chapter 64
Jonny looked at the clock. In just a few hours Dana would be home and his self-imposed solitude would be over. He’d had it with being alone.
It gave him too much time to think.
He moved into the kitchen and opened her food closet. He stood blankly in front of her shelves of health snacks and boxes of butterscotch popcorn. Boredom always led him to food. In the past week, he’d put on five pounds. He grabbed a box of the sugary sweet coated popcorn, plopped back down on the couch and flipped on the television. It was Sunday, nothing was on. A shop at home channel intrigued him. They were selling faux diamond men’s jewelry. Tacky rings were the style of choice today on “Men’s Diamond-ite Day.” The overly happy hostess and obviously in a hairpiece man were entertaining in their absurdity.
The phone broke his concentration on a gaudy men’s Diamond-ite crusted pinky ring.
“Hello.”
“Jonny, it’s Ted.”
He sat straight up, “What’s up man?”
Ted wasn’t into pleasantries. He got right to business. “I had a long discussion with Heather. She’s quite angry. Seems she thought you were going to put her on the air.”
“Well...you can’t trust what she says.”
“And I can trust you?” he said.
Jonny, ever the bullshit artist, answered confidently. “Yeah, you can. We’ve worked together for years.”
“And you screwed around with an intern and lied to me about it. So not only are you a liar, but you also have no respect for the rules or for me.” Ted wasn’t about to bow down to the great ‘Jonny Rock.’ Jonathan Roeker was replaceable. They all were.
Jonny sensed his intense anger and backed off. “Sorry, man, I wasn’t trying to insult you.”
“Then don’t.”
“Okay.”
“As I was saying, I had a long discussion with Heather. She is seriously considering taking legal action against the station and myself for allowing this to happen.”
“But dude...you weren’t even involved.”
“I’m your boss and I have liability.”
Jonny let out a long breath. “I’m sorry.”
“So am I.” Ted cleared his throat. “Anyway, here’s the deal. The one thing Heather wants more than anything else is an air shift. I’ve called a PD friend of mine on Long Island and he’s found an opening for her. I think if I put this to her in the right way, she’ll take the job and go quietly. If this works, I’m going to need for you and her to sign a document stating that you had a relationship that was consensual. That will remove the legal threat.”
A sense of relief began to come over Jonny. “Do you think she’ll go for it?”
“Well, she really wants to be a deejay and I believe if I inform her that a lawsuit would most likely prevent her from ever having a career in radio she might start to rethink things. Then I’ll offer her what she really wants, a job as a disc jockey. Most likely, she’ll accept.”
“I have no idea how to thank you.”
“I’m not done.” He paused. “Jonny, I have to suspend you for two weeks without pay.”
“Wha...?”
“That’s the best case scenario for you. When I meet with the General Manager tomorrow he may decide to fire you.”
“But, it was just a slip up...I’m an asset to the station.”
“Take the et off your asset and that’s what you are. Don’t kid yourself, there’s another Jonny Rock out there who’d love your job and who’d probably show up for his shift, not voice track,” he let those words hang in the air, “and he probably wouldn’t sleep with the interns.”
Jonny gulped. “I...I...”
“Stop. It’s not worth wasting your breath. I’m going to speak to the GM about you tomorrow. In the meantime, you won’t be working this week, but I will need you to be at the station in the morning in the event that Heather agrees to sign the paper. I don’t want to give her a chance to change her mind, so I’ll need you at the station at eleven sharp. I’ll have you wait in your office, you are not to have any contact with Heather. If she signs, I’ll call you in and you’ll sign. End of story.”
Jonny didn’t know what to say. He didn’t have to, Ted continued. “I don’t like this any more than you do. Hopefully, Heather will sign and then we’ll figure out where we go from here.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
“Then radio may have to get along without Jonny Rock.”
Ted hung up the phone, leaving Jonny still hanging onto the receiver in disbelief. The disconnection beep stirred him from his momentary lapse. He replaced the hook in shock. His marriage, his career...it was all falling around him.
Jonny went back into the kitchen and began rummaging through the cabinets. He searched frantically finally finding Dana’s small stash of alcohol and wine. She wasn’t a big drinker, so every holiday bottle that she’d ever received as a gift was sitting in the back of the cupboard. Next to the wine were barely touched bottles of rum and vodka. He grabbed both liquor bottles, a tall glass and returned to the couch. He poured half a glass of rum and drank it quickly. The alcohol scorched his throat.
He didn’t mind the pain.
He finished glass, after glass, after glass.
And then passed out.