“Well, maybe…”
“Ben, don’t lose your balls now,” I said firmly. “Quadruple the rate, expand the Friday segment to three minutes, and get me a thirty-minute special every few months, my time permitting. That is until we can lock down a syndication deal with Kingston or whomever, then all bets are off.”
“You want an out-clause in case the syndication deal comes through?”
Of course,” I huffed. “I’m not going to show up there every Friday to do a segment when I have a show of my own to focus on. Include the out-clause, end of discussion.”
“And if they don’t agree?”
“Fuck ‘em,” I said with a smile. “We’ll go to Fox.”
“Okay, that’s what I’ll pitch,” he said. “Are you on your way to meet Ed and the new executive producer? I’ll wait to see how that goes before I call the head of programming with our new terms.”
“I am on my way to meet with them now.” I peered out the front window. “I’m ten minutes out. What do you know about the new executive producer?”
“Not much. Worked in Milwaukee for a few years, your old stomping ground, then produced the nightly news for a station in Chicago for the last ten years. She was Ed Quigley’s protégé right out of college. Name is… hang on… Lucinda Rhodes. She’s female, so that works in your favor.”
“Lucinda Rhodes,” I said with a smile. “Okay, Ben. I’ll keep you posted. And Ben, don’t let me down.”
“Don’t worry, Calvin. I’ve got this.”
I smiled. Ben was the only person on the planet allowed to call me Calvin. And he knew better than to ever do so in public. Calvin was a name I hadn’t used in years because it reminded me of a skinny kid from Wisconsin who had few friends and fewer prospects.
I’d left Calvin Colton Walker behind years ago.
Now I was Dr. Cole Walker.
And I was the fucking king of the world.
Chapter 6: Lucy
Ed and I were sitting in his office waiting for Dr. Cole Walker to arrive. Our meeting was set for three o’clock. It was now three-fifteen and Walker had yet to show. Ed didn’t seem too concerned or too pissed off, which again, was totally out of character for him. He busied himself with answering emails and talking to his wife on the phone about the grandkids coming to visit next weekend. I got the impression that the good doctor operated on his own schedule, no pun intended. Still, Ed was usually a pit bull when it came to keeping a tight schedule. This guy must be something if Ed was willing to just hang out and wait for him.
“Okay, when Dr. Walker gets here don’t look directly into his eyes for more than a few seconds,” Ed said as he turned from the computer to face me. He put his hands behind his head and began to rock. He had a serious frown on his face.
I frowned back. “What does that mean?”
“It means that he has a way of hypnotizing women. Damnedest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“You make him sound like a vampire,” I said with a smile. “Or a mad dog.”
“Take your pick,” he said with a shrug. “I’m just warning you, he has this way about him. Christ, I’m sure Stephanie must change her panties every time he’s on set. Even Bryant seems in awe of the guy. He freakin’ gushes over him. Again, the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” I said with a mock frown. “Trust me. Men have very little effect on me these days. Other than to piss me off.”
“Speaking of men pissing you off, when’s the last time you heard from your asshole ex-husband?” Ed had known Randy from our days back in Chicago. He was at our wedding. He didn’t care for Randy then and certainly didn’t have much use for him now.
“I haven’t talked to Randy since I left Chicago,” I said. I felt the muscles in my cheeks tighten at the mention of his name. “There’s really nothing left to say.”
Ed was about to say something, then he glanced past me at the open doorway and smiled, which was odd because Ed never smiled. He pushed himself up from the chair and went around the desk. I turned to see who he was looking at and came eye to eye with the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen. At least the most gorgeous man that I’d ever seen in person.
The man standing in the doorway was tall, with jet black hair and baby blue eyes and teeth so perfect and white they almost didn’t look real. He had a deep tan and a Kennedy jawline. He was wearing a dark suit that probably cost more than my first car, an open-collared white shirt that showed off tufts of dark curls on his chest, and a gold Rolex that looked like it weighed twenty pounds on his wrist. When he looked at me and smiled I literally thought I was going to melt in my panties. The last time my pussy felt this hot I had accidentally sat on a black bicycle seat that had been out in the summer sun all day long.
“Hey, there he is,” Ed said happily, sticking out his hand and patting Dr. Cole Walker on the shoulder. “How are you doing, doc?”
“I’m fine, Ed, thank you,” Walker said formally. I swallowed the lump that had lodged in my throat and clasped my hands together behind me. I tried not to bounce on the balls of my feet like a love struck high school girl… high school… That’s when it hit me. Holy shit. I knew Dr. Cole Walker from another life, from another time. Holy shit...
“Lucy? Oh, my god, Lucy Walsh? Is that you?”
He let go of Ed’s hand and moved toward me with his arms outstretched and a look of wonder on his handsome face. I stood dumbfounded as he wrapped his strong arms around me and pulled me in for a hug. He squeezed me tight and grunted playfully, then pulled back with his hands on my shoulders. His eyes went around my face.
He said, “My god, Lucy, I can’t believe it’s you.”
“You two know each other?” Ed asked, his bushy eyebrows in a deep vee above his eyes. “Stupid question, obviously, you do.”
“We do know each other,” Cole said, eyes sparkling. “Or we did. We were high school sweethearts.” He gave me a big grin. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Lucy.”
I think my mouth moved for several seconds before my brain decided to take part in the conversation. I blinked away the shock and mustered a smile.
I muttered, “Calvin Walker? From Milwaukee? You’re Dr. Cole Walker?”
“Colton is my middle name,” he said, nodding. “Cole sounds so much better than Calvin, don’t you think?” He glanced over at Ed and made a mock serious face. “If you tell anyone my name is Calvin I’ll have to kill you.”
“No worries there, doc,” Ed said with a smile, his pudgy hands waving in the air. He put his fingers to his lips and pretended to turn the key. “Your secret’s safe with me.”
I was smiling, too, because I’d never seen Ed so openly enamored of anyone. But I couldn’t blame him. Gazing into Dr. Cole Walker’s eyes it was easy to see how anyone could fall in love with him, even a fat sixty-year-old heterosexual man who was normally as affectionate as a rattlesnake. It was no wonder the viewers loved him.
Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around his waist and melted into him again. He laughed as he put his arms around me and made cute little grunting noises as he rocked me from side to side. I put my head on his chest and sighed. I could only imagine what Ed was thinking. Heck, I could only imagine what Calvin—I mean—Cole was thinking, being accosted by a woman he hadn’t seen in nearly twenty years like some deranged fan.
It felt like old times, only I was hugging the famous Dr. Cole Walker and not nerdy Calvin Walker, the skinny, teenage boy who took my virginity in exchange for his.
Chapter 7: Lucy
I hated high school. My mother literally had to pry me out of bed in the morning to get me to go, I hated it so much. I was an awkward girl with unruly blonde hair and pimples and skinny legs and practically no boobs or hips (those came later, thank God).
There was nothing round about me other than my IQ, which was around 130. I was gifted, but was certainly no genius, at least when it came to being social or attracting boys. I was easily the smartest girl in the eleventh grade, which wasn’t that surprising given that most of the other girls were focusing all their time and limited brain cells on their wardrobe and makeup; and on creative ways to lose their virginity. I was the least sexual girl in all of Milwaukee. All my vagina was good for was getting stuck to my panties during sweaty gym classes.
I was probably the only girl in the eleventh grade not having sex of some kind. I remember a contest among the eleventh-grade girls as to who could have sex with the most varsity football players. Hand jobs counted as one point, blowjobs counted as two, and if you went all the way, that was three. And if you let him stick it in your ass (ouch!!), that would get you two bonus points. Points were tallied at the end of the semester and the lucky winner got the title of Biggest Slut—slash—Biggest Athletic Supporter in the school, which was on par with being crowned prom queen at my school. Needless to say, I did not participate. I barely knew what a penis was, and the thought of having one in my mouth just grossed me out. God forbid one ever try to invade my vagina or butt hole!