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He was watching the Cartoon Network.

Hmm.

She climbed back into bed and started reading. The phone rang again and she assumed it was Alexandra. When they were both home alone like this late at night, they often called back and forth.

"I want to know what the little surprise is," Jessica said, picking up the phone, "or I'm not coming."

"I don't know," Will's voice said.

"Meat loaf maybe."

"Oh, it's you. What are you doing on my phone?"

"Wanting to see if we can move lunch up a half hour tomorrow."

"Sure," she said, reaching to reset her alarm for a half hour earlier.

As disorganized as some people thought she was, she really did have maintaining her schedule down to a science, knowing exactly how much time she needed for each segment of her day and night in order to get everything in. Strange, but effective. After all, no matter what, the show had to go on, at least Monday through Friday.

"Oh, that's great," Will said.

"Thanks."

"How was your day?"

"Okay. Busy." He sounded tired.

She looked at the clock.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, I don't know. I've just got a lot on my plate, I guess." There was a hesitation in his voice.

"Come on, out with it, Rafferty. You've never called me at home."

"Well, actually, there is something. But I'm not sup posed to tell you about it but I'm not very sure about it, either, and I think I should tell you about it to make sure it's okay with you."

She thought it might be something to do with the stalker, but she admonished herself to banish that from her mind.

"Alexandra wants me to rent the cabin on her farm this summer."

Relief and then interest.

"Really. Do you think you might do it?"

"Well, I'd like to, but on the other hand, I, uh well, you know, I don't want to intrude."

"The cabin's miles from her house," she said, exaggerating, but in the crowded Northeast, it did seem as though it were. Realistically it was more like half a mile.

"And Alexandra would never suggest it if she thought you being there might bother her. Come on. Will, you know how she is about her privacy."

Of course he did. He and Alexandra had been friends and colleagues for ten years.

"Actually, it wasn't her privacy I was worried about," he continued.

"It was yours. You're out there a lot."

"Oh," Jessica said, feeling funny inside, but deter mined to keep this light.

"You mean that you won't be able to date anybody this summer without having me hanging around."

"What?" He sounded genuinely baffled.

"Well, I was thinking about renting a place myself this summer," she lied. She felt very nearly as attached to Alexandra's farm as the anchorwoman did, particularly since she had been there for all the renovations and improvements over the years.

But the idea of having to see Will with another woman made her willing to rent on the moon if only to be spared the sight.

"} didn't know," he said quietly.

"I mean, I don't know, Jessica, for sure what's going on with you."

"Nothing's going on with me." She gestured, as if he could see her.

"Look, if you want to rent the cabin, that's fine with me. Even if I was out there, you'd never see me--unless you wanted to. So if you wanted to bring someone out" -- "Jessica," he interrupted.

"The thing is, what I'm trying to say is, I don't want to date anybody else this summer but you."

Jessica blinked.

"Oh."

"I mean, I don't know what's going to happen. I mean, we've been having great lunches and walks and stuff" -And kisses, she thought.

"And you seem to like me pretty well" -Like him pretty well? Was he brain-damaged?

"And while I would like nothing better than to be out there this summer, it seemed as though I should ask you before I said yes."

"You're not staying in the cabin this weekend, by chance, are you?"

"Yeah. That's the other reason I called. I felt awkward about it."

"And what did Alexandra Eyes say to you about all this? I'm curious."

He laughed.

"She said, " Why would I offer you the cabin unless I thought it would be a good thing all round? "" "My, somewhat controlling our personal lives, isn't she?" Jessica said.

"She said you pushed someone you thought was good for her into her lap, and now she's merely doing a little steering in return."

Jessica flushed with pleasure. This was so wonderful. He really cared for her, wanted to do this dating thing, the whole nine yards. The prospect of the summer loomed now like paradise and she wished she could cancel the book tour and spend her vacation with him. She quickly reined in her thoughts, though. Come on, no tricking, no trapping, take it slow.

"I can think of nothing nicer than to have you out there," Jessica told him.

He gave a happy sigh.

"Phew. Okay. Great. Then it's ago."

"And if you change your mind later this summer, you know, and want to date other people" -- "Why? Do you?" he asked quickly.

"I mean, is there" -- "No, no," she said quickly.

"There's no one else. Will. What I was going to say was that if, you know, later, you do want to date someone else, I'd understand."

There was a long pause. And then, finally, "Jessica," he said, "don't you get it? I've been waiting to go out with you for years."

And here, ladies and gentlemen," Langley Peterson said late Friday morning to the group following him into Studio B, " is our one and only Jessica Wright. "

"Better known, actually," Jessica added, looking up from the notebook in her lap, "as the jewel in the crown." She smiled.

"But seeing as you're friends, you may call me Miss Crown for short."

After a moment's hesitation, the tour group behind Langley burst into laughter, realizing that Jessica was mocking the latest annual report that described her as the jewel in the DBS crown, since "The Jessica Wright Show" was the biggest moneymaker for the network.

Everyone in the tour group was very important to DBS. There were executives from Procter & Gamble, IBM, Ford, Pillsbury, Fidelity, Travelers, Time Warner, Microsoft, Revlon, General Electric, Staples, Sorry, Pepsi, Exxon, Purina and American Airlines. The group represented the largest part of the network's bread- and-butter advertising and it was particularly important they continued to like Jessica, since hers was the only DBS show that was ever boycotted by consumer groups. Nobody ever cared when the boycotting group was something like the Cross-Dressers of America, but boy oh boy had they cared when it was the Christian Coalition not so long ago. Happily, the sponsors had stood by "The Jessica Wright Show," and as it turned out, no real Christians had agreed with the boycott it had only been the bodies politic within the coalition seeking personal publicity and the boycott had been quickly rescinded.

Also in today's group were New York City trade and commerce officers from Mayor Guiliani's office, a business-affairs liaison from Governor Pataki's office and an official from the New York State Energy Commission

"Langley was just explaining," Cassy said, stepping forward, "that The Jessica Wright Show' has been on the air now for seven years with at least a twenty per cent ratings increase every single year. Jessica currently has an average of seven and a half million viewers every night, translating into a prime-time Nielsen's rating of eleven point five, which, as you know, is pretty darn good for a show on the youngest of the five broad cast networks. Certainly it's encouraging that as the big three continue to lose viewers in prime time, Jessica continues to find them."

"Hi, Miss Crown here," Jessica said, winking at, and shaking hands with, the tallest man in the group.

"Aren't you Greg something? Greg "

"Roth."

"I've met you before," Jessica told him.

The man was elated.

"Yes, I can't believe you remember. It's been a while."

"And Ms. Gallagher, isn't it?" Jessica said smoothly, reaching her hand out to another executive.

"It's very nice to see you again. I certainly appreciate your sup port."

The woman positively beamed.

There was no need for them to know about the sponsor cards Cassy maintained on behalf of the DBS talent, expressly for these kinds of events. On the cards were the names of sponsor representatives, the dates and who they had met from DBS, and, if a photo was not available, a description of the executive. Before these kinds of meetings, Cassy would send copies of the cards to prep everyone.

For ten minutes Jessica shook hands and chatted with every member of the group. She and Alexandra called these the Annual Dog and Pony Shows. (Jessica complained she was always the dog. ) When she had finished shaking everyone's hand, Jessica said she wanted to introduce the brains behind the show, her executive producer, Dennis Ladler.

"Although Denny and I have been working together for almost fourteen years--since the very, very beginning, before we were syndicated and ours was just a little show on a UHF station in Tucson--I'm still only twenty-seven years old. Got it, everyone?"

"It's like the picture of Dorian Gray," Denny explained, coming forward and pointing to his head.

"Her sins graying my hair."

There was some polite laughter.

"I also want to introduce you to the creative brains behind the show," Jessica continued.

"The woman who keeps us fresh and entertaining and informative, Alicia Washington." Alicia stepped forward and murmured a shy hello.

"For those of you with kids who want to know how Alicia got started in the business," Jessica said, moving over to put her arm around Alicia, "I've got six words of advice--type fast and give good phone."

People chuckled.

"You think I'm kidding. Well, I'm not. And you can save your kids a lot of disappointment if you set them straight right from the beginning. Alicia graduated from NYU with all kinds of fancy awards, but she started here at DBS as my secretary as almost every other successful media person in the business did and does.

Communications and mass media are apprentice ship businesses. When you go next door, ask Alexandra how she started her brilliant career.

Which was, incidentally," she added, leaning forward, " mopping floors at a California radio station. "

People laughed, but Jessica only smiled.

"Oh, you'll see," she told them.

"Just don't be shocked when your kid's first job pays less than one semester's tuition at that fancy school you sent him or her to."

"How about you, Jessica?" someone asked.

"How did you get started?"

"Oh, man, I knew someone was going to ask me that," she groaned, provoking more laughter.

"Actu ally, I got my start because Denny here asked me to fill in as a host on a public affairs TV show in Tucson. I was twenty-one years old and as crazy as a loon and I was an undergraduate at the U of A that's University of Arizona. No one watched this public affairs show. No one. It was on UHF, and the only reason anyone could get the station in the first place was because they had to have cable in the valley they couldn't get TV signals over the mountains otherwise and so the UHF station was thrown into the package. Anyway, we soon found out that at least one person had been watching that particular night, the night I was substituting " She squinted and looked at Denny.

"Wasn't that the night I fell backward off the set in my chair?"

Laughter.

"Almost," Denny said, increasing the laughter.

"Yeah, I thought so." To the group, "Seriously, this was a major problem for me in those days, not falling off the set. I was crocked.

I mean, most everybody knows--it's no secret--I don't drink at all anymore, and haven't for several years. But back then those high ratings were coming at a high price"-She rolled her eyes.

Alicia whispered something in Jessica's ear.

"Oh, gosh, you're right," Jessica said, turning back to the group.

"Listen, my autobiography is being published in a few weeks and the whole sordid story is in there. The nice part is, it is a story of recovery, so your customers will like it. No boycotts because of it, I promise."

Nervous laughter this time.

"We'll be sending each of you a complimentary copy," Langley added.

"Hey! No way!" Jessica said.

"Everybody's got to buy it. These guys make lots of money!"

"We're buying copies," Langley told her.

"DBS is."

"Oh, well, that's all right then." To the group, "Okay, so you've got your beach reading all lined up for you. And by the way, there is an appendix in the book--it's called, " So You Want To Work In TV and I give every piece of advice I know that works. So, if you know anybody that wants to work in TV, you can loan them your copy. "

"Don't you want those people to buy the book too?" someone asked.

"Are you kidding?" Jessica asked.

"Nobody starting out in television has any money! Later, maybe, but certainly not in the beginning." She turned to Denny.

"What did you pay me in the early days? Wampum and firewater, wasn't it?"

Cassy climbed up on the set.

"Okay, everyone, Langley and I are going to take you on to Studio A now, to the set of " DBS News America Tonight. "" "But just remember, people," Jessica said, "J am the jewel in the crown." To Cassy, "They'll take one look at old Alexandra Eyes and forget all about me."

The group laughed.

"Hardly," the man from P&G said.

More laughter.

"At any rate," Cassy said, "after we visit DBS News, we'll be heading upstairs to the corporate dining room where Jessica and Alexandra will be joining us for lunch. So if you have any more questions for Jessica, you'll have an opportunity to talk with her then."

The group moved on, though many reluctantly; they wanted to stay and chat with Jessica, sit on her set, just hang out, she could tell. Good sign.

Once the executives were out of the studio and the doors were closed behind them, Jessica let out a sigh of relief and plunked down to sit on the edge of the set.