Jenny saw Gayle sitting at the bar talking to Bob when she entered Charlotte’s, a few minutes past their arranged time. Gayle looked upset when Jenny sat next to her.
“I was afraid you’d changed your mind,” Gayle said.
“No, the meeting ran a bit late.” Jenny ordered coffee and a hamburger, and then lit her cigarette. “OK, so I admit I was angry at you for leaving with Johnny, but I think our friendship is more important than to let some jerk destroy it. I was just surprised that he’d come on to you, and more surprised that you fell for it.”
“I know, you’re right, but nothing happened. All we did was talk, well all Johnny did was talk, and he did reveal something you might be interested in, so maybe it wasn’t an entire waste.”
“I called Laurie to get some dirt on him and we were at it all weekend. She did find something, but we haven’t gotten all the details yet.&rdqu
When Jenny returned to her office there was a stack of mail and several phone messages waiting for her. And so was Brian.“Where were you?”He tried not to sound too anxious.“Excuse me?”“I’ve been calling all morning.” He wasn’t succeeding.“I didn’t know I had to check in with you.”“Bad day, huh?”“Not really, actually things are getting better. But as you can see, I have a ton of work here, so what did you want?” It was obvious by her tone, Jenny did not want to engage in a conversation with Brian, but her persisted.“I was worried about you. Denise is angry at her brother and asked me to check in on you.”“Oh? Well, you can tell your wife I’m fine. Johnny is fine. We’re all just fine. Now you can leave.”“Ok, so I’m concerned about you also.”“That’s big o
As the deadline for Johnny’s challenge drew closer, Jenny was surprisingly calm. The phone calls and letters kept coming in, but Jenny didn’t appear to be paying that much attention to them. What concerned her more was what was happening to the music side of her show. Before Johnny’s arrival, she and Wes had gone over the song list extensively before air time, but since Tony’s decision to have each shift play something different, Wes had taken total control of what songs were being aired. Many of the artists were unknowns, and for the first time since she joined KKTM, she was hearing the same tunes more than once an hour.Jenny made a mental note to talk to him about it, but for the moment she was busy with other events. Particularly her plans for Thursday, and the answer she was going to give Johnny that would get him off her back once and for all.After a quiet weekend, spent mostly on the beach and on the phone, Jenny was feeling pretty good
Much to Jenny’s surprise and she-hated-to-admit-it pleasure, “Red Wine For Breakfast “became an instant ratings hit. All week long, bottles of domestic and imported red wines were being sent to her and Johnny by the caseload along with phone calls and faxes from all over their listening area. Unfortunately for Jenny, her former supporters were now encouraging her to agree to Johnny’s proposal. They were all going to be in for a shock tomorrow morning, and none would be more surprised than Mr. King himself if Jenny’s plan was a success.If only Wes would stop playing the same songs several times an hour and not entering them on the program log, Jenny would be able to relax for the first time in weeks. She tried to talk to him, but he was uncharacteristically abrupt. Johnny was too busy gloating over his success and anticipation of Thursday’s show to notice, so Jenny decided to let it go. For the time being.She went down her list, che
Jenny was surprisingly energetic at five a.m. She usually wasn’t fully awake until after her third cup of coffee, but this morning was a totally different day. She showered, then found the dress Kathy had delivered, finished applying her make-up, and about to leave to work when she noticed the light on her answering machine was blinking. She had turned off the phone the night before, so she wouldn’t be interrupted as she put the final details of her plan, and had forgotten to turn it back on. She pressed the button and heard Gayle’s excited voice.“Jenny, where are you? I have to talk to you. It’s very important, please call me as soon as you get this message.”Jenny looked at the clock and figured it was too early to return Gayle’s call. Besides, she’d see her at the station in a few hours and she wasn’t in the mood to hear about her and Tony’s date. The details could wait until after her show, an
“This is a joke, right?” Even as she said it, Jenny knew it was for real.“I’m sorry, Jen. The police are on their way over to talk to the staff.”“What happened? Was she in a car accident?”“All they would say was that they’d found her body on the sidewalk by her apartment building.”“Tony, I just talked to her yesterday. She left a message on my machine, she can’t be dead!” “I’m afraid it’s true, Jenny. We received confirmation during your show. Do you know her family? Maybe you should call them and let them know.”“No, I don’t know her family, Tony. Look, I can’t deal with this right now. Let me get out of this stupid dress, and I’ll check back with you later.”“I’ll let you know when the police get here. They’ll be able to answer your questions better than I can. I’m sorry
“Murdered? What makes you think she was murdered?” Jenny asked.“Well, for one thing, there wasn’t any note. For another, most suicides don’t put in a diaphragm just before jumping out of a window. You don’t need birth control in heaven.” Gary tried to lighten the seriousness of the mood.“That’s why they call it heaven.” Jenny caught the intent. “But seriously, Gary, do you think she walked in on a robbery? Although I can’t imagine what she would have that anyone would want.”“There wasn’t any sign of forced entry and nothing was taken that we could see. At least not the usual things like the TV, stereo or jewelry. Her purse wasn’t even touched. That’s all I can tell you for now, which is much more than I was supposed to. But you and I go way back. What’s a few rules between friends? Besides, since you and Gayle were so close, I thought you might ha
Immediately when Jenny entered the bar, she knew that Bob had already heard the news. The usual loud din of laughter and music she had become accustomed to was replaced by an eerie sound of quiet whispers and muted conversation. She sat at the bar and noticed that Bob’s face was damp.“You know,” she said.“I saw the police cars and called a friend of mine downtown. They’re calling it a suicide. I don’t buy that for a minute. That girl had too much life in her to give it up like that.” He put a glass of Jack Daniels in front of her. “On the house.”“I’d ask you to leave the bottle, but I’m meeting the detective at my place later to check out Gayle’s apartment. Remember I told you about Gary White, the guy I went to high school with?”“Yeah, the nice one!”“Turns out he’s the detective on the case. We just had an interesting conversat
When Jenny woke up, she could hear the television in the other room. For a second she thought that Gayle was visiting, but then she remembered. She went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face, but it didn’t help remove the redness on her cheeks or the emptiness in her heart. She moved as if she were in a fog and grabbed a few things from her closet and drawer to wear. When she came into the living room Johnny turned down the volume on the television.“Did I wake you?” he asked.“No, I didn’t get much sleep anyway. Want me to make coffee?”“I already did. Do you want me to get some for you?”“If you don’t stop being so nice to me, I’m going to throw you out of here.” Jenny smiled at him.“You might want to rethink that outfit.”“What do you mean?”Jenny looked at her clothes. She had put on a green sweater with a bright red pair of jo