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Chapter Twenty-Seven
Much to Jenny’s surprise and she-hated-to-admit-it pleasure, “Red Wine For Breakfast “became an instant ratings hit. All week long, bottles of domestic and imported red wines were being sent to her and Johnny by the caseload along with phone calls and faxes from all over their listening area. Unfortunately for Jenny, her former supporters were now encouraging her to agree to Johnny’s proposal. They were all going to be in for a shock tomorrow morning, and none would be more surprised than Mr. King himself if Jenny’s plan was a success.
If only Wes would stop playing the same songs several times an hour and not entering them on the program log, Jenny would be able to relax for the first time in weeks. She tried to talk to him, but he was uncharacteristically abrupt. Johnny was too busy gloating over his success and anticipation of Thursday’s show to notice, so Jenny decided to let it go. For the time being.
She went down her list, che
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Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jenny was surprisingly energetic at five a.m. She usually wasn’t fully awake until after her third cup of coffee, but this morning was a totally different day. She showered, then found the dress Kathy had delivered, finished applying her make-up, and about to leave to work when she noticed the light on her answering machine was blinking. She had turned off the phone the night before, so she wouldn’t be interrupted as she put the final details of her plan, and had forgotten to turn it back on. She pressed the button and heard Gayle’s excited voice.“Jenny, where are you? I have to talk to you. It’s very important, please call me as soon as you get this message.”Jenny looked at the clock and figured it was too early to return Gayle’s call. Besides, she’d see her at the station in a few hours and she wasn’t in the mood to hear about her and Tony’s date. The details could wait until after her show, an
Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Twenty-Nine
“This is a joke, right?” Even as she said it, Jenny knew it was for real.“I’m sorry, Jen. The police are on their way over to talk to the staff.”“What happened? Was she in a car accident?”“All they would say was that they’d found her body on the sidewalk by her apartment building.”“Tony, I just talked to her yesterday. She left a message on my machine, she can’t be dead!” “I’m afraid it’s true, Jenny. We received confirmation during your show. Do you know her family? Maybe you should call them and let them know.”“No, I don’t know her family, Tony. Look, I can’t deal with this right now. Let me get out of this stupid dress, and I’ll check back with you later.”“I’ll let you know when the police get here. They’ll be able to answer your questions better than I can. I’m sorry
Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Thirty
“Murdered? What makes you think she was murdered?” Jenny asked.“Well, for one thing, there wasn’t any note. For another, most suicides don’t put in a diaphragm just before jumping out of a window. You don’t need birth control in heaven.” Gary tried to lighten the seriousness of the mood.“That’s why they call it heaven.” Jenny caught the intent. “But seriously, Gary, do you think she walked in on a robbery? Although I can’t imagine what she would have that anyone would want.”“There wasn’t any sign of forced entry and nothing was taken that we could see. At least not the usual things like the TV, stereo or jewelry. Her purse wasn’t even touched. That’s all I can tell you for now, which is much more than I was supposed to. But you and I go way back. What’s a few rules between friends? Besides, since you and Gayle were so close, I thought you might ha
Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Thirty-One
Immediately when Jenny entered the bar, she knew that Bob had already heard the news. The usual loud din of laughter and music she had become accustomed to was replaced by an eerie sound of quiet whispers and muted conversation. She sat at the bar and noticed that Bob’s face was damp.“You know,” she said.“I saw the police cars and called a friend of mine downtown. They’re calling it a suicide. I don’t buy that for a minute. That girl had too much life in her to give it up like that.” He put a glass of Jack Daniels in front of her. “On the house.”“I’d ask you to leave the bottle, but I’m meeting the detective at my place later to check out Gayle’s apartment. Remember I told you about Gary White, the guy I went to high school with?”“Yeah, the nice one!”“Turns out he’s the detective on the case. We just had an interesting conversat
Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Thirty-Two
When Jenny woke up, she could hear the television in the other room. For a second she thought that Gayle was visiting, but then she remembered. She went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face, but it didn’t help remove the redness on her cheeks or the emptiness in her heart. She moved as if she were in a fog and grabbed a few things from her closet and drawer to wear. When she came into the living room Johnny turned down the volume on the television.“Did I wake you?” he asked.“No, I didn’t get much sleep anyway. Want me to make coffee?”“I already did. Do you want me to get some for you?”“If you don’t stop being so nice to me, I’m going to throw you out of here.” Jenny smiled at him.“You might want to rethink that outfit.”“What do you mean?”Jenny looked at her clothes. She had put on a green sweater with a bright red pair of jo
Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Thirty-Three
It was Friday morning. The start of the weekend when most people were making plans to relax in front of the television set, or go to the beach, Jenny was making plans to attend a funeral. Gayle’s sister, Marilyn, had called to tell her where and when the service was going to take place. Since the police weren’t finished with their investigation they weren’t going to release her body until Saturday, so the funeral was going to be at four o’clock on Sunday at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood Hills.Jenny knew the place. It was a beautiful cemetery, if one could call cemeteries beautiful, with a duck pond, marble statues, and a view overlooking the entire valley. Jenny and Gayle had gone there once or twice to feed the ducks and walk around reading headstones and making up stories about the people who were buried there. After, they would go into the gift shop and read the sympathy cards making up their own joke punch lines. They never thought that de
Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Thirty-Four
Tony stared at the list in his hand trying to come up with some other explanation than the one Kimberly was suggesting. Alongside every recording artist’s name was a small ‘K’ notation with a range of numbers, beginning with three to seven, then jumped to fifteen to twenty-six. They were all dated from the time that Tony initiated the new program format, the one that his “good friend” Harry had suggested, and they were all timed during the morning Red Wine For Breakfast program.“Kim, I appreciate you’re uh, borrowing this from Harry, but I’m not giving it back to you.”“But, Tony, if he finds out, he’ll kill me! You should have seen him this morning tearing the place apart. There was no way I was going to tell him I had the file. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”“I’ll take care of it. I’ll have my driver take you home. Don’t talk to a
Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Thirty-Five
Jenny entered the studio and, as she suspected, Johnny was already on the phone. She sat down and put her headphones on just in time to hear the caller tell Johnny that he’d missed a wonderful opportunity by turning down Jenny’s marriage proposal.“You’re probably right.”Johnny said, “but for now I’m very happy just having Jenny Reed as my better half on Red Wine For Breakfast. We’ll take a break and be back with more music and talk on KKTM-FM.”The “on air” light went dark as the commercial break began.“I didn’t expect to see you today.” he said to Jenny “How are you?”“If I said I’m fine, I’d be lying. Numb, I guess, but I had to come in. The funeral is Sunday, and I needed the distraction... and the company. Did you mean what you just said on the phone?”“About taking a commercial break?” He teased.
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- Red Wine for Breakfast Author's Notes
- Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Forty-Eight
- Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Forty-Seven
- Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Forty-Six
- Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Forty-Five
- Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Forty-Four
- Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Forty-Three
- Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Forty-Two
- Red Wine for Breakfast Chapter Forty-One
