"I'm sure she'll be able to reschedule your interview..." Edmund said as he jotted down the message. "Brooke seemed to be coming down with something the last time I saw her... Oh, I will... I will. And I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

Edmund hung up the office phone and leaned back in the chair, swiveling right and left as the office door opened and Brooke walked in and removed her coat.

"Where have you been all day?" Edmund asked.

Brooke jumped. "Edmund," she said. "I didn't see you."

"Did you forget about the Shumaker interview?"

Brooke brought her hands up and ran them through her hair. "That was today? I completely forgot."

"I took care of it. All you have to do is reschedule."

"Edmund, how can I ever thank you?"

"Don't mention it." Edmund stood and walked over to her. "We all need to take days to keep our sanity. Next time though... it would be great to have some notice."

Brooke smiled. "That I can do."

Edmund walked over to the desk and handed Brooke a stack of messages. "When you get towards the bottom... those are the irate ones."

"There were that many?"

Edmund headed for the door. "You have no idea." He swung the door open. "I'm checking out of here early," he said. "Can you hold down the fort for the next few hours?"

"I'm sure I'll be able to handle it," Brooke said, taking a seat at her desk.

"Oh, before I forget," Edmund said, putting on his jacket. "Tad came by early this morning."

"Tad Martin?"

Edmund raised his eyebrows. "You know any other Tads?" He smiled. "He said to have you give him a call."

"Yeah..." Brooke began flipping through her messages. "I'll do that..."

Edmund held the doorknob with his hand. "Brooke, I think we should really sit down and talk... about what's going on with the magazine."

"This is really not a good time for that," Brooke said, picking up the phone and dialing. "Tomorrow, Edmund. OK?" she paused. "MR. Shumaker, this is Brooke English at Tempo magazine..." Brooke put her hand over the receiver. "Go home to your kids, Edmund. Go eat an early dinner or something. I'll be fine here." She went back to the phone. "...Yes, I'm feeling much better, thank you... The piece?.. It will still be featured in the next publication..."

Edmund silently left the office as Brooke continued talking on the phone. He was worried about the future of Tempo even more now than the day before. There had to be a way for him to find out why Brooke's attitude about the magazine had changed so drastically in such a short time. And he wasn't about to give up until he figured it out.



Tad slipped swiftly passed security at WRCW. "Not another step." Tad froze. He knew that voice. He turned slowly.

"Liza," he said, trying to turn on the charm.

"Don't Liza me," she said. "You'd better have one hell of a good excuse for missing the show today."

Tad dug his tongue into the side of his cheek. "I guess sorry isn't going to cut it, huh?"

"Far from it, Tad," Liza said. "Do you have any idea what we went through down here, five minutes to air with no host?"

"I'm really sorry?"

Liza shook her head. "Where were you?"

Tad bit his bottom lip as he headed towards Liza's office. "Family crisis," he said.

Liza stopped. "God, Tad, is it Jamie? Is he OK?"

"He's fine. Jamie's fine. Everything's under control." They entered the office and Tad sat.

"Why are you here at all then?" Liza asked, walking behind her desk.

"Crisis averted." Tad folded his arms across his chest. "And if it's alright, I'd just like to try to catch up on some of the work..."

"Tad, please," Liza laughed. "You're my best friend. I know you better than anybody."

"What are you trying to say?" Tad asked, leaning forward, resting his arms on Liza's desk.

"Why don't you tell me what's really going on?"