Chapter 6

“Murray Levine Associates,” Annie said, in her best grown-up voice. “May I help you?”

“Very good,” Murray Levine declared. “If you can manage a little smile in your voice, that’s even better. But the important thing is you enunciate. I hired a kid once, brilliant girl, but she slurred her syllables. She made my name sound like Murder Inc. Broke my heart to fire her, but what could I do?”

“I promise I’ll enunciate,” Annie told him, hanging the phone up. She only hoped she’d remember to enunciate when the phone actually rang. It was easy enough to sound professional when she was just practicing. She had to be a success, she told herself. If she wanted to convince everybody at school that she was a grownup, she had to succeed at the job. It would look great on her college applications too, every bit as good as the newspaper editorship would have. Probably even better.

The phone rang, interrupting her reverie. After Annie finished being startled by the noise, she picked it up, and said, “Murray Levine Associates may I help you,” all in a rush so it came out as one long, well-enunciated word.

“It’s Mr. Clark,” she whispered to Murray, clasping her hand over the phone. “Do you want to speak to him?”

“Hal Clark?” Murray asked. “Sure. I’ll take it in my office.” He got up from the receptionist’s desk, and left Annie holding the phone.

“Mr. Levine will be right with you,” Annie said, figuring that was what she was supposed to say. Fortunately she’d seen enough people answering phones at Image that the stock phrases came fairly easily to her.

She waited until she heard Murray pick his phone up, and then she hung up. But before she had a chance to look at the files she was supposed to put away, the phone rang again.

“Murray Levine Associates,” Annie said grandly. “May I help you?”

“Mr. Levine please,” the voice said back. “This is Dr. Irvin Weinstock.”

“Mr. Levine is on another line, Dr. Weinstock,” Annie said. “Can you hold?”

“All right,” Dr. Weinstock replied, and Annie put him on hold. She debated whether to break into Murray’s conversation to tell him about Dr. Weinstock, and decided to. Murray seemed to be the sort of person who got upset if you didn’t do things, rather than if you did something a little too much.

So she buzzed him on the intercom and told him about the second phone call and was thanked. In a moment, she saw Murray had hung up from Mr. Clark and gone to Dr. Weinstock. Annie silently patted herself on her back.

She’d only been at the office for fifteen minutes, but already she was starting to feel a part of what went on there. To satisfy her curiosity, she checked out Mr. Clark’s and Dr. Weinstock’s files. Mr. Clark turned out to be president of a local chamber of commerce. Dr. Weinstock was a dentist and author of Gum Disease—The Silent Killer. Annie automatically ran her tongue over her gums, then hoped licking them wasn’t how they killed you.

She then put away the files that Murray had handed her as soon as she’d walked in that afternoon. The filing system was simple enough, and Annie enjoyed putting them back. She was an organized person, which was one reason why she was such a good editor, and she like having things in their proper place.

The phone rang again, and Annie answered it as though she’d done nothing in her life other than say, “Murray Levine Associates. May I help you?” with a smile in her voice.

“Annie, is that you?”

“Mom?” Annie said. “What are you doing calling?”

“I don’t mean to bother you, honey,” her mother said, but then the phone rang again, and Annie told her mother she was about to go on hold. She took a deep breath and pressed what she hoped was the right button.

“Murray Levine Associates,” she said. “May I help you?”

“Mr. Levine please,” the voice said. “This is Charlie Dare.”

“Charlie Dare?” Annie said. She only knew one Charlie Dare, and he was the host of an important local radio talk show. Annie listened to him sometimes.

“Yes, honey,” Charlie Dare replied. “I’m Charlie Dare.” Annie could have lived without the “honey” but she put him through right away to Murray. She then returned to her mother, who, miraculously, was right where she left her.

“I hope I never have to call you in a real emergency,” her mother said with a sigh. “Don’t you know mothers are never happy being put on hold?”

“I’ll keep it in mind,” Annie said. “Look, Mom, maybe you’d better make this fast. The phone rings a lot here.”

“Stacy Livingston from Boston Morning called to see if you could be on tomorrow,” her mother said all in a rush. “I said I was sure it would be fine. It is, isn’t it?”

Annie quickly surveyed what she had scheduled for the next morning. Not a single test to worry about. “It’s perfect,” she declared. “Thanks, Mom.”

“Fine,” her mother replied. “Now go off and make your millions.”

“I’ll do my best,” Annie promised, and as she hung up, Murray buzzed her.

“Anne, come in here,” he ordered her, so Annie did. She hoped he didn’t know she’d been on the phone with her mother, although he didn’t seem like the sort of person who’d get upset about it. But you never knew with bosses.

“Yes, Murray,” she said, walking in.

“We have a little crisis on our hands,” Murray declared. “A good crisis, mind you, but I need your help.”

“What do you want?” she asked cautiously.

“Charlie Dare called me because his guest for today had to cancel. Some woman specialist in natural childbirth,” Murray declared. “So what happens? She goes into labor. I said she could do the show from the delivery room, create radio history, but apparently she’d already vetoed that idea. Obviously not a Murray Levine Associates client. Mine would kill for an opportunity like that.”

Annie smiled at him, still waiting to hear how Murray needed her help.

“So Charlie asked if I had anybody available for his show tonight. We’re talking an hour from now. This is not much notice, but I guess babies are like that. My first, we just barely made it to the hospital. And first babies are supposed to take forever.” Murray smiled at the memory. “Anyway, Dr. Weinstock had just called to say he was a wee bit irritated that the world wasn’t banging on his door now that Gum Disease—The Silent Killer has finally been published. So I suggested Weinstock to Dare. Told him gum disease had been linked to herpes and AIDS. Those are hot diseases, you know. You can go far in this business if you can hook into the hot diseases.”

Annie gave her gums another quick check.

“Weinstock is thrilled, naturally enough,” Murray continued. “When Murray Levine Associates promises, Murray Levine Associates delivers. Although usually not so fast.”

“That’s great, Murray,” Annie said. She was still waiting for him to explain how this good news affected her.

“What I want you to do is go with Weinstock to Dare’s show,” Murray said. “Dentists are funny souls. I guess they’re so used to working in a crowd, those adoring dental assistants and all, that they get gun shy when they have to make an appearance on their own. Besides, this is Weinstock’s first radio show. So I promised him one of my associates would accompany him, hold his hand until he has to go on the air, that sort of thing. So here’s some cab fare, and take the addresses with you, and get going.”

“Are you kidding?” Annie asked. “What should I do?”

“You’re going there to cheer him on,” Murray replied. “Charlie has one of those call-in shows, and lots of times people are reluctant to call up about gum disease. So you call him from the studio, and I’ll call him from here, and my wife should be home by then, so I’ll make sure she calls too. Listen to what Weinstock is saying so your question makes sense, and see if you can work herpes or AIDS into it. All right?”

“Should I come back here when we’re done?” Annie asked.

Murray checked his watch. “No, go on home afterward,” he said. “I’ll answer my own phones. Although I won’t do nearly as good a job as you.”

“Thanks,” Annie said. She grabbed the cab fare from him, ran to her office to get the addresses, and scurried out. Once she realized that she didn’t have the slightest idea what she was doing, she panicked, but then she told herself to behave the way Ashley would, and that meant cool, amused, and in complete control. Besides, it couldn’t be any harder to escort someone to a radio show than it was to appear on a television show. Which reminded her. She was supposed to do that tomorrow. She wondered if Murray would be impressed and how the kids at school would react when they found she actually had been on television. Assuming she could figure out what to wear, or find the time to wash her hair. She’d worry about that on her own time, she decided, as the cab sped toward Dr. Weinstock’s house. She approved of his neighborhood. Gum disease obviously paid well. The cabby found the right street number, and Annie told him to wait as she got Dr. Weinstock.

She would have recognized him anywhere, since he was carrying a copy of Gum Disease—The Silent Killer. She introduced herself quickly and walked back with him to the cab, then gave the cabby the address of the radio show.

“Murray sent you?” Dr. Weinstock asked. His voice was quivering.

Annie nodded. “I’m Anne Powell,” she declared. “One of Murray’s associates.”

“Irvin Weinstock,” Dr. Weinstock said. “DDS.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Annie said. “So you’re going to be on the Charlie Dare show.”

“I guess so,” Dr. Weinstock said. “Murray just called and said Dare asked for me specifically. Murray said he has a history of gum disease in his family, but that he was sensitive about it, so I shouldn’t mention it outright to him. But naturally he was interested in my book.”

“Anybody would be,” Annie said. “Gum disease can lead to so many awful things.”

“That it can,” Dr. Weinstock said. “So you know about gum disease? I don’t suppose you’ve read my book.”

“I’m afraid I haven’t,” Annie said. “Between school and my job, I have so little time for reading.”

“You should always make time for reading,” Dr. Weinstock declared. “I like poetry myself. It’s such a nice change of pace from staring into people’s mouths.”

“I can imagine,” Annie replied. She was sure she’d get tired of staring into people’s mouths if she were a dentist.

Before they knew it, they had arrived at the radio station. Annie handed over the money for the fare, feeling very grown up doing so, and escorted Dr. Weinstock in, introducing him to the receptionist and then following him into Charlie Dare’s office, where once again Annie introduced Dr. Weinstock and herself.

Charlie Dare turned out to look exactly like he sounded, young and slick. He took Dr. Weinstock’s hand, assured him that gum disease was an issue of great importance to his listeners, and went over quickly with Dr. Weinstock the sorts of questions he’d ask and what the format of the show would be. He also managed to get Dr. Weinstock’s copy of Gum Disease—The Silent Killer away from Dr. Weinstock, and ushered them out of his office, so they could get a cup of coffee before Dr. Weinstock had to go on the air. That presumably gave him time to skim through the book, so he could sound as though he’d read it. Annie enjoyed seeing a professional at work.

Fifteen minutes later, when Charlie Dare and Dr. Weinstock began discussing gum disease, it sounded as though Charlie was an expert on the subject. His questions were pertinent, and friendly enough that Dr. Weinstock sounded as though he were at a dinner party, talking about a topic of mutual interest.

Annie waited until Charlie announced it was time for people to call in, and then she used Charlie’s own phone to call in with her question. Her stomach hurt at the thought of having to make the call, but she knew it was part of her job. “I have a question for Doctor Weinstock,” she said, still trying to feel like Ashley.

“The topic is gum disease,” Charlie declared. “Yes, we have a phone call. Who’s calling, please?”

“My name is Charlene,” Annie said, figuring that was the sort of name Ashley would have chosen. “And I have a question for Dr. Weinstock.”

“Certainly, Charlene,” Charlie said.

“Yes, Charlene,” Dr. Weinstock said, sounding, Annie noted, almost as slick as Charlie. “You have a question about gum disease.”

“Is is true that gum disease is one way that AIDS can be transmitted from one person to another?” Annie asked. She’d been rehearsing the question for the past ten minutes, and she liked the way it sounded.

“I’m glad you asked that, Charlene,” Dr. Weinstock said. “There’s been a lot of talk about gum disease and AIDS. But none of the research indicates that there’s any connection at all between the two. Gum disease is indeed a silent killer, but it kills in other, equally insidious ways. Do you suffer from gum disease, Charlene?”

“My husband does,” Annie replied. “That’s why I was worried about AIDS.”

“Gum disease is not contagious,” Dr. Weinstock assured her. “And in its early stages, gum disease can be controlled, even cured. Is your husband undergoing treatment?”

It was hard to know what to answer. “He keeps things from me,” Annie declared. “I think he’s embarrassed.”

“How’s his breath?” Dr. Weinstock asked.

“Pretty bad,” Annie admitted.

“Well, Charlene, that is a symptom of gum disease, but not of AIDS,” Dr. Weinstock replied. “Let me take this chance to tell all your listeners, Charlie, that if they have recurring bad breath, the answer isn’t buying another type of mouthwash. A trip to the dentist may well cure the problem forever.”

“We have to break now for a commercial,” Charlie said. “Probably a mouthwash ad, with my luck. Thanks for calling, Charlene. And tell your husband to start sharing his problems with you. Secrecy has killed more than one marriage.”

“I will, thank you,” Annie said, hanging up the phone, and then shaking with silent laughter. If she ever had a husband, and he had bad breath, she’d be sure to tell him. But only if she changed her name to Charlene first.

She turned the radio back on and listened for Murray’s phone call. Sure enough, he was concerned about gum disease and herpes. No connection there either, but Murray was persistent, and he managed to make the process of getting gum disease sound positively desirable. Dr. Weinstock kept insisting it wasn’t contagious, but that didn’t stop Murray. He must have mentioned herpes a half dozen times in five minutes, and he managed to slip AIDS in twice as well.

By the time Murray’s wife called, Dr. Weinstock had fielded dozens of questions about gum disease. Most of the people calling had sensible gum disease sorts of questions to ask, but a few harped on herpes. They didn’t sound like put-on questions either, just people inspired by Charlene and Marco, which was the name Murray had used. Annie marveled at how easily Dr. Weinstock managed to slip in the title Gum Disease—The Silent Killer. If there was a rush on the book at the local bookstores, Annie would certainly know why.

Dr. Weinstock met her back at Charlie’s office when the interview was over. His face was glowing from perspiration and excitement. “You were terrific,” Annie told him. “You really sounded smooth.”

“That was so exciting,” he replied, and he grinned happily. “It was like taking an oral exam where you know all the answers.”

“You certainly sounded professional,” Annie assured him. “Have you ever done any radio work before?”

“In college,” he said. “But I remembered a lot of tricks. You know, breathing deeply, that sort of thing.”

“It certainly showed,” Annie told him. “I feel honored to be associated with you.”

“Thank you,” Dr. Weinstock said. “Well, I suppose the time has come to go back to the real world.”

“I guess so,” Annie said, sorry to leave Charlie’s office. She put on her jacket, after handing Dr. Weinstock his coat, and the two of them walked out of the radio station together, but not before everybody came up to the doctor and congratulated him on his performance.

Annie felt happy for him, and happy for Murray as well. If this was what public relations work was all about, then she could understand why Murray liked it so much. Dr. Weinstock seemed about three inches taller than he had when she’d first seen him.

They took a cab back to his house, and as he got out, Dr. Weinstock thanked her for accompanying him. “I couldn’t have done it without you,” he said. “I was a nervous wreck when Murray called to say I was going to be on today.”

“It was my pleasure,” Annie told him.

“Thanks again,” he said. “And thank Charlene for me too.”

“I’ll do that,” Annie said, and shared a smile with him. Once she’d gotten over her nervousness, it had been fun. And the nervousness made it exciting, the way it had been sometimes at Image. The school paper had been fun, but it was never exciting in that way. And she was being paid for it too. It was remarkable how good life could be when you made anger work for you.