Page 91 of My Infatuation with Isabella

February 26, 2027

“We need to raise awarenessabout this and get some urgent funding,” I say. “I think we should dedicate the whole show to talking about it. We can ask people to donate and when they call in the topic of discussion can be...I don’t know. All I know is we have to help.”

Damon nods his agreement because he knows he doesn’t have a choice. I’ve been a mess since Syd reported this on the news this morning. A gas leak at a homeless shelter led to a fire breaking out and the whole second story was totally destroyed. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but there are so many kids who need help, and we have the ability to help them.

“Why don’t we try doing a...random acts of kindness thing,” Tommy suggests, “mixed with a pay it forward. We can ask listeners to call in and tell us about a random act of kindness they received and how they want to pay it forward with financial aid to the shelter.”

“I like it,” Damon says. “We can allocate a slot for it for the whole of next week. I think initiating a drive like this could boost the show substantially.”

Tommy pulls a face. “Not everything is about ratings and the bottom line, Damon.”

“But it doesn’t hurt to get it in the process.” He looks at his laptop. “Okay, we’ll move these topics to a different show. Let’s rewrite this for Monday.”

We rework the entire show and Damon calls around to see which companies would be interested in assisting with funding. Quite a number of them agree with minimal effort from our side, though like Damon, I think some of them see it as a way to boost their brand by highlighting their dedication to social responsibility. It’s also technically free advertising. I allocate slots for them to come on air and announce their donation while Tommy searches for songs that would suit the theme of the show. I don’t care about their reasons. The end result is more important to me. Doing all this makes me realize how much I love this job and how much of an impact we could make.

“Hey, Damon, do you think this is something we could do more regularly?” I ask.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, let’s allocate a slot, let’s say once a month, where we look for a worthy cause. It can be a person or an organization. We can ask listeners to write in motivation letters and depending on their plight, we can select someone each month. We’ll give them airtime to make people aware of it and promote their cause. We can get the listeners involved to help them.”

“I love it!” Tommy says. There’s a reason why Tom and I are best friends. We may argue on the small stuff, but we are always one hundred percent aligned on the things that matter.

Damon, on the other hand, is a bit skeptical. “I don’t know. Eric wanted this station to be more edgy and raw. Something like that seems...outside of his vision.”

“People who are edgy and raw can have good hearts too,” I counter.

He chuckles. “Alright, let’s chat to him about it next week.”

Tommy and I don’t wait for official approval. We walk to my office and start brainstorming ideas of where to slot it in and the screening process for applicants. My phone rings and a smile instantly lights up my face when I see who it is. He calls every day now. This riddle has really irked him and sometimes he’ll call a few times a day to tell me he hates me for doing this to him. But he also calls just to chat or check in. It’s amazing how quickly we’ve slipped back into old habits.

“It’s Dylan, isn’t it?” Tommy asks, standing up. “Take it. I’ll go grab some lunch for us in the meantime.”

“Thanks.” I wait for him to leave before I answer. “Hi.”

“Hi,” he greets with a wide smile.

“How’s your day going?”

“We’re so busy today. I’m actually on kitchen duty. I haven’t stopped cooking since eleven, so Dana thought I needed a breather and pulled me out for a smoke break.” He turns the phone toward her. “Say hi, sis.”

She blows out a puff of smoke before waving at me. “Hi, sis!”

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