports. Now, here’s Debby Basso with the latest traffic update.” Jenny Reed, star of Reed-ing In The Morning removed her headset, threw them at Debby, and left the studio on a mission. Debby didn’t have time to ask her friend and co-worker what had gotten her so upset, but figured it probably had something to do with Brian Allen. Whenever Jenny was upset lately, the cause was usually the owner and general manager of KKTM. Debby put on the headset and got the cue from Wes Woods in the engineering booth to introduce the traffic reporter who was patrolling over the congested freeways of downtown Los Angeles. “...and there’s a big rig overturned on the 405, both northbound and southbound lanes are at a standstill, so if you’re heading that way, you might want to take Sepulveda, although that isn’t much better. On the 101....” Same shit, different day, Debby thought as she liste
Last Updated : 2021-08-14Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Two
There was no doubt in Jenny’s mind that Brian and she were through. Jenny could use the recent re-scheduling events as a convenient excuse to end the relationship, but the truth was, she was tired of Brian. Their love making, which had in the beginning been so explosive, had become more like a deflated balloon. It didn’t help matters any that Brian himself had begun to resemble the said balloon where it mattered most. Jenny wasn’t quite sure when she first noticed the change. It might have been just after his fortieth birthday. Soon after that milestone, Brian had begun losing his erection in the middle of sex. At first, Jenny thought it was the pressure of the business or the stress of his birthday, but whatever the reason, after six months of frustration, she had enough. Actually, she hadn’t had any, which was why she had decided to end it. Unfortunately, Brian Allen was the owner of the station and her boss, and unless she handled it very carefully, she migh
Last Updated : 2021-08-22Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Three
When Jenny entered the studio control room, she looked around at what had become her home. She sat down in front of the large control board and ran her fingers over the knobs. Fifty thousand watts of clear channel power were in her hands. She could feel the energy surging through her skin. When she was in command nothing could touch her. Surrounded by thick, padded walls, Jenny could shut herself off from the rest of the world. With the right combination of dials and switches, she could control what millions of people heard. It was a natural high, a fifty thousand watt orgasm, and for four hours every day it had been hers. Until today, when someone by the name of Johnny Kingshit was about to take it away from her, courtesy of that pencil-penis Brian Allen.Well, she’d show him! She’d be the perfect professional. Just do her job, business as usual, and wait for the mail to do the rest. Even if Brian had let her down, she knew her fans wouldn’t. As soon as the
Last Updated : 2021-08-22Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Four
Gayle McGee was sitting at her desk in the outer office when the first calls started to come in. She had worked at KKTM since graduating high school, starting out as a file clerk, and then moving on to assistant manager. After seven years of learning the ropes, she had successfully climbed the ladder to her current position of Program Director. She had seen and heard her share of announcers, so another new voice wasn’t of much interest.Until now.“I’m with Jenny Reed for the last half hour of her show so we can get to know each other,” Johnny said into the microphone, “and tomorrow morning you and she will have someone wonderful to wake up with at six a.m.” He flashed a nasty grin at Jenny knowing full well the intent of what he had just told over ten thousand listeners. Jenny didn’t give him the satisfaction of acknowledging his comment, but in her mind she was mentally strangling him with the headset cord.The minute
Last Updated : 2021-08-22Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Five
Jenny tried hard not to stare at the man whose voice was making her ears tingle. She didn’t want to believe that the deep, soft, and sexy sounds were emanating from the same mouth who had callously called her bitch only minutes before. If she’d learned anything at all from her years in the radio business, she knew that when people changed their name, they also changed their personality. Jenny Reed was a person Doris had invented. The life that Jenny was leading, Doris never could. She wondered whether it was the same for Johnny King. Or maybe he was trying to hide something, like the fact that he was related to the boss’s wife.Their abbreviated shift went by quickly.“How am I doing?” Johnny gave her a sheepish smile as if to say he already knew the answer.“Not bad for your first half-hour. But hosting full shift during drive time will be is a totally different test. We’ll see how well you do tomorrow morning.
Last Updated : 2021-08-22Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Six
Brian Allen was a frightened man. Although he was alone in his car, he carried with him the Ghost of Disaster Yet-To-Come. After his confrontation with Jenny earlier, he decided it might be better for his health if he were a safe distance from the radio station when the fireworks exploded on Johnny and Jenny’s first shift together. As turbulent as his life was at home, it was still a lot safer for him than work, especially after he’d complied with his wife’s request to hire her brother. He hoped Denise would be in a much better mood than she had been when he’d come home from Jenny’s apartment.“Women!” He said aloud to his imaginary Disaster Ghost. “The only way to make them happy is to give them everything they want. Which doesn’t leave a hell of a lot left over for the rest of us.”As usual, Brian’s car radio was tuned to KKTM. At first he only half listened to the station expecting to hear Johnny anno
Last Updated : 2021-08-22Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Seven
The private jet carrying the new owner of KKTM was about to land at LAX. Anthony Victor D’Amico put out his cigarette and fastened his seatbelt as the indicator lights signaled him to do.He placed the confining strap around his waist, and then gave it an extra tug to make up for the slack. At forty-three, he didn’t look a day older than thirty-five. Tony gave full credit to his Italian genes for his perpetual tan, even though he hardly spent any time in the sun. His thick black hair didn’t have a strand of gray, and thanks to his daily workout routine, his body was still as trim and firm as it had been in high school.Tony D’Amico was the type of man who knew he had the looks, but he also had the brains and knew how to best take advantage of those looks. He had spent his thirties teaching business economics for a local University where he met Beverly Stone who was working on her MBA.Tony and Beverly became good friends. He had asked her
Last Updated : 2021-08-22Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Eight
“This is Jenny Reed, turning the microphone over to Marlene Burkowitz. Remember to listen tomorrow morning when Johnny King, the newest voice here at KKTM-98.1, turns on L.A. from six ‘til ten a.m.”Brian had added that last part to all the DJ’s signoff in order to promote Johnny’s arrival. It was one thing to have to be forced to share her show with him, Jenny thought, but to be forced to advertise the fact was cruel and unusual punishment.Jenny’s professionalism overcame her emotional disgust, as it usually did at times like these, and although she was choking on the words, it sounded as if she was delighted with the new addition to her show. She didn’t have a chance to find out more about the skeletons in the Allen closet, since Marvin had to deal with an electronic emergency during her shift, and Bill North had taken over the engineering duties.“You read that as if you really meant it,” Bill said into J
Last Updated : 2021-08-22
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Red Wine for Breakfast Author's Notes
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, except as noted below, and actual events is entirely coincidental. Some real people, such as radio personalities appear as actual persons in the book by their oral or written permission. Others appear as characters and events in the book to give a sense of historical accuracy; however specific incidents are entirely fictitious and should not be considered real or factual. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.
Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Forty-Eight
The station was quiet when Jenny arrived at five-thirty. Johnny was still asleep when she left and she didn’t see any reason to wake him since their shift didn’t begin for another three hours.The studio felt a bit strange to Jenny after being away for an entire week. With all that transpired, and her decision to leave, KKTM didn’t feel like home to her anymore.She went into her office and mentally figured out how many boxes she would need to pack the few things that belonged to her. She went through her desk and started throwing away papers she had collected over the years. She was reading though some of them and didn’t see Brian standing in the doorway.“Spring cleaning?” He asked. “Must be that time of the month or maybe something else. You’re not pregnant, are you?”“Dammit, Brian. Why is it that whenever a woman does something a little out of character men all assume she’s either got
Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Forty-Seven
Temple Adat Elohim was located in a small section of Sherman Oaks, not far from Jenny’s apartment. Johnny met her at the front of her building and they arrived about fifteen minutes before the ceremony started.“Isn’t this beautiful.” Jenny said. “Here, you need to wear one of these.”“A yamaka?.”“You know what it is?” Jenny was surprised.“All the guys I worked with in Canada were Jewish. Didn’t I tell you? I was invited to weddings and even attended a bris. I went to so many Bar Mitzvahs and Bat Mitzvahs, everyone thought I was Jewish because I knew the words to the prayers and the songs. I was actually thinking about converting, but when I moved back to the States, I never found the right Temple.“I never knew that.”“My engineer’s birthday was in December, so every year we’d combine all the holidays and celebrate Chanubirthdaymas. I nev
Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Forty-Six
Johnny looked around his apartment. It seemed to him as if someone else had been living there. He was confused and more than a bit concerned about Jenny and how he was going to tell her that he was leaving KKTM.After Jenny had left the party, he tried to talk to Brian about the station and what Johnny planned to do when they returned to Los Angeles. Brian had laughed at him, calling him Denise’s albatross and telling Johnny that if it weren’t for his sister, Jenny would have sole ownership of Red Wine. Johnny nearly hit him, but he realized that Brian was drunk. He also realized that there was no way he could continue at KKTM.Johnny hadn’t spent all his time at the slot machines while he was in Vegas. He began formulating the first part of his plan early in the week. He made the right contacts, made the right moves, and finally hit the jackpot during the awards presentation.He put together the second part of his plan at the party wh
Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Forty-Five
Johnny parked the car in front of Jenny’s apartment and opened the trunk to get her luggage. She hadn’t spoken more than a few words on the flight or during the drive from the airport. Johnny thought she might be angry at him for keeping the party going till three a.m., but she’d told him she was just tired, so he let it go.Jenny was tired, but it wasn’t only fatigue that was causing her silence. Her decision to leave KKTM and the repercussions that she knew would follow, were draining all her energy.“Want me to come up?” He asked as he helped her take her things into the building.“No. You have to get home and unpack and I still have to get a gift for Ann and Don. Why don’t you pick me up tomorrow and we’ll go to the wedding together.”“Tomorrow?” He sounded disappointed. “What about later tonight?”“Johnny, we just spent a wonderful and exhausting
Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Forty-Four
There was a brief, deafening silence followed by subdued clapping as Melody bounded onto the stage to accept her award. She held the acrylic pillar over her head in victory and shot a triumphant glare towards Jenny who was having difficulty joining in the congratulatory applause.“Sorry, Jen,” Johnny said. “I really thought you were going to win.”“To tell you the truth, so did I.” She tried to hide the disappointment in her voice. “Ya know, up until they announced Melody as the winner, I didn’t know how much I wanted that stupid award. Oh well, there’s always next year. But it would have been nice.”She smiled weakly and tried to listen to Melody’s acceptance speech, but there was a loud commotion in the back of the room that was making it difficult to hear. Everyone turned to the back of the room to see Melody’s husband, Ned, obviously drunk, trying to make his way to the stage with two se
Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Forty-Three
The reception for the nominees was more for sizing up the competition then actually congratulating other’s success in the industry, unless they were nominated under a different category. Jenny heard the other nominees sprout the I don’t care if I win, it’s just an honor to be nominated, line even though it was total insincere bullshit, it was the classy, professional response to being honored by their piers in the broadcasting industry. Unfortunately, one radio personally who was in direct competition with Jenny, was neither classy nor professional. Melody Miller, from rival station KLZY-FM the entire evening was telling everyone she was going to take the coveted award and dishing Jenny Reed at every opportunity. Jenny and Johnny intentionally managed to avoid a direct confrontation with her, and spent the evening in more polite conversations.“Interesting group of vultures on line over there.” Johnny said when he returned from the bar.&l
Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Forty-Two
The flight attendant recognized them as soon as they were in their seats. Minutes later, she brought each of them a small bottle of Beaujolais.“I listen to you two every morning. I just love your show.”“Thank you, Michelle,” Johnny said, using his now-famous voice to read her nametag. The flight attendant’s face turned bright red.“I’ll be back with the rest of your breakfast when we’re in the air, Mr. King.”“Look what you started.” Jenny said, picking up her bottle. “Now everyone thinks I drink this stuff for breakfast.”“We wouldn’t want to disappoint your fans now would we? We have a reputation to uphold.” Johnny poured his wine into the glass.“Yeah, reputations as a couple of drunks.”“One little glass of wine won’t turn us into candidates for AA, now relax.”The plane took off into a cr
Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Forty-One
Jenny stood in the shower and let the hot water cascade down her back, but it did nothing to wash away the memory of Johnny’s touch on her bare skin, or the confusion that raced through her mind. How did this happen? How did I let him get to me like that? Gayle, damn you for dying. I wish like hell you were here to talk to. But in spite of her protests, Jenny had to admit that being with Johnny had been an incredible experience. It both excited and frightened her to death. Doris Levine had been a shy little push-over, and it wasn’t only her name that had changed that day she’d sat in front of the microphone. Jenny Reed was born a new, confident, stronger person then Doris ever could have been, and Jenny Reed was always in control. She dated in high school, but never went steady with any one boy. They all seemed to want her to be something other what she was; bigger bust, smaller waist, less outspoken, less intelligent, less independent, les
