Filthy Doctor(10)

“So, Dr. Walker, I was explaining to Lucy before you arrived how well-received your segments are on Friday evenings.” Ed leaned forward on his elbows and rubbed his hands together. They made a sound like two blocks of wood rubbing together. “I had not gotten to the part about your contract coming up for renewal.”

“Contract renewal?” I frowned at Ed then gave Calvin—Cole— a wary smile. “Uh oh. My first day here and I have to talk to you about your contract renewal?”

“That’s being handled by the folks upstairs,” Ed said with a look of relief that it wasn’t him negotiating directly with Cole. He wouldn’t have stood a chance. “And it’s my understanding that things are going well. Is that your understanding, Doc?” He looked at Cole with a hopeful smile.

“That’s being handled by my manager,” Cole said, gracefully deflecting the question. I could tell that he was deflecting by the way his eyebrows arched and his head tipped to the side, like he used to when I’d ask if wanted to stay for dinner on the nights when my mother had made stuffed peppers. He hated stuffed peppers and I knew it. I only asked because I loved to see him sweat. In this case, however, if he was deflecting it was because the negotiations were not going the way Ed thought they were.

“Well, I’m sure things are going well,” Ed said, though his voice had lost some of its surety. He leaned back and spread out his hands. “Hopefully, we can expand your role on the program, Doc. And now that I know you and Lucy are old friends, well, I’m sure things will just be lovely.”

“Lovely?” I said with a smile. I turned to Cole and nodded at Ed. “I’m pretty sure you’re the only person on the planet that would make Ed use that word.”

“Lovely is a good word,” Cole said, his eyes lingering on mine. He held out his hand and I took it without hesitation. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

“I can’t believe it either,” I said.

“Um, I hate to break up the reunion  , kids,” Ed said, still smiling, though I got the impression that the smile was becoming more forced by the minute. He looked at me and tapped the crystal of this watch. “It’s almost four. We need to get to the preshow meeting, then we have a show to do.”

“I understand,” Cole said without letting go of my hand. He turned sideways in the chair and leaned on his elbows to tug me closer. “What time will you be finished tonight?”

“Uh, well,” I glanced at Ed because this would be my first newscast and I had no idea what time we’d be done.

“She’ll be free by eight,” Ed said, the confident smile returning. He didn’t have to say it. He loved the fact that his executive producer was an old flame of his rising star. I’m sure in his mind the contract negotiations had just swung in the network’s favor. The truth was, he was probably overestimating the influence I had over Dr. Cole Walker after all this time. We were high school sweethearts and hadn’t seen each other in nearly twenty years. I seriously doubted anything I had to say would hold sway now.

“Then I will be in a car waiting downstairs at eight,” Cole said, squeezing my hand. “Dinner and a game of chess?”

“That sounds lovely,” I said with a smile. “Though I haven’t played chess in years.”

“That’s okay,” he said, getting to his feet and tugging me up with him. He held out his arms and I stepped into them. He whispered in my ear. “Neither have I.”

I hadn’t done a lot of things in years, I wanted to say, but didn’t.

I’d had lots of sex since our last night together, mostly with my shit head ex-husband, but I had never felt the way I had felt in Cole’s arms, at least until that moment.





Chapter 10: Lucy





To say that the rest of my day after Calvin—shit— after Cole left was even more stressful than my morning would have been an understatement. I was used to running the evening news show on a local station in Chicago, a major market, but as Ed kept reminding me, this was the big time. The big leagues. The big show. I think those were all baseball references meaning that I was now playing with the big boys. Regardless of the reference, I understood what he meant. I was now executive producing a network newscast that would be seen by millions of viewers around the globe five nights a week in prime time, which meant that if something went wrong, millions would see it and I would be to blame. Then some asshole would post the video on YouTube and I would be a viral sensation and a laughing stock of the industry. I tried to ignore the intense pressure of the situation and the nagging self-doubt and I told myself that I had earned this spot because I was good at my job. Still, I kept my fingers laced together behind my back for most of the afternoon so no one would see my hands shaking.

Ed stayed with me the entire time as I met with the team two hours ahead of air to map out that evening’s broadcast and arrange the lineup, then stood next to me in the control booth as I barked out orders to the team in the booth and on the studio floor. If I pressed a button on the console in front of me I could speak directly into the ears of the anchors on set. Each time I’d say something in Bryant’s earpiece, he’d stare into the camera and give me a stony look. Stephanie smiled and gave a slight nod when I gave her directions, though I think it was mostly because she was amused that just the sound of my voice seemed to irritate the shit out of Bryant. It was controlled chaos and there were a couple of minor glitches, but all in all, it wasn’t a terrible first night on the job.

“Well, congratulations, Lucy. Your network cherry is officially popped,” Ed said with a sigh of relief as the ending credits rolled. Everyone in the booth stood to give me a polite round of applause. The monitors showing the set went dark as Bryant and Stephanie walked off to their respective dressing rooms and the camera operators switched the cameras off. I took out my earpiece and set it on the control panel.

“I feel like I’ve been popped,” I said with a sigh of relief that matched his. I gave him a sideways look and wiggled my eyebrows. “That was fucking amazing.”

“It’s an adrenaline rush,” Ed said. He patted my shoulder. “You did great. Just the right amount of bossiness and tact. Hell, I think I even saw Bryant smile at one point.”

“I seriously doubt that,” I said, shaking my head. “But I’ll win him over.”

“I know you will,” Ed said. He held open the control room door to let me pass, then led the way back toward his office. “Do you think you can win over Dr. Cole Walker?”

I stopped and turned to face him. “What do you mean?”

He hitched his pants up beneath his round stomach, then rubbed his eyes and blew out a long breath. He suddenly looked very tired. “Honestly, I don’t think the contract negotiations with Walker are going in our favor, Lucy.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I got a call from upstairs while you were doing the news,” Ed said, slowly shaking his head. “Walker’s agent delivered new terms this afternoon after we met with the good doctor. We want to renew him at double the current rate with the same amount of time onset. He wants to quadruple the rate, double the minutes, and a guarantee of a thirty-minute special once a quarter on the medical topic of his choice. And he wants an anytime-opt-out clause, which is fucking unheard of in this business.”

I folded my arms over my chest and leaned back against the wall to give others room to pass by. Ed leaned his shoulder against the wall and shoved his hands into his pockets. He was so round he couldn’t help but block the hallway. I asked, “Why does he want an anytime-opt-out?”

Ed blew out another long breath that puffed up his cheeks like blowfish. “Word is he’s negotiating with Kingston Television about a daily syndicated show.”

“A daily show? Seriously?”

“Yep. He wants to be the next Dr. Oz.”

“Wow, that’s…”

“Awful,” Ed growled. “If he gets a syndication deal, the opt-out clause would let him pull out of our deal anytime he wanted with no notice or penalty.”

“Would that be so bad?” I asked. “I mean, he’s only on once a week for two minutes.”

“Those two minutes are the highest rated minutes of the week for us,” Ed said, holding up two fingers and stabbing the air with them. “Sure, we can put another talking head in his place. I’ve got them lined up around the fucking block. But they are not Dr. Cole Walker. Him leaving could cost us millions in lost revenue and tons of lost viewers who will follow him wherever he goes.”

I tried not to smile. Who knew that one day my old high school sweetheart who got nervous raising his hand in class would command such an audience. The look on Ed’s face told me there would be absolutely nothing to smile about if Cole left the show. I shouldn’t have asked, but I did. “Okay, so, what can I do help?”

Ed looked at me for a few seconds, then his bushy eyebrows slowly rose and he twisted his mouth to the side. “I think you know. Give him a reason to stay.”

I huffed at him. “You can’t be serious.” My face turned deep red, not because of what he’d said, but because I had been thinking about fucking Cole since the moment I saw him walk through the door. However, I was not so egotistical as to think that my pussy still held any type of control over his brain or cock. I’d done a quick Google of Dr. Cole Walker after our meeting. He was a notorious womanizer and had his pick of models, actresses, and heiresses. There was no room for someone like me in his life. I was an old flame and nothing more.