Sounds Like Radio Episode 12
Sounds Like Radio’s accounts sheet was like a rubber duck bobbing incongruously on the ocean, Cesca thought.
Sometimes it floated, glowing yellow in the sun and with a hopeful smile on its face; sometimes it ducked below the surface, engulfed by a wave.
As long as bookings came in, the studio was a floating rubber duck.
But then a stomach bug hit.
Kevin called from home in such a torment about missing a reading of Jane Austen that it took Cesca ten minutes to find out what the trouble was.
“Studios are not good places for germs,” she told Gerry.
“Air-conditioning, no open windows?” Gerry said.
“Exactly. I’m tough as an ox, though.”
“Me, too.”
Miriam got it badly – Cesca suspected that her low mood and bad eating habits hadn’t helped.
Cesca ploughed on, keeping the plates spinning and dashing between customers, keeping them all happy. She had to stay healthy until Thursday.
On Thursday, Sounds Like Radio was breaking new ground; they were hosting a major phone-in on mental health issues.
It was something of a coup for a small outfit like theirs and Kevin had ordered a clamp-on bit of kit for the main sound desk that handled the incoming calls.
“It’s going out live,” Cesca told Gerry, “except that the usual delay will be built in in case someone swears or something.
“The show will be syndicated across a string of talk radio stations right across the Midlands.”
“Do we get a higher fee because of that?” Gerry asked.
“You got it. And it has to be Thursday at five; it’s a drive-time slot to catch stressed-out workers.”
“Have you done phone-ins before?”
“Honey, I’ve done everything that involves a fader and a pair of ears.”
“But you look about twenty-two. How have you had time?”
“Thank you. I’m twenty-nine, and surprised I don’t look fifty. I’ve had time to try most things.
“Actually, Kevin wrote a manual on phone-ins.” Cesca opened a filing cabinet.
“Here there are, all Kev’s laminated, colour-coded, alphabetically ordered manuals.
“Goodness knows where he finds the time.” Cesca laughed as she poked around inside the drawer.
“I’d forgotten this one, the manual to work the coffee machine in the kitchen.” She drew it out.
“It’s the manufacturer’s instructions, but there are annotations where Kevin found them inadequate.”
“Monica must be quite a woman,” Gerry said.
Cesca slid the document back into the filing drawer.
“I knew Kevin’s first wife,” she said, “She was quite a woman, too.
“But even someone strong like Janice couldn’t take it in the end.”
“That’s a shame. Monica seems nice.”
“You need to be more than nice to live with Kevin. Sometimes I wonder what made him so . . . unique.” Cesca stood up.
“In his past, you know? But you can get carried away with pet psychology.
“Now, I ought to go and call the phone-in producer. Gerry, get off home – you never seem to go home.”
“I might just take a look at those manuals.”
Cesca’s eyebrows rose.
“Have you seen how many there are?”
“I’ll pick and choose.”
“If you study the coffee machine one, let me know how to make the milk froth. Frothy coffee would improve my life.”
“I think I’ll stick to equipment guides. The caff does great coffee.” Gerry was watching Cesca as she made her way to the door.
“That young man next door is great, isn’t he?”
Cesca knew exactly who Gerry meant, but she pretended not to.
“Which side? The Lebowitzes at number eighteen?”
“The builder,” Gerry said, “who introduced you to the concept of getting away from work sometimes. You should listen. He’s lovely.”
Cesca laughed.
“Pot calling kettle black – who is it that never goes home?”
As she left Gerry yanking out laminated sheets, Cesca felt her stomach cramping. She took a deep breath and told herself it was a bit of indigestion.
But it wasn’t.
By the time she staggered into her flat two hours later she knew she had the bug.
She felt like death, and all she could think about was the Thursday phone-in.
Kevin was still laid up, and he must be ill because even strong-willed Monica would be unable to hold him back if he could get himself out of bed.
Cesca collapsed on to her own bed.
If she had to cancel, what was that going to do to the reputation and the balance sheet of Sounds Like Radio?