Out of Sight, Out of Heart

by Jill Ferraro

  Book Two: Out of Sight, Out of Heart

  Sight Unseen-A Marriage Reality Show Short Read

  By Jill Ferraro

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and settings are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locations is entirely coincidental.

  Out of Sight, Out of Heart: Sight Unseen Book Two

  Copyright © 2020 Jill Ferraro

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval permission, without permission in writing from the author.

  Thank you for purchasing Out of Sight, Out of Heart! This is Book Two in the Sight Unseen Series.

  Book Three: Setting Her Sights on Love will be released June 22, 2020 (preorder by clicking here)! Book Four: More Than What Meets the Eye will be released June 29, 2020.

  To receive special offers, exclusive content (including the prequel to the Sight Unseen Series, Book Zero: Before the Fall), and news about Jill Ferraro’s latest books, please subscribe to her newsletter!

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  You can also visit her website: www.jillferrarobooks.com

  Chapter One

  Brielle

  Damien: Hey bb how’s it goin this morning?

  Damien: Brielle? U mad at me or sumthin?

  Damien: I literally did nothing wrong

  Damien: Whatever, ur crazy

  ◆◆◆

  Brielle had been awake for at least two hours but couldn’t bring herself to get out of bed just yet. She ignored her device, didn’t turn on the TV, and stared at the ceiling. She had slept surprisingly well, her conversation with Asher the night before helped with that, but Brielle couldn’t face the mess she was in just yet.

  The previous day’s events kept swirling back into her mind. When Brielle agreed to be on a marriage reality show, she knew the show would be heavily edited but she never dreamed that she’d be manipulated by the producers this way. This was her life, her marriage, but they didn’t care if they played fast and loose with her future. She knew she had a choice to make.

  In order to find the man of her dreams, Brielle had to fully commit to Sight Unseen. Despite their attempts at changing the rules, she had to trust that her future husband would be waiting for her at the altar by the end of the week. It was a difficult leap of faith but one Brielle was determined to make. She couldn’t let these heartless monsters take away the future she came here for.

  She reached for her device and turned it back on. She had 20 messages and at least 10 of them were from Damien. Not only was he a terrible person but he was persistent. She read through the messages and realized they went from sweet to angry to rude and back again. Brielle felt bad for whatever girl ended up putting up with him, it certainly wasn’t going to be her.

  After checking the message options on the device, she realized she could mute his conversation. Brielle had no desire to talk to Damien ever again and had no intention of responding to him that day. There were more important things to address than dealing with an immature man child. At least eliminating him as an option gave her an extra 24 hours to figure out who she would eliminate on Day Three.

  Brielle got out of bed, stretched, and made her way down the hallway to look at her ranking system. There was an empty space towards the middle where she had taken down Jason’s profile. It was still lying on the floor where she tossed it after making the easy choice to eliminate him. She took Damien’s profile down from the wall and tossed it on top of Jason’s. Two down, six to go.

  Before she could reassess her rankings of the remaining men, there was a knock at the door. Brielle looked down at her plaid pajama pants and tank top and shrugged. Hopefully whoever was at the door wasn’t too important. Or holding a camera.

  “Brielle! Good morning!” Abigail had her signature fake smile plastered on her face as she outstretched her arms to hug Brielle.

  “No thank you.” Brielle held up her hand. “What do you want?”

  “I came to bring you your breakfast!” She was still smiling, though she spoke through gritted teeth now, and carrying a tray of food.

  “Great. Put it on the table and get out.”

  “Is something wrong?”

  “Cut the crap, Abigail. You and I know exactly what’s wrong. I don’t want to see or speak to you unless I have to.”

  Abigail set the breakfast tray down on the table. “If you’d prefer to deal with Mark we can arrange that.”

  Brielle shook her head as she waved Abigail out the door. “No, I’d prefer neither of you. You’re conniving, sneaky people who I would rather not associate with. But since I have to associate with both of you for the next week, whoever can get their message out fastest is fine.”

  Abigail dropped the act as she made her way out the door. “Whatever. I thought maybe we could still be civil but that’s clearly not possible for you. Stacey the wedding planner will be here in an hour.” She looked Brielle up and down and gave her a disgusted look. “Maybe get dressed today? We will be filming whether you’re pretty or...not.”

  Brielle shut the door in Abigail’s face and sat down to eat her breakfast. She pulled open her messages and made a mental note about who to respond to first as she swirled her pancakes in syrup. Her mood improved as she ate the pancakes and she began to daydream about her potential husbands. Not having pictures was difficult but there was a thrill to knowing he was in the building at that very moment, eating his breakfast and thinking about her, too.

  After breakfast, she made her way back to the bedroom and examined her outfit choices for the day. She brought a handful of items that were hanging in the closet for dates and interviews but was glad she brought a wide variety of comfortable loungewear too. She pulled out a pair of black leggings and her favorite grey sweater.

  As she washed her face, perfected a messy bun, and put on some light makeup, Brielle reflected on the day ahead. She was meeting with a wedding planner. To plan her wedding! It was so exciting, she could barely hold the eyeliner pencil steady. Her hands were shaking. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to the highs and lows of this experience.

  She had dreamed of her wedding day for years and the big day was only a week away. And although this wasn’t going quite the way she’d pictured, she was still excited for her wedding day. Having seen some of her friends plan weddings, she was very fortunate to have a wedding planner to help take care of most of the logistics for her.

  Brielle wandered back out into the kitchen and made some coffee. Then she stood in front of the profile wall and thought about where each man stood as of that morning. Asher definitely was a four out of five, he was sweet and thoughtful and caring. He was the only one she felt had made any attempt to comfort her during the stress of the first day of filming.

  Brandon and Carl were both three out of five. She was drawn to Carl, despite his terrible texting abilities, and Brandon seemed genuine and kind. She wanted to get to know them both better and hoped they would make an effort to share more about themselves as the day went on.

  And then there were Peter, Shea, and Matthew. They continued to message her but there wasn’t much of a connection there for Brielle. She barely knew anything personal about them. They didn’t seem to be there for entertainment value like she assumed Damien and Jason were, but the connection just didn’t seem particularly strong.

  But Brielle didn’t have time to decide if they were ones or twos out of five because there was another knock on the door. Stacey had arrived. Brielle placed her device on the table and took a deep breath. She was about to start planning t
he most important day of her life to a man she’d never met.

  Stacey was a shorter, stockier woman with a no-nonsense ponytail and outfit to match. She was wearing black dress slacks with a buttoned blue cardigan and black loafers. In her arms were a pile of wedding magazines and an overstuffed tote. Stacey reminded Brielle of her 3rd-grade teacher, she seemed stern yet nurturing and able to get the most distracted mind back on track.

  “You must be Stacey!” Brielle’s smile changed quickly to a frown when she saw Abigail lurking in the hallway. “Please, come in!” Stacey walked through the door and Brielle promptly shut it, leaving Abigail in the hallway.

  “It’s good to meet you. We have a lot to do.” Stacey set her things down on the table and pulled out her laptop. “Let’s get to work.”

  Chapter Two

  Asher

  Asher: I wish you could see these breakfast sandwiches. They’re huge. And so cheesy.

  Brielle: Hate to break it to you but I had PANCAKES.

  Asher: Did you cover them in syrup?

  Brielle: Duh? How else would I eat them?

  ◆◆◆

  Asher tried to pretend he was asleep but Damien’s persistent sighing couldn’t be ignored for much longer. It had started about an hour ago after Damien had returned from the shower and slammed the door. It was clear he wanted Asher to wake up and talk to him but Asher had no desire to hear about his problems with Jason or Brielle or anyone else for that matter.

  Damien was the exact opposite of Asher. He appeared to have fluid moral boundaries and was always the victim. His problems were always someone else’s fault. Had they been forced to live together for longer, Asher would have made an attempt to get to know him better. But his behavior led Asher to believe Damien wouldn’t be alone for very long and he tried his best to ignore him when he could.

  Still, if he didn’t address the sighing soon one of them was going to go crazy. Asher pushed himself up in bed and looked over at Damien, who was wearing sweatpants and a muscle tank while staring at his device.

  “What’s up, Damien?” Asher asked, rubbing his eyes.

  “I don’t know what I did wrong. I messaged her like, a bunch of times last night. She never responded, not once.”

  Asher sighed. “I don’t know, man. Maybe she was sleeping?”

  He thought about it and shrugged. “Well, is she ignoring you too?”

  Asher didn’t want to lie to Damien but he also didn’t want to be his next target. Even if he was only around for another day, he would certainly do his best to push Asher to the edge. Even still, Asher decided to tell him the truth. “No, actually. We had a good conversation last night.”

  Damien’s face fell. He tossed his device on the bed and flopped backward.

  “Just be yourself. Don’t try so hard.” Asher and Damien both knew who was probably going home that day but he still felt weird giving Damien advice. Asher was also vying for Brielle’s affection, it was a little strange to help someone else start a relationship with your potential wife.

  “Thanks, Ash-man. You’re a good friend.”

  Damien got up and left the bedroom so Asher could get ready for the day. Though he didn’t care for the nickname, he did feel bad for Damien. If he considered Asher, a guy he met 24 hours prior, a good friend he probably didn’t have many good ones at home. Asher hoped it was enough to keep him happy until he was booted off the show.

  Brielle was quiet that morning and Asher was able to shower and get dressed without worrying about missing a message. He made his way into the kitchen for breakfast and noticed a mountain of breakfast sandwiches in the middle of the table. He grabbed one and sat down at the table with Brandon to enjoy it.

  “How’s it going so far?” Asher asked as he took a bite of his sandwich. It was good, with the perfect amount of American cheese.

  Brandon sighed. “I don’t know. I’m not sure what I expected when I signed up to be on the show. I guess I genuinely thought this would be a bunch of guys who truly wanted to get married.”

  “Disappointed?” Asher asked with a laugh.

  “Very. I’m the last one in my group of friends to be single. The men I hang out with love their wives and have great relationships. These guys...I can see why some of them are still single.”

  Asher nodded. “Do you feel weird though? About lying to her?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She doesn’t know we can see her picture. Or her videos. I dunno, it doesn’t sit well with me.”

  Brandon thought for a minute. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess you’re right. It seems like a small thing but I would probably be pretty upset if the rules were changed on me.”

  “I know we can’t tell her or we’re off the show. And I think one of us has a pretty good shot, unless I’m completely delusional about who she is as a person.” Asher took another bite of his sandwich. “I guess that’s just a lot of trust to build back if you lie from the get-go.”

  “Well, we aren’t lying. We’re just not telling the truth. The show is technically doing the lying.”

  “Have you ever met a woman who cares if it’s technically lying, Brandon?”

  He laughed. “You know what? I haven’t. You’re right.”

  Brandon and Asher changed the subject and got to know each other a little better. It was nice to have someone else in the apartment who wasn’t a macho man or completely self-involved. They were stuck there for almost a week together, they might as well get to know one another a little better.

  Mark came down to check in with the group after breakfast. He was mostly there to make sure Damien hadn’t tried to start any more fights. Damien had been sulking in the corner for most of the morning, staring at his device and sighing loudly as he put it down. He clearly wanted someone to talk to him about Brielle and now that Jason was gone, the rest of the apartment was smart enough not to take the bait.

  “Just as a reminder, you should not send any information to Brielle about how she looks. If anyone has any questions or concerns for me, please let me know now. We won’t have any more time together today until after Brielle makes today’s decision.” Mark sat down at the table and looked around.

  Most of the guys filtered out of the room. Damien stayed. Asher was sure he was being nosey and would use whatever he overheard to try to get back into Brielle’s good graces. Asher sat down across from Mark.

  “I have a concern.”

  Mark looked up from his phone and raised an eyebrow. “You do?”

  “Yes. I’m concerned that you’re asking us all to start our marriage to Brielle off on a lie.”

  “How so?”

  “Well, she thinks we haven’t seen her pictures or her videos. It just rubs me the wrong way.” Asher was beginning to regret bringing it up to Mark, who was looking more annoyed every second.

  “I’m sorry you feel that way. We aren’t changing anything because it makes you feel bad. Brielle knew the rules could change when she got here. She’s a big girl, she can take care of herself.”

  Asher stood up from the table. “Understood.” He wasn’t sure what he’d hoped would happen by talking to Mark but being written off so quickly wasn’t what he expected.

  He really liked Brielle, she was smart and funny and beautiful. And so far, their conversations seemed great. The benefits of an amazing marriage outweighed the risks of lying to her. He hoped she’d feel the same way.

  Chapter Three

  Brielle

  Asher: How’d you sleep?

  Brielle: Surprisingly well. I think our convo last night helped with that a bit.

  ◆◆◆

  Brielle was on her third cup of coffee, trying to take in all the information Stacey was giving her without getting completely overwhelmed. They had a week to do what most people take at least six months to a year or more to plan. Luckily, the venue, vendors, and photographer were all taken care of already.

  They had to figure out what Stacey referred to as “the fun stuff.” Theme, cake, traditions, dress,
bridesmaids dresses, favors, menu, drinks, music...the list went on and on. Brielle asked Stacey if she could surprise her with whatever she thought was best but she declined. And so, Brielle was on hour three of planning with no end in sight.

  She could barely respond to her potential husbands there was so much to do. Her device continued to vibrate and that was after she silenced Damien. Would wedding planning continue like this for the entire week?

  Stacey looked at Brielle’s glazed over eyes and closed her binder. “I understand this is a lot. Let’s take a break for an hour. Have some lunch and we will pick back up at noon.”

  Relief washed over Brielle. “Thank you so much, Stacey. I promise I’ll be more engaged after I eat something.”

  Stacey gathered her laptop and walked out of the apartment, leaving Brielle alone with her thoughts once more.

  She had thought about her wedding day for years. And up until today, she was excited to plan a wedding. Despite being completely overwhelming, the idea of being married in a week thrilled her. Yet, when they sat down to plan, she could only think of her ex.

  Her ex-boyfriend, Seth, filled her thoughts. For several years, Brielle’s visions of her wedding included Seth as her groom. Even through all the hard times they’d had, she always thought one day he would settle down and be the husband she deserved. She even went to secretly try on wedding dresses one day. But Seth never proposed and their relationship deteriorated.

  When she caught him cheating on her, again, earlier that year she had finally had enough. She applied to be on the show and thought that finding a new man to be her husband would help speed up the healing of her broken heart. But sitting at the table with Stacey, it was impossible to think about her mystery groom. She only thought of Seth.