Good thing he was enjoying himself, because I sure failed to see the humor.
TROY JONES AND I played phone tag all week. It’ s not easy to get hold of a guy who works in the middle of the sky in the morning and doesn’ t return calls all afternoon. And I forgave him for mocking me in his phone message because-as it would happen-I needed a favor. A big one. Troy Jones was now officially part of my plan to be the best gosh-darned employee L.A. Rideshare had ever seen. He was, in fact, my entire plan.
After daily messages back and forth, Troy finally reached me Thursday night at home. It was almost nine o’ clock when my phone rang.
‘ Isn’ t it past your bedtime?’ I asked him. After all, I was about to crawl into bed, and I’ m not the one who got up at three a.m.
‘ I catch up on my sleep in the afternoon.’
Mmm. I pictured him stretched out on his couch. Then I pictured him stretched out on his couch with his shirt off. Even better. I was about to insert myself into the scenario-deciding the on/off status of my own clothing-but I swatted down my hormones.
‘ Anyway,’ I proceeded, all business, ‘ you mentioned before that you’ d be willing to take me along on a traffic report.’
‘ Any time. You name it.’
‘ Well, yes, thanks. But I’ m wondering if I can ask a huge favor. You know how the gas giveaway kind of got out of hand-’
‘ There’ s an understatement,’ he interjected. ‘ They’ re still talking about it at work. A buddy of mine, Ryan, drove down& brought his daughter with him so he’ d be a carpool. He said it took him three hours to get out of the traffic mess, and nobody was getting any gas. I heard there were fistfights.’
‘ Only the one!’ I protested. ‘ The gas station manager broke it up. And speaking of the manager, he’ s suing.’
‘ You’ re kidding, for what?’
‘ Loss of income, pain and suffering. The usual. Since I was more or less in charge, I might get fired. So if you could take my boss up on the ride-along as well, she might cut me slack. Especially if she’ d have a chance to give a pitch for ridesharing on air. I don’ t know if you can do that, or-’
‘ You might get fired over this?’
‘ Quite possibly.’
‘ I had no idea.’ He groaned, ‘ I left you a message laughing.’
‘ Don’ t worry about it.’
‘ You must think I’ m such an ass.’
For a minute there, yes. ‘ Nah.’
‘ Well, the ride-along’ s no problem. There’ s plenty of room for two. I can’ t guarantee you’ ll get on air, though. I’ ll have to run it by the producer. Depends on how bad traffic is, whether or not there’ ll be time. I’ m usually more open on Fridays, so if that works for you& ‘
‘ Sure, Friday’ s perfect.’
We set up a ride-along for the following week. The helicopter he piloted was based at the Van Nuys Airport, a few miles from my parents’ house. ‘ I go up at five,’ he said, ‘ so if the two of you can be there at four-thirty, we’ ll have time to get you situated.’
‘ Four-thirty? As in the morning?’ I gulped. ‘ Hoo boy. Mind if I wear my jammies?’
‘ Wear whatever you want. It’ s radio.’ He paused and then said, ‘ What kind of pajamas?’
My mind flashed to my favorite pajamas. Flannel shorts and a T-shirt with little Snoopys on it. Sexy lady! ‘ I’ ll surprise you,’ I said.
‘ Sounds promising.’
He gave me directions to his hangar in the airport, and when I thanked him again, he said, ‘ Looking forward to it. By the way, you have any problem with heights?’
‘ Nope.’
‘ Speed?’
‘ Fine with it.’
‘ Flips, turns, nosedives, midair stunts?’
‘ How ‘ bout you drop me off before you get to that part? But don’ t rule it out entirely. I’ m sure my boss would love it.’
THE NEXT MORNING, I marched boldly into the office-head held high for the first time since the fiasco. As soon as I could tell Lizbeth about how Troy Jones would be working with us, she’ d sing a different tune about me. She’ d throw her body in front of Dr. Death to preserve my job. Granted, it was only the one ride-along, but there was no need to get into picky details.
Lizbeth was in a closed-door meeting all morning. I was editing my newsletter when I noticed Dr. Death hovering near my cubicle. My heart froze. No& not before I had a chance to spring my surprise on Lizbeth& he couldn’ t. That was the problem with these cubicles. No place to hide. If only I could& Oh, wait& he passed me by. I exhaled a breath. Close call.
When I felt the chill from the air recede, I peeked around the corner. I saw him stop to talk to Brie and then go into Lizbeth’ s office.
I escaped to the deli downstairs to get doughnuts and Diet Coke. There was no way I was going to risk an encounter with Dr. Death before I had a chance to talk to Lizbeth. By the time I checked back to see if he’ d left and if she was available, it was almost noon. Brie sat at her station, thumbing through an Ebony magazine.
‘ Can I see Lizbeth now?’
‘ She’ s gone.’
‘ Damn! I was hoping to catch her so I could-’
