Friend Zone

Round Five. Seven Contestants Remain. Appearance Fee: $30,000.

----

Jules stared into the middle distance as Garret and James walked out the front door of the manor.

The latest round of invitations had been handed out, with “secret agent” Garret and James the basketball player both being shown the door. With Warren having been eliminated during his date, that left the remaining bachelors almost evenly divided again. Ryan, Tyrone, and Craig were the last ‘true’ ones remaining, while Christian saw his batch of flunkies cut to just Parker and Zach.

And then there was him. He should be happy that he’d slithered through what would have been his death two rounds ago. Now he was one round away from winning enough money to pay off his student loans.

The dark hand that landed on his shoulder brought him back to reality. “Tyrone.”

“…Jules.” Tyrone turned him around, looking at him face to face. “You kissed Kristina.”

“Technically, she kissed me.”

Tyrone was in no mood to split hairs. “What’s your game?”

“My game?” Jules shot back. “What’s yours? You talked all that good stuff about not being here to make friends and finally dating Kristina. But as far as I know you haven’t bothered trying to take her on a date. What, you think you’re going to win by default just because you were here first?”

Tyrone’s finger poked hard into Jules’s chest. “Watch it.”

“No. You’ve been sitting there and pouting and shooting everyone dirty looks and now you’re about to make the exact same mistake you did when she left Wyoming,” Jules told him. “You think you’re the romantic lead? Act like it and ask her out.”

The two men stared each other down. But Jules relaxed when Tyrone turned to walk away without another word. He needed to think.

He wouldn’t get the opportunity. No sooner than Tyrone had left than Kristina appeared and he froze. Not a single muscle moved as he watched Kristina walked down the hall towards him with a grin. Nor did he understand a single word she said.

All Jules remembered was Kristina blowing a kiss at him and gently poking him in the chest before he fell backwards like a felled tree in the forest.

-----

“What?”

Jules hadn’t moved an inch what seemed like eternity. So much so that his next round of confessionals were taking place from that spot on the floor.

The production staff member asked, “You boasted that you’d date Kristina so hard you’d make her fall in love with you. Do you think you succeeded?”

“I think my date went a bit too well,” Jules groaned. “Now I have her attention.”

“You were talking with Tyrone earlier. He said you were trying to give him advice. Why would you help him?”

Jules continued staring at the ceiling. Why was he trying to help him? He didn’t come into this game giving a damn so why start now? “That man’s here for the right reasons. Foolish reasons. But the right ones.”

“Have you given any thought to what you’ll do if you win?”

He hadn’t. For once, he didn’t have any pithy remarks to feed the camera.

----

Diane peeked around the corner and wasn’t sure what to think.

She could tell it was an awkward conversation between Kristina and Craig. There was no getting closer, not with all of the cameras surrounding them. But she could make out some of what was being said.

“I’m sorry,” Craig apologized. “I think you’re wonderful and you’re going to make someone the happiest person on earth. But it’s not me and we both know it, and I think it’s time for me to live with that.”

Kristina looked disappointed. “I understand.” She held out her hand. “I think you’re going to make someone happy, too.”

Diane could see Kristina look past Craig’s shoulder directly at her. She ducked back around the corner, hands pressed against her cheeks.

The ordeal lasted a few more minutes. She heard the camera crews depart and Craig have to give his last confessional. Eventually Diane saw Craig wander back to his room, the cameras following to catch B-roll for his departure. This wasn’t the time.

She went outside, watching the limo arrive to take Craig away. Diane saw Craig walk out the door, turn back to wave, and then walk towards the limo with the door closing behind him.

The second the door was closed, Diane knew it was time. “Hey.”

Craig nearly jumped out of his shoes. He swung around. “H-Hey. I uh, I was hoping to see you before I left.”

Both of them were blushing.

“We can’t be seen together until this is all over,” said Diane. “Might spoil the show.”

Craig’s face fell. “Right. I understand.”

Diane pulled her phone out of her pockets, nearly fumbling it out of her hands and sending it flying into Craig’s. “Oh! Your number. Right, I need to unlock –”

The two began tussling over her phone, neither able to unlock Diane’s phone without nearly knocking it out of the other’s hands for a hot minute. Eventually Diane got ahold of herself and got Craig to put himself in her contacts.

“I’ll video call you tonight. Have a safe trip back home.” With a bit of daring-do, she kissed Craig on the cheek.

They both looked like they were going to die of embarrassment.

-----

“Diane?”

Kristina’s fingers snapped in front of Diane’s nose, which made her toss her tablet out of shock.

Thankfully, Kristina had seen this enough times to slide a pillow across the floor and have the tablet land gently on it. “You alright?”

“I think I will be.” Diane coughed and tried to straighten herself out. “You’ve got a date with Tyrone tonight. He’s decided to take it nice and easy. You’ll be staying here and enjoying a private dinner. It’ll be a crossover with a cooking show; the winner of a reward competition on their show will be cooking you dinner. Bruce says it’s ‘cross-promotional synergy’.”

Kristina didn’t stay on that subject. “Why do you think Tyrone waited this long?”

Diane bit her lip. “I think he’s worried about how things will go.”

----

Kristina was thankful that she got to wear jeans for once.

It took a combined shouting match of her and Tyrone against the production staff to let them dress casually. They had to hold the reality show crossover hostage to do it. Bruce was ready to go ballistic, but once the cooking show contestant got involved – and on Kristina’s side – he finally gave in.

It was the most relaxed she’d been on any of these dates. And Tyrone had made it like slipping back into a well-loved pair of slippers.

The two were smiling throughout the whole meal. Of course, having a professional cook make cheeseburgers with all the fixings and truffle fries drizzled with ketchup might have been a waste of his talents. But damn if it wasn’t one of the best burgers she’d ever had.

During a lull in the conversation, Kristina started to make her move. “I missed this.”

“I did too.” Tyrone took a sip of whisky from his glass. “How’s the acting career?”

Kristina smiled a bit too wide, her teeth showing. “It isn’t. I was hoping this show would be my ticket in.”

“That’s why you’re doing this?” asked Tyrone. He looked at Kristina’s muscular physique, eyebrows raised as she accidentally bent a fork with her bare hand. “You don’t strike me as a romantic lead.”

“It’s my best shot at breaking through. Not a lot of options besides being a love interest.” Kristina scrunched her lips and swirled around what little whisky remained in her glass. “Maybe there was a time when it would’ve worked for us. But if there was it’s gone now.”

Kristina hoped Tyrone could live with that. The way he averted his eyes spoke mountains. “I guess I knew that was coming, but I held out hope. But Kristina. That city chews people up. You sure this is your way in?”

“I wouldn’t have done this show if I didn’t have the producer’s word.” She poured herself and Tyrone another glass of whiskey, raising hers for a toast. “Here’s to us.”

Tyrone clinked his glass to hers. It was going to be a painful goodbye.