Page 106 of My Infatuation with Isabella

“Dramatic much?” she says in the same robotic voice Dylan sometimes uses.

“Whatever.” I let out a heavy sigh. “He wants me to trust him when he says nothing happened between him and Fran. Tommy keeps telling me to let it go. It was years ago, but...it still bugs me.” My shoulders seem to slump because I still feel the weight of the hurt and rejection on my chest. “The thing is, I know... a lot was going on...with you at the time. I don’t know what, but if Dylan needed comfort or support or someone to talk to...Fran was the one he turned to, not me. He shut me out and chose her. So, even though he says nothing happened, and it's years later, and deep down I know I’m probably being petty, I need to know why he did that before I agree to date five.”

She stares at me for a long time, chewing nervously on her lower lip. She opens her mouth to say something, then second-guesses herself. After a long while, she finally speaks. “Don’t hate me, okay?”

That statement shocks me because it came out of nowhere. “I don’t hate you.”

“Every issue you guys have had is because of me. It’s my fault that the two of you broke up. He was so happy with you...and I ruined that.”

I reach out to rub her arm. “You didn’t. Dana, Dylan made all those choices. None of what happened is your fault.”

“It is.” She confirms it with an adamant nod. “What happened before, what happened on Christmas – all of it was because of me. Tell Dylan to tell you everything. I can’t...I don’t want to tell you because sometimes...” She runs a hand over her face the same way Dylan does when he gets stressed or anxious. “...sometimes when I talk about it, I do things...and then I don’t remember...but I’mnotcrazy!” Her reaction is intense, and I’m baffled by it.

“I don’t think you’re crazy.”

She shuts her eyes for a moment to pull her shit together. It’s another family trait. “Just tell Dylan to tell you...but don’t hate me, okay?”

She picks up her box again and walks inside, leaving me very confused. I don’t understand much of what she just said, especially the bit about Christmas being her fault. Then again, I don’t understand much of what happens within their family dynamic because...well, no one tells me anything.

I pick up my box and walk inside. It’s usually quite chaotic. One of the corporates we partnered with is currently renting this house for some of the families as a temporary measure while they rebuild. The problem is that it’s too small for the number of families staying here. Whenever I walk in, I find kids running all over the place, but today there’s an unfamiliar silence.

Tommy is sitting on the floor with a red hat on, reading to kids on the mat in front of him. Dana is there too, sitting with a baby boy, Neymar, on her lap, and they both seem enthralled by Tommy’s story. I set the box down at the foot of the stairs, then walk over to Damon on the other side of the room.

“Enjoying yourself, boss?” I ask, keeping my voice low.

“Is it weird to feel happy and heartbroken at the same time?”

“It’s rough,” I agree. “Tommy and I talk about it every time we come here. We want to help all of them, but we just...can’t.”

As if he somehow heard his name being mentioned, Tommy pops up behind me, throws an arm around my shoulder, and slaps a kiss on my temple. “Hey, Izzy.”

“Hey, Tom. I see your reading skills have improved to about the level of a five-year-old. I’m proud.”

“Maybe we should run another drive that will assist older kids so I can go up a few more levels.”

Damon sucks in a breath and gives us a weird side glance. “So, uh, about that. Um...Eric said no to making this a regular thing on KRXM. That whole pay-it-forward idea you guys had is a no-go. He said it doesn’t suit the caliber of the station. I told you it wouldn’t fit into his vision. All of this is...kinda fluffy.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Tommy scoffs.

I have to bite my tongue to not snap, and I wonder if he decided to break the news to us here so that we don’t cause a scene. I take a deep breath to calm down and lower my voice to a whisper when I answer. “It’s notfluffy. This is helping people who are in need and?”

“KRXM is not the right platform.”

“Then what is, Damon?” It’s my rising temper that makes that comment come out snappy.

Damon simply smiles and shrugs off my annoyance. “I don’t know. We were thinking...AmpUP Radio.”

That takes both of us by surprise. “What are you talking about?” Tom asks.

“As you know, AmpUP Radio is the largest station Copal Media owns. It has a listener base that’s about five times bigger than KRXM. Eric says that if you want to do all this fluffy nonsense, we gotta give you the right platform.”

“Wait. Wait.” Tom shuts his eyes, still reeling from shock. “You want us to move over to AmpUP Radio?”

“Yep. The breakfast show.”

“The breakfast show?” I echo, my eyes almost popping out of their sockets. “Are you talking about replacing Coral and Marty? Those are really big shoes to fill. You said yourself, they’re legends.”

Damon nods with a wide smile, and I realize that even though he always keeps his eye on the bottom line, his heart is in the right place. “Right again. Marty’s contract is up in August, and he wants to take early retirement. Eric says we need to start brainstorming ideas for a new show. He said we have to tone down the language but still give the same exciting energy.”

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