Chapter 10: A Fresh Start
With a new year Theresa started her life over. She wasn't depressed, just determined to sharpen her skills to be the best she could be. She had received and invitation out from the guy in high school Nate, that she liked. He had broken up with his girlfriend and was free. Theresa didn't know this until she was shopping in town and he saw her. He ran up to her and asked her out. She agreed to go and since she was shopping anyway Theresa bought a new dress for the occasion. He had told her to dress up and no jeans. She dressed with care and they went out to a really nice dinner. The only problem was that it ended early, because he promised to take some kids skating. Well, Theresa figured if she was going to be able to spend anytime with Nate she would have to learn to skate....
Things were going better at work. She had gotten promoted to music director. They were also recognized as a reporting station to a national trade magazine which meant free music and giveaways for on air contests. This also meant when artist came through the town and your station was on the reporting list they would stop by. Theresa wrote to the companies and turned the charts in each month. Music was changing a little to reflect the times. One of the premier groups in Southern Gospel moved to a smoother sound. Others were expanding their listening base. Theresa began to work on the sound of the station, making things a more smoother transition.
It wasn't too long that Nate began to get interested in what Theresa was doing. He applied for a part time job at the station working Saturdays and Sundays. Theresa was excited that he would be working there with her, she had someone who would help her do some of the things she wanted to do. She began to train him to work the equipment and things went well. He would even pick up a shift during the week for extra money. He needed it, he was in the process of finishing a house he was building. Before he got the house finished he had to move his mother in with him because family home had caught on fire. There was no insurance, so his mother moved in with him and he was finishing up the house. Theresa set out to be the perfect girlfriend. When he finally got around to asking her about being his girlfriend she was excited. She began to spend all of her time with him and his family, when she wasn't working. Theresa learned to skate and went with them different places and out to eat. There was a very exclusive event that she wasn't invited to, he said he was going to take his mother, There didn't like it, but she didn't say anything. Everything was still too new and she didn't want to rock the boat. Although she liked him, there were several things that happened like this. With Nate it seemed to be God first, mama second, the rest of the family next and if there wasn't anything else to do Theresa would fit in. This began to grate on her nerves and when she wanted to talk to him about it , he would ask "Do you want to break up?". She didn't so she kept quiet. Over the months the relationship got in a rut. They would go skating every Saturday night with thr family. Nate worked on Sunday mornings and his mother wanted him off of that shift so they could go to church together, they began to use the relationship to ask for things.
Theresa was promoted again to "Operations Assistant", she would oversee training and scheduling of the people that worked there. Some of them were happy and others resented it. She was able to work with the engineers and train people and she felt she was very good at it. Some of the people who had been there for a while tried to undermine the changes and listen and set traps. The best times were on Friday nights, there was a movie theater across the street and the night shift used to go and get buckets of popcorn. Once there were sure the management types were gone, there were games of Uno and Monopoly played. All in good fun, everybody had their work done. When Theresa's friend from grade school came to work there, Jean, she was glad to have someone to talk to. They had went to broadcasting school together. Jean was more technical minded than Theresa. They got along well. There was a guy that was hired for the midnight shift, who was a little strange, Evan was a little quiet. No one knew how strange he was until the Christian album covers started have bearded ladies and one Sunday morning Theresa got a call from Nate saying that the control board had been spray painted red. When Theresa saw it, it was barn red. The engineer was called as well as Theresa's boss. What needed to be done was to scrape the paint off of the board, this was a time consuming process. In the process some of the working inside each channel were damaged. The board would short out in the middle of a program. There were ministers who would get mad. When the board would short out, a person would smack the top of it. There was a place in the floor that you could stomp and it would come back on. This reminded Theresa of Dusty who would play a song called "The Cockroach Stomp".
Theresa's grandfather died and she went with her mom to help with the arrangements. It was a difficult time. While she was off from work for funeral leave someone was trying to undermine her job. When she came back her mail had been opened and a few other things. It was then that her boss asked if she wanted to work the morning shift. She didn't mind. She wasn't in college and if she went back she could take night classes. Theresa was still quite timid, she wouldn't hardly talk to anyone until eight o'clock in the morning. This shift was hard on her personal life because Nate worked until 4:30 PM and there was little time to spend together. Nate began to look at houses, Theresa was excited, because she was thinking maybe they were looking for a house for them to live in when they got married. It turned out that Nate was looking for a house big enough for the whole family to live in together. Theresa was falling in love with Nate. Don't ask why love has no rhyme or reason, she finally decided she would tell him. When she finally told him that she loved him, she was expecting a kiss , a hug or an "I love you too." He said nothing. This hurt Theresa very much. It was then and there she decided that she was never going to open her soul like that again.
The next months were very stormy for Theresa. Nate did decide to break off the relationship. She didn't know why. He wouldn't tell her. This left a wound in her soul for many years. Now there was a new challenge, how do you work with someone you can't stand. Theresa made sure she didn't have to see him. Finally things got so tense between them, that her boss asked her what was going on. He simply stopped scheduling Nate to work. It was after all of this that Theresa went back to college taking night classes. She wanted to advance in a career and take care of herself. No one was ever going to hurt her like that.
Things were going better at work. She had gotten promoted to music director. They were also recognized as a reporting station to a national trade magazine which meant free music and giveaways for on air contests. This also meant when artist came through the town and your station was on the reporting list they would stop by. Theresa wrote to the companies and turned the charts in each month. Music was changing a little to reflect the times. One of the premier groups in Southern Gospel moved to a smoother sound. Others were expanding their listening base. Theresa began to work on the sound of the station, making things a more smoother transition.
It wasn't too long that Nate began to get interested in what Theresa was doing. He applied for a part time job at the station working Saturdays and Sundays. Theresa was excited that he would be working there with her, she had someone who would help her do some of the things she wanted to do. She began to train him to work the equipment and things went well. He would even pick up a shift during the week for extra money. He needed it, he was in the process of finishing a house he was building. Before he got the house finished he had to move his mother in with him because family home had caught on fire. There was no insurance, so his mother moved in with him and he was finishing up the house. Theresa set out to be the perfect girlfriend. When he finally got around to asking her about being his girlfriend she was excited. She began to spend all of her time with him and his family, when she wasn't working. Theresa learned to skate and went with them different places and out to eat. There was a very exclusive event that she wasn't invited to, he said he was going to take his mother, There didn't like it, but she didn't say anything. Everything was still too new and she didn't want to rock the boat. Although she liked him, there were several things that happened like this. With Nate it seemed to be God first, mama second, the rest of the family next and if there wasn't anything else to do Theresa would fit in. This began to grate on her nerves and when she wanted to talk to him about it , he would ask "Do you want to break up?". She didn't so she kept quiet. Over the months the relationship got in a rut. They would go skating every Saturday night with thr family. Nate worked on Sunday mornings and his mother wanted him off of that shift so they could go to church together, they began to use the relationship to ask for things.
Theresa was promoted again to "Operations Assistant", she would oversee training and scheduling of the people that worked there. Some of them were happy and others resented it. She was able to work with the engineers and train people and she felt she was very good at it. Some of the people who had been there for a while tried to undermine the changes and listen and set traps. The best times were on Friday nights, there was a movie theater across the street and the night shift used to go and get buckets of popcorn. Once there were sure the management types were gone, there were games of Uno and Monopoly played. All in good fun, everybody had their work done. When Theresa's friend from grade school came to work there, Jean, she was glad to have someone to talk to. They had went to broadcasting school together. Jean was more technical minded than Theresa. They got along well. There was a guy that was hired for the midnight shift, who was a little strange, Evan was a little quiet. No one knew how strange he was until the Christian album covers started have bearded ladies and one Sunday morning Theresa got a call from Nate saying that the control board had been spray painted red. When Theresa saw it, it was barn red. The engineer was called as well as Theresa's boss. What needed to be done was to scrape the paint off of the board, this was a time consuming process. In the process some of the working inside each channel were damaged. The board would short out in the middle of a program. There were ministers who would get mad. When the board would short out, a person would smack the top of it. There was a place in the floor that you could stomp and it would come back on. This reminded Theresa of Dusty who would play a song called "The Cockroach Stomp".
Theresa's grandfather died and she went with her mom to help with the arrangements. It was a difficult time. While she was off from work for funeral leave someone was trying to undermine her job. When she came back her mail had been opened and a few other things. It was then that her boss asked if she wanted to work the morning shift. She didn't mind. She wasn't in college and if she went back she could take night classes. Theresa was still quite timid, she wouldn't hardly talk to anyone until eight o'clock in the morning. This shift was hard on her personal life because Nate worked until 4:30 PM and there was little time to spend together. Nate began to look at houses, Theresa was excited, because she was thinking maybe they were looking for a house for them to live in when they got married. It turned out that Nate was looking for a house big enough for the whole family to live in together. Theresa was falling in love with Nate. Don't ask why love has no rhyme or reason, she finally decided she would tell him. When she finally told him that she loved him, she was expecting a kiss , a hug or an "I love you too." He said nothing. This hurt Theresa very much. It was then and there she decided that she was never going to open her soul like that again.
The next months were very stormy for Theresa. Nate did decide to break off the relationship. She didn't know why. He wouldn't tell her. This left a wound in her soul for many years. Now there was a new challenge, how do you work with someone you can't stand. Theresa made sure she didn't have to see him. Finally things got so tense between them, that her boss asked her what was going on. He simply stopped scheduling Nate to work. It was after all of this that Theresa went back to college taking night classes. She wanted to advance in a career and take care of herself. No one was ever going to hurt her like that.
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