Page 14 of No More Billionaires

Good thing no one can see you blush over the phone.

“No. It’s just there’s nothing to tell. He’s good at his job. He seems pretty nice. Oh—I had a date last night—his name is Jason. He works at the Toons Network.”

“That’s great. First date since Mark, right? Are you sticking with your vow of poverty?”

“Yes. He’s practically penniless, lives with his parents, wears t-shirts and Chucks to work. Perfect, in other words.”

She laughed. “Oh, Miss Lisbeth must bethrilledabouthim.” Her sarcasm came through loud and clear.

“Well, Momma doesn’t know. It was only a first date. He didn’t come to the house—we just went to a bar after work. Believe it or not—it reminded me of hanging out at the Rock Bottom.”

“Oh God, what a dump. I miss that place so much.”

“I know. I miss you and Heidi. Things were a lot simpler back then.”

Mara, Heidi, and I had worked together at WPVG in Peachtree Valley, Georgia—first jobs for all of us—and we’d become instant friends, bonded by the mutual poverty and ridiculous working conditions of a small-market TV station.

We’d spent a lot of time in the town’s only bar, the Rock Bottom, sharing our dating horror stories with each other, though at the time, my love life had looked like a dream compared to theirs.

Now Mara was married, Heidi was engaged to an amazing guy, and I was the one living the romantic nightmare.

“Well, whenever you get a break from your big network TV job, come and stay with us. Reid and I will find you a nice, honest New England guy. But wait till it’s warmer—winter totally sucks here. And we have to plan a girls weekend in Nashville with Heidi sometime before her wedding.”

“Yes! I’ll call her. Listen, it’s starting to rain, and these drivers are crazy, so I’m gonna get off the phone. At least it’s not snow and ice, right?”

“Yeah, you Southerners are so lucky. Okay, girlie, I’ll talk to you soon. And don’t freeze out Mr. Overstreet Live, okay? I don’t know why, but I’ve got a feeling about him.”

“I’ve got a feeling about him too, and it’s calledNo way. Love you, love to Reid.”

I shivered as I hit the end call button. All this talk about snow and ice and freezing weather.

And Larson. I reached over and hit the button to raise the heat a few degrees and settled in to wait out the ride.

As usual, I didn’t feel any great hurry to get home, and now it wasalmostas uncomfortable to be at work.

What I really needed was a promotion so I could get off of Larson’s show and make enough money to move out of Momma and Daddy’s house.

Off and out—that was my new goal.

Now, how to get there?

SIX

How to Get There

“How long did it take you to work your way up to senior producer?” I asked Deb the next morning.

She turned her swivel chair toward me. “Let’s see—I started here fifteen years ago as a news assistant. Then I got promoted to associate producer, spent some time field producing. Then I moved up to line producer. I’ve been a senior producer for five years now. Don’t worry kiddo. You’ll get there. You’ve got what it takes.”

“But I need to move up fast. I need a raise. What can I do?”

“You don’t want to rush it too much. There’s a lot to learn, but if you show the big guys you’re hungry, willing to do whatever it takes, believe me, you’ll get their attention and be an associate producer before too long.”

She started to twist back around to face her monitor, but then spun her chair back toward me.

“I’ve got an idea for you. I heard there might be an associate producer opening on one of the other shows soon, but they’d want someone with some field producing under their belt. Larson’s flying to Nashville next week to interview some folks at the Vandy Med School about a new procedure to help kids with congenital heart defects. It’s a piece for February sweeps. I haven’t assigned him a field producer yet. You can have it if you want it. It should be a great story, and it would give you some field producing experience. Anything you do for Overstreet Live’s gonna get the attention of the bosses—this show’s their baby. Interested?”

“It sounds like a great story, but… I’d travel… with Larson?”

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