Eden’s face suddenly brightened. “Oh, yes, that’s right! Let me get online and show you the video. Please!”
The officer holding Eden took a step back as Candice stepped towards them and handed over her smart-phone. “Here. Log in,” she said, a suspicious look still clouding her features.
As Eden typed her credentials into the phone, Blair’s demeanor changed from fearful and teary to purely psychotic. “No!” she screamed. “Don’t! I have to stay! I want to win!”
She made a mad dash towards Eden, trying to knock the phone out of her hand. The other officer quickly grabbed her, and she flailed in his arms and continued to scream as he restrained her.
“Well, I guess that proves who the guilty party is,” Candice said, giving Blair a disdainful look before turning back to Eden. “I’m sorry, Eden. It looked pretty bad for you for a minute there.”
Eden gave her a shaky smile. “I get it. No hard feelings.”
She located the video on her online cloud storage account, and she showed it to Candice, just to prove her innocence beyond a shadow of doubt. One of the officers watched it with interest as well, and he nodded to his colleague. “Cuff her. We’re taking her in,” he said, gesturing to Blair before turning back to Eden. “Ma’am, you’re going to have to allow us access to this video. We’ll also need a statement from you at some point soon. And I apologize for restraining you while we tried to get the full story. We were just doing our job.”
Eden nodded. “I understand.”
Blair continued to scream and cry hysterically as the officers slapped handcuffs on her, read her rights to her and led her out of the room a few minutes later, and Glenn looked at the remaining film crew, who were apparently still capturing every second of the madness. He waved his hand at them.
“Show’s over, boys! Turn those cameras off,” he said. Then he looked at Eden, his eyes flashing and his voice surprisingly frosty, given that he’d been in the wrong when it came to accusing her. “Eden, I’m sorry we believed her over you. We have some other things to discuss, though, and I’d rather not say it here, so you’re going to have to come and talk with me in my office. Clean yourself up first. Your mascara is running and you look like a damn panda.”
With that, he turned and marched out of the room.
“Ooh, she’s totally gonna get fired,” a nearby lighting technician with zero filter whispered, loud enough for us to hear. Candice shushed him, and I threw him a dirty look before turning back to Eden.
Her eyes were wide, and her hands were shaking. I knew exactly what she was thinking. She was the one who’d recruited Blair as a contestant for the show, and now Glenn might hold her responsible for all the craziness which had just occurred. Like the tactless lighting crew guy had just said, there was a serious chance that she could lose her job over this, and I quietly murmured at her and handed her a tissue to wipe her tearstained face. “It’s going to be okay,” I said. “Try to stay calm.”
“I can’t. I’m pretty sure Glenn’s going to fire me,” she whispered in response.
“No matter what happens, I’ll support you,” I replied as Candice finally stepped out of earshot to admonish the lighting crew. “You know that, right?”
She nodded. “Yes. I know. But still…”
I took a step closer. “Look, I know it’s a terrible moment for me to say this for the first time, but I want you to know something. I love you, Eden.”
Her face lit up, and I grinned back at her, glad to see that beautiful smile of hers again. “I think that’s exactly what I needed to hear right now,” she replied. “I love you too, Troy. Now wish me luck…”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Eden
Have you ever felt two completely different conflicting emotions at the same time?
I was experiencing that right now, and it felt completely crazy. On the one hand, I was over the moon with joy—Troy had just told me he loved me for the first time, and the thought sent constant thrilling tingles up my spine. On the other hand, I was terrified. Was I about to lose my job?
Probably.
Sure, Glenn knew I was innocent of all the crap Blair had accused me of earlier, but I was the one who’d recruited her as a contestant for the show. He’d been gunning for the saboteur to be booted from the show for weeks now, and surely he would recognize the part I’d played in the debacle. Obviously I hadn’t known it was Blair at all, but I’d been friends with her for years. He’d either think I was a total idiot for not knowing, or that I’d somehow been complicit in her antics.
Either of those things could see me lose my job tonight.
I stepped into Glenn’s office and shut the door behind me with shaky hands. He was standing behind his desk, pouring himself a glass of scotch, and he nodded towards me as I came in. “Drink?” he asked.
That’s it, I’m definitely getting fired. He thinks getting me a bit merry will make it easier, I thought as I took a seat. It was expensive scotch, though; I may as well have a glass while I had the opportunity.
“Sure. Thanks,” I said.
He poured me some of the dark amber liquid, and then he sat down across from me, his expression still hard. “So, Eden,” he began, folding his hands in a V shape on the large desk. Suddenly his face broke into a grin. “Congratulations! Absolutely fantastic work. Sorry about the attitude I gave you out there—I didn’t want the others to get suspicious about the offer I have for you.”
My eyebrows shot up as my mind muddled with confusion. Why was he so happy, and what was he congratulating me for? And what offer was he talking about?
“Sorry, I don’t follow,” I said. “What are you congratulating me for?”
He arched an eyebrow. “Everything that happened out there! Bringing Blair onto the show and letting her run rampant like that; we haven’t had such amazing drama in over five seasons now! We’ll be able to turn what happened out there tonight into a double episode, and thank god for that; with Emily quitting and Cailin in the hospital, we’re in dire need of extra material to make up for their absence,” he said, his grin widening. “God, the way Blair was screaming while those cops handcuffed her….our viewers will be Twittering and Facebooking about this for weeks!”
My face was still blank as I processed his words, and he went on. “Obviously you knew she was a crazy bitch when you signed her on to our show, and you were banking on her doing something like this. I had no idea what you were planning, but by god, it worked. Really fantastic work, Eden. I’m proud of you.”
I knew what he meant now. He thought I’d planned this from the start; thought I’d known full well what Blair would do once she got onto the show, and he thought I’d used that to create drama for the show. He was obviously very pleased with me, and that meant my job was probably safe for now, but I had to come clean—I couldn’t take credit for something I hadn’t done. Especially when what he thought I’d done was so underhanded and malicious.
“Glenn, I’m sorry, but I didn’t plan it. I had no idea Blair would do something like this,” I said.
“Sure, sure,” he said with a wink. “You’ve made her a star, you know. In a bad way, mind. People will be talking about her psychotic meltdown for years.”
I sighed dejectedly, although I knew he was right. In a strange way, Blair’s wish for fame had come true for her, though not in the way she'd hoped. “If I had known what she was really like, I would’ve told you weeks ago so we could’ve gotten rid of her. You did make it pretty clear that you wanted the saboteur gone,” I said.
He waved his hand. “I did, but when I said that, I didn’t realize it was all building up to everything that happened today. I’m glad we kept her around, because like I said a moment ago, what happened out there tonight is pure ratings gold,” he replied. “And don’t be so modest, Eden! You don’t have to be ashamed of your success. Be proud!”
I narrowed my eyes slightly. “With all due respect, Glenn, it wasn’t a success. Cailin was in serious danger tonight. Blair could’ve
killed her.”
Glenn scoffed. “Cailin’s allergy is nowhere near as bad as she makes it out to be—I’ve seen her medical files—and we always have spare epinephrine pens around anyway, just in case of emergency. She was always going to be fine,” he said before taking a big long gulp of scotch. “Christ, the network directors are going to cum in their pants when they see the ratings this episode will get. You’re more like me than I thought, Eden. You’ve got a real talent for creating trouble and juicy drama.”
He winked, and I gaped at him in disbelief, unable to form a coherent response yet. His blatant disregard for the truth about my involvement in the Blair incident—and for the contestants’ wellbeing, too—was making me furious, and worst of all, he thought he was actually giving me a massive compliment for being ‘like him’. But I wasn’t; I’d never be like him. I’d never think it was a good idea to exploit people’s weaknesses for good ratings on our show like him and some of the other producers, and I’d never have let Blair come within ten miles of the show if I’d known what she would get up to.
“Glenn, I really can’t take credit for doing this,” I said, my voice firm. I was honestly so close to adding, ‘And by the way, I can’t stand this soul-sucking bullcrap anymore—I quit!’ but I managed to stay calm.
He rolled his eyes. “Oh, I know what this is. You’re acting like this because all you women are taught from birth that you have to be all meek and modest at all times, while we men are taught to grab stuff by the balls. Well, act like a man and grab this by the balls, Eden! I think you’ve done a fucking great job this season, even without counting the Blair stuff, if you truly don’t want to take credit for that. The reason I brought you in here was to chat about a possible promotion.”
My eyebrows shot up. “A promotion?”
“Don’t get too excited. It’s not set in stone. I just wanted to let you know that there’ll be a senior producer position opening up at the start of next season, and right now, you’re my favorite for it. I do have my eye on some others, but keep up the good work for the next few episodes, and you’ll be golden.”
The words ‘I quit’ couldn’t be further from my lips now. As much as working on The Stud bothered me sometimes, I knew I couldn’t just walk away from it when an offer like this was on the table. There was plenty of work on other far more decent shows for people with a résumé which boasted a senior producer job title, but there was far less out there for someone in my current position, because junior producers like me were a dime a dozen. If I just stuck it out for a while longer, I could get the senior promotion and leverage it to get a better job on a less soul-sucking show…a better job that I sorely needed if I was going to make a real career for myself without losing every shred of integrity I had.
As much as I loved Troy and was proud of his football career, I couldn't allow myself to just quit and live off his money. I knew he would support me without question, but I didn't want to be one of those WAGs whose only job in life seemed to be looking pretty and staying thin and tanned—I wanted to earn my keep, not be a kept woman.
“That sounds great,” I said, swallowing my pride and anger towards Glenn. “Thank you for considering me.”
“Ah, I knew you’d come round when I mentioned the promotion,” he said with a gleeful smile. “But keep quiet about it. Last thing I need is everyone sucking up to me for the next few weeks.”
“I will. Thank you, Glenn.”
I swallowed my last drop of scotch before standing up and turning around to leave, and Glenn coughed. “Oh, Eden? Before you go, I wanted to ask you something.”
“Yes?”
“Why didn’t you mention that you already knew Troy from high school before now?”
My heart began to race, and I gulped down a big breath of air and tried my best to give him a casual shrug. “It was so long ago. Like he said earlier, it was just a high school romance. No big deal, right? He barely even recognized me when he arrived here.”
He leaned forward at his desk, his hands still clasped together. “So there’s definitely nothing going on between the two of you? Not even a bit of flirting for old time’s sake?”
I shook my head. “No,” I replied, my voice almost cracking. Just two more weeks of hiding, I thought, trying to stay strong and resolute. Two more weeks till the season is wrapped.
Glenn’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction. “Good. Anyway, you better get some sleep. We’ve all had a long night.”
I gave him a tight smile, and then I turned and fled from his office, every inch of my body wracked with guilt. I was so tired of all the lies. It felt like I was losing a tiny piece of my soul every time I denied my relationship with Troy or thought about different ways of hiding it, and it was driving me insane.
I didn’t know how much longer I could last…
Chapter Twenty-Five
Troy
“You have to admit, this has all been worth it, if just for this exact moment.”
I turned and looked at Eden as we basked in the warm Caribbean sun, and she gave me a lazy smile and pushed her sunglasses back up her face from where they’d fallen down her nose a little. “It is nice to have a few minutes off to just lie around in the sun,” she replied. “Although it’ll be work, work, work all over again in just a couple of hours.”
Now that Blair had been arrested and subsequently removed from the show, there were only two contestants left—Anya and Hayley. Cailin would’ve made a third, but she’d quit after the peanut incident last week and threatened to sue. Luckily for the show creators, she couldn’t do that (something to do with some clause in the contract she’d signed), but it’d made her mad enough to refuse to return to even shoot a goodbye scene. Never one to give up on creating dramatic content even when it seemed like there wasn’t any available, Glenn had made a montage of her using past unused footage and sad music, and that’d made up the last five minutes of the most recent episode.
After all the Blair drama, of course.
Now we were up to the final episode, which was taking place on a luxury cruise ship in the Caribbean. The entire crew had been flown down to Aruba, as well as me and the contestants, and our ship had left the main port there this morning. No filming was currently taking place—the crew had already obtained their requisite shots of Anya and Hayley oiling themselves up and playing in the cruise ship’s swimming pool—so everyone was hanging out on the sun deck, reading or working on their tans.
Filming was due to start again upon the arrival of a famous R&B singer, Tay Drake, who would be performing a private concert for everyone in the early evening during the beautiful Caribbean sunset. Apparently he’d been caught up with something back in the States, so he hadn’t departed on the ship with us earlier, and he’d be arriving from Aruba on a smaller speed boat fairly soon.
During the concert, I was supposed to join Tay on stage and accompany him in some sort of duet—a sappy romantic song which Anya and Hayley would apparently sigh and swoon over—and after that, I was meant to give a big speech which would culminate in me picking the winner to ‘propose to’ with the big fake diamond ring the show had provided me with.
I wasn’t sure who I was going to pick yet. Obviously, I didn’t want to pick either of them, because the only woman I wanted to make loving speeches to was Eden, but I had to pick one so we could get this show over and done with. Then I could finally be with her out in the open without her risking her job.
Glenn had been heavily hinting that he wanted me to pick Hayley, because she was seen by viewers as the typical sweet girl next door type of woman, and Anya was viewed as the nasty alpha bitch who was mean to everyone. To be honest, though, I was leaning towards picking Anya to win—she was one of the only women on the show who’d always been honest and upfront about her intentions, and she wasn’t really a nasty person at all; it was all just a show she put on for the cameras.
As for Hayley, she seemed sweet when the cameras were rolling, but I’d heard her making nasty comments about other p
eople on multiple occasions, and I’d heard her bragging to her producer about how she ‘had this competition in the bag’, which would then help her swimsuit modeling career. I didn’t want to pick her, but I also didn’t want to piss off Glenn too much, because that man could be an absolute prick when he didn’t get his own way, and I had a feeling he’d probably try to engineer a situation where I had to pick Hayley anyway.
I guess I’d found out in about four hours.
“Tay’s boat is coming,” Candice called out from over by the edge of the ship. “Where’s the landing deck? I want to be the one to greet him, he’s sooo hot. Eden, want to come?”
“Yeah, Eden, do you want to meet the hot singer?” I teased, arching a playful eyebrow.
She laughed and shook her head. “I just want to soak up a few more minutes of sun before we have to start work again,” she said. “Why don’t you go down and meet him, Troy? You’ll need to be introduced to him anyway.”
“I definitely won’t say no to meeting a hot man,” I joked with a wink. “All right. See you later.”
I put a shirt on and followed Candice down the stairs from the sun deck to the lower deck, and she quickly consulted a cruise ship staff member to find out exactly where the landing deck was situated. When she found out, she led us down to it, and I squinted my eyes in the hot afternoon sun as I saw a large silver speed boat approaching the ship in the distance.
“Nice boat,” I said, letting out a low whistle as waited for it to arrive. “Teammate of mine has one of them. The thing is worth something like fifty grand.”
“Wow,” Candice said. “Maybe I should take up NFL so I can afford to spend that much on a speed boat.”
I chuckled. “All right, I’ll help you train.”
“You’re on,” she replied, laughing as well. Then she lowered her voice. “By the way, I think it’s cool about you and Eden.”
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