On the Line Read Online Free PDF

we’re cool.”
    We get out and I hand my keys to the valet. We walk to the underground elevator and up to the tenth floor.
    The studio is buzzing with activity as usual. We wave to the night owls who hold the station down and head to our booth. Macy goes into the control room to get set up and I begin organizing my letters for the show. I adjust my headset, draw in a deep breath and wait for Macy’s signal.
    She gives me the five-second countdown. And it’s showtime….

CHAPTER 3
    â€œH old on to your seats, it’s Joy Newhouse in your house. Forget that easy listening music, put the love songs on hold. This is WHOT and you’re On the Line, ” I sing in my trademark falsetto. “We have another hot show lined up for you and we’re going to kick it off with Women Who Cheat and Get Screwed. Yeah, you heard me. Put your feet up on the table and check out these tales from two of our devout listeners. We’ll be taking calls.”
    I read the letters with all the drama the stories entail, complete with sound effects. By the time I’m finished, the board is lit up like the Fourth of July. I take a few calls then I notice Macy signaling me from the booth. Her eyes are wide and she has both thumbs up. Her signal for a “hot” one.
    â€œWe have a call on the line, folks, and it sounds like a good one.” I depress the button.
    â€œYou’re on the line!” I chime in with sassy flavor.
    â€œI don’t want,” the caller whispers, “to do this anymore.”
    I smile inside. I have a sixth sense when it comes to the callers with real dirt to dish. I subconsciously adjust my headphones, touch the microphone more out of habit than to reposition it and sit up a little straighter. “What can I call you? “
    â€œDaphne R—”
    â€œJust your first name, Daphne. And what is it that you want to tell me?” I probe.
    With a great sigh the caller begins. “I’ve been living a lie.”
    â€œCome on, Daph, who among us doesn’t have a secret or two?” I pause for effect. “So what makes your secret so special?”
    â€œIt’s not just a secret.” Daphne inhales with great emphasis. “It’s a secret life. Almost like double jeopardy.”
    My ears perk like a championship German shepherd beneath the headphones. “So you’re having an affair. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make you so special these days. Every minute of every day someone is cheatin’ in the next room.”
    The caller begins again slowly. “I’m living a double life. I mean two homes, two husbands, two sets of children.”
    â€œSay what?” Another one, I think. What the hell…
    â€œYou heard me. I have two lives.”
    â€œAiight, I’ll bite. How in the hell can you have two sets of children?”
    â€œI met my first husband when I was in college and he was in medical school. We fell in love and were married the Saturday after I graduated. I took a government job and he continued with medical school. When he took an internship in another state, I stayed at home because I loved what I do.”
    â€œYou’re snoozing me here, Daph.”
    â€œYou said to start at the beginning!”
    â€œCan we fast-forward to the juice?”
    â€œWhile he was off learning to save lives, I delved into my work and got promoted twice. With the second promotion came the opportunity to travel to foreign countries to work for weeks, even months, at a time.”
    I begin making a snoring sound.
    â€œOkay. Okay. About six months into one of my assignments I met Salvador. He was charming, handsome, fun and there.”
    â€œSo you had an affair, not headline news, like I said in the beginning.”
    â€œAt first it was an affair to end all affairs. Only he never knew, because I told him I was single. Meanwhile back at home my husband finished his medical training and got a job near our