Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 121916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
I jerk on the next doorknob, and to my relief, the door opens. There’s no bed inside the small room, unfortunately, only a washer and dryer. But that’ll do for our purposes.
I motion for Ruby to step across the threshold in front of me, but before she takes a single step, a female voice behind us in the hallway shouts my name, loudly, causing us to freeze and turn around.
Fuck me. It’s Nadine, scurrying toward us in her sparkling evening gown and heels. Surely, she’s intending to scream at me for serenading and kissing Ruby at the party without a single camera in place to capture the sparkling moment for the show. Well, fuck her, if that’s what she’s followed us here to complain about. The only reason I felt comfortable enough to let loose like I just did, like never before, was precisely because I knew there wasn’t a single camera around to capture my unhinged shenanigans.
“That was incredible!” Nadine sings out as she approaches us with a bright smile on her face. “Talk about earning those bonuses! Wow!” She motions to my bare torso. “Kendrick Cook! Good lord! I would have written nudity into your contract, if I’d known you were hiding that kind of perfection.” She palms her forehead. “And that kiss! Guys, it was right out of a movie. Heart-melting and ovary-exploding, all at once!”
As she’s talking, Ruby and I keep looking at each other in confusion. And when Nadine finally stops talking long enough for us to speak, I ask, “How did we earn bonuses for doing stuff off-camera?”
Nadine cackles. “You didn’t. We got everything you did on our hidden cameras.”
“What?” I blurt. I rough a hand over my face, feeling flabbergasted. I didn’t do anything embarrassing in there, I don’t think. So, that’s not the source of my tight belly and thrumming heart. It’s more that I had no idea one of the best moments of my life was being filmed for capitalistic consumerism. Did Ruby know? Was she performing for them the whole time, unlike me? Is this my birthday party, all over again? If so, I won’t survive it. I swear, I’ll shatter into a million tiny pieces and never recover.
I look at Ruby, terrified to ask the question. But I don’t have a choice in the matter. I have to know. “D-did you know?”
Thank God, Ruby shakes her head, her sincerity written all over her beautiful face. Plainly, she’s as shocked as I am.
“Well, that’s on you for not reading your contracts, then,” Nadine says with a sniff. “We always reserve the right to capture video and audio with visible and non-visible recording equipment, at our sole discretion, during any and all show-related events, promotional appearances, and official shooting days. Today is most definitely a promotional appearance for both of you, so you really should have known we’d be capturing every second of it.”
Ruby and I look at each other like we can’t believe what we’re hearing.
“But why hide the cameras?” I ask. “Or at least not tell us about them in advance?”
“Because we’ve been shooting this show for a very long time, Kendrick, and we know what we’re doing.” Nadine rolls her eyes. “When people know about cameras, they mug for them. They perform. And we wanted to capture people having fun tonight in a way that felt extremely real, spontaneous, and natural.” She smirks demonically. “And, boy, did we get what we were after and more. That felt so real, I couldn’t have scripted it better myself.”
Ruby laughs at Nadine’s word salad, but I’m too wound up to join her.
“So, what’s the plan for the footage?” I ask.
“We’ll use it for marketing, for sure. Probably also put it into a video package shown on Mentor Day.” Nadine laughs with glee. “Add that to the press conference, and your almost-fight with Cooper just now—and him getting escorted out of the party—and we’ll have more to work with than we could have hoped for in our wildest dreams.” She sighs happily. “This is going to be the best season yet. Great job, you two. Seriously. Bravo.”
“Thanks,” I deadpan. “So, is that it, or . . . ?” I motion to my hand clasped with Ruby’s, letting Nadine know I’d very much like to return to my original itinerary now, thank you very much, but Nadine’s expression makes it clear she doesn’t get what I’m saying at all.
“Does Cooper think this is real?” she asks, gesturing to our joined hands. “Or did you all get together after the press conference and—”
“Nadine, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I grit out. “Maybe Cooper knew about the cameras. Who knows? But we didn’t. So, no, we didn’t do any of that for you or the show, for Cooper, or for anyone else.”
“Oh,” Nadine says, understanding visibly washing over her. “I’m sorry, guys. Eli told me the viral kiss—”