Wait For Me

Part 20- NOLA's Newest Radio Host

Alastor furrowed his brows and frowned. "Wait, hold on! I don't understand. You're sign out front said you were looking for radio hosts. You barely asked me any questions!"

"I'll put it simply," Chester replied in a bored tone, shaking off the ashes of his cigar. "Someone of your..." He raked his eyes up and down Alastor again, "- caliber ain't quite what we're lookin' for to represent us."

Alastor clenched his teeth and his fists that were concealed in his lap. Prejudiced asshole. But then he grinned and turned on the confidence. "Look, sir. I have qualities for this job. I speak with a self-taught transatlantic voice, so you don't need to pay anyone to give me lessons, which I've been told is good for radio or the pictures. I'm also charismatic, and I know how to draw in a crowd. Give me one month and I bet I'll have people tuning in from all over. Your radio station will amass hundreds of listeners more than you currently get, and you'll be making money from sponsors. That's how confident I am with my ability in this position. And, if for some reason I fail, I'll look for work elsewhere." He always did love a good challenge, and he was already getting some ideas on how to be sure he was successful. One month here and he would have them eating out of the palm of his hand.

Whittifield smirked. "Oh? Is that so? Confident are we?" He liked a good challenge as well and was easily entertained so he held out his hand. "Is it a deal then?"

Alastor smirked and shook his hand firmly.

****

August 14, 1930

"You're on in thirty minutes Mr. Toussaint," an intern from Loyola said, peeking into his sound room.

Alastor paused from reading his notes and looked up. It was the same intern as it always was, and Alastor was always glad to see him. The intern was polite and hardworking, always offering to help the brunette with whatever endeavors he took interest in that day. It always involved the radio station, whether it was cleaning up or doing voice recordings. Alastor appreciated his reliability to the utmost. "Thank you. Is our celebrity here yet?"

As per the bet in July, Alastor had one month to prove himself worthy to the radio station and to stick to his promise of drawing in mass amounts of listeners. If he was successful, he kept his job. If he was unsuccessful, he would be forced to find work elsewhere.

In two weeks alone, the WWL radio station rose up the charts to within the top ten stations. According to their studies, they had three hundred new listeners within the first week. By the end of the month, the radio station gained over two thousand new listeners, and it wasn't just people from New Orleans. People from outside of the state, all around the country tuned in for his specials. He hoped that Anthony listened to him whenever he could as well, and that thought filled him with a certain joy. They still hadn't heard each other's voices since March, but Alastor looked forward to receiving his letters every two weeks, and he hoped one day that they could talk on the phone.

During his one-month trial, Alastor also cleaned up the station and brightened up the dreary long hall. He managed to convince his boss to add more furniture to their reception area for guests and brought in some of his mother's plants (with her permission) to liven the space up further. He reported on the news, told jokes, gave listeners insight to any new activities in town, read advice columns, and talked about his interests and hobbies. The one thing he did not talk about was the Depression, and that was his secret to success. People didn't want to constantly be reminded of their reality, they wanted a means of escaping it, even if only for a few hours. They got that with Alastor's radio show.

Chester Whittifield was so impressed, in fact, that he asked Alastor if he wanted to do an interview with a celebrity in lieu of celebration. As a means to get ahead, Alastor enthusiastically agreed. This was his first guest, and he didn't want a single thing to go awry, so he had spent the better part of the day reading over questions he wanted to ask. The guest was an up-and-coming singer/songwriter, and as a former jazz player, Alastor was looking forward to learning more about that.