Short story: Radio Waves
Kay had hoped she and Dean were on the right track, but was he just using her?
Doing the ironing while listening to her favourite radio show, Kay smiled and thought of
Dean. She had met him at a party and had been shocked to discover he was the man she’d been listening to every Sunday afternoon for two years.
As he played a listener’s request, she made coffee, then hurried back to hear what he had to say.
Normally he chatted about films, TV, music, anything except his private life, so she was surprised when he started talking about a date.
‘We arranged to meet at the Royal Oak. The moment she walked in, I noticed a piece of Sellotape stuck to her hair. She’d been wrapping presents for her twin nieces, lost track of time and got ready in a rush.’
A chill ran down Kay’s spine. It wasn’t the Royal Oak they’d been to, it was the Red Lion, but everything else was exactly as it had happened on their second date, two days ago.
‘We’d been getting on like a house on fire. I was sure she’d invite me in for coffee, but when I tried to kiss her goodnight, she pulled away and said she had to go.’ Dean paused to take a call. ‘We have Mike from Oakhampton on line two.‘
‘Hi, Dean. Maybe your date didn’t fancy you.’
Dean chuckled. ‘Come on. I’m a catch. Women are queuing up to date me.‘
‘Queuing up, are they?’ Kay fumed as she switched stations.
She’d thought they had a connection, when all he wanted was material for his show. When he sent a text, asking to see her again, she ignored it.
He called later that evening. ‘Did you get my message?’
‘I did, but I’m busy. Washing my hair.’ She ended the call. Let somebody else supply his material.
It was a shame because she’d liked him. A lot.
Later, the doorbell rang. She checked the spyhole. It was Dean.
‘Go away!’ she shouted. He lifted the lid of the letter box. ‘Whatever I’ve done, I’m sorry. I’m not leaving until you let me in.’
‘Go away. I’m not interested,’ she replied.
She went back to her book, but after reading the same three sentences over and over, curiosity drew her to the window. Dean’s car was still parked outside.
‘Let him sit there all night,’ she thought.
An hour went by before he drove away, during which he sent texts and emails, all of which Kay deleted.
Dean kept trying to contact her, but she stayed firm. What he’d done was unforgivable. She vowed never to listen to his show again. But when she put the radio on the following week, it defaulted to that station.
As Dean’s voice filled the room, her pulse quickened.
‘Here’s some news. I’m officially single for the first time in quite a while. The girl I was dating dumped me. My guess is she heard me talking about our date on the show and didn’t like it.’ ‘Too right, I didn’t!’
‘When she tried to get that piece of tape out of her hair, her forehead furrowed, just like my nan’s did when she was focused on her knitting.’
Kay turned the radio off. She couldn’t believe he was still talking about her. The man was incorrigible. She was still fuming when her best friend Clare called.
‘You need to listen to this.’
Clare held her phone near the radio for Kay to hear.
‘So you see my problem,’ Dean was saying. ‘I’ve finally found somebody I really care about and she won’t speak to me. Kay, if you’re listening, give me another chance.’
‘Are you going to contact him?’ Clare asked. Kay was about to say no when she recognised the song he was playing. It was
I Think I Love You by David Cassidy. They’d talked about music on their first date. When she’d told Dean that song was her all-time favourite, he’d laughed.
‘That’s a truly terrible song. I’d never play that on my show. Not for anyone.’ But he was playing it now. ‘Sorry, Clare, I have to go…’ Then she phoned into the show and was put straight through.
‘Is that you, Kay?’
Dean asked softly.
‘Yes.’ She took a breath. ‘I’ll give you another chance, but you must never talk about our dates on the show again.’ ‘It’s a promise,’ he said. For six months, Dean kept his word. Then he made an announcement on air.
‘A while ago, I promised not to talk about my love life on air. I hope Kay will forgive me because today, I’m breaking that vow. I won’t be hosting the show for the next three weeks because,’ he paused.
‘I’ll be on my honeymoon – I’m getting married to the most wonderful, amazing, beautiful woman in the whole wide world.’
Kay couldn’t help smiling. Dean had broken his promise, but this time, she didn’t mind at all.
THE END
Linda Lewis, 2021