by SUE FINEMAN
After lunch with her parents, she returned to LA, where everyone on Henry’s staff was hard at work on the new show. The writers had worked on reality shows before. Most of what happened on those shows was spontaneous, but sometimes people had to be prompted. They had to be prepared if someone froze up under the pressure of the cameras, and they wanted ways to create conflict between the women. Without conflict, they wouldn’t have a show. They couldn’t tell Tony which girls to eliminate, of course. That would have to be his choice. But they could help him choose the words to tell the girls they had to leave.
Over the next two weeks, Catherine talked to Tony at least every other day. She missed him so much she could almost feel his big hands on her body and his lips on hers, but she had things to do, and so did he. He’d been out inspecting property for the development company.
“I’ll be back in Santa Barbara in a few days. Friday. I thought we could drive back together, maybe spend a little private time before the show begins.” His voice, deep and soft, told her what kind of private time he meant to spend with her.
She could use a little down time to unwind before the show, and since they’d already made love, what would it matter if they made love again before the show began?
After she ended the phone call with Tony, Catherine scanned the list of girls they’d signed for the show. Did they have enough diversity? Enough possibility for conflict? Would the audience pick favorites and tune in every week to see who Tony eliminated?
Would Tony pick a favorite and stick with her through the show?
Jenny - single mom
Chelsea - retired model
Rachel - former Miss Florida
Lily - grad student
JoJo - bookkeeper
Victoria - widow with 2 boys
DeeNae - paralegal
Carina - divorced blackjack dealer
Marilyn - secretary
Andrea - hairdresser
LeeAnn - dental hygienist
Jan - waitress
Gwen - teacher
Alternate - Charlotte (Cookie) - unemployed college dropout
Catherine was on the phone with the wardrobe people when Mitzi tapped on her office door and opened it. “Cat, one of the girls dropped out.”
“Which one?”
“Marilyn. She went back to her boyfriend.”
“Call the first alternate.”
“I already did. I’ll get her set up with whatever she needs.”
Catherine nodded. “Good. You did find other alternates, just in case, didn’t you?”
“Sure. We have two more, and they’ve already been screened.”
“Okay.” Catherine went back to her phone call, trusting that Mitzi had everything under control.
<>
Filming for the show was less than two weeks away, and Tony was starting to feel uneasy about it. What if he came across as an idiot? What if he hurt someone’s feelings? This thing had disaster written all over it, and he hadn’t even met the women yet.
Friday afternoon, as he drove toward Santa Barbara, he called Catherine on her cell phone. “Where are you?”
“Still in LA. Where are you?”
“Approaching Santa Barbara.”
She sighed. “It’ll take me at least three hours to get there, Tony, and I’m not ready to leave yet. Megan is expecting you. Tell her not to hold dinner for me.”
“Would you rather I come to LA?”
“God, no. I can’t wait to get out of this place.”
Catherine finished up and gathered her things to leave the office. Mitzi called her back. “Cat, one of the girls didn’t pass the security screening.”
Catherine dropped her purse and briefcase on the chair by the door. “Who?”
“Jan, the waitress. She’s been in jail under another name.”
“For what?”
“Possession with intent to sell.”
“Oh, great! Did you tell her yet?”
“No, the detective just called.”
What else could go wrong? “Notify Jan that we won’t be needing her. Who’s next on the list?”
When Mitzi didn’t answer, Catherine said, “You said there were two more alternates who’d been through the security check. Who are they?”
“Fawn.”
“No, we won’t use her. Who else?”
“Me?” she asked in a squeaky voice.
Catherine felt the heat rising inside her. She was beyond angry. “Dammit, Mitzi, you told me you had two more alternates. I told you I wouldn’t use Fawn.”
“But she’s perfect for the show.”
“Of all the incompetent, idiotic… What happens if we lose another one before shooting begins?”
Mitzi had the good sense not to comment.
“Go call Jan while I talk to Henry.”
Catherine paced in Henry’s office. “It’s too late to get anyone else through the security screening, and I hate like hell to use Fawn after what she did to my father. Mitzi said she was the other alternate, but if she thinks I’m going to reward her for screwing up, she’d better think again.”
Henry sucked on the stem of his glasses. “She’s history. This isn’t the first time she’s done something like this, but it’s the last.”
“Don’t fire her now. She’s our contact with the girls.” Catherine dropped into a chair and took a deep breath to try to calm herself. She should have paid more attention to what Mitzi was doing, or not doing. If they’d started out with twenty girls instead of thirteen, they could have made some adjustments in the shows. Losing one contestant at this point would mess up everything.
“Can we revamp to do it with twelve girls?”
“No, Henry. Every show is mapped out. Two girls out on each of the first three shows and then one on each subsequent show. After what that girl did to my father, I don’t want to use Fawn.”
“You’re going up this week?”
“Yes. Tony is in Santa Barbara. I have his costume in my car and he’s picking up his suit from the tailor this afternoon. We’re planning to drive up together. What do you want to do about the girls?”
“It’s up to you, Cat. If you don’t want Fawn on the show, then we’ll put you on and I’ll take over. It’s too late to cancel without giving ourselves a black eye with the sponsors and the network, and I’ve worked too damn hard to throw it all away now.”
Go on the show herself? What other choice did she have? It was too late to cancel or postpone the show, and they didn’t have anyone else through the security screening.
“What do we tell the girls, Henry?”
“About what?”
“That one of the girls is a member of the production staff and has already met the bachelor.” Catherine paced to the door and back to Henry’s desk. She stopped and snapped her fingers. “I know what to do. We’ll have the host tell all the girls together, including me, that one of them has already met the bachelor, but we won’t tell them which one. That should raise the conflict. If the staff is warned to be careful what they say, no one will have to know that a member of the production staff is a contestant.”
“If they find out—”
“I’ll wear my steel-plated bustier. Just don’t tell Tony. He’s going to be shocked when he hears the concept of the show, but I don’t think he’ll say anything to the other girls about knowing me before the show.” Or that they’d been lovers. Or that she’d met his family. Or that the concept of the show was hers. If he mentioned it to any of the other girls, she was dead meat.
“Worried?”
“Hell, yes. And I’m terrified of being on camera. I’m a behind-the-scenes person, Henry, not a talking head.” She was also afraid of what Tony would do when he saw her in the opening scene, standing on the balcony with the other girls. He might think it was a joke and laugh out loud, which would ruin the scene. Still, what other option did she have? She refused to put Mitzi or Fawn on the show.
Her mind drifted to wardrobe matters. There was no time to have a
costume made or shop for evening wear. When she got home, she’d dig in her closet and see what she could find. After attending all those hotel openings and receptions and parties with Father, she had a closet filled with dresses to choose from.
Henry walked her to the door. “You don’t want to do this, do you?”
“No. It’s crazy, Henry, and look at me. I can’t compete with—”
“You can compete with the best of them, Cat. All you need is a little makeup and the right clothes. And a haircut.”
Another haircut? She’d end up looking like Little Orphan Annie.
Or Bozo the Clown.
<>
Before she started for Santa Barbara, Catherine made a detour to her apartment to get a few casual clothes. She’d be at Cara’s estate for five weeks, and she had to be prepared for anything. Most of her bathing suits were at the house. Did she have any that weren’t faded from the chlorine in the pool? No problem as long as she was eliminated in the first three shows. If she was still around after Tony took his blindfold off, he might eliminate her the next time, because he could be quite angry with her by then.
Friday afternoon traffic out of the city was always heavy, and that day was no exception. It took Catherine hours to get to Santa Barbara, hours of thinking about Tony and the show. She didn’t want him to reject her on national television. She’d be humiliated in front of millions of people. Maybe he wouldn’t reject her, but she couldn’t count on it. He was a pretty easy-going guy, but if he thought she’d been playing games all along about the show, she could see the another side of him, an angry side.
Why did Mitzi have to lie about the alternates? She should have had two more people lined up and through the security screening by now.
By the time she arrived home, Catherine’s stomach growled and her head ached.
Tony met her at the car. “You look beat.”
“I am. I hate that drive. I hate the smog. I hate LA.”
He glanced at all her stuff in the back of her car. “Did you move out?”
“Not yet, but I’m thinking about it.”
“Bad day at the office?”
“You have no idea, and I can’t…”
“…talk about it,” they said together. She wanted to tell him, but she couldn’t.
After a big hug, Megan pointed to a chair in the breakfast room. “Sit down. Your dinner is warming.”
“I love you, my stomach loves you, and my head loves you.”
Tony’s eyebrows knit in a worried expression. “Do you always come home with a headache?”
“Always. I’m allergic to something in the smog. The doctors told me to stay inside on smoggy days, as if that’s going to make a difference.”
“You need to live in a small town.”
“And do what?”
With a little gleam in his eyes, he said, “Open a hotel, of course.”
Awash in guilt about the show, she forced a smile. “Of course.”
Megan put a plate of food in front of Catherine, and she dug in. “Mmm, I love this chicken.”
“It’s Jill’s recipe.”
“She can cook for me anytime. Did she go to bed?”
“No, she and Sanchez are watching a movie in his apartment.”
Catherine swallowed. “Jill and Sanchez?”
“Why not?” said Tony.
She smiled at Tony and stabbed another bite of chicken in a cheesy sauce. “Why not indeed?” Class distinction was something Father had always paid close attention to, although at one time it must not have meant much to him. Megan was a waitress when they met.
When Catherine was a kid, she hated the way money separated people. Sometimes she felt like an outcast in her own hometown. She was a Timmons, and as such, people set her apart. Money hadn’t kept Cara and Nick from falling in love, and Tony didn’t seem overly concerned about money. He accepted people for what was in their hearts, not by how much money they made or how well educated they were. It was probably something his mother had taught him, and having Cara in the family didn’t hurt. They loved Cara not because of her money, but in spite of it.
“Tony, what would you do if you had ten million dollars? Would you quit your job?”
“And do what?”
“Whatever you want. Take an extended vacation, buy a new car or a house.”
“Honey, a guy can only take so many vacations a year, and I like what I do. I like building and remodeling things.” He leaned his forearms on the table and gazed into her eyes. “Are you ashamed of what I do?”
“Of course not. I just meant, if you had enough money to do whatever you wanted, what would you do? Would you open your own business, build your own house, buy a luxury yacht, or what?”
“I’d love to have a house on the beach, and I’d want to build it myself, but I couldn’t justify the cost of having my own boat. Max and Company has one, and we all use it.”
“What kind of boat?”
“It’s a forty-five-foot cabin cruiser, docked at Nick and Cara’s house. Maxine II. They sold the first one and had this one custom built with everything you could ever want. Nick and Cara take it out now and then, and my brothers take the kids out fishing.”
She cocked her head. “Do you use it to impress girls?”
He shrugged and the way his eyes lit up, she knew she’d guessed right. Now she knew where Tony could have the dates with the last two girls. He’d take them out on a boat ride. She’d have to get Nick and Cara’s permission, but she didn’t think that would be a problem.
<>
After Tony went to bed that night, Catherine went through her closets looking for clothes to wear on the show. When she’d moved to LA, she’d left all the clothes she’d worn to hotel openings and dinners right here in the closet. She pulled out one dress after another and tossed them across the bed. Then she looked for shoes.
Megan tapped on the open door. “Catherine, what are you doing?”
“Megan, I’m so glad to see you. I need your help. Come in and close the door.”
Catherine told her mother what she was doing and why. “This woman I work with screwed up, and I can’t let her put Fawn on the show. I don’t trust her, and I don’t want Mitzi on either.”
“You don’t want to share Tony with any of them, do you?”
Catherine shook her head. The thought of him ending up with a woman like Fawn made her stomach hurt.
“Then you go on that show and pull out all the stops. Show Tony that you want him to choose you. Show him how you feel about him.”
“What if he picks someone else? He likes tall blondes, and every one of those girls is taller than me. Half are blondes, and some are models and beauty queens.”
“He won’t pick anyone else, honey.”
Catherine waved at the dresses on the bed. “There’s no time to have a wardrobe made. I’ll have to use what I have, but I don’t know what to take.”
“You model and I’ll help you pick. That’s what mothers are for.”
Catherine kissed her on the cheek. “Thanks.”
The two women worked together for two hours, until they’d chosen the best clothes to take. It wasn’t until Catherine went to bed around two in the morning that she remembered one essential outfit. What could she wear for the costume party?
If she was still around for the costume party. Tony would probably eliminate her first. He’d hate her by then. She felt so bad about deceiving him. He thought he’d have thirteen beautiful girls to choose from, when he’d only have a few beauties. After he eliminated the first few girls, there may not be any of the beautiful girls left.
<>
Early the next morning, Catherine called Mitzi at home. “I found enough clothes, but I don’t have a costume. Do you know what size Jan’s costume is?”
“She’s a size ten, and she was going as a fairy, complete with wings. Strapless dress with a built-in bra. I doubt it would fit you, Cat. What about the formal gowns?”
“I have enough of those. I’ll f
ind something.”
Mitzi tried to apologize, and Catherine said, “Tell it to Henry.”
Why would Henry keep someone that incompetent on his staff? Because she was pretty? Mitzi was good with people, which was why Catherine had let her do all the interviews, but she was not a good detail person. At least Catherine hadn’t met or spoken with any of the girls, so they wouldn’t know her. Except Jenny. But they knew each other from school.
While Tony was out picking up his suit from Father’s tailor, Catherine dug through her closet again. In the very back, she found a costume she’d worn for a walk-on part in a silly high school play. She pulled it out and put it on. It wouldn’t be anything like what the other girls were wearing, but she couldn’t compete with them anyway. Maybe she should go for silly instead of glamorous.
She called Megan upstairs to look. “Do you know how to sew?”
“No, but Jill does.”
Seconds later, Jill was tucking and pinning. “I have my sewing machine with me. Give me a couple hours, honey, and you’ll have a beautiful costume that’ll knock Tony’s eyes out.”
When Megan and Jill came down for lunch, they were smiling.
And Catherine had her costume.
<>
Tony loaded dress and suit bags and suitcases in the back of Catherine’s SUV Sunday morning, and Catherine kissed her parents goodbye.
As he pulled through the gates on his way down the hill, Tony said, “Alone at last.”
He was thinking of a romantic ride up the coast, and all Catherine could think about was how angry he was going to be when he heard the name and concept of the show. What would he think when he saw her among the girls vying for his attention? He’d be shocked at first, and he could be angry. Maybe he’d think she wanted him so much she’d put herself on the show. Or maybe he’d think it was a big joke.
Did she have everything she’d need? She’d have to warn Mr. Pettibone about calling her Miss Timmons, and the staff would have to be warned not to say anything to Tony or the other girls.
Catherine leaned her head back and tried to relax. And then she remembered she’d forgotten to ask Jill to cut her hair again. What else had she forgotten?
