I slid my headphones on my head and pressed the microphone button after the song ended. “Welcome to Love Songs and Dedications with Lori. I hope you’re having a wonderful evening, thanks for joining me. I’m looking forward to spending the next five hours with you. If you’re in need of relationship advice, some encouragement, or would like to dedicate a song to that special someone, that’s what I’m here for. I’m all yours. Let’s kick off the show with an email I received today from Rebecca who wrote and said she’s finally getting married for the first time at the age of fifty. Rebecca proves that it’s never too late for love. Here’s ‘Because You Loved Me’ by Celine Dion. Thank you for the email and the request.”
I started the song, turned off the microphone, removed my headphones, and took a sip of the mocha I had gotten from Mr. BMW.
I set the mocha down and—
“Noooooo!”
There it went, my precious mocha, all over the counter and the floor.
Pulling open the studio door, I ran down the hallway toward the break room, yanking a long string of paper towels from the dispenser, then raced back to the studio.
I wiped and dabbed, frustrated. “Another bad thing to add to my day.”
It wasn’t Friday the thirteenth, so why was this happening?
I finished cleaning up and tossed the paper towels in the trash, ready to go back on the air like nothing ever happened. I needed to be positive and encouraging at all times. That was my job.
After the Celine Dion song ended, I turned on the microphone. “You’re listening to Love Songs and Dedications with Lori. Elizabeth is calling from Oceanside. What’s on your mind?” I pressed the phone button on the control board so she was live on the air.
“Hi . . .” Elizabeth’s energy sounded a little low. “Thanks for taking my call.”
“Of course. You seem a little troubled. What’s going on?”
“Well . . . I’m going through a bad breakup.”
I nodded. “Not that this will make you feel any better, but we’ve all been there. It’s not an easy time, that’s for sure, but this too shall pass. Do you think you should still be together?”
“No way. He’s a lying, cheating jerk, and I want to kill him.”
“Well, spending the rest of your life in jail for a few minutes of satisfaction is not worth it. I would recommend against homicide. Don’t worry, soon you’ll move past the angry feelings that are overwhelming you and move on to acceptance, followed by forgiveness.”
“I’ll never forgive him.”
I smiled, having heard that before many times. “You’ll need to let it go at some point so you can get on with your life and have closure. Don’t let the actions of someone else dictate the rest of your life. You have the power and control, Elizabeth. Don’t give it to him.”
She blew out an exasperated breath. “You’re right, you’re right. I’ll try.”
“You do that. I believe in you, Elizabeth. And soon you’ll have that hope that we all have inside of us, although sometimes it’s buried deep! The hope to move on to greener pastures. The hope for happiness and peace again. Hope that you’ll find a man who truly gets you and will treat you the way you deserve to be treated.”
“I honestly don’t know if he’s out there now, Lori. I don’t have the best of luck with men.”
“The man of your dreams is out there, all right. Be patient. Keep your chin up, your mind open, your thoughts positive, and your hopes alive. It’ll happen, and most likely when you least expect it.”
“Thank you, Lori.”
“My pleasure, and I’ve got the perfect song for you. You’re listening to Love Songs and Dedications with Lori.”
I started “Keep Your Head Up” by Andy Grammer, turned off the microphone, and slid my headphones off my head, setting them on the counter.
By habit I reached for my mocha to my right, forgetting that I had spilled it earlier.
I shook my head in frustration.
And after all I went through just to get that drink in the first place, I wasn’t sure how I would make it through the rest of the night without it.
After going through a couple of listener emails, I glanced up at the computer screen to see the callers Tessa had prescreened for me. There were four on hold earlier, but now there was only one. It was odd, but sometimes we had problems with the phones, and that was out of my control.
Even more odd was that his name was Zachary, the same as my boyfriend’s.
It couldn’t have been my Zachary, because he never called the radio station.
Not even once.
In fact, he didn’t even listen to my show, which maybe wasn’t a surprise since my listeners were ninety-nine percent women. Still, I admit it bugged me a little that Zachary didn’t seem to care enough about what I did to even listen to my show occasionally.
Tessa normally added a sentence about what the person was calling about next to their name and even a suggested song to dedicate based on the reason of their call, but the note section was left blank.
Weird.
I glanced up at Tessa, but she was talking on the phone in her studio, most likely screening another caller for me. I waved to try to get her attention, to try to find out something about the caller, but she was oblivious.
It was nothing to worry about.
We were definitely having technical glitches, but the show must go on.
Tessa was the best at screening my phone calls and weeding out the weirdos. And she had never stuck a caller on hold if they weren’t going on the air.
The Andy Grammer song was close to ending as I slid the headphones back over my head and turned on the microphone. “You’re listening to Love Songs and Dedications with Lori. It’s time for another call.” I pressed the phone button to put the caller on the air. “Hi, Zachary, how are you doing on this beautiful evening?”
“I got the job!”
I froze, staring at his name on my computer screen.
It was my boyfriend.
I was happy that he got a job since he had been searching for a new one for over six months. In fact, I had been helping him find one and got him an interview at two of the top companies on his wish list. Still, I couldn’t believe he’d called me on the radio to tell me this.
“Did you hear me, Lori?”
“Yeah. It’s just that you’re live on the—”
“I’m going to be working for Qualcomm!”
“What happened to Rolando Tech?”
“I told them to take a hike. They’re a bunch of cheap bastards over there and wanted me to work for peanuts.”
“Zachary, you’re on the—”
“The job I got is much better and pays more. Of course, the bad part is I’m going to be very busy, which means . . . you know, I need to focus on what’s important. Our relationship is not a priority. Well, it never was, actually.”
I blinked. “Are you saying that we—?”
“It's over, Lori.”
I jerked my head back.
Zachary was breaking up with me on the radio.
My heart rate began to pick up speed.
My face was suddenly burning up.
I couldn’t move or say a word, paralyzed by what had just happened.
Finally able to blink, I glanced at Tessa in Studio B. She was no longer on her phone and was staring right back at me through the glass, her mouth hung open.