Chapter 2

The business office at KTOW radio in Tulsa, Oklahoma was quieter than usual on this Friday morning.  It must have had something to do with everyone’s kids being on Spring Break.  Genevieve Redlin sat at her desk completing a quarterly report for the program director, Hal Sullivan.   She was his assistant and as such, one of her duties to compile all sorts of numbers and statistics into a coherent report that would promote KTOW’s status as the leading modern rock (or was it alternative?) radio station in their market. 

 Being an assistant to the program director wasn’t her first choice for a career, but it was pretty interesting working here at her favorite radio station. And it left her with far fewer migraines than when she was teaching middle school.  Besides, the people she worked with respected her and the feeling was mutual…plus, no chalk dust on her butt anymore.  She never really fit in with all those teachers anyway.  They were so motherly and were generally pretty conservative- not that she was a wild woman.  But even now at 32 she still liked to have fun; she listened to her music loud, could make a mean margarita and had learned the fine art of maintaining a buzz without getting sick, was probably a bit too liberal with the foul language and loved to watch South Park.   She did have to admit that she preferred VH1 to MTV, though she did watch both.  Surely, that didn’t mean she was getting older, did it?

 It was almost lunchtime and Genevieve, Gennie to most people, sat contemplating her dining options when the phone rang.

 “Gen, what are you doing for lunch?  You wanna go out?”

 It was her friend Stacey who worked upstairs in the administrative office.

 “You must be psychic, Stace, cause I was just asking myself the same question!” she laughed, knowing that she and Stacey were always on the same wavelength.

 “How about I meet you at the front door in ten minutes and we’ll go to St. Louis Bread Company.”

 “Sounds good to me.  See you in a few!”

 Gennie got off the phone and quickly got herself to a stopping place on that report.  She did a cursory tidying up of her workspace, grabbed her purse, and headed to the elevator a few minutes ahead of schedule.

 Once downstairs, she found Stacey already waiting for her “Good, you’re early.  I’m starving!” Stacey said wide-eyed, grabbing her stomach in a mock display of what she guessed starvation looked like.

 They hurried out to the parking lot, stopping to say hi to Pete their mailman as they got into the car.

 When they got to the restaurant, they were glad to see that they had beaten the rush.  They ordered and grabbed a seat in a near-by booth, sinking in to their lunches and savoring every delicious bite.

 “So, Gen, I haven’t talked to you in a few days.  What’s new with you?” Stacey asked, sipping her raspberry tea.

 “Oh,” she sighed, “just more of those reports that I’m getting really good at doing” she rolled her eyes and grinned.  “These quarterly reports are getting to me.  I can’t wait till they’re behind me in a few weeks.”  She took a swallow of her lemonade. “What’s up with you?”

 “Not much.  A lot of the big wigs are on vacation this week with their kids so it’s been really slow.”

 “I know what you mean.  Unfortunately, my boss didn’t leave this week.”

 “I did see a great Behind the Music last night after I put the kids to bed.” Stacey started laughing.  “It was on Shaun Cassidy.  Is that great or what?  God, I used to love him when I was a kid!”

 “Me too!” Gennie giggled gleefully.

 “I think it’s gonna be my new favorite episode.  It’s way better than that damn Leif Garrett one that they’re still running every chance they get!  But it didn’t have as much drama.”

 “I’ll have to check it out next time it’s on.  I have to agree with you on that Leif one though.  I’m pretty sick of it too.  I guess my favorite is still the Goo Goo Dolls one.  It had its share of tragedy.”

 Stacey pursed her lips and nodded in agreement.  “Yeah, I’ve seen that one. It is pretty good.  You know what though?” she paused as she pushed her hair behind her ear. “I wish they would run the original ending- you know, when the closing credits are rolling.  The one where the singer is talking about opening for the Stones.  That was kind of humorous.  It was like he was a little kid, or something” 

 Gennie laughed at remembering that.  She’d only seen that ending once.  “Yeah, that was great, y’know.   Like, what a sweetheart.  You just wanted to pinch his cheeks, he was so cute!”

 “Well, I don’t know about that…something else, maybe.” Stacey laughed devilishly.

 Gennie rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair laughing and shaking her head.  “Whatever.”  She popped the last of her potato chips in her mouth.  “You know, that’s when I really started to get into their music, after I saw that show.  I’ve kind of followed them ever since.  I just wish they’d stop by the station sometime.”  She smiled, “I’d love the opportunity to tell them thanks for all the great music they’ve done.”

 “Huh,” Stacey shrugged and smiled teasingly.   “I knew you liked them, but I guess I didn’t realize you liked them that much.” 

 Stacey glanced at her watch and realized that their lunch hour was almost over.  “We’d better head back. I’ve got…well, you’ve got lots of work to get back to.”

 Gennie shrugged on her coat.  “Thanks for reminding me.”

Next