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I twiddle my fingers over the keyboard and let out a long sigh. “Just do it…” I whisper.
“What’s that?” my workmate and producer, Dre, asks, peeking over his computer at me.
“Nothing,” I say with a sheepish smile. “Just talking to myself.”
“You do that a lot, don’t you?” he says dryly and returns to his computer screen.
I chuckle to myself. Dre is my work husband. We give each other shit constantly. But right now, we’re both in the shit, trying to find a new guest. As my producer, he makes sure things go off without a hitch. I know he’s beating himself up over losing this guest even though he doesn’t control sea storms and comas.
Before I can send out my desperate cry for help through the internet, my desk phone rings. My shoulders slump and I sigh. “What do you think I did this time?” I ask Dre.
“I think the question is whatdidn’tyou do,” Dre replies.
We both eye the phone.Ring…ring…
The only calls I ever get to this godforsaken desk phone are from the studio program manager, Gina, who always has a bone to pick with me. You’d think I wasn’t the host of the most lucrative daily program at this station. Alas, because of this, her perfectionism is always running me ragged.
I take a deep breath and pick up the phone. “Hello?” I answer in a cheerful voice.
“Is this Harley Solace?”
That voice isnotGina’s. My eyes snap to Dre. “Um. Yes, this is she.”
“Who is it?” he mouths.
I glance down at the phone again. If I hadn’t been so resigned to my fate of being admonished by Gina for god knows what, I would have noticed that her name wasn’t even on the caller ID. It’s a protected number.
“This is Resa Blackwell. I’m head of PR for Infinium Entertainment.”
My stomach fills with butterflies. This has to be Grant’s doing. Why else would his PR team be reaching out to me? “Thanks for calling, Resa. What can I do for you?”
“We’re wondering if you would be interested in collaborating with Infinium by bringing one of our artists onto your show.”
My heart thuds. I pull up the Google Calendar with the crossed-out guest spot.Don’t sound too eager, Harley.“I think we could definitely make that happen.”
Across my desk, Dre is frowning, demanding more information by mouthing questions. I snap and wave him away. He’s distracting me.
“Fantastic. Now, as you know, we have lots of artists on our roster. We’d love to connect you with one of our actors. Maybe a director. That would be at the discretion of your schedule as I assume you’re usually booked very far in advance.”
Resa is clearly placating to me. Either she really needs this interview to happen or Grant really wants it to happen. I prefer to imagine it’s the latter. “Well, you’re in luck, I’ve actually had a guest back out on me for next week and I’m currently looking to fill the spot. Could you arrange for something then?”
She gasps excitedly. “Absolutely! That’s better than we could have imagined. I can get back to you with a list of artists with availability for next week in the next fifteen minutes and you can have your pick.”
I think about Infinium. All their various shows and reboots. They have half the billboards on the Sunset Strip. It’d be amazing to have someone with so much notoriety appear on the show.
But I think I can do even better than that.
“Actually…do you think it would be possible to get Mr. Neville on the show?”
Dre audibly gasps at my mention of Neville. His name is thrown around as often as Malibu in Hollywood.
Resa’s breath stutters. “Beg your pardon?”
“Of course, any of your artists would be welcome…” I say, though I have my mind set on one person and only one. “But to be able to speak to a CEO of a high-powered entertainment company such as Infinium I think would grant listeners such wonderful insight. Would even be a boon to your subscriber base should Mr. Neville be able to pitch the high-quality values of Infinium.”
“I can’t imagine Mr. Neville has time in his schedule for apodcast,” she replies in a terse manner, far afield from her friendliness that began the conversation.
I want to spit back, “It’s not a podcast,” but I hold my tongue. Sure, lots of people listen to the highlights via the podcast Dre puts together. However, it’s different. This is a radio show. It’s live. And it’s uncut and blemished with humanity.
