Drama 99 FM

by Janine A. Morris

Genres: African American Women's Fiction; African American Romance

Synopsis

Life in the fast lane isn't all it's cracked up to be. . . Ever since she started working for a top executive in the music industry, once-shy Naomi has gone from drab to fab. Now that she's had a taste of the good life, she'll stop at nothing to get more--even if it means watching her career unravel and losing the ones she loves. Personal assistant Sereeta is all about getting her NBA player boss whatever he wants. She's not afraid to break the rules, until he crosses the line with her--and she realizes that one wrong move could destroy everything. As music director of New York's top radio station, Madison has the power to make or break careers. But a dangerous affair with one of hip-hop's most wanted men finds her risking her personal and professional life--all in the name of good old-fashioned lust. From VIP passes to high-stakes relationships, these ladies longed for glitz and glamour--but can they afford the cost that comes with it? "Morris has a way with words and drama."-- NY Daily News Praise for Janine A. Morris and Diva Diaries "Reminiscent of Waiting to Exhale."-- Booklist "I felt like I was experiencing one of my own girls' nights out." --Lala, MTV VJ

Release date: April 24, 2012

Publisher: Dafina

Print pages: 353

Sample

This wasn’t something Madison ever would have expected. As she cruised down Hughes Avenue, she saw DJ KD being put in the back of the police car. There were some onlookers watching, but it wasn’t clear if any were fans of his or if they were all just people coincidentally passing by. Madison knew she should have pulled over instantly and approached the police and KD to see what had happened, even if just simply to show concern for her employee, but quite honestly, she just didn’t feel like it. I’m getting too old for this nonsense, she thought as she turned the corner, pretending as if she hadn’t seen what she’d just seen.

She knew the drama and constant goings-on in the entertainment industry were what made her job exciting. But after twelve years in the industry, she had to admit that sometimes enough was enough. Why couldn’t these damn adults just get their stuff together? She knew firsthand that once certain kinds of people were blessed with money and fame, those same blessings could have terrible effects on a person. Most of these celebrity figures, even if they were known only on a local level, had huge egos—so much so that they formed more enemies and brought on more legal issues than any one person needed. The reality was most of these issues occurred because these people seemed to forget that they, too, were mere normal humans at the end of the day. Fame and money could evaporate just as easy as they came, but these folks hadn’t gotten the Staying Humble 101 handbook—at least not most of them.

Madison finally found parking in the busy uptown area of Manhattan and began to walk over toward the radio station. She was hoping the scene she’d passed in front of the building would be gone by the time she got there. Just to up her chances, she stopped in a store along the way to get coffee, though she usually just welcomed herself to the free coffee in the cafeteria at work. She sipped her warm coffee as she walked down the two long city blocks between the store and the station. She arrived on Hughes Avenue and noticed there was no sign of the cop car or DJ KD, and she said a silent “thank you” to herself. There were still a few onlookers standing around, probably just gossiping about what they had seen and putting pieces of their own accounts of it together. Madison walked past them all and directly into the building.

Once she got into the lobby, the drama began. The security guard in the lobby looked eager to be the bearer of bad news as he saw Madison walking up.

“They just arrested KD,” the security guard said.

Madison wanted to roll her eyes at him. Not just because he couldn’t even let her get in the damn building all the way before he bombarded her with information, but he wasn’t minding his business. He was the security for the building, not the radio station, so at the end of the day he was just gossiping.

“Yeah, I heard,” Madison said as she walked by him in a hurried manner. She was hoping her short response and her body language made it evident she didn’t wish to have that conversation with him. It must have worked because he didn’t say anything more about it, at least not to her.

Madison made her way to the elevator without seeing anyone else, and she was relieved as she enjoyed her lonesome elevator ride to the twelfth floor. As she exited into the lobby of the radio station, she noticed a tall Asian man dressed in a police uniform. By the time she’d registered that he was standing there, she heard the receptionist’s voice.

“There she is. That’s the program director right there,” Felicia said.

Madison could’ve just pulled out a gun and shot Felicia right then and there. Well, in her imagination she could have. The officer seemed surprised to see that such a little woman was the boss of such a large man, but Madison’s expression made it clear big things came in small packages. Madison was only five feet five inches, with a milk chocolate complexion and a shoulder-length bob. Her bangs were growing back, so she had them slightly swooped to the side, just enough for folks to get a good look into her eyes.

“Hi, Madison Cassell. Can I speak with you for a moment?” the officer inquired.

“Sure, but as you see, I just walked in. I will need a few moments,” she replied as she cut her eyes at Felicia, hoping she got her gist.

Felicia was new on the job, so she needed a hint to let her know Madison wanted Felicia to keep the officer occupied. Madison had been questioned by the police many times before, and she was not about to get the story from a police officer as he tried to gain information from her. Madison didn’t give the officer the chance to object—not that he could; she knew she wasn’t under arrest, and he couldn’t hold her there in her lobby. She swiped her security card and walked through the door to the other side where the officer was not welcome. She walked toward her office, and she could see the eyes of some of her colleagues watching her as she made her way toward her department. As soon as she made the left turn down the corridor leading to her office, she saw her assistant standing a few feet away.

“What happened?” Madison asked.

Now, her assistant, Alexis, was the person she wanted to hear the story from. She knew Alexis would tell her what she needed to know, and she knew she would likely be well informed because everyone went to Alexis with the news and business. She was the type of girl everyone trusted and got along with. As Madison expected, she knew exactly what had happened.

“KD was leaving the station this morning after doing his morning mix, and that new artist Tryme was upset that KD didn’t spin any of his records because he’d been a guest on the morning show. When KD stepped out of the DJ booth, Tryme approached him and said some things. One thing led to another, and they started fighting. Somewhere along the line KD grabbed a phone off the console and hit Tryme in the head with it. Someone called the cops—I’m not sure who—but by the time KD was leaving the building to get his car, the cops approached him and arrested him.”

That was the part Madison had seen, but she wasn’t interested in commenting on it just yet. She stood there for a second taking it in, trying to see exactly what she would have to face when she got back to the lobby with the officer. She already knew he was going to ask if there was a video camera and if he could get the tape, etc. This was the prime reason Madison had gotten mad when they’d installed a security camera back by the studio—too many industry secrets would be contained on those tapes, always subject to being subpoenaed or found and looked at.

“How is Tryme? Is he OK?”

“He didn’t leave in an ambulance or anything, but he was bleeding a little bit,” Alexis said.

“From the phone?”

“No, I don’t know why KD even threw the phone. I think he was just caught in the moment.”

“It was a phone, not a fire extinguisher. How much damage could it have done?” Madison asked, clearly frustrated that this nonsense was starting off her day.

“It didn’t do any damage, really. I was back there by the time he threw the phone, and he was already bleeding a bit. Truth is, KD was kind of beating him up, and he threw the phone as like an insult, because by that time Tryme wasn’t really fighting anymore.”

“This is bullshit.” Madison knew Alexis could run on forever if she let her. Her long-winded story wasn’t what was getting under her skin, it was knowing she had two meetings today and that this was going to consume most of her valuable work time. It didn’t help that she wanted to get home at a decent hour to finally cook dinner for Jamahl, her fiancé.

Madison headed back toward the lobby. When she got there, the officer spun around as though he had been counting every second she’d been gone.

“Hi, what’s your name?” Madison said as she extended her hand. She blurted this out before the officer could say anything. Madison knew this was her way of dominating the conversation—by starting it and showing her confidence and lack of fear.

“Officer Lewis,” he replied.

“Hi, Officer Lewis. As it seems you have been notified—” she gestured toward the receptionist area where Felicia had been sitting not that long ago—“I am the program director for Drama 99. How may I help you?”

“There was an incident on these premises between a DJ from Drama 99 and an artist by the name of . . .” The officer looked down at his pad. “Tryme.”

“I am aware of the incident and that my DJ was arrested. What would you like to speak with me about?”

“I have some questions, and I also want to retrieve the video from the security camera by the studio.”

“Honestly, Officer Lewis, I would love to be of help. However, I wasn’t here, and it is my policy that I answer no questions regarding legal matters. As for the video, I am unable to give that to you at this time. The camera is not always recording, and there is a process for checking tapes and retrieving footage. I will look into it for you, but it’s going to take some time.”

The officer looked like he wasn’t impressed by her evasion, but he also knew there was nothing more he could do. He didn’t have a warrant, nor was there a subpoena. Instead of pushing further, he reached into his pocket and handed her a business card.

“Here’s my information. Please call me,” he said.

“Sure, no problem,” Madison replied.

Without hesitation, Madison walked off. The officer stood there, a bit shocked for a second at her unfriendliness, but then he, too, turned and walked away.

Madison had been in the business way too long and had seen way too much to let one little police investigation get her bent out of shape. She knew she had to handle it, and that was all she was concerned about. She had to minimize the press and make sure to give the right quotes for the news papers and news stations, and she knew she would. Everything else was secondary, despite what Officer Lewis might think. She understood he had a job to do, but so did she, and hers was to maintain the image and entertainment value of her radio station, Drama 99 FM.

It didn’t take much for Reyna to realize there wasn’t going to be a chance for her to get what she wanted out of the situation. Michael had already made it clear he wasn’t ready for much more in their relationship, and Reyna knew deep down that she was beyond fed up with fighting for her relationship all by herself. She had never understood how she could have a boyfriend, yet feel so alone. She was finally realizing it was because even though he was a decent boyfriend, he wasn’t willing to give her anything more than that—but she wanted so much more.

Reyna and Sereeta were friends, and they’d known each other half their lives. Sereeta told Reyna, every time the conversation called for it, that she needed to leave Michael alone. Sereeta felt strong about a man’s role, and as far as she was concerned, Michael’s $55,000 income wasn’t enough to fulfill his obligations. So she didn’t know why Reyna was sweating him to begin with.

Reyna respected Sereeta’s point of view, but she couldn’t keep herself from feeling those same strong feelings she’d felt for Michael since their junior year of high school. It was going to take more than words to convince Reyna that she and Michael weren’t meant to be together forever, even if those words were coming from Michael himself. The way Reyna saw it, they hadn’t come this far just to go their separate ways after all these years. Although she didn’t have any desire to wait for the day, she told herself Michael would eventually come to his senses. In the meantime, though, she had been stuck feeling dumb and dumber. For some reason, hearing him say it this time really hit home for her.

“I’m just not ready. Why can’t you just accept that?” he said.

The look on his face was disgust mixed with frustration. Reyna looked him dead in the eye and as it registered, it made her body freeze.

Why can’t you accept that? she asked herself again. You were able to accept your sister’s death. You were able to accept that you had to do a whole extra year of medical school because of some administrative errors at the school. You were able to accept Michael’s apology for asking you that one time to move out after living together for two years (she had won and stayed with him at home). And you were able to accept nothing less than a six-figure salary from your first employer out of medical school. But yet you can’t accept that this man isn’t ready? After talking to herself for a few moments, even Reyna had to admit something was wrong with this picture.

How she could stand here and let Michael once again make her feel less than worthy of his love and commitment was beyond her understanding. She was well aware that love was a powerful thing, but she didn’t understand how it could numb all your senses at times. She was dressed in a multicolored tunic top with some dark blue leggings and black knee boots. Her hair was combed back under a baseball cap, and she had on no makeup or earrings. She had been at his condo for the weekend, and she had just planned to make a quick run to Wal-Mart and grab some things. The conversation had gotten so deep so suddenly. It had started just because Reyna had asked if he wanted her to buy a hamper with a separator in it. When he’d asked why, she’d told him so they could have their dirty clothes divided, and Michael had begun to express that that wasn’t necessary because she could take her dirty clothes with her back to her place. Confused, Reyna had asked what was wrong, and it had led to an argument Reyna wasn’t expecting. The beautiful, sunny Saturday morning had turned into a gloomy day when Michael began saying hurtful things.

This wasn’t the first time he’d mentioned not being ready for something, but Reyna had always accepted it. Marriage and children and living together were one thing, but not ready for a dual hamper? Reyna just couldn’t understand what this man’s issue was. The embarrassment and anger had hit her just about instantly. Reyna looked him right in his eyes and turned to walk away—no response, just an exit. She couldn’t afford to respond because she knew, just like he did, that her words meant nothing. She had allowed her words to lose all their value over the past few years because she had said a lot of stuff she didn’t mean, and her actions had contradicted a lot of things she had said she would or wouldn’t do. She knew at this point that only her actions could speak for her.

Reyna tried to ignore how silly and angry she felt about Michael’s inability to compromise for her happiness. She was ashamed to admit to him or to herself that she still wasn’t sure she could accept that he wasn’t ready.

Once she got to her car and sat down, she picked up her cell phone to call her sister Nelcida, but as she was dialing the number, an incoming call from Sereeta came through. Filled with all the emotions from her discussion with Michael, Reyna really didn’t want to speak with Sereeta at this moment. She wasn’t in the mood for any smart comments that would only cause her to yell at Sereeta for having the nerve to tell somebody how to handle their relationship. Sereeta was the type of friend who never looked in the mirror before she spoke; she was quick to tell someone how they should be, but she never looked at her own reflection. Reyna knew if she told Sereeta what had happened, chances were Sereeta would tell her how she needed to leave him alone and that she was a dummy to be waiting around any longer for him to “get serious” or propose—yet Sereeta was single and had been for years. Though Reyna knew she was crossing the borderline to foolishness for her patience with Michael, she really didn’t need Sereeta-funky-butt’s words of wisdom right now. By the time Reyna finished thinking all that through, the phone had stopped ringing.

Reyna pressed the button to clear her missed-call message and began to dial her sister’s number. As she pressed the sixth digit of Nelcida’s number, Sereeta’s number appeared on her screen again.

“What!?” Reyna said aloud in frustration. She answered on the third ring.

“Hello,” Reyna answered with her obvious attitude hanging out.

“Dag, a sister gotta hunt you down,” Sereeta said with a snicker.

“Knock it off,” Reyna said. “My phone was in my purse.”

“You are the worst with answering your phone, but anyway—”

“Yeah, anyway,” Reyna interrupted. “What’s up?”

“I got the job!” Sereeta shouted.

“Oh, wow. Congratulations!”

Despite the tears she was fighting back, distracting her thoughts, Reyna was genuinely happy for Sereeta.

“Thanks,” Sereeta said. “My starting salary will be seventy-eight thousand with benefits, and you’ll never guess who I’m assisting.”

“Who?” Reyna said, trying to sound excited to cover up her impatience.

“The Flash.”

“Who?” Reyna said.

“Corey Cox, the NBA player they call the Flash.”

“Oh, I kind of know Corey Cox, but I didn’t know about no Flash.”

“That’s what they call him—I guess because he’s fast or something. He just started playing with the Knicks a month ago.”

“Well, that’s good. When do you start?”

“Next week, but I met the entire team last night at this ESPN party.”

“How was that?”

“It was really cool. Corey is so fine, and so are a couple of his teammates. I felt like I was in heaven.”

“Uh-oh. No mixing business with pleasure; you do know that much, I hope.”

Sereeta just laughed. From the sound of her giggle, Reyna could tell that Sereeta already had some rule breaking in mind. If Reyna didn’t have her own problems on her mind, she would’ve pulled it out of her friend, but Sereeta’s drama was the least of her concerns right now.

“Naomi, you have been working here for some time now. I expected that you would get the hang of things by now.” Naomi could hear her boss’s comment over and over in her head. She was devastated that she was still not on point at her job after four months already. Even though it was a simple mishandling of a message, it didn’t take much to irritate Naomi’s boss, Tiffany. Tiffany had been working in the music business for over ten years, and she had a reputation for taking no nonsense. Every executive assistant who had the honor to work for her was well aware that there would be more pain than pleasure. However, the benefits and experience from working for someone like her were well worth the pain.

Although Naomi had a college education and had learned a lot in her life, it was apparent she wasn’t that worldly. She was a naturally inquisitive but shy person, and the intimidation from this position had caused her to be humble and even more shy since her very first day. She hadn’t made that many friends at the company yet. She seemed to be overlooked a lot by most of the staff. It seemed as if people in the office just stepped over her to get to her boss—like she was just a voice to be heard before connecting staff with Tiffany on a phone call. Naomi hadn’t become comfortable enough yet to show Tiffany all her talents and smarts because she was too afraid to come out of her shell. She knew her boss didn’t give two craps about any of her insecurities—she had to get it together.

There was only one coworker who knew the real Naomi, and that was Kevin. Kevin worked in business and legal affairs, and he was a nice guy. He was Spanish with a lot of spunk and personality, and he had introduced himself to Naomi on her first day and extended his help if she needed anything. Kevin was five-nine and medium built with black hair he usually wore slicked back in a Brad Pi. . .