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  Jennie was twenty-eight and grew up in Palm Springs. She graduated from Palm Springs High School. Since her junior year in high school, Jennie had interned at the station. She went to USC and worked every summer and every school break at the station. Jennie was pretty but not beautiful. She was a great ad-libber and very smart. Though never married and rarely a partier, she could light up a room with her buoyant personality.

  Ten people sat discussing story ideas as well as the day’s news. Tom was the face of the newsroom for hard stories because of his high profile and his demeanor. Jennie was the softer side of the news, and that fit her just fine.

  “Jack, I got a call that plea bargains might be entered by the twelve defendants in the pyramid scheme,” Tom said.

  “What can you tell us right now?” the news director asked his main anchor.

  “Not much, except we could have something in the next two weeks. Some of these people may lose their jobs.”

  The defendants in the Ponzi case were all being handled individually, making for a drawn out legal process.

  “Keep me posted. Who else has something?” No one offered up an idea or stories. The news director wasn’t happy about the silence. He wanted his reporters, and in fact everyone on the news team, to be creating storylines.

  “People you have to be creative. Think. Every day you should be coming in here with two or three different story ideas. Okay, let’s get the work done.”

  Jack made his way back to his office overlooking the newsroom operation. Waiting in his office was Kristen.

  “I thought you left already. Your shift was over several hours ago. What’s going on?”

  Kristen took a seat on the other side of her boss’s desk. “Mr. Router, I’m going to give you my two weeks. I think it’s best that I move on with my life, and I’m still having a pretty hard time with what happened to me last year.”

  Jack had expected something like this after the brutal attack. When it didn’t happen right away, he thought that maybe she would be okay.

  “Kristen, are you sure that is what’s best for you?”

  “I am. I’m going to move away and start a new life. My last day will be in two weeks if that will work for you.” The petite blonde had tears and Jack knew this was very tough on her. He came around his desk and gave her a hug. Kristen left his office. Next she had to tell her roommate. She would wait up for Lisa that night so they could talk after the eleven o’clock news.

  Jack didn’t waste any time in calling his general manager’s office.

  “Yes, Jack.”

  “Hey, I need to let you know that Kristen is leaving.”

  Miller didn’t say anything for a few seconds. He wondered if this had anything to do with what Stewart Simpson said to her this morning. He would never know the answer to that question.

  “I’m sorry to hear that, Jack. How much time did she give us?”

  “Two weeks.”

  “Did she say what she was going to do?”

  “No. She did say she was probably going to leave the area.”

  “Okay. You need to think about her replacement. We need to get that figured out before our next rating period.” Miller sounded coldhearted, but Jack knew it was true. He also realized that the GM didn’t have any history or relationships inside the station. Jack knew it would be hard to find the right person to fill Kristen’s spot. It would be better to find the right person and not just a body to quickly fill in.

  “I’ll get the position posted tomorrow. I want to tell the newsroom first.”

  “Keep me in the loop.” Miller hung up. Again he wondered if Stewart Simpson had something to do with his morning anchor getting out. The hug and private moment with Kristen was out of character from what people had told him about Stewart—especially in the workplace.

  ***

  The 2:30 meeting in the newsroom brought the evening news anchors, reporters, producers and photographers together for the first time in their workday. This group worked until 11:30 to put on three different news shows. Usually this meeting concerned what the news desk had already set up for the evening news coverage. The individual show producers talked about the way they were going to stack their news stories. They ranked them by importance. The reporters would fight for face time. The normal story would run maybe ninety seconds. If a reporter really had something, he or she might get two minutes, maybe two and a half. Those story lengths were rare.

  Today’s meeting started off a little differently.

  “Okay, settle down.” Jack seemed more tense than usual and it was noticeable to everyone in the room. “Look, before we start I need to tell you something. Kristen Nesbitt has given us her two weeks. That means we are going to be looking for a new morning show anchor.”

  The room got noticeably quiet. Again, this wouldn’t have been unexpected if it happened right after she got back to work. But she had been back to work for some time and everyone thought she had come through the drama as strong as could be expected. Everyone assumed she was alright. But if she was leaving, that probably wasn’t the case.

  No one would know the truth about why she was leaving—even if they heard the truth, no one would believe it.

  “We’ll be posting this position later today. I wanted to make sure you heard this news before we put it on the street. Any questions?”

  No one said a word. The one person in the room that was shocked more than anyone else was Lisa. Kristen was her roommate. How did I not get a heads-up on this breaking news?

  “Okay then, let’s get to work. What’s on the agenda for our local coverage tonight?” The news director started his real meeting and continued it for the next thirty minutes.

  When the meeting was over, Jack made his way back to his office. The first knock came within sixty seconds of his sitting down. Jack was surprised it took that long. What did not surprise him was who was standing in his doorway.

  “Come on in, Lisa.” Maybe the afternoon reporter was there to pitch a story idea, or to talk about her news assignment for the day—but Jack knew that wasn’t the case. “What can I do for you?”

  “Mr. Router, I’m not sure this is the right time or not, but I’d like a shot at the morning anchor job.”

  Jack already knew that was what she wanted. “Why?”

  The question caught Lisa off guard, but she collected herself quickly. “Mr. Router, it’s the career move that’s right for me. I’m ready for the challenge. This is what I want.”

  Jack could never understand the way news talent thought. Why would anyone want to be the anchor of the morning show, especially when they’re on the strongest local news shows in the evening?

  “You realize that if you are the morning anchor it means getting to the station by three in the morning? That means you need to be in bed probably by seven or eight every night. That means no nightlife.”

  “I know. Just consider me. That’s all I want you to do. Please.”

  “Okay. I will consider you. Now go back to work.”

  Jack had to give his young reporter credit. She demonstrated an aggressiveness that he liked, and her confidence was rising every day. He knew before Lisa knocked on his door that he was going to be considering this beautiful young reporter. For being at the station not quite a year, she had already put together a pretty impressive body of work.

  ***

  Kristen managed to stay up until her roommate got home after the eleven o’clock news was over. Lisa was glad to see Kristen awake and on the couch. She wanted to talk to her as much as Kristen wanted to chat. It was hard for these roommates to have any time with each other because of their opposite schedules.

  “Lisa, there’s a glass of chardonnay on the counter.”

  “Jack told the newsroom today that you gave notice. You going to tell me what’s going on?” Lisa took the glass off the counter and joined her roommate on the couch. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Kristen wasn’t upset and didn’t show any signs of being sorry for her decision.
Why would I be? No one would ever know what triggered her decision to leave the area and get out of the local news business. Kristen would never have to work again, and that made everything pretty good for her, even if she couldn’t tell anyone her plans or where her money was coming from.

  “I couldn’t tell you until I was sure that this was something I wanted to do,” the morning anchor lied. “I guess the attack and loss of my baby took more of a toll than I knew at the time.”

  “What are you going to do? Do you have a plan?”

  “I’m moving up to Eureka on the coast. I have a friend who has offered me a place to stay right on the water.”

  “Kristen, come on. What’s going on?” Lisa wasn’t buying her roommate’s story. Something wasn’t making sense. “What am I going to do for a roommate? I can’t afford this place on my own.” Lisa laughed.

  “You’ll figure it out. I just have to get out of this town.” There were a few moments of silence before Kristen added, “I heard you told Jack you wanted to be the morning anchor.”

  Now Lisa was taken aback. How did the word get out already? She was still learning that a newsroom had no secrets. “I did talk to Jack. You don’t mind, do you? I just figured it was a new opportunity to grow my experience.”

  “No worries from me. You’d be great as the morning anchor. I told Jack that when he called me this afternoon to try and talk me out of my decision. That’s when he told me you had talked to him.”

  Lisa was pleased to hear the support coming from her friend. She was also pleased to hear that it was Jack Router who told Kristen that Lisa had expressed interest in the position. Lisa couldn’t wait to discuss this with Stewart Simpson the next time they talked.

  What will he think of me taking on this new position? Will he even care? She would soon find out. Lisa was scheduled to visit Mr. Simpson tomorrow at his desert home.

  “Kristen you’re not telling me something. What is it? Is there a man involved in this? Tell me what’s going on.” Lisa was as serious as Kristen had ever seen her. Kristen thought long and hard before answering. She had made a promise not to say a word to anyone. She had to live up to that word. Her financial security depended on it.

  “There’s no one that I’m involved with—you know that. We’ve lived together now for almost a year. You know there isn’t anyone. I just need to get out of here, for my own sanity.”

  Kristen chose the safe route, even though she really wanted to talk to someone about her truth. She was smart enough not to.

  The two continued talking on the couch for the next hour and a half. Lisa was hoping to wear Kristen down and get to the truth that she knew she hadn’t heard yet.

  But Lisa would never know the truth.

  ***

  Dugan greeted Lisa when she pulled up to the country club home. This ritual would repeat itself for a long time. Dugan escorted her through the door and into the entryway. Stewart entered from the library with a glass of chardonnay. Lisa accepted the glass and kissed Stewart on his cheek, something she had never done before. She was getting comfortable with this man twenty-seven years her senior. Stewart had a quick thought that maybe his patience was finally winning her over. They talked several times a week, but Stewart still maintained his distance.

  “So, do you really want to be the morning anchor?”

  Stewart’s question puzzled Lisa. How does he know? Did her news director talk to the general manager, who in turn talked to the owner, all within the last twenty-four hours? That’s weird, she thought.

  “I think it would be a good career move. What do you think?”

  Stewart’s raising the question did give Lisa the perfect opportunity to have the conversation she had hoped to have. He just made it easy for her.

  The two walked into the massive living room. He simply gestured for his beautiful guest to have a seat. Then Stewart shocked Lisa with his answer.

  “I think you need to get into sales and forget about being on the air.”

  Lisa digested Stewart’s words. His statement was very blunt and to the point—no sugarcoating.

  “You really believe that? What else do you think I should be doing?” Lisa’s tone was different tonight. She was more daring; she certainly was a lot more vocal with Stewart. Over the past year, her relationship with the station owner had never gone beyond the dinners. They talked several times a month and saw each other for dinner whenever he came to the desert, usually once or twice a month. Stewart had craftily managed this relationship as if it were one of his biggest business deals. And maybe this was. Tonight, things were going to a different level.

  Stewart rose from the ottoman, which was his favorite place to sit whenever Lisa visited. He stood before her, held out his hand and, without saying a word, gently tugged his guest up and led her down the hall. Lisa remembered making this walk before, except they’d never gotten to the bedroom at the end of the hall.

  Lisa didn’t hesitate or hold anything back. She let TV3’s owner take command of the situation. She liked that Stewart was so confident and powerful. It made him sexy and at this moment, she needed this man to take her. The twenty-seven-year difference was no difference at all.

  The next couple of hours could not have been more passionate. Little was spoken between the two heated bodies. Lisa had never known passion like this before. She was lost in his touch, his smell, his intense lovemaking. This was the kind of euphoria that came only a handful of times into one’s life, and she was feeling it while in bed next to a man who was old enough to be her father.

  What’s making me feel like this? Is this love? This was more than sex. This was intense, exciting, breathtaking and so many more adjectives. Lisa shivered. Her body shook as she climaxed one more time. Never before had sex felt like this. This was more than sex, and it scared her to feel this way. As confident as Lisa always felt, tonight she felt out of control for Stewart.

  9

  IT WAS THE day of Kristen’s goodbye party, and before party time Lisa needed to have a conversation with her news director. As confident as she was, she felt a little anxious about telling her boss she no longer wanted to be considered for her roommate’s position. And that she wanted to leave the news department altogether to go over to sales. What she would quickly learn was that Jack, in all his experience, had seen it all before.

  “Lisa, I’m sorry you’re not going to pursue the morning anchor position, but I get it. You have my total support. I glad you’re not leaving our station and that you will be staying here. You have my blessing to talk to Ross about a sales position. I appreciate you being so upfront with me so we don’t waste any time. Let me know how I can help you.”

  ***

  DJ’s was a hamburger grill and bar opened by a radio disc jockey a few years earlier. Don James had the most popular radio morning show in the market on KPSI 100.1. He decided to open DJ’s in Palm Desert as a place where all the media could come and hang out and tell lies—and at the same time maybe make a few extra dollars for his retirement.

  DJ’s became the popular meeting place for everyone. The local politicians liked it because they could run into the local newspeople. Business people liked it because maybe they could get close enough to the media to get some extra exposure. The young ladies came by hoping to meet Don James or one of his radio personality friends, or maybe a local TV anchor or reporter. DJ’s was the perfect place for the special camaraderie that existed between radio and TV personalities.

  This was one of those special nights at DJ’s. It seemed all the news anchors and reporters were in the house. The radio personalities were there and several of the local newspaper writers and beat reporters had even showed up. This was Kristen Nesbitt’s goodbye party. Most came out of respect for Kristen. She had not been in the news community for a long time, but she was the morning anchor long enough that everyone felt like they knew her. Her brutal attack brought the news community closer together. Everyone else in the bar was there because the celebration was a great excuse for anothe
r party.

  DJ’s was fun, loud, and a good place to be. Kristen worked the room to make sure she thanked everyone for being there. John Miller briefly stopped by. He never wanted to see his young staff, or even the veterans, in outside situations that might taint the way he felt about them. He always believed that while careers were never made at these types of parties, they could certainly be destroyed. The general manager simply paid his respects to Kristen, someone he barely knew, and quietly left.

  Jack Router gathered the crowd’s attention by banging his fork on his wine glass. He stood on the stool and then stepped onto a table.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, if I can have your attention for a few moments please.” It took a few minutes, but the room got quiet.

  “We are here tonight to celebrate and say goodbye to our colleague, friend, and a pretty good broadcaster.” Applause and a few whistles came. “We thought we’d share with you some of Kristen’s work as we celebrate her tonight. Watch the monitors around the room.”

  DJ’s had at least a half dozen TV monitors around the relatively small room. Kristen Nesbitt appeared on the screens, as she was when she first arrived on the air in Palm Springs a few years earlier. The video collage showed the many different hairstyles and looks that Kristen changed on a regular basis, much to the dismay of her management. They wanted a consistent look, and Kristen’s look was anything but. That also drove the station promotion people crazy because they never knew what promotional pictures they should use for her. Watching the screens now, it seemed funny.

  The outtakes from her morning show were the best. A few were staged. Like the time she was with her co-anchors sitting around a Christmas tree. Each anchor was to share a special holiday story that would air during the holidays. Kristen, unbeknownst to her fellow workers or the production staff, decided to have fun with this. When it came her time to share, she started off very serious.

  “I remember my most special Christmas night. My boyfriend and I were sitting around the tree, and very quickly one thing led to another and he began unbuttoning my dress and then removed it.” You could see the horrified expressions of her co-anchors sitting around the tree as she described the heat of passion. The camera showed her hand rubbing the buttons on her blouse while she spoke. This was supposed to be a family Christmas moment. This was Kristen being Kristen. It was very funny, and of course that video never made it to air, but it was always a hit with the staff when the station showed the annual outtakes.