All Chapters of Red Wine for Breakfast: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

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

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

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

“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

Jenny was tired. She sat in Charlotte’s listening to Johnny ramble on about how excited he was to be working at KKTM, all the while checking her watch in a not too subtle way. Fortunately, Johnny was too busy listening to the sound of his own voice to notice. Kathy was going to owe her big for this one.If the radio audience could only hear him now, she thought, I wish this were on air so I could switch stations.“Of course radio is very different in Canada.”“Why did you work in Canada when your father had his own station right here?”“Dad was very well connected in the U.S. and had me blackballed at nearly all the major markets, so I headed up north. I worked at a small radio station in Barrie, moved around Quebec, took up skiing, and raised a little hell. I came back to the States for my sister’s wedding, then hung out till dad died. Since I was cut out of the will, Denise felt sorry for me and offered me the D