Husband For Hire

by Caitlin Daire

  She shook her head to imply she was fine, but I could see the tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

  “C’mon, Indi. You know you can tell me.”

  “I just… I kinda feel like I might actually deserve this,” she finally said, her face reddening. “I mean, I lied to get on the show.”

  “So did I.”

  “But I’m the one who convinced you to do it. I’m the one who thought it was a good idea to fake our way onto TV for money.” She stopped and wiped her left eye, her hand shaky. “So maybe I deserve this. Deserve to be scared for my total lack of morals. It’s karma. I’ve been feeling so guilty the whole time we’ve been here. So this almost feels right.”

  “I get it,” I said. “But Indi, you didn’t deserve this. None of us did. The showrunners are straight-up assholes.”

  “That’s true,” she said with a sigh. “They really are.”

  “Also, if it makes you feel any better—we aren’t the only ones who lied to get on the show.”

  She frowned. “We aren’t?”

  “Nope. Think about it.” I held up my right index finger. “For one, Mike lied about being a decent guy who cared about saving his marriage to Meredith, when really he was just saying that to hide the fact that he was so desperate to win the prize that he’d do anything at all, even if it meant risking the other contestants’ health.”

  She nodded. “Yeah, that’s true. I didn’t think of it that way.”

  I held up a second finger. “Secondly, the Varrones lied about wanting to fix their marriage, when really they both just wanted to cheat on each other and win the prize money. And the Holbrooks… I’m pretty sure they lied about how bad their marriage problems were just for a shot at the prize. That’s why they were so boring and got voted off so fast. No drama, no action. They had no problems. I bet quite a few of the other couples exaggerated their issues as well, just for a chance to get on the show. So you’re not the only liar on this island, believe me. Everyone lies on TV.”

  “I guess so,” she mumbled. “But I still just want to get out of here.”

  “I know.”

  When we arrived back at the inn, I strode down the main hallway of the eastern wing of the first floor, Indi trailing behind me. One of the rooms on this floor had been set up as a makeshift producer’s office while the show was filming, so I had a feeling we’d probably find Ed there.

  I was right. He was sitting at his desk, chatting to the other producers on the show, along with Neil Kingston (the head of lighting who gave me the van key earlier) and a couple of other department heads.

  He glanced up when he saw us walk in. “You two aren’t supposed to be in here.”

  I grimaced and kept on walking over to his desk. “I don’t give a fuck. We’re onto you, Ed. All of you.”

  He raised his brows. “What are you talking about?”

  “We found Elise and Yuri,” Indi chimed in. “In their little cabin.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “You what?”

  Neil glared at us. “I told you two to go straight into town and straight back.”

  Ed turned to him, his green eyes flashing. “Wait… this was because of you? You let them off the grounds unaccompanied?”

  Neil shifted nervously where he stood. “Well, they needed to see a doctor to get a refill on a script. I didn’t think they’d run off and explore the whole island.”

  Ed stood up, running a hand through his thick, dark hair. “Jesus Christ, man! No wonder Channel Six fired you. If you weren’t my cousin, I’d fucking fire you too!” he said. Then he turned back to me and Indi. “So let me have it. What is it you two think you know?”

  “We know this is a horror reality show, you sick bastards. Not a ‘marriage repair’ show, like you claimed it was,” I said, narrowing my eyes and squaring my shoulders.

  “It was all fake,” Indi added. “The supposed massacre fifteen years ago, the ax murderer, the writing on people’s mirrors and walls, the horrible noises in the forest. All the other little things as well. I bet you even somehow faked the broken pipe in our bathroom that looked like dripping blood! And the transport was never cut off. We could’ve actually left this island at any time!”

  The other producers looked aghast that we’d discovered the truth, but Ed managed to keep a straight face.

  “I’m not sure what you mean when you say ‘horrible noises in the forest’. We didn’t do anything during the camping trip out there. But yes, the other things were us,” he said. “You’re right. I Do Or Die is a brand new concept in reality TV. Manufactured, interactive terror with unwitting participants. Smart, no?”

  “I think the term you’re looking for is ‘fucked up’. Not smart,” I replied, my hands curling into angry fists by my side.

  “If something brings in good ratings and makes the network millions in advertising revenue, then it’s smart,” Ed replied with a smug gleam in his piercing eyes.

  “We’re going to tell everyone,” Indi said. “And then we’re going to leave. We’re not staying here another second.”

  Ed simply smiled. “See, you say that,” he said, standing up and giving Indi the slimiest smile I’d ever had the misfortune of witnessing. “But you can’t actually do that.”

  “Yes, we can.”

  He chuckled. “No, you can’t. Not legally. Read your contract, honey. The only way contestants leave the show is if they get voted off, or if there’s a medical reason. So you’re staying on the show, and you’re also staying on the island.”

  “But we know the truth!” she said.

  “No one else does. We can’t have you two quit the show, then suddenly charter a boat and let them all know that transport and communication isn’t actually cut off.”

  “We’re going to tell them all, anyway,” Indi hissed. “What you’ve been doing to these people is disgusting.”

  “Again, read your contract. There’s a clause in there designed for this very occurrence, in case someone ever wised up to what was really going on, thanks to human error. In other words, the sheer idiocy of the crew.”

  He stopped to glare at Neil, then turned back to us. “It’s all buried in boring legal jargon, of course, so you probably didn’t notice. It’s not like anyone fully reads every single word of the contracts, anyway. But here’s how it is, plain and simple. If either of you breathe a word about this to any of the other contestants, we’ll bury you. The network will sue the pants off you. You said you own a struggling bookstore, right, Indi? How’d you like to lose that for good and be ten million dollars in debt to boot?”

  Indi’s face turned red. I glared at Ed. “Why would you even want us on the show anymore? We know everything! We can’t participate even if we wanted to, which we don’t,” I said.

  “You two are quite popular on our online polls. You haven’t produced a hell of a lot of drama, but you make a hot couple, and the viewers love the banter that goes on between you. You’re also one of the only couples who haven’t crumbled under the stress and fear yet. The viewers sort of see you as being some of the ‘final survivors’ of the show, if you see what I’m saying. It’s all about ratings, Blake, and you two bring them in.”

  He paused to take a breath before finishing.

  “So here’s how it’s gonna be: you’re staying, you’ll let us keep filming you, and you’re both going to act like you always have. As if you don’t know a thing,” he said, smile still intact. “Try to ruin this show for us… you’re finished.”

  I hesitated before I said anything else. This shit was serious. TV networks were absolutely loaded, and they had amazing lawyers. If they wanted to sue us for breach of contract, they’d win, no matter how slimy and seedy the circumstances were. Ed was right—Indi and I signed the contracts, whether we read through them properly or not.

  On top of that, if we did try to fight this and take it up with them in court, the truth would very likely come out about our fake marriage. They’d have even more of a case against us then, because we technically
committed fraud. A judge would never look kindly upon that.

  “Indi,” I murmured, grabbing her hand and pulling her closer to me. “He’s right.”

  I couldn’t let her get dragged into a court battle like that. I personally had the money to pay off any legal debts incurred, not to mention all the money they’d sue us for, but I knew Indi didn’t. I also knew she was too stubbornly independent to let me help her. My stuff, my responsibility, she’d always said. She would never take millions from me to help settle her debts, even if I offered.

  I couldn’t let her lose her store, right when she was in the process of trying to fix things and build it up to something new and wonderful. No fucking way; I knew how hard she’d worked for it.

  She looked at me like I’d grown two heads. “What?” she said. “Blake, seriously, we can’t stay here! I hate this place! I just want to go.”

  “I know. But they’ll win if you try to go up against them. I can’t let you lose everything you’ve worked for,” I said. I lowered my voice and leaned close so only she could hear me. “Look, we’ll humor them, okay? We’ll pretend like we agree to staying, but we’ll be boring and annoying. They won’t get their ratings off us anymore, and the viewers will vote us straight out. Then we’re off the show. Easy.”

  I figured that was the path of least resistance. We’d be off the show as soon as we could, with no risk of being sued. Indi’s store would still belong to her, and hopefully, she’d be able to turn things around for herself as planned.

  She shook her head. “No,” she said, anger flashing in her eyes. “We might’ve signed the contracts, but that was when we thought we were signing up for something totally different. We did not sign up to have the shit scared out of us on a daily basis. Neither did any of these other people!”

  Ed rolled his eyes. “I think you’ll find you did. At least that’s what the lawyers will determine.”

  “We didn’t, and I’ll find a way,” she said. “There’s always a way.”

  Then she whirled around and stomped toward the door. I went after her. I wanted to tell her to stop, to be reasonable, but it was pointless right now. She was too overwhelmed with emotion.

  I’d have to wait a few minutes; wait till she’d calmed down a little.

  Before she exited the room, she turned back around. “You can try to bury me all you want,” she declared, staring right at Ed. “But one way or another, I am getting out of this. I’ll make sure everyone else knows the truth, and I’m getting the hell off Fremantle Island and going home. No matter what.”

  Then she turned and stalked away.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Indi

  Hot tears swam in my eyes, clouding my vision as I stalked down the hall toward our room. I was mad. So, so mad. Ed Kramer and his TV network cronies were the absolute worst. They had to be stopped.

  Blake followed me, trying to get me to calm down and change my mind, but my mind was already well and truly made up.

  “Indi, come on,” he said as I pulled my suitcase out of the closet. I began stuffing things inside right away. “You heard them. It’s easier for us to stay.”

  I paused and frowned at him. “I don’t understand why you’re so eager to roll over and take this from the producers.”

  “I’m not. I’m fucking angry too. But they’re right. They could bury you, Indi,” he said, concern flashing in his blue eyes. “And I don’t want to see that happen. You deserve better.”

  I wiped my cheeks as angry tears spilled down them. “But I can’t do it,” I said, my voice nearly cracking. “I already feel guilty about lying and cheating my way onto the show. I should’ve never done it. I can’t lie to everyone about this as well. I can’t pretend I don’t know what’s really going on and let them stay terrified.”

  Blake sighed. “Indi…we went over this earlier. Everyone lies on these shows. Everyone lies to get on these shows. Are you really going to risk losing your bookstore over a bit of guilt?”

  I shook my head. He just didn’t get it. “I told you, I’ll find a way to stop them from being able to sue me. I know there’s something…. It’s on the tip of my tongue. I have to think of it soon. I just have to.”

  His brows knitted in a pitying expression, like he thought I was completely delusional. “You really think you can get out of this in your own way?”

  “Yes. I do. And I will.”

  “I really don’t know what to say to that. I think you’re acting very rashly, Indi. You need to take a while to calm down, think this through properly.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Why is it that you assume I’m not calm right now? Because I’m a woman?”

  He rolled his eyes. “Oh, don’t give me that crap. You’re clearly not calm. Whether you’re a woman or not is irrelevant. You’re not thinking rationally.”

  “And you’re not thinking like a decent human being. We’ve made friends on this show, Blake, and you’re happy to just let them spend another two weeks or so here, having the shit scared out of them?”

  “Of course I’m not happy about it! But it’s the lesser of two evils—the other being the fact that I’ll have to sit and watch you lose everything if you try to blow up this show,” he said. “Yes, the others will be scared for a while. But it’s all fake. Everything in this place is fake. They’ll be fine. They won’t be hurt. And they might go home with a million dollar prize once all is said and done.”

  “That’s true,” I admitted, although I still didn’t entirely agree with him. “But just because it’s fake and they won’t be physically hurt doesn’t mean it won’t hurt them emotionally. Look at how all the couples are fighting under the stress. The Connellys are getting divorced, for god’s sake, and they aren’t even in the running to win anymore. That’s not fake.”

  “I suppose not,” Blake said with a sigh. “But the show itself is still fake, Indi. If their relationships fall apart just because of some stressors manufactured by the showrunners, then maybe they weren’t all that strong to begin with.”

  “Okay, I suppose that’s a fair point. But I still don’t want to be here, feeding into all this fake bullshit. I can’t stand it.”

  “I know.” He hesitated, then shook his head and snorted. “You know, speaking of fakery, I still can’t get past the fucking irony.”

  “What irony?”

  “Us. Our fake relationship on an even faker show. If it wasn’t so fucked up, I’d laugh.”

  I started putting things in my suitcase again. “You know, that’s the second time you’ve said that today. I didn’t realize you still thought we were in a fake relationship,” I said stiffly. “Ever since the other day when you said you were falling for me and I made it clear I felt the same way, I thought we were together. Silly me, right?”

  Blake ran a hand through his hair. “Oh, Christ, Indi, don’t do this. You know I’m bad at wording stuff. You know what I meant—our fake marriage. Not our relationship; obviously that’s real. That’s all I meant.”

  “Okay,” I mumbled, not meeting his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  I knew I was being petty, argumentative, and shrill. But I had a raging headache the size of Everest, and I couldn’t stand to be in this room a second longer. I didn’t even want to be in this inn. I felt claustrophobic, and I couldn’t wait to get out and breathe properly. I wouldn’t be able to do that until this weight was off my shoulders.

  “Can you at least take an hour or so to think about this?” Blake asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

  I shook my head. “No. I’ve made my mind up.”

  “Of course you have. You’re really stubborn sometimes, you know that?” he said with a heavy sigh.

  I grimaced and stuffed a cardigan in my case. “I’m not stubborn.”

  “Well, now you’re arguing about whether or not you’re stubborn. Seems pretty stubborn to me.”

  I let out an exasperated sigh. “All right. Fine. Think what you want. But could you please just give me some space? I need to b
e alone for a few minutes.”

  Blake frowned and took a step back. “Oh, here we go. Your go-to move, huh?” he said, eyes flashing. “You know, when we met up at the rib joint and saw each other for the first time in six years, I wondered how someone as beautiful as you could still be single. Guess I know now.”

  My eyes widened. His words felt like a knife in the gut. “Did you seriously just throw a ‘no wonder you’re always single’ at me?” I asked, glaring at him.

  “No! Just listen to me, Indi! All I meant was….” He sighed. “I always say everything wrong. You know that. I’m sorry.”

  I folded my arms. “Well, explain what you actually meant by that, please.”

  “I just meant that you push people away whenever you’re under too much pressure, or you’re scared of what might happen. You’ve done it to me before. Remember that night in the forest? That’s a prime example. You were scared of what might happen if we kept going and took it to the next level. So you pulled away. Then you practically ran away. I don’t want you to keep doing that, Indi. You need to face things. Stop pushing people away when things get hard or confusing.”

  “I’m not doing that. I just need some space, that’s all.”

  “You are,” Blake insisted. “You’re getting grumpy at me, assuming the worst in everything I say.”

  “Only because you aren’t listening to me!” I said. “I don’t feel like you’re on my side right now. I honestly think there’s a way out of this, and I just wish you would support me in that. Two heads are better than one, after all. Maybe we’d think of something sooner if we just stopped arguing about it.”

  “It’s not that I’m not on your side. It’s just that I’m concerned about you and your livelihood, and so I think our safest bet is to wait it out and get voted off the show as soon as we can. But you’re right. We shouldn’t argue like this,” Blake said with a sigh. “Look, I’ll give you your space if that’s what you really want. Is it?”

  I didn’t meet his eyes. “Yes.”