Lisa's Husband

"Lee, come on, what chance would I have? I'd be going up against guys who have been doing this all their lives."

"Yes, and I've seen all their work. I'll put yours up against theirs any day. Look," he said with a slight sigh, "if you win anything that makes you an award winning photographer. It's another feather in our cap and it sure doesn't do you any harm either.

"They have a banquet in Springfield on the night they give out the awards. I want you to bring your wife. I'll be there with mine as well. It'll be on a Saturday night and the paper is picking up all the expenses, so I rented a couple of rooms for us at the Sheraton. That way we don't have to worry about driving home late that evening. It'll be a nice little weekend getaway and if you win anything it'll be the icing on the cake.

"Here're the forms you need to submit with your work. All the dates and other info are there as well," he said, handing Trey a folder of papers.

"Okay," replied Trey. "I'll go through everything and see what I've got."

"Good, and don't be too critical. If I know you you'll come up with one shot. Remember, I want something in every category, hear?"

"Yeah, okay."

When he went home he told his wife about the contest. She appeared to be moderately excited and encouraged him. She couldn't help but feel she was leaving him behind when it came to careers. If he won something, she thought, maybe it would be the shot in the arm he needed to find something better.

He only had two weeks before the submission deadline. The banquet was the following month. Lisa, wanting to support her husband, put that weekend down on her calendar.

Not trusting Trey to not be overcritical of his work, Lee assigned a cub reporter to help with the selection process. Over the course of the next ten days, they poured through hundreds of shots and whittled them down to one entry in each of the twelve categories. Once everything was sent in, Trey sighed in relief. Now it was just waiting game.

That Thursday before the banquet, Lisa came bursting through the door of their apartment after work. "Honey, honey," she shouted excitedly, "I'm going to Rome!"

Grief had gripped the entire Catholic Church worldwide with news of the Pope's passing earlier in the week. Now came the ritual of electing another.

"They're sending me and a film crew over to cover the conclave, honey. Oh my God, can you believe it?"

Trey received the news with mixed emotions. Yes, of course he was proud of his beautiful wife, but he was looking forward to the banquet and spending the weekend with her. This was also the first time they'd be apart for any length of time since being married, and Rome--with all those suave Italian men? He was having a hard time forcing a smile let alone matching her excitement.

She literally jumped in his arms, clasped her hands around his neck, her legs around his waist, and gave him a big kiss. "Oh, honey," she screeched, jumping back down to the floor and not even waiting for his reaction. "This is big, honey. I mean, there are a bunch other reporters there with a lot more experience, but they picked me! I can't believe it," she said, wrapping her arms around him in a big bear hug.

"Congratulations," he finally got a chance to say. They broke the hug and he kissed her again before looking into her eyes. He was looking for a glimmer of sadness over missing the weekend and being separated, but it wasn't there, not even a hint. He could understand her excitement but it would have been nice to see it tempered with at least a smidgen of sadness. "When do you have to leave?"

"I have a six o'clock flight out of O'Hare Friday morning. When they gave me the ticket they said, because it was an international fight, I should be at the airport by four-thirty. I understand if you don't want to get up that early. I can take a cab. The station will pay for it."

"Don't be silly, honey, of course I'll take you. Any idea how long you'll be gone?"

"I'm not sure, honey. I guess as long as it takes them to elect a new Pope. I have to pack, hon. I don't want to leave it till the last minute. Oh God," she blurted out, "I have no idea what to bring." With that she scampered into the bedroom.

There was no mention of the banquet. Trey knew it was the farthest thing from her mind. He was leaning against the kitchen sink, unmindfully staring out the window when she walked back in. She sneaked up behind him and threw her arms around his waist while leaning her face against his back. "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing really," he responded, "just daydreaming."

"I wish you could come with me."

"Yeah, me too. I could protect you from all those Italian stallions." He felt her immediately pull her head away and let go of his waist. She moved around in front of him.

"You're not really worried about that?"

"Mmmm," he hummed, cocking his head to the side.

"You don't trust me?"

"Yes, I trust you, but you're going to be in a different country. You'll be going out to eat and drink in unfamiliar places, with unfamiliar people, and unfamiliar customs. I've heard those European guys can be pretty damn smooth."

At first he saw fire in her eyes but it only lasted a second.

"I should be mad at you, I should be furious, but...if I stop and think, I'd probably be worried too," she said a little pensively. "Look, don't be worried. I can take care of myself and no hot-shot European gigolo is going to get me in sack, okay?"

He thought she sounded awful positive about that. He smiled and nodded his head. "Yeah, okay," he replied with relief.

That night Trey wanted to make sure she knew whose girl she was. While making love, he was more aggressive than his usual tender loving self. They made love from eight o'clock until one in the morning. He smiled when he thought she might be walking a little funny the next morning and she had given him all she had to ease his mind. As they kissed goodbye at the airport, it was Lisa whose eyes were watering. She promised she'd call when she got settled.

Lisa was very confused when she arrived. With the stopover in Copenhagen it was a fourteen hour flight but the time difference made it three o'clock Saturday morning.

Trey heard her special ring tone and hit the connect button. "Hey, honey, how was the trip?"

"Long," she groaned. "I've never sat for that long in one spot in my life."

"Are you all checked into the hotel?"

"Yeah, but it's really confusing. I was thinking I'd check with the camera crew when I got here and maybe go out to dinner, but it's three o'clock Saturday morning here, Trey. I can't even figure out when I'm supposed to sleep. I got forty winks on the plane. I shouldn't have done that. I'm not the least bit tired but I'm afraid I'll be out on my feet tomorrow. I'm hungry too. Of course everything's closed so I had three candy bars out of a machine for dinner."

"Honey, Rome is seven or eight hours ahead of us. Didn't they feed you on the plane?"

"Not really. They gave us some cardboard food but it wasn't really fit for consumption. I should have eaten in Copenhagen; we had two and half hours, but it was still early and I just wasn't thinking."

"Is there a Denny's nearby?" he chuckled.

"Yeah—right," she chortled back. "I miss you."

"I miss you too, babe. It's lonely here without you."

"Ditto," she replied.

"How's the hotel?"

"It's nice. I'm right down the street from the Vatican. I saw it when I got out of the cab. I was hoping to be able to see the Colosseum. I know they have it all lit up at night, but the hotel's only a six story building and I'm on the fourth floor so there's no way I can see it from my room.

"Well, I guess I'm going to try and get some sleep, honey. I'll call you tomorrow night...or...I guess that would be tonight? I don't know, I'm so confused. Good night, honey."

"Good night, babe," he responded. "I love you."

"I love you too," she said before hanging up.

Lisa decided she'd try to get a couple hours of shut eye, but between the excitement of being in Rome and jetlag, it wasn't to be. By six o'clock she was showered and dressed. She wondered what time the restaurant opened but thought she should call someone from the news crew and see what the agenda was first. Out of the four person crew the station sent, she was the only rookie. Jerry Stiegle was the camera man. She had worked with him more than the others so he was her first call.

"Hi, Lisa, get here okay?"

"Hi, Jerry, yeah, I got in last night. This time difference really has me screwed up though. I didn't get any sleep last night."

"Well, chances of anything happening today are pretty slim so it should be a pretty easy day. Listen, we're parked behind the civil administration building. Make sure you have all your paperwork with you. You'll need it to get through the gates. You'll see the production truck; it has a banner on the side with the station's call letters."

"Okay, I have to get something to eat first though, I'm starving."

"Jay picked up breakfast for everyone on the way in. It's here waiting for you. Hurry up, Lisa, we have a lot to go over. Jay's working on your script right now. He wants to do three tapings."

"Okay," she said a little reluctantly. She was really looking forward to sitting down to a hot breakfast, not something from a Styrofoam box. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

When she got to the gates she was surprised at the hundreds of pedestrians and onlookers who had congregated. It took her several minutes to work her way through the crowd. Once inside the city she saw over a hundred production trailers scattered around. She finally found the one she was looking for and knocked on the door.

"You made it," Jerry commented as he let her in.

She was happy to see a familiar face. In addition to Jerry, her favorite camera man, there was Jay Fox, producer and editor, and Bob Crawford, the sound technician. She had worked with all of them before and was finally starting to feel a little more at ease.

They all ate their lukewarm scrambled eggs and sausages while going over how and when they would tape each segment. The schedule seemed pretty easy so when she mentioned she wanted to go and see the Colosseum she was surprised at Jay's reaction.

"No, no, no," he said, forcefully. "This isn't a sightseeing tour. You have to be ready at a moment's notice. When white smoke comes out of that chimney all hell is going to break loose. Once the new pope is chosen they'll dress him accordingly. That doesn't take long. When he's ready, he'll come out on the balcony overlooking Saint Peter's square. By that time you have to be all mic'd up and in place. You'll be live and the station will break into whatever they're broadcasting with a special news bulletin, so we can't have you gallivanting all over Rome. While we're here you'll either be in the production trailer with us or at the hotel—got it?"

"Yes, sir," she answered, feeling like she was a little girl who had just been scolded.

"Jay, take it easy. This is her first time on location like this. She'll do fine," said Jerry, giving her a vote of confidence.

"I know she will. I just want to make sure she's here when we need her, that's all."

Except for the three tapings she did, they spent the entire day in the trailer going over everything that had to be done and eating cold food from Styrofoam cartons. It was far from the glamorous trip she thought it would be. No wonder the more experienced reporters didn't get the assignment, she thought. They didn't want it.

She was so tired she could hardly keep her eyes open by the time she got back to her room but she wanted to call Trey before retiring.

There was that special ringtone again. "Hi, babe."

"Hi, honey, miss me?"

"Do you have to ask? So how was your first day in Rome; get to the Colosseum yet?"

"No, and it doesn't look like I'm going to see it at all. I'm on constant standby. I can't go any further than my hotel. It's almost like being in jail." She gave him a quick rundown on the day's events. "How about you? What are you up to?"

"Getting ready to go to the awards banquet in Springfield. It's a good three hour drive so I'm going to take off in about thirty minutes."

There was brief silence. "I forgot all about it," she said with a hint of embarrassment. "I wish I could be there with you."

"Me too, but don't worry about it, honey. You couldn't very well say no to an overseas assignment like that. I'll concede the Pope is more important than this banquet," he chuckled. They talked for a couple more minutes but she was tired and he had to get going.

Lee was surprised to see Trey without Lisa. He and his wife, Angie, knew her from social functions, and of course, from TV. Trey explained the situation over a couple drinks before they sat down to dinner. By the time they started the awards ceremony, Trey was wishing he could just leave, but of course he couldn't. Then they announced the winners of the first category, 'sports feature.'

Trey looked up at the large screen on stage and saw his photo.

"In third place, Trey Van Heusen of The Northwest Star, the MC proclaimed.

"I knew it," he heard his boss say. "Well," he told a shocked Trey, "go on up there and get your award." As Trey stumbled toward the stage Lee turned to his wife. "This is going to one of many tonight. I know it."

The next two categories were announced without Trey being mentioned but then he won second place for 'feature story.' Next was 'Pictorial.' "And in first place, Trey Van Heusen of The Northwest Star. For the third time after just five categories, Trey went up on stage to receive his award. As the night went on, Trey racked up four more awards, one of which was another first place.

The last category for the event was 'spot news.' It was considered the most important of all the categories and carried the most points toward winning photographer of the year. The second and third place winners were announced. Trey was more than satisfied with everything he'd won so far but Lee's heart was beating like a drum. He watched as the speaker's eyes glanced toward Trey and knew he'd won before his name was announced.

"With two third place wins, three second place wins, and three first place wins including spot news, this year's winner for Illinois News Photographer of the Year goes to Trey Van Heusen of The Northwest Star.

His mouth dropped open as he felt Lee's hand patting him on the back. The king sized monitor lit up with his shot of a fireman pulling a young girl from a fiery first floor window. Every press photographer there knew it was the kind of shot you risked your own life to get. Many of them stood while the applause intensified as Trey took the stage for the eighth time and humbly thanked Lee and everyone else he could think of...not leaving out his beautiful wife for convincing him to apply for the job.

Later that night, after celebratory drinks with the boss and accolades from his peers, Trey went to his hotel room to settle in for the night. He stretched out in the queen sized bed and interlocked his fingers behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. His eyes welled with tears, several of which escaped and ran down the sides of his face. It had been some night, other than his honey moon, the biggest night of his life, and yet he couldn't ever remember feeling so alone, so empty. Without the woman he loved to share in his victory it really didn't mean a whole lot.

The next morning he joined Lee and Angie for breakfast. He graciously accepted the handshakes and congratulations from some of the other photographers but was anxious to get back home.

For Lisa, each day was like the previous except for playing some poker to alleviate the monotony. In addition to the daily boredom, eating half her meals as take-outs, and not being able to see the city, Lisa's body was still not fully adjusting to the time change. She was tired during the day and couldn't get to sleep at night. Trey was just walking into the apartment when she called. For her it was late and she was tired. She used the little time they talked to complain about her assignment and had forgotten all about the awards banquet again. Since she didn't ask, Trey didn't even mention it.

The next day she was right in the middle of an erotic dream involving Trey when she was woken by her phone. She sleepily reached for it and connected without looking to see who it was.

"VAN HEUSEN, WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?"

She immediately recognized the angry voice as belonging to Jay Fox. It instantly shocked her awake. She looked at the time; shit, it was after eight. She slept right through the alarm. "I'm sorry," she cried in a panicky voice. "I'll be right there."

"YOU GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE NOW," he screamed. "THEY JUST PICKED A NEW POPE!" With that the line went dead.

Now she was in absolute terror mode as she literally leapt from her bed and threw on the same clothes she had adorned the day before. She rushed to the bathroom and ran a brush through her hair while sitting on the toilet to pee. She hit the street and ran as fast as she could in her three inch heels.

As she approached, she couldn't believe the crowd that was surrounding the walls of the Vatican and spilling out into the streets. She wasn't sure how she was going to get through them. She had tears in her eyes as she saw her entire career going up in flames. Suddenly, she heard her name. She looked around and saw Bob, the sound man waving at her from the gate. She fought her way through the crowd until she reached him.

"Here," he said, giving her an earpiece. "Turn around," he demanded. She turned her back so he could affix a small transmitter to the back of her skirt. "Okay, turn around," he commanded again so he could get everything rigged for the wireless microphone. He worked faster than he'd ever had to work before. He just prayed everything functioned when he got back into the trailer. There was no time to do sound checks.

"Come on!" he yelled, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her through the crowd.

The trailer was as far as he went. "Okay, Jerry is in there someplace," he said, indicating the enormous crowd in front of them. "He'll be on the lookout for you but he couldn't stand around waiting in case you didn't make it in time; so far so good. The new Pope hasn't come out yet but you'd better get your ass in gear and find Jerry in a hurry."

"I will," she replied on the fly as she started pushing her way through the throngs of people.

"Is she here?" asked a fuming Jay Fox.

"Yeah, she's all mic'd up. I'm going to patch her through to Jerry so they can find each other." Bob sat down at the control panel, put his headset on, and started flipping switches. "Lisa, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, but I can't find Jerry. I'm looking for the camera but there must be a hundred of them out here."

"I'm going to patch him into your mic. You'll be able to talk to him but he can't talk back so you'll have to find a landmark he can see and tell him to meet you there."

"Okay, I'm working my way through the crowd. I can see the statue ahead. I'll tell him to meet me there."

Bob hastily connected her mic to Jerry's earphones then slumped back into his chair with a sigh. "Now if they'll just hold off long enough for the cavalry to arrive," he said, using a local colloquialism from his home state of Arizona.

Even though they hadn't started broadcasting yet, everything Jerry and Lisa were doing was being recorded in real time.

"I can't believe this," Jay angrily growled. "I don't care how popular she is, as soon as we're back in Chicago that bimbo is gone."

Since Jerry was unable to communicate with her, Lisa had to trust that he was following her directions and working his way to her. She kept her eyes peeled for his big remote TV camera. He'd have it on his shoulder and it would be coming toward her, against the tide of the others who were all jockeying for position when the Pope came out.