Chapter 8

Roy Summa bought the house across the street from Barbie shortly after joining the Nelson Corporation. He didn’t socialize with his neighbors and occasionally gave Barbie a helping hand around her place because she lived alone and because of her age.

He didn’t want the publicity of his heroic deed but he was not going to escape it. Everyone loves a hero, and saving a life without regard for your own puts you in that category. Summa wanted to give no interviews and he tried to keep a low profile; still, when you save an old woman from a raging fire, well, good luck.

Summa knew he could do nothing about the reporters’ vans hanging around Barbie’s house when the fire was raging; they had jobs to do, and although less than two percent of the people in town knew Barbie, all six local TV stations and two from New York were on the scene showing the same footage of the destruction caused by the fire, getting the same interviews from the fire marshal and neighbors who never had gone out of their way to associate with Barbie but all said she was a nice lady who waved back if you acknowledged her with a ‘hello’.

Summa didn’t want to be interviewed multiple times about his role in saving Barbie, and conceded to give one interview only, to a rookie television features reporter whose most recent outing was shown on the 11:00 p.m. news involving how to choose the best paint colors for newborns’ nurseries. It must not have been a sweeps month. Summa chose her not as a joke, but because he figured she had nowhere to go but up, and a story like this would make her a news star. He was certain that the lovely, young Julie Miller would show her gratitude at becoming an instant celebrity.

Summa called the TV station and spoke to the assignments editor, telling her who he was. Like everyone else in the news business, she had desperately been trying to get in touch with him.

Gushing, she said,

“Mr. Summa, I’m absolutely thrilled that you called. I’ve been trying to reach you. You are a hero. What you did was just awesome, risking your life like that. On behalf of our entire news 28 broadcast team, I thank you for your absolutely courageous efforts.”

She expected a response at this point, but got none. She continued,

“I would love to send our most experienced and highly respected reporter to your home for an interview. You must watch our station, so I’m sure you are familiar with the work of Jerry Voight, our prime-time anchor? He’s been reporting the news in Connecticut for almost fifty years, and I know you and he will get along awesomely. Will you allow me to do that? I think the public absolutely needs to hear in your own words what happened that day. How is later on this afternoon? It would be so awesome if you could do that.”

“I’ve seen Voight. I can’t believe he’s still on the air. It’s hard to tell what’s thinning faster, his hair, his teeth, or his brain cells. Aside from the piece I saw him do on the Salvation Army bell ringer, when was the last time he was out of the studio?”

“Did you know that that story won Mr. Voight a New England Reporting Diamond Award in the ‘fluff’ category? We were absolutely tickled pink when he garnered that! We are so proud of that award that we built a special trophy case in our lobby just for it. Too bad he doesn’t remember what he did to get it—he thinks it’s a basketball award he won in 1965. But boy, can he still do an awesome job reading words off a TelePrompTer! Of course, we had to buy a magnifying lens for the prompter so that he could read them. He has a wonderful voice still, don’t you agree? I’ve had so many of our viewers reach out to me and tell me when he comes on, they close their eyes, turn up their hearing aids and listen to that smooth, velvety voice of his. I think he started in radio. It’s really too bad that he doesn’t understand how the words he’s reading relate to the story; I guess it doesn’t matter because our audience doesn’t seem to mind. But they love him and usually fall asleep during the broadcast—maybe his voice puts them to sleep. It could be you know; our largest demographic is the 65- to 100-year-olds. We own that crowd! And at the end of the day, that’s all that matters. So why did you call?”

“I will grant an interview to Julie Miller.”

“The pretty, under-thirty features reporter? Are you serious? I don’t feel that she has the experience to ask you all the questions our viewers expect, Mr. Summa. She’s a rookie. This story, your story, needs to be done by someone who can capture the dangers you faced trying to rescue Barbie. Someone who can get you aroused!”

“I have no doubts that Ms. Miller can do that. Plus, the story is so big that it will be everywhere—she must be on every social platform and people will associate your station with a fresh, young face rather than that of a blanched, wrinkled, tooth-challenged, hair-challenged, sourpuss. Won’t it be awesome to advance the career of such a latent talent? This interview will allow you to ramp up your advertising rates. Your boss will love you for it.”

She heard the cash register ringing. She agreed to send Miss Miller and the camera operator to his house later that afternoon.

Julie Miller was even better looking in person. Somehow she looked younger, sexier. She had the build of a lovely young woman. She had on a red short-sleeve flare dress with beige flats. Wearing bright red lipstick, she had Summa’s eyes struggling to stay in their sockets.

The cameraperson was dressed in tight-fitting jeans, sneakers, and a form-fitting top. She was as pretty as Miller, with a build to match. Her presence changed the odds heavily in Summa’s favor, he thought. He was beside himself. He tried not to stare at them, but he was having a tough time.

“Mr. Summa, my name is Andie,” said the cameraman. “If it will make things easier for you, Julie and I are married.”

A startled Miller said,

“That’s true, Mr. Summa. I was married before to a man named Andy. Guess I like the name. My sexuality doesn’t matter though, does it?”

“Ah, no, no, of course not.”

Summa’s blood returned to the places it goes where he’s calm, an unusual state for him. He gathered his thoughts and showed his guests to the living room; the women sat down on the sofa while Summa took the chair.

They all took drinks of iced tea that Summa had placed on the coffee table.

“Mr. Summa, my assignment editor said that you asked for me to do this interview. You have no idea how much this means to me. I want this to be the most-watched news segment in the history of Connecticut television. I want you to be relaxed, so in a minute I will ask you to tell the camera what you do for a living, about your family, things like that. Andie will check the film quality and sound levels, and if they are ok, we’ll begin. Any questions?”

“Yes. If I split from my girlfriend and you two get divorced, will one of you marry me?”

They laughed; he smiled.

“May I call you Julie and Andie?” Without waiting for an answer, he continued. “You can call me Roy. Mr. Summa was my father. There is a quid pro quo attached to this interview, Julie that I did not mention to your boss. I require your promise to visit a businessman with Andie and ask him to give you information on a project he is working on, and then do follow up stories with him. I will supply you with all the information on him and his company as well as the questions I want you to ask. I assure you that his company is working on this project, so I need you to be aggressive and confident when you speak with him. The interviews will take place in his office, with no danger to you. After my interview with you, he won’t be able to refuse seeing you. Do I have your promise?”

Miller knew Summa was going to ask. Her ex-husband Andy, a member of the CIA had called and told her, because the CIA was interested in Stone’s thought-reading invention.

Andy and Julie had stayed on friendly terms. She needed him home more; he wouldn’t give up his career. They divorced.

This interview Summa wanted her to do could launch her career. She was grateful that Andie was a friend and would share in whatever acclaim Miller received. And she owed her big time. If she hadn’t made up the story about them being married, Summa would have been trying to paw her by now.

“You will be in no danger, I promise,” Summa told her.

“Well, I can chase down my own stories, but it would help if I knew what is so special about this businessman that I need to interview him.”

“He has invented something so important… Look, I’ll give you more information before you meet with him. It will be worth your while. Will you do it?”

“All right, we’ll do it. Now, let’s do yours.”

Over the next hour, Summa told his story of when he first saw the fire, and how he saved Barbie’s life. Miller prompted him to provide more details about some things, and got him to admit that he had never done anything so brave. Her handling of the interview was as competently done as any other reporter in the market area could have done, according to Miller’s boss, who promptly gave Miller a raise.

The interview proved to be a sensation, and it became the ratings blockbuster Miller wanted. It went viral immediately and she and Summa became social media stars. Miller had more requests for interviews of her own than she had time for, and selected those that gave her the most exposure, such as the early morning network shows.

Summa, on the other hand, remained true to his convictions and turned down each of the more than fifty requests for additional interviews that he received. A civic group wanted to honor him as well, but he politely declined.

Barbie Cole was having a bad day. She had trouble concentrating and she was irritable, lonely, and feeling sorry for herself. Then, after her late afternoon nap, she felt revitalized. Her mind was clear and she was optimistic.

Seated in her chair awaiting dinner, she turned the TV on to the NBC news. Jill Miller’s interview with Roy Summa was the lead story; Barbie recognized him immediately.

He’s my neighbor. He was digging in my garden, burying something. Now I remember.

She asked her aide to watch the interview with her and to write down the man’s name.

Shortly after the interview, Miller received a call from Summa, asking her to meet and discuss Miller’s promised interview of the businessman. They met the following evening, with Andie present. Summa gave Miller the questions he wanted her to ask of Jon Stone. Unlike Summa’s interview where he described an event that happened, Stone was probably going to deny knowledge of anything Miller asked him.

“Be firm and press him to answer the questions as best you can,” he said.

Hanging up, Summa got an unexpected call from Long who told him that he needed Summa to make copies of all the coding and specifications when the project was completed. By having his own copy, Long then would checkmate Stone. Long promised Summa an enormous fee if he would do it.