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“Just wait here. He’ll be out in a moment.” She hurries off the way we came, and Mercedes grabs my arm, giving it a little squeeze.

“How you feeling?”

I nod, looking over the sound booth. “I’m okay, I think.”

“Just be yourself, Ali. It’s why I hired you and why people loved your article. Don’t forget that.”

I nod, smiling at her. Having her here really does help me feel better. “Wow, you give good pep talks.”

Before she can say anything else, the sound booth door opens, and a man who looks like the real life Shaggy from the Scooby-Doo cartoons pokes his head out. Long messy blond hair falls into his face, and his plaid shirt looks like it’s two sizes too big for his tall, lanky body.

“Alison?” he asks, looking between Mercedes and I. I raise my hand as she pushes me forward, still not looking up from her phone and I roll my eyes. He motions for me to follow him, and I start walking toward the door but he looks behind me to Mercedes.

“You’ll need to stay out here. There is a pair of headphones and a chair over there for you.” He points to a small desk that’s pushed up against the glass with a set of headphones laying on top. She finally looks up from her phone and nods, dragging the chair from the wall over to the desk as she plops her purse down and sets up shop.

He turns back to the booth and I follow him inside. “We don’t have a lot of time but I’m Sam. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too, Sam,” I say, offering him a polite smile.

“Just go ahead and have a seat over there and put those headphones on. I’ll introduce you, and then we’ll get started. Sound good?”

“That sounds great.” I take a deep breath as I move around the round desk and sit at the microphone next to his. He throws the headphones on his head and turns his chair to face me. Just as he starts counting down from five, I put the headphones on and set my bag down on the floor next to me, trying not to freak out that I’m about to go on the air.

“Welcome back,” he booms into the microphone as soon as he gets to one, his entire face coming alive as he speaks to his listeners. It’s easy to see why he does this. If you saw a side-by-side comparison of the man who greeted me outside this booth and the man I’m sitting next to right now, you’d never believe they were the same person. “I’ve got something exciting for you all today! Viral star, Alison James, is here!”

It feels weird to hear him call me a viral star but I guess that’s what I am now. But that doesn’t mean I like it.

“Now, you all may remember the article Alison wrote a few days ago about her horrible online dating experiences. She’s also the new advice columnist over at Champagne Dreaming, a blog run by Mercedes Richmond, daughter of billionaire Charles Richmond. Thanks for being here today, Alison.”

I startle and lean into the microphone. “Thanks for having me.”

“Oh, we’re glad to have you, and can I just say from guys everywhere, we’re sorry about those dates.”

I laugh. “Well, thank you but there’s no need. They are done and over with, and I’m happy to put them in my past.”

“So, I kind of have to ask the obvious question here, are you single? Did anything come of those dates?”

I open my mouth and close it again, not sure what to say. Are Storm and I dating? He’s always around but it’s not like we’ve talked about it. And yeah, I really like him a lot but still, we just met.

“Oh, boy, I’m judging by the look on your face that there might just be someone in your life.”

I laugh and tuck my hair behind my ear, trying to keep the blush from rising to my cheeks. “Well, it’s new so I’m not really sure what we are yet but I did meet someone.”

“And am I safe in assuming that it’s not one of the guys from the article?”

I decide to let as little information slip as possible and look up at him as I pretend to zip my lips. “I’m afraid that that’s all the information you’re going to get from me.”

“Oh, what a tease,” he says, laughing, and I join in. I peek out at Mercedes, and she grins at me.

“All right, well, let’s get down to the real reason why you’re here, shall we?”

I nod. “Let’s do it.”

“You heard her, folks. When we get back, Ali’s going to be taking your calls and dishing out advice so stay tuned.”

Music starts playing over the headphones, and the guy across from me pulls his off, and I follow suit. “How was that? Not so bad?”

“No, that was fun. I definitely feel less nervous now,” I tell him, and he smiles.