Page 79 of 7 Days and 7 Nights

Jubilant, he picked up his cell phone and started placing calls. The last number he dialed was the Operation Manager’s home number. T.J. Lawrence picked up on the second ring.

“Crankower, do you have any idea what time it is?”

Charles smiled to himself. "I do, boss. It’s 3:30 A.M, and our ship has come in.”

“Crankower, if this is some kind of prank...”

“No, T.J., it’s nothing like that. It’s the remote. There’s been an unexpected development.”

He heard T.J.’s tone turn serious. “Are Matt and Olivia okay?”

“Oh, they're fine, though I suspect they may be duking it out in earnest right now.”

In a rush, he told the OM exactly what had happened, careful to make it sound like the camera movement had been unintentional, just a changing of the audience view to keep things visually interesting. T.J. had always had a soft spot for Olivia, and Charles doubted T.J. would want to know to what lengths he’d gone to set her up.

“Jeez,” T.J. said. “I can’t believe this.”

“Yeah, me either,” said Charles, when what he really wanted to say was,I can’t believe my good fortune. “Let me send you the video right now, T.J., so you can deal with the social media fallout.”

“It’s already on social media?”

“Yeah, somebody watching the live stream must have posted a clip on Twitter and a couple of still shots on Instagram and Facebook,” Charles lied, glad he’d had the foresight to pass the clips and still shots to a friend to post before T.J. could forbid it. And it looks like someone already created a meme that’s actually started to go viral.

“Okay, we’ll deal with this. But just how explicit is the video, Crankower? Are we talking legal trouble here for the station or either of them?”

“No. I’ll put in a call to our lawyers if you want me to, but I don’t think it’s going to be an issue. There’s no actual exposure even though it’s pretty clear what’s happening.”

Charles heard the rustling of sheets and pictured T.J. trying to slip out of bed without disturbing his wife.

"Olivia must be totally freaked out,” said T.J. “Call Diane and Ben first thing in the morning, will you? I’ll call Matt and Olivia now.”

“Okay, boss. No problem. One thing we can stop worrying about is getting press coverage for this promotion. I’m pretty sure the AJC media reporter will want to cover this and all the bloggers and self-proclaimed journalists we reached out to will want in for sure. Plus with the meme going viral, the video may get us some national attention.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

T.J. and Crankower met Olivia and Matt in the apartment at 8:00 AM on Monday morning so they could all agree on a game plan on how to deal with social media. T.J. brought coffee and donuts and was doing everything he could to downplay the importance of what now was both a viral meme captioned “Dr. O. going for the Big O” and a viral video carefully pieced together from different shots during the week that made it seem like Olivia was begging Matt for sex.

In contrast, Charles practically floated above the floor in what looked like pure joy, talking about sponsorships and future remotes while Olivia and Matt packed up their things and T.J. tried to work out a positive spin that wouldn’t seem like a copout. Something about Charles’ behavior was rubbing Matt the wrong way but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

They all agreed that the attention would likely blow over quickly as long as nothing else happened to fan the flames and as they wrapped up and got ready to leave the apartment for good T.J. offered, “We all want what's best for you and for the station and we’ll get through this as a team. The station will focus on our listeners’ contributions to the food bank and steer clear of the rest.”

Charles nodded along sagely for T.J.’s benefit then added, “And if any media opportunities come up that are worthwhile we’ll let you know.” He glanced at Matt with a conspiratorial man-to-man smirk that made Matt want to deck the guy.

Walking out the front door of the apartment held none of the satisfaction he’d anticipated, and a glance at Olivia’s face as they walked down the long carpeted hallway to the elevator told him she was too caught up in her own misery to appreciate their newfound freedom. As they headed out of the building and down the street to their waiting limo they were clearly getting noticed by passers-by. Some surreptitiously snapped photos and videos with their iPhones while others were more blatant about it holding their phones up directly. A few even got close enough to take selfies with Matt and Olivia in the background. A pickup slowed as it drove past so that the driver, who looked barely old enough to drive, had time to whistle appreciatively at Olivia and shout “Ransom’s the man!”

Throughout the onslaught, Olivia kept her head down and somehow managed to look more and more miserable with each step they took.

Matt wanted to offer aid, but Olivia had shrugged off every attempt to discuss the situation since the phone call from T.J. at 3:30 that morning. Shortly afterward, she’d gone to her room, where he’d heard her pacing and muttering until 6 AM when she’d slipped into the bathroom to shower and dress.

Now they walked side by side towards the end of the block where the limo waited and the expression on her face made him want to offer her... what?

“You know, no one actually saw anything, Olivia. For all they know I was feeling faint and you were giving me mouth-to-mouth.”

“Right.” Her voice was bitter. “And I ripped your shirt open so you could breathe better.”

“Look, Olivia, we’re both single, consenting adults. What happened is a little embarrassing, but presidents have survived way worse.”

“I’ve got a news flash for you, Matt. This may be just one more amusing peccadillo to your listeners—they expect this sort of behavior from you. But I’m a therapist. My listeners need to be able to respect and trust me. This is not okay.”

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