Tony Partly Cloudy (18 page)

“YOU’RE WHAT?” Tony couldn’t believe it.

Chip smiled. “You heard me, Tony. I’m leaving the station. Four weeks from today. I just wanted you to hear it from me first – that’s why I stopped by.”

Looking up at Chip from his desk, Tony was flabbergasted. “But... but... I mean... what happened?”

“It’s simple. The wife and I are both ready for a change. The kids are out of college, and frankly, we’re both tired of winter. So we’re heading to Phoenix.”

Tony shook his head. “But what’s in Phoenix?”

“Better weather, better money, and year-round golf. What’s not to love?”

“So you’ve already got another job?”

Chip smiled. “Yep. Chief Meteorologist at KVTL. It’s a step up, market-wise, but the meteorology team will be smaller, because there’s less variety in the weather there. But that’s okay with me. I’ve been here long enough, and Nora’s got some family in Arizona, so we’re both pretty excited about the move.”

“Wow,” Tony said, standing up to offer his hand. “Congratulations. You really caught me off guard with this. But it sounds great – I wish you the best.”

“Thanks, Tony. I think I caught Fletcher off guard with this, too. He even made me a counter offer, but I told him Nora and I have already put the house on the market. And I’m giving him a month – that should be enough time for him to find a replacement.”

“Holy crap – I hadn’t even thought of that. I mean, who would they get? Would Deena or Ron be in line for it, or do you figure they’ll look outside the station?”

“Deena may take a shot at it, but I think Ron’s pretty happy with the status quo. He’s comfortable with his weekend shift, and I don’t think he could handle – or would even
want
to handle – the administrative side of the gig.”

Tony nodded. “Yeah, you’re right – that’s not really his style.”

“And I’m not sure Deena would want to work nights. But she’s got an ambitious streak, so who knows?” Chip slapped Tony lightly on the arm. “But that’s all Fletcher’s problem,” he said, smiling. “He’s the GM, so he’s the one who’ll have to make that decision. I’m staying out of it. I’ve got more important matters to worry about. Like my slice.”

With that, Chip swung an imaginary golf club in a looping arc, then walked away, either to tell others about his impending departure, or perhaps to retrieve his imaginary golf ball.

Word spread quickly throughout the station, and soon Sarah stopped by Tony’s desk. She had been much more friendly in recent weeks, although Tony had learned not to let such trends get his hopes up.

“Man, that’s wild about Chip leaving,” she mused.

“Tell me about it,” Tony said. “I didn’t see that one coming at all.”

“I don’t think anybody did. Chip must have been playing it pretty close to the vest. I mean, did you even know he was looking for another job?”

“I had no clue,” Tony said. “But I was thinking how a couple weeks ago he took a few days off. In hindsight, I bet that’s when he interviewed for his new job.”

“You’re probably right,” Sarah said. “He seems real happy about the move, doesn’t he?”

“Bigtime. He and Nora – that’s his wife – they both want to live where it’s warmer. Hell, I’m with them on that count. After living in Florida, I’ll never get used to these winters.”

Sarah smiled. “What’s the matter? Didn’t you ever buy those long johns you were talking about?”

Tony laughed. “Jeez, you’re never gonna let me forget that, are you?”

“How can I, when I think how cute you’d look in them?”

Enjoying the flirtation, Tony gave Sarah a mock stern look. “Does your boyfriend know about your long-john fetish?” He was surprised to see her expression change. And not for the better.

In a quiet, serious voice, Sarah said, “I don’t, uh, have a boyfriend. Not anymore.”

“Oh!” Tony said. “I didn’t know that. I hope I didn’t just say something wrong.” While thrilled to learn Sarah was now single, Tony was also aware that he seemed to have just completely deflated her.

But then Sarah smiled. “Nope,” she said, “it’s not a problem. I had to dump him, because...” Sarah leaned in close. “Because he would never dress up in long johns for me.”

A moment later, they were both laughing, Sarah with that big, full-body laugh. And Tony with a laugh of almost manic joy.

After their laughter dwindled, they made small talk for a few more minutes, during which Sarah tried to hint to Tony that she’d like him to ask her out. This of course got nowhere, and Sarah found herself recalling Felicia going through similar exercises in futility. What the hell, Sarah thought. It was time to take the initiative.

“Tony,” she said, “would you like to go out sometime?”

Tony was speechless, his mouth literally hanging open. Then he closed his jaw with an audible snap.

“With you,” Tony said. “You mean, like, on a date?”

Sarah nodded. “Yeah. With me. On a date. The two of us.”

The two of us
. Tony liked how that sounded. He liked it a lot.

“Yeah,” Tony said. “I mean, yes.” He broke into a goofy grin. “I mean, hell yes.”

“Good,” Sarah said. Figuring Tony might be a little too dazed to organize the event, she pressed on.

“How’s tonight?”

Tony nodded, saying, “Tonight’s good.”

“After the news?”

“After the new is good,” Tony said, his head continuing to nod like a dashboard dog.

“Good,” Sarah said. “I’ll meet you on the weather set after the news.”

“Good,” Tony said. “Good.” Sarah patted his shoulder and walked away, leaving a very large meteorologist quietly saying “good” over and over.

♠ ♥ ♣ ♦

The one restaurant Tony and Sarah could find that was still open by the time they got out of the studio had long since stopped serving dinner. So they ordered a bottle of wine, and sat at a small corner table, where they chatted over the light of a dying candle, oblivious to the waiters and busboys cleaning up around them.

“I’m sorry if I’ve been kind of...
aloof
at times,” Sarah said. “I wasted a long time with a guy who turned out to be Mister Unbelievably Wrong.”

Tony waved his hand. “Hey, you got nothing to apologize for. I mean, I knew you were seeing somebody. So I never noticed any, you know, aloofness.” Frowning, he said, “Is aloofness even a word? Or is it maybe aloofishness?”

Sarah laughed. “I think it’s aloofness, but you’re right – it sounds weird. Anyway, I’m sorry I was... that way.”

“I never noticed,” Tony lied.

“Bullshit.”

“What?” Tony said, spreading his hands in a gesture of confusion. Shit, was he that easy to read?

“Tony, you know there were times I was nicer to you. You know, times when I was more friendly, more open. And sometimes I was pretty short with you.”

“Hey,” Tony said, “at my size, most people are short with me.”

“Very funny. But you know what I mean.”

Tony didn’t want to complain. But he also really didn’t want to be dishonest, now that they were finally talking, really
talking
. “Okay,” he allowed, “there were times when maybe you seemed like you really didn’t want to talk to me. I just figured I was annoying you or something.”

“Tony, no,” Sarah said, reaching out and putting her hand on his. “You never annoyed me. Just the opposite, actually. I liked you. Hell, I’ve always liked you.” Self conscious about touching Tony, she withdrew her hand. “But I was seeing Chad, and I was supposed to be his girlfriend, you know. And I tried to take that role seriously.” Sarah couldn’t help rolling her eyes. “More seriously than he ever did.”

Tony’s confused look prompted her to continue. “What I mean is, there were times when I felt really, I don’t know,
drawn
to you. But whenever I felt that way, I also felt bad. Because I was supposed to be Chad’s girlfriend, and I wasn’t supposed to feel that way toward somebody else. So I’d shut it down, whenever it felt the strongest.”

Tony squinted, trying to understand. “So...” he began, “those times when you weren’t all that nice to me...”

“Those were the times I felt most attracted to you,” Sarah said, completing his sentence.

“No shit?” Tony was too surprised to concern himself with manners, then he caught himself. “Listen, I’m sorry. What I meant to say was—”

Sarah stopped him, again placing her hand on top of his. Smiling, she said, “No shit.”

“Wow.” With his free hand, Tony rubbed his face, as if trying to wake himself up. But he was extremely conscious of the warmth of Sarah’s hand.

“I just felt I owed you an explanation,” Sarah said. “It wasn’t nice to pull that hot/cold routine on you, but I was trying to figure things out. I’m just glad that after all that nonsense, you were still interested in going out.”

“Jeez, Sarah, I’ve been interested since the day I interviewed here.”

Sarah’s grin turned wicked. “No man can resist having a news van impale his car, now can he?”

Tony laughed. “Yeah, I guess you could say you had quite an impact on me.”

The two continued to chat, about everything and nothing. Inevitably, the subject of Chip’s impending departure came up.

“So what do you think is going to happen?” Sarah asked.

“Tough call,” Tony said. “Nobody was expecting this, you know? I haven’t talked to Ron yet, but we all figure he’s happy just doing weekends. Deena is up in the air, though. She likes her current time slot, but she also wants to move up in the world. So I think she’s going to apply for it, but might not be all torn up if she doesn’t get it.”

“What do you think her chances are?” Sarah asked.

“Again, tough call. She’s good on the air, and real easy to work with and all. But she doesn’t have near as much training as a guy like Chip. I’m not sure, but I think most chief meteorologists have more background in hard weather.”

“Hard weather?”

“You know, the actual science behind this stuff. You can get trained specifically to do TV, which is what Deena did. Or you can get more hardcore training, in all the technical areas, without as much emphasis on, you know, being the cute appealing TV type. It takes twice as long, but it gives you a better technical foundation.”

“That’s what you did, right? The more technical training?”

“Yeah,” Tony said. “I got a bachelor’s in meteorology. That’s how I was able to get into the National Weather Service.

“So you’ve got more training than Deena?”

“Yeah, plus I did about five years at the NWS. She went straight into TV.”

Tony straightened in his chair. “Look,” he said, “I’m not knocking Deena or nothin’ – she’s real good. And lots of weather anchors don’t even have as much training as she does. I was just telling you because you asked, not to pick on her.”

“I understand, Tony. That’s not how I was taking it. I just now started putting it together that you have more training in meteorology than she does.”

“Yeah,” Tony said, “I do. So you wanna hear something crazy?”

Sarah’s smile was a puzzled one. “Sure,” she said.

“Well, I was thinking the same thing. I got more training, plus some real-world experience at the NWS, plus the time I’ve put in here...”

Tony’s voice trailed off, but Sarah was leaning forward expectantly. “And?” she prompted.

“And so I applied for the position. Me. Can you believe it? I know, I don’t have an Eskimo’s chance in hell.”

“Snowball.”

“Say what?”

“A snowball. You don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell.”

“Well, thanks a lot,” Tony said, with a huff.

“No, no – that’s not what I mean. I was just telling you the expression is about a snowball, not an Eskimo. Go on. You applied for the position.”

Tony was shifting uncomfortably in his seat. “Yeah. I went in and talked to Fletcher about it, to see what he had to say.”

“And?” she said again.

“He basically said no fucking way. Shit – I’m sorry. I don’t mean to talk like that. I’m just... just... frustrated, is all.”

“I don’t understand,” Sarah said. “He totally shut you down?”

“Totally. Said I don’t have any broadcast experience, which is true. I told him I understood that, but that he had to know I was good at my job, and I was already familiar with how this team works and all. But he wasn’t buying – he made that
very
clear. Painfully clear.”

“What, was he rude to you?”

“Not really. I mean, not in a way that I could pin down. But you could tell he wasn’t taking me seriously. I mean, I know I don’t come off like the average weatherman you see on TV, but I really do know my stuff. I just wish he’d at least give me an audition, you know?”

Not knowing what to say, Sarah patted his hand.

Tony said, “I mean, I know I look different than most weather anchors. I know I got an accent. I been working on it, but I gotta tell you, it’s not easy to shake being an Italian from Brooklyn.”

Tony shook his head, pausing to sip his wine. Sarah took the opportunity to do the same.

Putting down his glass, Tony looked at Sarah sadly and said, “You know what I don’t get?”

“What’s that?”

“If the way I look and the way I talk is so horrible, how come there’s so many movies and TV shows with guys that talk like me?” Sarah began to reply, but Tony stopped her.