Coal Mines
The evening secretary at the radio station is interested in the new late night radio host, but is it safe for them?
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Next
The station was a buzz with whispers.
Management had hired a new late night radio host and there was something controversial about him according to the other host. Dorathy hadn’t seen the man yet but she was fairly certain the men were just unhappy that their old buddy had been replaced. The old man couldn’t keep it in his pants and had pissed management off when he tried to get with both of their wives. What could ya do?
“Ey Dora you seen the new host yet?” Robert, the morning host asked as he leaned over Dorathy’s desk. He blew smoke into her face as he did and Dorathy did her best not to give him any reaction as it only seemed to encourage him to do more.
“I’ve told you a million times it’s Dorathy, and no I ain’t seen the new guy yet. Late night don’t come in till ‘round eight typically. Or that’s when they are supposed to get here.” Dorathy replied smoothly. “What are you still doin’ here anyways? Didn’t your shift end three hours ago?”
“Well management sure made some fuckin’ choices hirin’ this time.” Robert sneered, ignoring her last questions..
“Careful Robert.” Dorathy chided, “Don’t want management to hear you talkin’ bad ‘bout them do you?”
Not that she cared. She could do with Robert getting replaced too. She kept doing her paperwork doing her best to ignore Robert.
“Fuck em’.” Robert spat. Dorathy jolted and looked up at him surprised. “We shouldn’t be working with those kind but management still hired em’.”
“Robert!”
Robert and Dorathy jumped. Dorathy looked over and saw one of the managers, Mr.Jones, standing at his office door looking irritated. He jerked his head towards his office, and walked in leaving the door open. Robert cursed under his breath and put his cigarette out on Dorathy’s desk before sulking over to Mr.Jones’s office. Dorathy scowled at Robert’s back and did her best to wipe off the burn.
Dorathy sighed and shook her head. Robert was always a hot head. Her misfortune of meeting him began when Marggie, the morning secretary, called out sick a few months ago and Dorathy had agreed to cover the whole day for the extra pay. Dorathy hadn’t realized that Marggie had not been exaggerating when she talked about how full of himself Robert was until that day. He saw her and instantly tried to chat her up to the point that he ran late for his morning show. Dorathy already had enough of radio host flirting with her from Dale, the old late night host, and now she had Robert to add onto it. Did these men not understand why people said ‘a face meant for radio’ and they both had one?”
It was almost an hour later when Mr.Jones finally let Robert out of his office and he looked thoroughly told off. The man sculked out of the studio without another word to anyone else. Dorathy watched him go without looking up from her work, her bangs hiding her eyes. She felt her shoulders relax as soon as he was out of the office. Then she heard footsteps get closer to her desk from behind her. She kept her head down and stopped working so that the man knew she was paying attention.
“Dorathy.” Mr.Jones said.
“Mr.Jones?” Dorathy asked.
“We have a new host starting tonight. He should be here early so that you can get ‘em registered. Make sure to have everything in order, would you?” Mr. Jones stated.
“Of course, Mr.Jones.” Dorathy replied, and started moving to get the registration paperwork ready.
“Good girl.”
Dorathy bit back her disgust and kept working on the paperwork.
Hypocrites.
The rest of the day went by with no incident. Mr.Jones and Mr.Willson left at five like they usually did. Mail came at 5:30 right on schedule. Dorathy began to hum and settled in to wait for the new host to come in later. She was caught off guard when at six on the dot the bell for the door rang out. Looking up she saw a tall thin man in a long coat and feudora entering. It appeared that the weather had taken a change in the last thirty minutes and it had started pouring.
“Oh, hello.” Dorathy said, “Can I help you? Or are you tryin’ to catch a break from that dreadful rain?”
“I certainly hope so. I was told that I should come early to register.” The gentleman chuckled as he took his coat and hat off.
Dorathy suddenly realized why Robert was so hostile about the new radio host. His skin was paler than most but he was a handsome black man. He was taller than Robert, thin but fit, his hair was wavy, beautiful brown, and he had a charming smile. She noticed the smile tighten. Dorathy felt her face flush when she realized she was staring.
“Ah! I wasn’t expecting you for another hour.” Dorathy spoke fast. “Usually new host only show up an hour early.”
The man looked her up and down for a moment. It was different from how Robert, Dale, or Mr.Jones had ever looked her up and down. It was more assessing. Dorathy squirmed for a moment, but sat there after all she had just been gawking at him. He seemed to find what he was looking for and she saw his shoulders relax ever so slightly.
“What time does the late night host usually show up?” he asked casually, as he put his wet clothes on the rack.
“Well the scheduled time is eight. Dale, the old host, would almost never show up until nine so I would have to play music until then… I would really prefer not to have to do that again though.” Dorathy said.
“Oh? So you would do that for me?” The new host joked. He walked over to the desk but remained standing behind it.
“Well… maybe if you are running late, but let’s not make it a habit.” Dorathy admitted.
“Where are my manors? My name is Alastor.” The host introduced himself, extending his hand to Dorathy with a smile.
She took the offered hand. “Dorathy. I’m the evening secretary. I should be who greets you most nights.” She swore she saw his smile shift slightly after she took his hand but she wasn’t sure.
“What a face to be greeted by.” Alastor returned. Dorathy felt her face flush, and she knew Alastor saw it based on the way his smile quirked.
“Well,” Dorathy coughed, clearing her throat, “I have your paperwork right here. Since you are here so early you don’t have to worry about rushing through anything.” She handed a packet of papers over to Alastor just as a new light came on over the broadcast room. She sighed as soon as she saw it. “If you’ll excuse me I have to see what Spencer needs. If you have any questions I’ll be happy to answer them when I get back.”
Dorathy grumbled as she started running back and forth through the station. Spencer had apparently snuck hooch into the station and was drunk as a skunk. He was suddenly worried because his shift was coming to an end soon and his wife would be furious with him if he came home absolutely sloshed. Now it was Dorathy’s problem to get him everything he needed. Water, cold but no ice because he was oh so delicate. Food, something that could soak up the alcohol but didn’t taste like shit, because of course she’s a fuckin’ chief. Put on some music so listeners don’t catch on that the host is absolutely piss drunk. A bucket, she didn’t want to clean up any mess that he might make right before the late night shift. Honestly she couldn’t imagine making poor Alastor work in that smell.
Oh heavens!
She had forgotten to check on Alastor!
She rushed back to the front, third glass of water in hand.
“Hon’ ’M so sorry! I got so caught up I forgot to check on you!”
Alastor was sat calmly. His paperwork was on top of Dorathy’s desk, and he was reading the day's paper.
“Do the other host often rely so heavily on you?” He asked casually. Dorathy blinked.
“I-What?” She asked uncomprehendingly.
“Well you stated that the old late night host regularly would show up an hour late, and you would cover. Now I see that the afternoon host is… indisposed… and you are taking care of that as well.”He pointed out, “You came in here expecting to have to help me with my paperwork while you are still doing something else. Is this a common occurrence for you?”
Dorathy laughed nervously.
“I well- well woman are expected to help where we can.”
It was a terrible excuse for their poor work performance but what could she do.
Alastor humed.
“I see.”
Silence sat between them.
Dorathy felt an embarrassed flush rush up her neck but she couldn’t figure out why. This was how her job had always been. She always picked up the slack that any of the other host on her shift left without a word. She just awkwardly walked over and put the glass of water down in front of Alastor and moved to leave the room.
“Thank you.”
Had she ever been thanked for doing her job?
She pushed the thought out of her head.
