....And Then There Were Four

Round Six. Four Contestants Remain. Appearance Fee: $50,000.

----

That night, all of the remaining contestants were summoned into the foyer.

Jules, Christian, Parker, and Zach all were assembled and were poured a glass of champagne. Petey Pete approached the gentlemen, applauding as the cameras rolled on them.

“Bravo,” said Petey Pete. “From thirty bachelors, we’ve come down to this. The final four. One of you will either win the love of your life or a million dollars. Let’s a have a toast!” He eagerly grabbed a glass to join the men. “To you!”

A general cry of ‘to us’ was shouted by the bachelors. Except for Jules. Something Ryan said was still rumbling in his mind.

“Congratulations. You got exactly what you wanted.”

He did. He’d come onto this show to be a heel and win money. And he’d done better than his wildest expectations. That should’ve sent him over the moon. This should have been the moment that Jules finally got the hell out of here.

And yet…

Jules’s train of thought was derailed by the snap of Petey Pete’s fingers. “Now that we’re down to the final four, you will all take Kristina on one last date. You’ll be taking Kristina to your hometown. We’ve booked you both hotel rooms at five-star resorts, and she will finally get a chance to meet your families and friends. Think carefully about how you want to approach this. Because if you do well, you might get to share a room together. Without cameras.”

Christian and Parker both grinned. Zach was far more neutral. Jules put on his best effort to smile. The men ended up drawing straws to see who would take Kristina first.

And that was how they decided that Jules would be going first.

-----

Jules quickly packed his bags. He only stopped when Elena came by to offer him a phone to help arrange logistics. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too crazy.

“Oh. My. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!”

Leave it to Sean to exercise restraint. Jules could barely hear anything else he blabbered about. He had to wait for Sean to run out of breath before he could finally get a word in edgewise.

“We’re not going to be staying at my place. They might call you and Derek to show up to get to meet her since I don’t have family to bring on the show.”

Now there were two people screaming on the other end of the line. Sean must have put the call on speaker phone. Jules could make out their excitement about getting to live out their dream of seeing the inner workings of a reality dating show.

They owed him for this.

The call didn’t last much longer after that. “Thanks, Elena. That’s the first call I’ve gotten to make this whole time.”

“It’ll be the only one,” she warned. “A member of the production staff will be keeping an eye on you the whole time you’re away from the mansion. No outside contact, no internet, no going to work.”

“Hell of a vacation, then.” Jules rolled his eyes.

Elena took her phone back and left. But Jules wasn’t alone for long. He started working off his tie and turned to the door. “Diane. How’re the others taking this?”

Diane stood there. They both knew the other knew the score. That meant there was no point dancing around it. “They’re drinking every bit of champagne we have in stock. They think they’ve won.”

Spite was a hell of a drug. Jules had sworn at the very beginning of this to destroy this show and get paid doing it. This wasn’t how he’d envisioned doing it. That original idea involved a lot more fire and laughing.

But he had a plan.

----

Kristina lounged in the back of the limousine, staring at the baggage they’d brought. She was wearing a cashmere jacket that was incredibly soft to the touch. The thought crossed her mind of how much it must have cost in the store.

But if she had to ask, she didn’t want to know. “My credit card’s screaming in pain just looking at this. Do I have to wear this?”

“Sponsors,” Diane reminded her. “Besides, you need to look the part of looking good if you want to make it.”

“Looking good? We’re going to the airport. Nobody goes to the airport and thinks that they should’ve worn a dress.” Kristina sighed. “How does all this work?”

The two women weren’t alone in the car. Bruce leaned forward in his seat. “We’ll fly in to New York where Jules will meet you. You’ve got a rooftop cookout with him and his friend group before retiring to a five-star resort. At which point you’ll decide if you want to invite him into your room. You’ll fly out the next morning to Chicago for Christian, and we’ll do it all over again in Miami and Austin for Zach and Parker.”

Kristina resisted the urge to groan. She’d told Diane at length she’d have killed for a change of pace from the mansion. This wasn’t what she had in mind.

“God, flying that much on commercial is gonna suck.”

Bruce chuckled. “I think not. Elena! The tickets!”

From a pocket in the lining of Elena’s suit came out several tickets. “Business class. Because we travel in style.”

Kristina stared at Elena. At this point someone could tell her Elena had the Holy Grail in there and she’d believe them.

----

Having access to business class seats helped take the edge off of flying across the country. Kristina did what she could to pass the time. She played some retro games on a device she’d snuck into the mansion and enjoyed a glass or two of wine on the show’s dime. The only thing that annoyed her was that everyone seemed to fall asleep quick. Even Diane had nodded off next to her.

Thankfully, the airplane had a selection of movies to watch and some working headphones for her seat. And even better, one of the movies available to watch was Seven Nights a Sinner. She could relax, get a little drunk, and enjoy the film.

Except for when she got to her favorite scene. She knew the scene by heart. The male lead approaches the female love interest, he reaches out his hand, and he asks the question.

“Would you do me the honor of a dance?”

But she couldn’t stop hearing Jules’s voice when the actor spoke. Or seeing his face when the camera was on him. Frankly, she kept thinking on that dance they’d shared as she watched the dance she’d always wished she’d had.

With a blush on her face, she asked the air stewardess for another glass of wine. That twerp ruined her favorite movie for her.