Page 47 of My Infatuation with Isabella

“No, we want you guys to be the hosts.”

“Woah, what?” Tom shakes his head in disbelief. “You can’t give us a job like that. We have no experience.”

Damon nudges Jacob and he walks toward the desk and drops a stack of paper in front of Tommy and another one in front of me.

“Those are your contracts,” Damon says. “If you accept, your show will start April, first. That means you can serve your two-week notice at your current jobs, and we’ll have just over a month to brainstorm ideas for your show and how we want to structure it. We also have to teach you how to use some of the equipment. You obviously need that.” He chuckles. “You’ll pick up quite a lot on the job, but there are some policies we’d need to go through with you. We have subscription-based listenership, so we’re not regulated by the FCC. Bad language is not a problem, but the station as a whole has decided to stay away from topics like politics and religion, so we gotta get you guys on board with all that.”

I’m shell-shocked, just sitting there with my mouth hanging open. I can’t even say anything. Tommy starts flipping through the contract, probably to make sure it’s legit.

He stops a few pages in. “So, is this the amount we get paid for the full six months?”

“No, that’s per month,” Eric corrects.

“What?” Tommy is floored. “Stop toying with us, Eric!”

I lean over to look at the amount, and that is bigger than any number I haveeverseen on any of my paychecks. “Shut. Up! There’s no way you’re paying us that much.”

“Oh, trust me, you’ll work for it,” Damon says. “The radio business is a lot of long hours, so if you’re not up to it, then?”

“We’re not afraid of hard work,” I say, grabbing onto this amazing opportunity with both hands. “We work our asses off for a lot less money than that. If you’re willing to take this risk on us, I promise you, we will not let you down.”

“You really think we can do this, Izzy?” Tommy asks, sounding nervous. “I mean, if we fuck up, we fuck up in front of an audience.”

“Tom, we were in a fricken circus! We know how to handle a fuck up in front of an audience and make it look like it was planned. We did it on that Thursday night. I think that’s what they’re trying to tell us. It’s a talent we didn’t know we had. We can do this!” I grab his shoulders and shake him hard, my excitement spilling over into my actions and my voice. “And we’re gonna be great at it.”

“Yeah!”

We high-five, our enthusiasm building by the second. “Yeah!”

“Great,” Eric says with a wide smile. “Damon and I are very excited to see what you guys do with this. So, go through the contract and let us know if you have any queries.”

“Thank you, Mr. Louw, sir.” Tommy stands up and gives them all a handshake.

“Thank you for giving us this incredible opportunity,” I say.

Goodbyes take over ten minutes because we don’t want to leave, but eventually, they start ushering us toward the door.

“We can’t wait to have you onboard,” Damon says.

“Same here.” Tommy winks at Jacob as we leave the room. “See you on the flip side, your honor.”

Jacob gives him an unimpressed smirk but doesn’t say anything. We walk out and I literally hop and skip to the elevators. As soon as the doors close and we’re safe inside, I cover my mouth with my hands and scream the excitement gushing through me.

“We’re going to be on the radio, Tom!”

“I know. It feels so surreal. And did you see how much they’re going to pay us? Earning that much should be illegal.”

“We can finally move out. Oh, my God! We gotta call my parents.” I take my phone out of my jacket pocket as we step out of the elevator and head toward the exit.

Keith answers on the second ring, his face filling my screen. “Hey, kiddo.”

“Dad! Shit, I have such great news. Are you with mom?”

“Sure am. We’re just about to start cooking dinner. Are you and Tommy going to be joining us, or are you working tonight?”

“Put dinner on hold. We are going someplace really fancy to celebrate.”

Tommy steps up behind me and rests his chin on my shoulder. “You’re gonna have to pay, though, Keith. We’ll pay you back in April.”

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