(As always I'd like to thank "
LarryinSeattle
" for his editing and assistance without which this wouldn't be nearly as an enjoyable story)
Jason groaned as he looked down at the text message. He knew that any plans he may have had for the evening just disappeared.
His grandfather started the radio station in the mid-1930's when small radio stations were at their high-point. Over the years it had been both a blessing and a curse to the family. It paid for food, mortgages, and all the other necessities in life, as well as paying for college for every member of the family that wanted to go - including him. Unfortunately, the price had been paid in relationships, marriages, and occasionally, lives.
Jason's mom and dad divorced while he was just a child because of the long hours needed at the station and the remoteness of the area they lived in. His mom, not a native of the area, moved away before the divorce was even finalized, saying she'd be in contact with him but he never heard from her again. His dad eventually remarried. Years later, his dad's plane crashed in the Rockies while he was on a trip following up on a story. This left just him and his step-mom, Toni.
His phone beeped again and he knew he had better get going. The message was from Toni. "I need your help at the station."
Toni was different than most moms. She had been born and raised in the area. She went off to college and graduate school where she earned an advanced degree in psychology and became a well-known psychologist before returning home.
She was different in other ways too. She was 29 years old, only 7 years older than Jason. She was 5-foot, 6-inches tall and had black hair that she usually wore pulled up, though in truth, it hung to the middle of her back. Her eyes were hazel and seemed to be filled with stars that twinkled when she was excited about something. Her skin seemed to be continuously tanned because of her Italian heritage and some said that was also the reason for her 36C-28-34 figure. Yet, none of that really mattered to Jason as his phone beeped for the third time.
"I NEED YOU AT THE STATION, NOW!!!"
Quickly tapping in "I'm on my way," he hopped on his motorcycle and headed to the station.
The moment he walked in he knew that something was wrong, big time!! Toni was rushing about the broadcast booth and there was no sign of Jim, the technician.
"Hey, what's up?" he asked.
"Jim called in sick. Apparently he has the flu and slept right through his alarm so I didn't have a chance to try and get anyone to fill in," she said excitedly. "So I had to call you ... and call you ... and call you again."
"Hey, I'm sorry. I was on my cycle and didn't hear the phone," he lied.
"Whatever!"
Shrugging his shoulders, he asked, "So what can I do to help?"
"You have the degree in broadcast communications. You figure it out," she responded tersely before closing the door to the booth and taking her seat.
For the next three hours, he switched controls and took requests until just before 10 PM. He knew the schedules well enough to know that the only thing left for the night was a talk show that Toni did on Friday nights. Frequently, she took calls from the listeners and provided advice about their problems. On other occasions, she used taped interviews from some of her clients. These usually got the highest ratings of the week since they almost always had to do with sex.
He looked at the programming guide and his eyes seemed glued on the topic: INCEST.
"What the fuck?"
he thought as he looked through the window between the two booths.
Suddenly, he noticed Toni becoming more and more agitated as she began opening and closing the desk drawers. Then she started frantically tossing paperwork everywhere. When she missed her cue for the next set of songs, he quickly keyed them up and headed into her booth.
"What's the matter?"
"It's gone. Shit, Shit, SHIT. The disc is gone," she screamed.
"What disc?"
"The disc with my interview for tonight. I finished editing it yesterday and then put it in the drawer like I always do but now it's gone."
"OK, calm down. I'll help you look." For the next ten minutes, they ripped the booth apart but still no disc. Then he asked, "Who else knew about the disc and where you kept it."
"Me and ...," she stopped as she got a far away look in her eyes before finishing, her voice drawing out and prolonging the answer, "Jim."
"Ya, ok, so Jim knew about the disc. That's no big deal."
"Actually it is. He knew what the topic was and thought that the people I had interviewed might be people he knew."
"Well, were they?"
"You know I can't tell you that," she answered. "The problem now is that I don't have the time to do anything else and I can't say the disc was taken by a member of my staff because the people I interviewed might be people he knew."
Jason simply nodded his head.
"It would serve him right"
he thought but said, "So what are you going to do?"
Sitting there silently, an idea popped into her head. "I still have my original notes from the interview as well as their answers. What do you think of doing a little acting? We could use the filter to alter our voices and pretend we were the people I interviewed."
He didn't say a thing. The idea of even role-playing like this with her was too close to the truth. For years, he'd fantasized about being her lover.
"Well?"
"Ok," he said more out of habit than anything else.
Quickly, they set up the sound booth with three microphones. The first she would use as she normally would while the second would have the filter on it to alter her voice and the third, also with a filter, was for him.
"Right, here's how we'll do this. In the beginning I'm going to ask the woman some questions. I'll have to pop back and forth between the first two microphones. Then I'll start to ask you some questions. If you answer just like it's written in the original interview we should be ok. Ready?"
He nodded as she slid her chair back to the first mike and hit a switch. "Good Evening, listeners. This is Toni, your host and interviewer for tonight's program. As many of you know, I am a clinical psychologist specializing in sexual matters. So if you're not interested in the topic, or have children listening, please come back and visit me another time." She paused for almost a minute before continuing. "Alright then, tonight's topic is incest and I have two people with me who I'll call Sarah and Sam. They have agreed to be interviewed regarding their relationship but before we start I'm going to ask all listeners to hold your calls and questions until after the program is over. Thank you."
"Good evening, Sarah, and you too, Sam," Toni said before flipping the switch for the second microphone.
"Hello," she replied in her now muffled voice.
Jason mumbled, "Evening."
"Please don't be nervous," Toni said into the first mike once again. "Sarah, would you tell us how you're related to Sam."
"I'm his step-mother."
"I see, and can you tell us how your relationship started?"
Shifting back to the second mike, she hesitated before replying. "I was attracted to Sam from the moment I first met him. He was such a handsome, polite young man. He made me feel like I was a part of the family from the very beginning."
"That was very fortunate for you. And how about you, Sam? What did you think of Sarah when you first met her?"