How I Spent My Summer Vacation

by C. Sprite

 

Chapter Eleven

 

As the week progressed, I became more comfortable in my job at the station. I wish that I could say the same about the sleeping corset. Lizbeth had laced me into it each night, tightening it a little more each evening until the sides finally met, but at least I knew that it couldn't be closed any further. The sleeping corset constricted my waist to a size almost two inches smaller than the twenty inches the fifties gown had required. Wearing the daytime corsets was almost a pleasure, even if the only time during the day when I could draw a full breath was during my morning bath, or when I was changed out of the regular corset and into the sleeping corset. Even so I never complained again. I didn't want to give Lizbeth any excuse for extending my sentence, or chaining me in bed. I might have to remain as Ashley until Labor Day to satisfy the terms of the contract with the station, but after my punishment sentence was up I could at least dress as I pleased.

Lizbeth and I went shopping most days from ten to three. I picked up another of the better quality control briefs early in the week, because the old one had become a little too small. My tush had grown at the same time that my arms and legs had filled out. I was beginning to wonder if I really needed padding any more. My skirts and dresses were even tighter now than when Lizbeth had altered them. If I got any fatter, she'd have to alter them or I'd start popping seams.

I hadn't gotten paid from the station yet, since this had been my first full week, but the money that I got from Nicole for my waitress work paid for the few things that I needed, and the few things that I wanted. My ear holes had mostly healed and I started to accumulate new earrings with every trip to the Mall. I still wore only one pair when I was going on air, but I started wearing multiple earrings other times.

I even surprised myself by buying more shoes. I guess that since I was going to be Ashley for the next several months, I felt that I would need them. Lizbeth still wouldn't let me buy anything with less than four-inch heels, and until my sentence was over she was the boss. True to her original promise to introduce me to a lot of nice girls, I began to meet all of Lizbeth's friends, although this wasn't how I originally envisioned the introductions. As it turned out, most already knew me from having seen me on the news or in the promos. When the word had been spread by Helena and Marguerite that Lizbeth's cousin was the new weather person, all her friends had tuned in to watch at least once. I became an overnight celebrity, at least among the high school crowd. A couple of girls even asked for my autograph.

 

On Friday, I received my first paycheck from the station. Upon opening the envelope, I did a double take when I saw the amount. The gross pay on the stub was listed as being $1,400.00. Since I was getting four hundred dollars a week I couldn't figure out how they were computing my salary. I went to the Payroll bookkeeper, but he said that they only used the numbers provided by Mr. Graham's office. He suggested that if I had any questions I should ask Mr. Graham's secretary. I went there next and waited until she was off the phone.

"You'll have to speak to Mr. Graham about that," she said. He establishes the payroll for the station's talent group."

"I only want to know how it's computed. What dates does it cover?"

"It should cover the period from your first day up through today."

"That's seven days."

"Yes, that's correct."

"Then the amount is wrong."

"You'll have to discuss that with Mr. Graham."

"Is he available?" I asked, knowing that he wasn't in his office because I could see his desk through the office window.

"He should be available later. I'll tell him that you wish to see him. I'll call you when he can see you."

"Thank you."

 

After the early broadcast I got a call from Mr. Graham's secretary, informing me that he was available, so I hurried upstairs. His secretary told me to go right in.

"My secretary tells me that you have a question about your paycheck, Ashley?"

"Yes sir. The gross amount is too high."

"No, it isn't. After seeing your first half dozen broadcasts I changed your base salary. Instead of getting four hundred a week, you're getting a thousand a week. That's our regular starting rate for an experienced weather person. You're already doing as well as any of the other weather persons working here at the station, some of whom have been with us many years, and you're infinitely better than Keith was. That's understandable though, since he hated the job and couldn't work up any enthusiasm for it. I felt you deserved the regular pay. We only start new hires off so low because they don't feel as upset if we have to terminate them quickly. People feel less stressed when losing a low paying job."

I smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Graham. I appreciate the extra money. My college fund can sure use it."

"You're most welcome, Ashley. Just keep doing as well as you've been doing and I'll be very happy."

 

Lizbeth, Nicole, and Suzanne were as excited as I was when I told them about my pay increase.

"Wow," Lizbeth said. "That's a hundred fifty percent increase. I can't believe it. How much do the news anchors get paid if the weather persons get a thou a week?"

"I have no idea, but it must be a lot more because they work a lot harder than I do. They have to understand everything that's going on in the world, or at least appear to, and they work for most of the two, hour-long, broadcasts. They study everything coming in from the news services before we go on air, and then again between broadcasts."

"They don't write the news stories, do they?"

"No, there are other people that do that for the local news, and we get stories from the news services and press releases, but they have to understand the stuff they're reading."

"You could do it then," Lizbeth said.

"Maybe someday."

"Not someday; now. You could do it now."

"Lizbeth, for one thing, I'm not ready. For another, there aren't any vacant positions. Third, even if there were, they're not going to hire a young high school girl into a responsible position like that. They'd want a permanent person, or at least as permanent as a newsperson climbing the ladder of success ever is. I'm just eye candy to dress up the weather."

"Didn't you say that Kay Peterson was leaving?"

"No, I said I was told that Kay is looking to move up to a network, or a station in a major market, like Chicago or New York. I understand that she's sending out demo tapes of her work."

"Assuming that she goes, they'll need someone to replace her. You'll have to start studying for her job as soon as possible so that you're ready. I know that they'll want someone permanent, but if you can step right in, they may let you fill the position until they find the right person. It could take months."

"I'm going home in three months, remember? I start school in September."

"Tomorrow I'm going to tape the early morning news broadcast. I have a friend who has voice recognition computer software that will take spoken text and transcribe it into written form. Then we'll set up Dad's video camcorder and record you reading the text. It will be just like rehearsing at the studio."

"It's different at the studio. You're getting instructions from the control booth while you're talking and you're reading from a teleprompter."

"What kinds of instructions?"

"Well, they cue you for commercial breaks and the return from commercials, tell you when clips are ready to run, correct your mistakes, help you with pronunciations, tell you to look at a different camera, and all sorts of stuff like that."

"We can rig something up, but you should be used to that already. Don't you wear an earphone now?"

"Yes, but my stuff is all scripted out and I don't hear much except for the cues to start, go to commercial halfway through, return, and wrap up at the end where they tell me to whom I should pass the broadcast. It's always either Don or Kay. Because of the blue screen, the shooting angle always remains the same and I never have to look at a different camera until the end of my segment. As long as I pronounce the names of geographical references properly, they never have to correct me. And I haven't had any last minute updates to worry about."

"Sounds pretty complicated to me," Suzanne said.

"You pick it up pretty fast when you're doing it," I said.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about," Lizbeth said. "You already have a foot in the door by working at the station, you're an experienced broadcaster now, and your boss obviously appreciates your ability and on air presence. You're in a prime position to step in if Kay leaves. We just have to figure out how to make your boss realize that you're ready."

I groaned silently. It was clear that Lizbeth wasn't going to give up on this idea. She had definitely inherited her share of her parent's ambition genes. Not that that was bad, I had my own ambitions. I just couldn't see going crazy trying to get a job that I could never list on an employment application form as a reference. James Michael Ashley could never claim credit for a job held by Ashley Michelle James.

"I know," Lizbeth said, having an inspiration. "How well do you get along with Don?"

"Okay, I guess. We talk as friends when we're in the makeup room."

"Excellent. He's the one that you should approach."

"What do you mean?"

"If Kay turns in her resignation, the first one that Mr. Graham will tell is Don, since he's the co-anchor."

"Not necessarily. He'll probably tell the station president or personnel director first."

"But he'll have to talk to Don about it at some point. He'll want him to be prepared for the changeover. He may even expect Don to take over all anchor duties until a new co-anchor can be found."

"I guess," I said.

"So what you do is ask Don for advice on how to learn to be an anchor person before Kay gets a job. At the very least he might mention that you had expressed an interest in learning the job, and at the most he might recommend you for the position."

You had to admire Lizbeth's devious mind. My sitting there wearing a corset, dress, and high heels, not to mention the 'unmentionables', was ample proof of it. For some reason, still unknown to me, she had decided to make me a woman, and against all odds, she had succeeded. If she decided that I should become a newsperson and anchor, I had to preclude that the chances were better than average it could happen.

 

Saturday morning meant another long day of work at Powder-Puff Caterers. Today's event was a corporate picnic on the company's grounds. A large tent had been set up and we'd cook hot dogs, hamburgers, corn and chicken at the site, in addition to the salads, vegetables, and deserts that would be prepared in advance at the company's kitchen. We had to be ready to leave the kitchen at nine a.m., so most of the salads and deserts had been prepared already. We would finish cooking a few things and then load the trucks.

We arrived at the plant a little earlier than expected and began setting everything up while Nicole and Lizbeth walked around giving instructions. Suzanne worked to set up the bar. Only beer and soda would be dispensed today so she was to be the only bartender. Everything was free and she didn't have to worry about collecting money. Her only duty, other than pushing out the beverages as fast as she could, was to check that people of questionable age have a stamp mark on their right hands that showing that their ID's had been checked. I was assigned to the chicken-cooking group and we started building the files in the long barbecue pit that had been prepared from cinder blocks. The chickens would be coated with barbecue sauce and placed in large grillwork racks for cooking. Occasionally they would have to be turned.

 

By three o'clock in the afternoon we were finished cooking and serving. Beverages would be served until four, but we could clean up everything else. I knew that I smelled like burning chicken grease and I couldn't wait to get home and slip into a hot bath, but it would be many hours yet before that would happen. The cooking racks all had to be scraped down with a wire brush and sprayed with a hose before being loaded onto the truck used to transport them and that alone would take over an hour. It was actually six o'clock by the time we left the plant grounds. It would take another hour at the kitchen to wash everything and then we'd begin preparing stuff for tomorrow. I just hoped that we got home before midnight, but the better prepared we were for tomorrow's event, the less we'd have to do in the morning.

 

Sunday's event was a wedding reception. I awoke early and took a long bath once Lizbeth released me from my sleeping corset. Since we had already reached the limits of the sleeping corset, it began to feel more comfortable. I was acclimated now to its minimum size, and as long as I didn't eat too much, I could actually breathe adequately. There wasn't too much danger of eating too much as I was always wearing one of my several corsets.

We reached the house where the reception was to be held a little before ten o'clock, giving ourselves plenty of time to set up. Guests started arriving around eleven, and we immediately began serving hors d'oeuvres.

I was on my third pass through the crowd when someone said, "Aren't you the new weather person at KBXF."

"Yes, sir. Would you care for an appetizer?"

"Uh, yes. What are you doing working as a waitress?" He asked as he helped himself to the tiny wrapped hot dogs and shrimp rolls, "Did you get fired?"

"I work at the station during the week and with the catering service on weekends."

I smiled and tried to move on now that he had taken his food but he grabbed the tray. "Just a minute, please. Don't we pay you enough to only hold one job?"

"We?"

"KBXF-TV. I'm Wilt Hathers, the station's executive vice-president."

"I'm pleased to meet you Mr. Hathers, and I'm very satisfied with my pay from the station, but I'm not supposed to talk with guests while I'm serving. I have to keep moving."

"It's okay. It's my daughter that's getting married today so I'm sure that the catering service will allow me a little leeway. I'm footing the whole bill after all."

As he was talking, Nicole came over. "Is there a problem, Mr. Hathers?"

"No, not at all, Nicole. I asked this young lady a couple of questions but she says she's not allowed to speak to guests while serving. Is it alright for her to speak with me?"

"Of course, Mr. Hathers. Ashley, the regular rules don't apply to Mr. Hathers. You can speak with him for as long as he wishes."

"Thank you, Nicole," Mr. Hathers said. "Here, would you take that tray from Ashley so we can talk?"

"Of course."

Nicole took the tray from me and walked back towards the trucks, looking over her shoulder several times, while Mr. Hathers took my arm and led me towards the bar. He still held his filled plate in his other hand. "I've been very impressed with your work at KBXF, Ashley, but I don't think that serving food on weekends fits the image that we'd like for our on air personalities. It's okay for an occasional charity event, but not as a regular position. As you get better known, people will recognize you and it might reflect badly on the station if people think that you have to waitress to make ends meet. How much are we paying you?"

So far I only had his word that he was who he said he was, but Nicole had certainly deferred to him quickly enough. He must be someone very important, and he had a look of wealth. The yard where we were standing was part of a very impressive estate.

"I receive the base starting pay of a thousand dollars a week for my job as weather person."

"A thousand a week sounds like a respectable amount for a young woman just beginning her career."

"It is, Mr. Hathers. I'm very satisfied with the amount. Every penny of it, after taxes, will go into my college fund. I use the money from the catering service for my regular expenses."

"And how much does that pay you?"

I did a quick calculation in my head. I had worked more than eighteen hours yesterday, and I would probably work about twelve today. That was thirty hours. "It varies. For this weekend I expect that I'll receive about three hundred dollars in wages, plus my share of the tips."

So if the station paid you better, enough to make up for your giving up this job, you'd be willing to end the waitress work?"

"I'll certainly quit my job with the catering service if Mr. Graham asks me to. I don't want to jeopardize my position at the station."

"Rob Graham should be here shortly. He must have stopped somewhere after the ceremony. I'll speak to him when he arrives. In the meantime, I'd like you to leave before someone else recognizes you. I'll square things with Nicole. Do you have a car here?"

"No, sir."

"Okay, I'll find someone to drive you home. Wait here."

As he walked away, Suzanne, who had been watching from the bar as she served drinks, gestured me over. I walked over as a guest received his drink and walked back toward the other guests.

"What's that all about?"

"He says that he's the executive vice-president of KBXF. He recognized me and doesn't want me working the party. He's afraid that it will reflect badly on the station. He went to find someone to drive me home. He says that he'll square it with Nicole. What should I do?"

"Go home. We'll sort it out later. I didn't know about his association with the station but I know that he controls a bunch of other businesses in town. Nicole will bend over backwards to please him. She hopes to get a lot of other business from him and his friends."

"So I should go then. Okay. I hate to leave you short-handed though."

"We'll get by. Mr. Hathers can't complain to us later if he's the one that made us short-handed."

Mr. Hathers returned then, with a young man whom I estimated to be about thirty, following close behind him. "Ashley, this is my nephew Gilbert. He'll drive you home."

"Yes, sir."

"I'll speak to Rob Graham later and get this matter settled. It's been very nice meeting you. I hope to see you again soon. Keep up the excellent work at the station."

"Yes, sir. Thank you."

"Hi Ashley," Gilbert said, stepping forward. "I'll show you to my car."

I said goodbye to Mr. Hathers and followed Gilbert to his car. He held the door for me and I slipped into the passenger side. Walking around to the driver's side, he climbed in behind the wheel. I gave him the address and he pulled out of the makeshift parking lot and headed towards the house.

"Wow, Ashley. What did you do to Uncle Wilt? He acted like I was on some kind of secret mission for the government or something?"

"He doesn't approve of me working as a waitress. During the week I work at KBXF."

"So? What's the big deal? A lot of people work second jobs."

"He doesn't feel that it's appropriate for an on-air personality to be working as a waitress."

"On-air? You're a reporter?"

"I'm the evening weather person. Monday through Friday, at six and ten."

"Oh, it's an image thing. Uncle Wilt is very big on image. Appearance is everything, he always says. I wanted to get a motorcycle once and he stopped me. Said he'd see I was disowned by the family before I had a chance to make people think that a Hathers was a member of Hell's Angels. I really wanted that bike, but he wouldn't even let me get a dirt bike. He bought me a new BMW to make up for it though. He's not ungenerous, but it just wasn't the same. How long have you worked at the station?"

"Only a week and a half."

"I thought that you looked kind of young. What are you, eighteen?"

"Sixteen."

"Sixteen? Wow, you must be hot stuff to be on the air at sixteen."

"I only do the weather. A trained seal could do the weather reporting."

Gilbert laughed. "Not true. I'm at least as smart as a trained seal and I couldn't stand in front of a camera and do the weather. I'd be tongue-tied as soon as the director yelled 'action' or whatever it is they yell in a studio."

"They don't yell. They cue through your earpiece."

"Oh. What's your goal in life? To be the consummate weather person?"

"No, but lately I've been thinking about becoming a newsperson. My cousin says that I could do it right now because all they do is read the news off a teleprompter, just as I do."

"How do you feel about that?"

"Basically she's right, but I know that the anchors spend a lot more time preparing for the broadcasts than I do. I only need to rehearse my script for a half-hour and I'm ready to go, while they spend hours in preparation. I have to find ways to kill time until the broadcast."

"I'm sure that if you work hard you'll achieve what you want. You seem to be a lot more mature than most teenage girls I've known. I'm including my sisters and cousins in that."

"Thanks, Gilbert. What do you do?"

"I enjoy my family's money." He looked at me and smiled. "I hold seats on several boards, and I attend meetings a few times each week. That's about it. I wanted to open a practice after I graduated from law school, but Uncle Wilt had other plans for me. So I became part of the family's corporate structure."

"But you'd still rather be a practicing lawyer?"

"My life isn't very satisfying. I just don't feel that I contribute anything. It seems that if I vanished tomorrow, no one would miss me."

"You're not married?"

"Yes, I am. But I'm not altogether sure she'd miss me either. We have separate lives; she's an interior decorator, and we only come together to attend family and special functions. I'm sure that she doesn't even know I've left the reception. When I return, she'll just assume that I was in the house or something."

"Did you ever consider quitting the family business and striking out on your own?"

"Constantly. But I don't know if I could face being cut off. Once you've become totally accustomed to enormous wealth and influence, it's difficult to turn your back on it."

Gilbert spent the next ten minutes telling me about his childhood and all the wonderful things that his family's wealth had enabled him to do while growing up, such as skiing in the Alps, scuba diving in Australia, and surfing in Hawaii. As we turned onto the block where the house was located, I pointed it out.

"Nice house," he said as pulled into the driveway.

"Yes, my aunt and uncle have been very successful."

"Oh, it's not your family's house."

"No, I live with my mom in Massachusetts. We were supposed to go on vacation together but the defense plant where she works got a big contract and she couldn't get away. I came here by myself. It took almost two days by bus."

"Where's your dad?"

"He cleaned out the joint accounts and disappeared with his teenage secretary five years ago. We think that he went to Mexico. We're better off without him."

"And I've been complaining about being a poor little rich kid. I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about. I've enjoyed listening to your story, Gilbert. I hope that you find something that gives your life more meaning. You can't always live according to the dictates of another. Thanks for the ride home."

"My pleasure, Ashley. I hope that you make it as a newswoman, if that's what you want."

"Thanks, Gilbert. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Ashley."

I waved to Gilbert as he pulled out of the driveway and drove back down the street. When the car was out of sight I got the spare key from the hiding spot and unlocked the front door before returning the key to its secret location. I realized that this was the first time that I'd been alone in the house since I'd arrived here. I knew that Lizbeth would be angry if I removed the corset, but she couldn't complain if I had a valid excuse. I hurried to my bedroom and changed out of the uniform, then struggled to get the corset open. Even after I managed to get the laces untied, the sides didn't want to separate. I finally managed to get them apart enough to unclip the busk pieces on the front. Free of the corset, I quickly put on my dancers belt and two-piece swimsuit.

I spent the rest of the afternoon swimming or lying by the pool, slathered in tanning butter and gulping in as much air as I wanted. I felt a little guilty about enjoying myself while my cousins were working, but it hadn't been my choice to leave, and I certainly didn't want to endanger Nicole's chances of getting additional catering jobs from the city's wealthy families.

 

Taking a shower about five o'clock, I laced myself back into the corset. It was difficult, but I managed to close it completely. It was a further sign that my body was adapting to its shape. A week ago I never could have closed the corset by myself. The sleeping corset was much tighter and I'm sure that I couldn't close that by myself.

I selected my denim mini-skirt, a black satin-like blouse, and black pumps to wear for the evening. The day by the pool had really invigorated me and I felt wonderful as I sat down to put on my face and fix my hair. My hair was still a little damp so I used a blow dryer on the lowest heat setting until it felt dry, then I removed the rollers and brushed it out.

Before anyone else arrived home, I sat in front of the mirror and pretended to read a news story from a teleprompter using an article from a magazine. I wondered if people would think of me as just another dumb blonde bimbo if I ever got a chance to do a story. Barbara Walters has blond hair, I reasoned. And there were several blondes that did excellent reporting and anchoring on the cable news shows.

 

When my cousins arrived home a little after six o'clock, I could tell that Nicole was upset. They had come in the back door because they had their arms loaded with large stainless-steel food pans.

"I'm sorry, Nicole," I said. "I didn't know what to do, but I figured I should go."

"I'm not upset with you, Ashley. It's that Mr. Hathers. He thinks that he has the right to send my employees home without even speaking to me first. I almost told him where he could put his future business, but I swallowed my pride and became a 'yes' person. I'm angry at myself for doing that."

"Isn't that all part of the service industry? The customer is always right, and all that?"

"He took it further than it should go. If he had a problem with you being there, he should have spoken to me first and asked me to send you home."

"Yes, you're right. I guess he felt he had more of a right because I work for him also."

"He told me that you can't work for me anymore. He said he doesn't want his television personalities pushing cocktail wieners and Swedish meatballs."

"That's basically what he said to me. I guess that my boss will reaffirm it tomorrow when I get to the station."

"I'm sorry, Ashley. It looks like Powder-Puff Caterers will have to get along without you."

"I understand. Thanks for hiring me; I've learned a lot and I've enjoyed working with everyone. Maybe I can still help out at the kitchen before you go to the event. Off the books, of course. I'll donate my time for all the time that you've spent driving me to the station and the Mall."

"That would be great. Thanks, and you're hired; unofficially, of course. As long as no one can see you working, Hathers can't complain."

"How about dinner, Ashley?" Suzanne asked me. "We have a lot of food left over from the wedding. Hathers ordered twice as much as they ate."

"Okay. I haven't eaten since breakfast."

"What did you do all afternoon?"

"I swam and enjoyed the nice weather."

"Lucky girl," Nicole said. "We sweated to serve a bunch of elitist snobs. I'd love to go for a swim, but the guys will be here in a little over an hour. It'll take me that long to get ready."

"Is anybody else going to eat?"

"Not me," Suzanne said. "I nibbled while we were cleaning up. I have to get ready to meet Kent."

"I'm going out with Steve," Nicole said. "So I don't have time either. It looks like you'll have to eat alone and then play hostess when the guys arrive."

"Okay, no problem." I started looking through the recently arrived serving pans as they climbed the stairs.

 

Larry was the first to arrive and we sat in the living room talking until the doorbell sounded again. It was Steve, and he joined Larry and myself. Next to arrive was Kent, who joined the other two, and I became like a fifth wheel as the subject turned to sports. So far none of my cousins had made an appearance.

George, the last to arrive, pulled me close to him as soon as he was inside the door. I had tried to lead the way to the living room, but he wasn't about to let me get away without a more personal greeting, so I let him have one kiss. One very long kiss. As we finally separated, I realized that I had lost all aversion to kissing George, and in fact had actually started enjoyed it. I knew that a male kissing another male wasn't right, and had been a reluctant participant in early lip lock sessions with him, but from having spent every waking minute of every day acting like a female, I had now moved beyond merely acting like one. I wondered if my role-playing had finally pushed me completely over the edge without any chance of return. There was no doubt that George believed me to be female, and the other guys believed it as well, but shouldn't I remember at all times, at some conscious level, that I wasn't really a woman? I realized that I had recently begun to unconsciously refer to myself as a girl in conversations, and I was always a girl now in my dreams. Shouldn't I be worried?

I decided that there wasn't anything I could do about everyone's perceptions at this late date, so I might as well continue in my role. If George repulsed me, it would be a different matter entirely, but he was kind and considerate, not to mention good looking. Any girl would delight in having him for a boyfriend, and he wanted me. Kissing him wasn't hurting anybody, and he enjoyed it. Who did it harm if I also enjoyed it a little also?

 

Nicole finally put in her appearance, and Steve jumped up to meet her and kiss her as she reached the bottom of the stairs. She looked radiant, all traces of the problems at work having disappeared from her face. They stayed and talked with us for a few minutes before leaving. Their plan was to visit some mutual friends who had recently moved in together. George looked at me suggestively. I ignored the look.

Suzanne and Lizbeth came down a few minutes later, both looking refreshed and happy. Larry and Kent rushed forward to greet them, and, after saying goodnight all around, we left as couples in separate cars. Lizbeth and Larry were going to the same movie theater, but to a different picture than George and I. This would be my first solo date with George, once we had bought our tickets. Lizbeth and Larry stood behind us in line until then. As she had done last Sunday. Lizbeth lifted my arm and put it around George's waist. I wondered if Larry had told him that Lizbeth was responsible for that sign of affection last week. I left my arm there, gently gripping George's waist.

 

The movie was only fair and we headed back to the house after leaving the theater. I had my purse with me this time so I didn't have to use the emergency key. The house was empty and we headed down to the rec room after re-locking the front door. I asked George if he wanted something to eat, but he only had one thing on his mind and he steered me to the couch after shaking his head. He stooped over and swept me up into his arms just before he plopped down onto the couch. I wound up on his lap, with my left arm around his neck. He wasted no time getting down to business and his tongue pushed its way into my mouth while I was still trying to catch my breath.

Lizbeth and Larry arrived a short time later but George never even acknowledged their presence, and I was prevented from saying anything by the presence of his large tongue in my mouth. I simply waved hello as they moved to their favorite couch.

It was well after midnight when Nicole and Steve arrived. There was another couch, but Larry and George had to leave anyway because the next day was a workday. Lizbeth and I walked them to the front door, where each exacted one final parting kiss before leaving.

 

We all slept in on Monday morning, not rising until ten o'clock. The extra sleep allowed all of us an opportunity to recover from the arduous weekend. Suzanne wasn't scheduled to begin work until noon, and Nicole could show up whenever she felt like it. Her answering service fielded any calls when she wasn't in the office, and Monday was her slowest day anyway.

At breakfast we discussed the situation with Mr. Hathers again. I repeated my conversation with him as best I could. Suzanne had been just out of hearing range.

"He was pretty explicit with me," Nicole said. "He told me that he wouldn't allow his on-air people to hold menial jobs that might cause the station embarrassment if they were identified."

"I guess that I'll hear more about it when I get to the station," I said. "Mr. Hathers said that he'd discuss it with my boss, Mr. Graham. Mr. Graham was supposed to be at the reception."

"I don't think it's right for them to try to tell you how to live when you're not working," Lizbeth said.

"That's the way it is with entertainment people," Nicole said. "I've heard that some of their contracts have special clauses such as 'morality clauses' that allow them to terminate your employment if you don't live your life in a manner that they approve."

"It's like poor Gilbert," I said. "His uncle has taken over his life and he doesn't have much say in what he does with it. Follow orders or get cut off from the lifestyle that you've grown up with."

"What are you going to do with your weekends now, Ashley?"

"I don't know. I guess that I'll have a lot more time for swimming. I'll help at the kitchen in the mornings and then just relax and enjoy the rest of the summer afternoons."

"Think of us as you're lying by the pool," Nicole said.

"I will," I said, smiling.

 

There was a note addressed to me on my desk when I arrived at the station. It said that I should come to Mr. Graham's office as soon as I arrived. I put my purse in the file drawer of my desk and walked upstairs. Mr. Graham's secretary waved me right in.

"Come in, Ashley," Mr. Graham said. "Have a seat," he said, gesturing to couch across from his desk.

I sat down, crossed my legs, and waited for the expected sermon.

"I understand that you met Mr. Hathers on Sunday."

"Yes, sir."

"He can come off as pretty brusque sometimes, but he's not a bad sort. He spirited you away before I even arrived, and while I don't necessarily always agree with him, I can see his point in this case. You're relatively unknown right now, but you'll become much more recognized over the next few weeks. Even though you're only on air for a few minutes during each broadcast, you're a very attractive young lady and people will be focusing on you when you're on. It wouldn't be appropriate for people to also see you serving food on weekends."

"Yes, sir."

"Mr. Hathers said that he promised to compensate you for the wages you'll loose as a result of his action. That leaves me with a dilemma. Management and talent wages aren't published, and are supposed to be a closely guarded secret, but it's difficult to keep a secret in a small station. Even if we are the largest regional station, and a network affiliate, we're small when compared to a major city station, or a cable news operation. If I increase your salary, after just establishing it at the level of an experienced weather person, there are bound to be problems. At least one of the other weather people is bound to resent it."

"Yes, sir."

"So I've decided to give you a little more to do. Instead of getting paid not to work on weekends, I'll pay you to work here on Saturday and Sunday."

"Is one of the weekend weather people leaving?"

"No, I'm going to hire you as a weekend reporter."

"A reporter?"

"Yes. Each weekend you'll go out with a camera operator and shoot local events such as charity affairs, grand opening ceremonies, parades, or anything else happening around the city that will be of interest in our local news segment. Your hours on weekends will be flexible, and depend upon what you'll be covering, but plan on working about eight hours each day. That's probably less than you were working with the catering service. This coming Saturday you should come in about seven a.m."

"I've never done anything like this, Mr. Graham."

"Don't worry about it. It won't be live and if it doesn't turn out well, we won't run it. It'll be good experience for you if you decide to go into broadcasting journalism."

"I've been giving that a great deal of thought since you suggested it."

"Good. Then this will be your introduction to it."

"Thank you for this opportunity, Mr. Graham."

"Sure, Ashley. One thing though. I don't want you to be disappointed if your reports don't air. We only have so much time for local news; and real news such as fires, accidents, robberies, shooting, and the like pre-empt community interest reports. Less than one in five make it to air."

"I understand."

"Good. That's all, Ashley."

"Thank you, Mr. Graham."

As I walked back to my desk, I thought about the new weekend job. Maybe this would satisfy Lizbeth's ambition for me. I was technically a reporter, although I doubted if anything I did would ever be aired. Mr. Graham was just looking for justification in case the other weather persons protested my salary increase. It might even be fun to be at the forefront of local events. Reporters always got front row seats to any event they were covering. I was smiling as I reached my seat and starting reviewing today's weather script.

 

"A reporter?" Lizbeth said when I told everyone about my new weekend job. "You want to be an anchor, not a reporter."

"Lizbeth, the anchors all had to start out as reporters first. You don't just step into the top job without having worked your way up."

"I'll have to think this through," she said.

"There's not much to think about. I can't refuse to do it, and it will probably be fun."

"Mr. Hathers is making sure that you can't take any other weekend menial jobs, I guess," Nicole said. "Now you can't even help out with the food preparation."

"If you're going to be a reporter," Lizbeth said, "then you'll have to be the best damned reporter in town. Tomorrow morning we'll start studying the cable news reports to learn how it's done."

"I'm not going to be covering wars in the Middle East, or murders around the country. I'll probably be doing grand openings of new burger stands, or possibly girl-scout events. If I'm really lucky, I might get to cover a press conference where a new shopping center is announced."

"Don't underestimate the opportunity for real news. Just look in the local newspaper and you'll see all kinds of great stories that weren't covered by the KBXF."

"The station's not big enough to have roving teams of reporters just waiting for a story to break."

"Granted, but if a story breaks while you're out, you'd cover it, wouldn't you?"

"I'll have to cover what I was sent to cover."

"You're hopeless, girl. You've got to be ready to drop everything and run to the real story."

"Okay, Lizbeth." I said in a dismissive manner.

"You'll see. You'll be sorry if you ignore the real stories," she warned.

 

(continued)

  

  

  

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