"You're on the air with AJ and Frankie, you have a question for us?"
"So what were you wearing last night?"
She let out a slow laugh. "What does that matter?"
"Maybe the way you were dressed made the giant one think you wanted picked up."
"I was wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and boots, not anything that screams please, oh please come hit on me. Next caller, this is AJ and Frankie."
"This is the jolly green giant."
AJ rolled her eyes, not believing he actually called in. "Alright, nice to hear from you. If it's really you, you're going to have to prove it."
"Thanks for the beer last night, I don't usually lose, I'd love to try again."
"Okay, listeners our talented wed tech will post a poll later today. Should our beautiful AJ, go out with the jolly one." Frankie was smiling at the glare she was receiving from AJ.
"Are you a chicken?" Asked the voice on the phone.
AJ let out a slow laugh. "Oh honey, don't try to throw down like that. You know what, we don't need a listener poll. Name the time and place, it's on."
"Well boys and girls AJ has accepted a date with the jolly one. That's it for us this morning, stay on the line, while we get your information. We'll leave you today with a little Bon Jovi, You Give Love A Bad Name. We'll talk to you tomorrow!"
AJ sat back wondering what she'd done, the flashing light on the phone mocked her. Frankie grinned at her. "Better answer lover boy."
"This is AJ."
"This is Opie. How about tonight?"
"Sorry Jolly one, I need a little bit more notice, besides I psychopath tried to pick me up about twenty minutes before you did last night. So, I'm seeing him tonight."
"What about Saturday?"
"Sounds promising. Name the time and place."
"Seven, Mamma Bella out on Highway 5."
"I'll find it. Most likely the webtech will come and take pictures, proof we went out."
"See you then."
"Will you call back in tomorrow and confirm the date? Say around nine?"
"Yeah!"
She ended the call, leaving the studio, she had to go record some commercials before she could leave for the day. She had three hours more of work to do before she could go home and get ready for dinner at Tara's.
XXX
Andi walked up the pathway to her cousins front door, ringing the doorbell. The door opened, a blonde man with a goatee answered the door. "Andi?"
"Yes, I'm looking for Tara."
"I'm her husband Jax. Come on in." He lead her into the house, she could hear Tara in the kitchen, talking to another woman. "Ma, this is Andi, Tara's cousin. Andi, this is Gemma my Ma, and her old man Neuro."
"Nice to meet you Gemma, Neuro. Tara, glad to see you!" She hugged her cousin. "Who's this?" She smiled at the little boy sitting in the highchair.
"This is our son Thomas."
"Hiya handsome." She felt something run into her legs, about knocking her over. She squatted down to look at him. "Who are you?"
"I'm Abel. You're pretty."
She let out a laugh. "I'm your cousin Andi. Aren't you a cutie."
"Like my daddy!" The room, erupted in laughter. The group sat down to dinner, Andi enjoyed being with Tara's family.
"What do you do for a living?" Nureo asked.
"I'm a radio DJ, I just started at Z98."
Gemma stared at her and stared laughing. "You're part of AJ and Frankie in the morning?"
Feeling uneasy, she slowly nodded her head. "I'm AJ. Why?"
"I loved your show this morning! So did you make your date with the Jolly one?"
"I'm meeting him Saturday night for dinner." Gemma smiled at her, if this girl was half as sassy in real life as she was this morning on the radio then she'd be a good match for Opie. She wasn't going to let on that she knew his real identity, she'd keep that to herself.
"So what exactly did you say to him last night?" Gemma asked.
"I basically thanked him on behalf of all woman everywhere that just wanted to drink alone. That we didn't need some strong mach man to buy us a drink, and to fuck off! I did buy him a buy and send it to his table before I left."
"And they say romance is dead!" Tara scoffed.
"You know me, making friends where ever I go!" She smiled. "So what do you do Jax?"
"I'm a mechanic at Teller-Morrow. What made you move to Charming?"
"My ex-husband was being an ass, so I decided I needed a change."
"What do you mean being an ass?" Jax asked, she could see him getting protective.
"Coming to my work, demanding money for his coke and hooker habit. Showing up at my apartment trying to steal my things. I decided enough was enough, I packed up and moved out here. I only stayed in Chicago after the divorce, long to save up the money to move out here, and not be in debt. He cleaned out my bank account before I had a chance to close it."
"If you need anything, let us know. You're family." Jax smiled at her.
"Thank you! He shouldn't be a problem."
Andi felt good to be a part of a family again, it had been awhile since she'd been included. She could see how close, they all were, it made her miss her parents. The only family she had left was Tara, it was why she'd moved here. It was after eight before she left, she was tired, she was ready to go home and crawl into bed. She had to be at the station at five, she and Frankie would review what points they wanted to hit during the show, to cover any lulls. Their show started at six, ended at ten.
After the show, they talked to their producer on how that days show went, discussed changes for the next day, came up with topics, recorded commercials and or promos. Most days she was home by one or two in the afternoon, that's what her contract had promised her.
XXX
"What did you do last night Frankie?"
"I went trolling at bars, seeing if I could get picked up by hot guys."
"And how'd that work out for you?"
"Not too well, found several freak shows that wanted to buy me drinks."
"What about you? Meet any hot guys last night?"
"I did meet a couple of heart breakers last night, but they were way out of my league. I had dinner with my cousin's family last night. Her oldest told me he was cute like his daddy."
"Boys and girls, talk about heart breaker, The Jolly one is on the line for our girl AJ. Good morning sir, did you and my girl get something set up?"
"Yeah, we're meeting Saturday night at seven."
"I'm sure all the listeners are looking forward to the details on Monday, but this is a family show so keep it PG!"
"I'm sure it will be rated G, Frankie." AJ, winked at her.
"Come on girl, don't dash the guys hopes and dreams before the date!"
"I'll see you Saturday night AJ."
"See you then Jolly one. It's Thursday morning at nine fifteen, next up Lynard Skynyd Freebird"
The rest of the show went by uneventful, since she didn't have any promos or commercials to tape, Andi was free to leave at eleven. She went home, fixing herself some lunch, curling up on the couch, she binge watched some shows on Netflix. She hated to admit it, but she was excited about her "date" on Saturday night. It had been a hot minute since she'd been on a date.
XXX
Opie came back into the garage after getting off the phone, he slipped his phone back into his pocket and got back to work on the truck he'd been working on. Tig elbowed Happy, and nodded towards him.
"So Opie, got plans Saturday night?" Tig asked.
"Just staying home, watching the game."
"Maybe we'll come over and watch with you." Happy said, smirking.
Opie stroked his beard, trying to figure out how to get out of this, he had a date with the hot radio DJ. Chibs spoke up saving the day. "You assholes leave him alone, he's got a date. You bloody well know that!"
Jax walked into the garage, starting at his brothers. "What did I miss?"
"Nothing." Opie ducked under the hood of the truck.
XXX
She sat at the restaurant for a hour before giving up, she had Tyson, the webtech take pictures to prove she'd been there. She was pissed off as hell, he'd done it to humiliate her, jokes on him, she wasn't then one that would be humiliated come Monday morning. She went for a drive before going home, she needed to let some steam off before she went home.
She pulled into the drive of her house, just wanting to take a hot bath and soak the stench of failure off of her body. She told Tyson to post the pictures of the failed date on Monday morning at the nine o'clock hour. She locked her door, poured herself a glass of wine and soaked in a bubble bath, forgetting about the Jolly one, otherwise known as Opie.
XXX
Opie realized Saturday morning he didn't have a contact number for AJ, there was no answer at the station. He had to go on a last minute run with the club, and couldn't go on their date. He felt horrible, he was looking forward to the date, he wanted to get to know her. He put the number to the restaurant in his phone, so he could call and leave word, when they stopped.
He wanted to reschedule the date with her, he was hoping she'd agree. They rode out of the parking lot, headed to SAMTAZ, by the time he stopped he'd forgotten to call.
XXX
"It's nine am on Monday morning, this is AJ and Frankie in the morning. It's a beautiful sunny day here in Charming, the temperature is 87."
"Time to dish AJ, how'd it go Saturday night. We want details."
She let out a laugh. "Let me call Tyson in here so he can verify that everything I'm saying is true." Tyson walked into the studio, put on a set of cans, and sat down at a microphone. "I was stood up, no phone call, nothing. The Jolly one didn't show up."
"No way, after he called you a chicken."
"Tyson, am I lying?"
"No, he didn't show up. We checked with the hostess, there was no message."
"Holy crapballs AJ! I'm sure our listeners are disappointed."
"I'm over it, he was the chicken. Maybe it was payback for me shooting him down at the bar, it didn't really phase me any. I had some wonderful Italian food and went home. No big deal!"
"So if I were to tell you he was on line two, wanting to apologize and explain what happen Saturday night, what would be your response."
"No need to apologize or explain anything."
"The Jolly one, you're on the air with AJ and Frankie what do you have to say?"
"I'm sorry, I was called out of town for work at the last minute. I didn't have a way of getting a hold of you."
"It's all good, no harm, no foul. Thanks for calling in, better luck next time." She cut the call off. "Up this hour David Bowie, Billy Joel, and Elton John." She cut to commercial. She leaned back in her chair, the producer, tapped on the window.
"Andi, Opie on line four."
"I'm not taking calls Courtney." She watched her producer handle the call for her, she didn't want to let on that she was really pissed off about Saturday night. She finished the show, and other responsibilities that she had at the studio before heading home. On the way home her check engine light came on in her truck, she pulled into Teller-Morrow to have it checked out.
Gemma came out to greet her. "Hey Andi! What can I do for you?"
"My check engine light came on. Can someone check it out?"
"Sure thing baby." She followed Gemma into the office, filling out the paper work. Jax came in smiling at her, kissing her check.
"What's going on Andi?"
"Truck problems."
"We'll give you the family discount. Come out and meet the guys." He pulled her up off the couch, she heard Gemma laughing as they left. "Andi, this is Tig, Happy, Chibs, and the big guy is Opie. Everyone this is Tara's cousin Andi."
All the men started laughing except Opie, he was staring at Andi. She rolled her eyes and mumbled fuck my life, as he walked towards her.
AN: Hope you enjoyed this second chapter. Thanks for the follows and favorites, Please review.