chapter 46
The next day Dana stormed into the studio while Jonny was on the air. She slammed the door.
Jonny rose from his chair. “Whatever it is, take a deep breath and calm down.”
“That’s easy for you to say.”
Jonny didn’t dare tell her that his life was falling apart, too. Instead he sat back down and motioned Dana to do the same. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“Sam is getting married.”
This was shocking. “What? I thought you guys just broke up a couple months ago. I mean re-broke up.”
“He left me a f*cking message on my answering machine!” Dana jumped up from the chair and began pacing, unable to sit still.
“What…” Jonny said incredulously, “why would he do that?”
“Why? Because he’s an a*shole? Because he’s a prick?” Dana’s words dripped with anger.
“I don’t even know what to say.”
“I called one of the receptionists at his firm.”
“She talked to you?”
“Jonny, she was so excited to talk to Dana Drew, she answered anything I asked.” Her hands began to shake. “She told me Sam liked to brag he was with the rock deejay. I guess he took some flack when we broke up, so he got back with me to salvage his ego.” Dana started crying. “Big joke on me.”
“Wow. That’s f*cking low.”
“That’s not the worst of it.”
“There’s worse...?”
“He just met this chick. She’s some new clerk at the firm. The receptionist said this girl’s been helping him with a case. I asked, but she insisted he wasn’t cheating. Supposedly it was all platonic up until just recently.”
“Very recently.”
“Exactly! It makes no sense!”
“He wasn’t threatened by her,” he muttered under his breath.
“Come again?”
“Dana, I’m gonna be straight with you...I think you intimidated him. Some guys need to feel like the most important one in the relationship. You said he kept bringing up your career...”
“Right, so?”
“And now he’s with this law clerk. She probably looks up to him. He needs the adoration. He needs to be the one on top.”
“Oh stop being such an idiot guy for once in your life and look at the facts. We broke up...then he moved back in...then I threw him out. How could he have found ‘the one’ in that amount of time? It’s not possible!”
“Look how you feel about Cody...and that was just one weekend.”
“But I’m not marrying the guy!”
“Well, who knows what happened to Sam.”
Dana took several deep breaths. She was starting to hyperventilate. “He told me he loved me, but he said he wasn’t ready to commit. He said he didn’t want marriage yet, but what he really didn’t want was me.” Tears fell rapidly down Dana’s face in rhythm with her hiccupy cry.
“Dana.”
“He didn’t want me. He didn’t want me.” She was sobbing heavily.
Jonny walked around the console and put his hands on Dana’s shoulders. He really felt her pain. “I’m so sorry.”
“You have no idea what it’s like to be alone and then meet someone and devote yourself to them.” She tasted salty tears as she spoke. “I was so into him...we were living together...I never lived with anyone before him. I really thought we’d end up getting married. He was one of the only people who knew me for who I was and not for the image. Why didn’t he want me? Why didn’t he want the real me?”
“Oh, Dana.”
“I mean, you can’t really understand. You have this great wife who followed you around with your crazy career...I mean obviously this is not something most people are willing to do, and she did it for you. She knew you before you were famous, she loves you for you.” Dana enviously eyed Jonny. “You are so lucky.”
Jonny guiltily avoided her gaze.
“I hope you’re not screwing around on her Jonny because you are so fortunate to have her. You can’t find that kind of love so easily. Look at me. I can’t even sustain a relationship.” She buried her head in her hands and kept crying.
“Dana...I don’t know what to say. What about Cody?”
“What about Cody?”
“He seems like a great guy.” Jonny was trying to find something positive.
“Who the hell knows what’s going to happen with that. I know deep down you think it’s ludicrous for me to pursue...I even think so sometimes. I mean what kind of relationship could we really have? Say it works out...he’s on the road and I’m always working...we’ll never see each other. It’s doomed to fail.”
“That’s not exactly the best attitude to go into this with. Didn’t I see flowers yesterday?”
“Yeah.”
“And he calls you, right?”
“Right.”
“Even with his busy schedule.” Jonny let his words sink in before continuing. “Dana, guys don’t do this kind of stuff if they’re playing around. They’re doing it because they like someone. This guy really likes you, Dana Hill, you.”
“But he’ll leave me again, just like Sam.”
“Sam’s an idiot. Cody isn’t Sam.”
“How do I know for sure? I don’t want to waste another year of my life on some guy who’s not what he seems.”
“Dana, you don’t have a crystal ball, I don’t have a crystal ball, there’s no way to know what tomorrow holds for any of us, but if you don’t try, you’ll never find out. If you don’t try you’ll definitely be alone.”
“Logically you make sense. Reality is different.”
“Look, do you think this Cody is a good guy?”
“Yeah, but I thought the same thing about Sam.”
“What do you lose by giving it a shot? It’s obvious he’s into you.”
“I guess.”
“You guess? I don’t know what exactly happened in Tampa. I don’t know if I want to know, but you came back from there a different person. I’ve never seen you like that before and I’ve known you a long time.”
Dana subconsciously smiled.
“The lead singer of what soon will be the hottest band in America is pursuing you Dana. It’s not a bad place to be in.”
Dana smiled through her tears. “He is, isn’t he?”
“Yes, he is.” He tousled her hair. “Now go splash some cold water on your face and cheer up. You’re on the air in thirty minutes.”