Page 44 of Just Another Silly Love Song

After the show ended, we both marched through the newsroom to Kyle’s office to complain again.

Kyle was talking on the phone when we walked into his office, but he gestured to the two chairs in front of his desk for us to sit down.

“Right, right.” Kyle nodded enthusiastically, like he just got great news and couldn’t wait to share it with us. “Absolutely. I agree. It’s amazing.” More nodding and then he grinned at us again. “I will let them know. You got it. Thanks, Steve.” He hung up and smiled at us for the third time.

I pointed to the phone. “Steve from corporate again?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

I turned to Lori. “He’s one of the corporate guys out of the main office in Dallas, and the only time he ever gets involved at the local level is when there’s something that needs to be addressed.”

Kyle typed something on his computer. “And there is something I need to talk with you both about.”

“Oh . . .” Lori thought about it. “I’m guessing they got wind of the show and had problems with it.”

Kyle slid back into his chair. “Yes and no. They were definitely listening to your show through the live feed from Dallas. Six of them, actually, all the way up to the president of the company. But no, they didn’t have a problem with it at all. Quite the opposite, in fact.”

I glanced over at Lori, and she turned her head and locked eyes with me.

We had to be asking ourselves the exact same question: What were those guys smoking in the corporate office?

Kyle continued. “We’ve got some big plans for you.”

“Big plans?” Lori and I said at the same time, looking at each other again, confused.

He nodded. “You havenoidea. Everyone at corporate agrees that we need to plant the seeds now so we can milk this baby for all it’s worth. You’re going to be huge.”

“Huge?” Lori and I said at the same time.

“Humongous. My gut was right, and your show is out of this world. We’re going to ramp up the hourly promos ASAP and put together a media blitz with newspaper, television, podcasts, and online ads that will start next week. They even want to replace the billboards around the city so both of you are on them.”

I scratched the side of my head, thinking about this madness. “I don’t get it. Don’t you want to wait until we get the Weeklies tomorrow, just to make sure they’re as good as you think they are before you start sinking a lot of money into it?”

Kyle shook his head. “What we need is to hit the ground running after the Weeklies are delivered. I have no doubt that they’ll tell us what we already know, based on the social media engagement. You thought yesterday was crazy? Wait until you see this.”

He flipped his laptop around on his desk to face us. It was the same program he showed us yesterday that analyzed all the traffic and engagement that we were getting from our social media pages.

I jerked my head back when I saw the numbers. “Seriously? That must be a glitch.”

“Wow.” Lori moved closer to analyze the data.

Kyle laughed. “I know, right? Remember yesterday was up five hundred percent?”

We both nodded.

“Ha! That ain’t nothing. You got ten times that amount today. And it’s not a glitch. You blew it out of the water. The time spent listening even tripled. I’ve never seen anything like this before in my life and it could take you to the national level.”

Lori and I looked at each other again.

“I’m talking about simulcasting on fifty radio stations or more around the country,” Kyle said. “Maybe a hundred. Steve and I were discussing it just before you came in. And of course, that could lead to television and book deals. The sky’s the limit, but we need to move full steam ahead.”

Lori and I sat there speechless.

“Let’s talk later. I have to go sit in on the sales meeting.” Kyle pointed to me. “Do you have plans for lunch?”

I shook my head, a little dazed by what I had just learned. “Uh . . . no.”

He glanced at Lori. “What about you?”