Chapter 5
The first half of the show is being filmed in Sebastian’s Malibu estate. Sitting on five acres of land, the compound is 25,000 square feet spread out over several buildings. It has sixteen bedrooms and twenty-two bathrooms. And don’t get me started on all the amenities. Everything you can think of from the pool and full spa, to the gym, to the game room, to the movie theater. Oh, and it has its own private stretch of the beach. It’s a paradise resort.
The cast is staying in the main house, and the crew is bunking in the guesthouse. It’s crowded, but no more than when I lived with two roommates in an 800 square foot apartment. I share a room bunk-bed style with Tina (hair), Sadie (makeup), and Maxine (psychologist). Yes, the experience is so emotionally taxing that they need a psychologist available to contestants 24/7. Our “office” space is the living room where all three of our stations are squished together into one large dressing room for the contestants.
My job for the evening is mostly done. The women have introductions and a cocktail party, then go directly into a rose ceremony tonight. Ten of the thirty women will go home when the night’s over, making our jobs much more manageable for the rest of the show. After working with all of them, there are definitely some I hope go home tonight.
“Who’s your favorite so far?” Tina asks after we send off our latest batch of women. They’re put into limos in groups so that the limo can drive up and Sebastian can greet them one by one as they get out. We’ve gotten the women ready six at a time. We only have one batch left, and they should be arriving any minute. Juliette and Ana are both in the last group. I can’t wait to see them.
Tina is in her late forties and has a couple of college-age kids. She’s a mother hen, but very sweet and amazing with hair. Sadie is in her late twenties and gorgeous. I’ve never seen such beautiful lashes. Yeah, they’re fake, but they’re perfect. And her skills with makeup are phenomenal. From what I’ve seen tonight, she’s going to be the women’s best friend around here. “We can’t decide that until we meet the last group,” she says.
“I’ve already met them all,” I admit. “For fittings and stuff. There were a few who stood out to me. Bridget is one to watch out for. My money’s on her being the villain.”
The show always edits the footage to tell the best story. They portray people however they want, always having their “darlings” and their “villains.” Saying the show is reality is stretching it. It may not be scripted, but it’s 100 percent manipulated. I heard the show even has final say on who the bachelor is allowed to send home. If they want a person to stay, they stay. Period. So much for finding true love, huh?
Bridget is thirty. She works in real estate and has a slight French accent from having lived her childhood in Paris. She’s exotic and sexy and completely conceited. Not to mention snobbish and dramatic. She’ll definitely make for some good drama this season.
“I’m biased on my favorites, though. Two of my best friends are on the show this season. They’re twins.”
Both women turn to me with intrigue. “The stepsisters?” Sadie asks. “You know them?”
Jules and Ana have been dubbed the stepsisters ever since Ella’s Cinderella romance captured the hearts of the nation. Their participation this season has been almost as heavily advertised as the billionaire bachelor.
“I went to school with them.” I admit the truth, because it’s eventually going to come out anyway. “Ella Oliver is my best friend. The twins are practically family.”
Tina and Sadie both blink at me. “Cool,” Sadie says while Tina gives me a warm smile. “How fun for you to have them here.”
And that’s it. I breathe a sigh of relief that neither of them makes a big deal about it. That’s the thing with people like hair and makeup artists. They’re used to working in television and film. They’ve met their share of celebrities.
Sadie straightens up her makeup station, getting ready for the last group of women. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you don’t think Bridget will have some competition for the villain title? I’ve heard Ana is…”
She hesitates. I’m pretty sure she wants to use the B word. I laugh and don’t make her say it. “Yes. She can be difficult. She’s harsh, blunt, and aloof, but she’s not a pot stirrer.” At least, not anymore. In high school she was a Class-A mean girl, but she’s matured a lot since then. She’s still cold, but she doesn’t go out of her way to hurt or bully people anymore. “She won’t start anything. She’ll finish it every time, though. She and Bridget are sure to have some fireworks.”
“And Juliette?” Tina asks curiously.
I smile. “I think she’ll go far in this competition. She’s young, but she’s confident, gorgeous, smart, friendly, and one of the most genuine people you’ll ever meet. She’s also a hopeless romantic and a Marry Me superfan.”
Before either of them can respond, the woman in question walks into the room. She sees me and runs at me, squealing. “Vivian! We’re here! Can you believe it? I’m so excited, I can’t stand it!”
She’s squeezing me and bouncing around like a Pomeranian. I return her hug with a laugh. “Let’s take it down a notch. You don’t want to be that woman on the show. You and Ana are the youngest contestants. You don’t want anyone to portray you as the ditzy, barely legal girl.”
“We definitely don’t want that,” Ana says, walking into the room with four other women behind her. Bridget is one of them. Looks like the show’s producers recognized the potential for drama between her and Ana. If that’s what they’re hoping for, they shouldn’t have grouped Jules with them. She makes an excellent buffer for Ana.
“Too late for that,” Bridget sneers, shooting Juliette a nasty look. She flips her hair and starts in on an exaggerated valley girl voice. “Oh, my gosh, like, I was totally a cheerleader in high school just last year.”
Then again, maybe having Juliette with her will only make things worse. Ana is fiercely protective of her sister, so if Bridget chooses Jules as her target, Bridget will go down.
Juliette rolls her eyes. Something I love about her. She doesn’t care what anyone thinks about her. Neither of them do. They’ve got some thick skin after all the harsh things that were said about them in the media when Ella became famous.
Juliette takes a deep breath and settles down, but the dopey smile doesn’t leave her face. She looks around the room and claps her hands together. “So, which one of you ladies wants me first?”
I laugh. Nothing is going to curb her excitement tonight. “Dress first, then Tina and Sadie can fight over you.”
I get to work and find the right gowns. The last woman is one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. Emma is twenty-seven and a NICU nurse. She stood out to me because she’s so shy. She’s a very pretty brunette, but I’m surprised they brought her on the show. Usually, they pick women with the biggest personalities. Emma can hardly get two sentences out without blushing. Maybe they picked her because she’s never had a boyfriend and never been kissed. I’ll have to ask her why she chose to come on the show sometime when she’s less nervous.
I give her a hug, then hand her a gown. “How are you doing? Are you ready for this?”
She bites her lip and wrings her hands. “I’m so nervous. I don’t know why I thought this would be a good idea.”
“You’ll be fine. I imagine Sebastian is just as nervous as you.”
“Have you met him?” she asks. “What’s he like?”
Oh, how to answer that question? Rude. Arrogant. Judgmental. He obviously doesn’t think much of me, what with all his glares and his attack on my Kool-Aid hair and faerie eyes. Our shopping trip together was miserable. Not much of a sense of humor, that one. But maybe he’ll be different with some of the women who are closer to his age.
I don’t want to taint Emma’s first impression. It’s possible Sebastian was just having a bad day when we met. Highly doubtful, but possible. “He’s hard-working and honest, and he’s going to look amazing in his swimsuit.”
That makes every woman in the room besides Ana giggle.
“And he’s in desperate need of a wife,” I add. “So I hope you ladies are all ready to get swept off your feet.”
After we finish up with the last woman, we put them all in the limo. “Good luck! Hopefully we’ll see you tomorrow to help you get ready for your dates.”
Once the limo pulls away, Tina, Sadie, and I collapse onto the nearest couch. “Whew, that was a lot of excited women,” Tina says.
Sadie smirks. “Yeah. Poor Sebastian. He’s going to get mauled by a few of them for sure.”
Tina pours us all a glass of wine. There’s no shortage of alcohol around this set. More so in the main mansion with the contestants. I suppose tipsy women are a little looser and more entertaining than stiff, nervous women.
“I hope he’s in a better mood tonight than he was this afternoon,” she says.
I snort. Mr. Grumpypants didn’t let me down today with the growling and the glaring. He was the first person we got our hands on, and let me tell you, that man did not want to wear any makeup. Sadie couldn’t get him to sit for her, so I maybe, kind of, had to push him into the chair and tell him to stop acting like a baby. Tina was more diplomatic, trying to explain how lighting can wash a person out and he’d be grateful for the makeup when the show airs.
“I’m so tired,” Tina says, covering a yawn with her fist.
Sadie laughs. “Just be grateful you’re done now. The contestants have a long night ahead of them.”
My thoughts turn automatically to Juliette and Ana. Ana will be just fine no matter how Sebastian acts, but I hope he’s nice to Juliette. She’ll be crushed if he’s a jerk to her.
* * *
Both Juliette and Anastasia make it through the first rose ceremony. Jules even wins the rose for leaving the best first impression on Sebastian. She is thrilled. Ana gets picked to go on a group date with Sebastian and eight other women. She was excited to get out of the mansion. The contestants are completely isolated and forced to hang out with each other all day. Ana only has so much patience. One week in, and she’s already ripped several people to shreds.
Juliette is bummed when she doesn’t get chosen for the group date, but then, the next morning, she’s picked to go on the first solo date. She and Sebastian left a little while ago. I’ve never seen her so excited.
This first week has gone by both fast and slow. I have a much easier job than the film crews. They film 24/7. They’ve been rotating in shifts, but it’s been intense. My work comes in chaotic bursts. Mornings are insane as each contestant scrambles to get ready for the day. Then there’s a rush as they all want a change of clothes and touch-ups before they leave for their dates. I’ve been assisting both Tina and Sadie where I can. Then we have another mad rush when everyone gets ready for the dinner dates. Other than that, I have downtime. I’ve gotten bored a few times and offered to help the production crew out. They always seem grateful to have an extra pair of hands.
The hardest part of my job so far has been avoiding the host, Aaron. The man is everywhere. He’s such a sleaze, and unfortunately, he’s got his sights set on me. He’s a bit stalkerish. I’m helping out the crew doing the confessional interviews when he wanders into the room. He notices me, and his eyes flash like a predator who’s just spotted his prey.
He moves to stand beside me and runs his fingers up my arm. I step out of his reach, and he grabs my hand, pulling me back to him. “You’re not trying to run from me, are you?” He laughs like he’s just made the world’s funniest joke.
I pull my hand from his and lift a finger to my lips, shushing him while I point at the interview happening a few feet away.
He leans in close enough that his lips brush my ear. “Let’s get out of here. I have my own room. We could be alone.”
Ew. The man is twenty years older than me and looks like he’s made of plastic. Someone needs to call HR and show him the video about sexual harassment in the workplace. He’s never straight-up propositioned me, though, just flirted in a sleazy way. This offer is the most outrageous thing he’s said to me yet.
I need to be careful about rejecting him. He’s temperamental and a classic narcissist. He can’t fathom the idea that someone might not appreciate his advances and will likely throw a tantrum if I tell him to get lost.
“I’m working right now. Sorry.”
He looks at the coil of cord in my hands, then glances around the room as if searching for the people waiting for the equipment I’m holding. Truthfully, I just grabbed the cord off the floor when Aaron came in the room so I’d look busy and he’d leave me alone. Looks like I failed. He can tell I’m not busy.
I really just like to watch the confessional videos. Today it’s all the women who went on the group date yesterday. They’re in no short supply of gossip and snotty remarks. Bridget is still around, and she’s got most of the women turned against Ana, but no matter how hard she tries, no one’s had a single bad word to say about Juliette. Not even now that she’s on a solo date with Sebastian.
Aaron slips his arm around my waist. “I’m sure they don’t need you.”
I squirm out of his grip and clench my teeth. I’m seriously sick of this man. “I promised James I’d stay, sorry.”
That’s a lie, but James is the boss, and even Aaron can’t argue with his directions. James will back me up if I need him to. He’s cool like that.
Aaron sighs. “Next time, then.”
Not on your life, buddy.
His eyes narrow as if he can read the disgust on my face. He stands up straight and lifts his chin. “I’m a powerful man around here, sweetheart. I could make good things happen for you.”
I’m not sure what he could do for me besides give me diseases. I’ve already got my dream job.
He takes my hand and brings it to his lips before I can pull it back. “I’ll get you eventually.”
Gag.
Thankfully, he leaves just as Ana saunters in for her confessional. I grin. This will be good.
Ana, poised as ever, takes the hot seat with a nonchalance that’s admirable. She sits there, messing with her fingernails, looking bored and above this interview. The interviewer gets tired of the silence. “How did the date go yesterday?”
Ana finally looks up. “That was a date? Could have fooled me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nine women and one man? Usually on a date, you talk to the person you’re supposedly going out with. We were gone for six hours, and I interacted with Sebastian for maybe ten minutes total. I’d say yesterday was more like a girls’ day out with a bunch of jealous, catty bitches.”
There’s a long pause. Either the interviewer doesn’t know what to say or he’s dragging out the silence for dramatic effect. I snicker. I guess Ana’s not blending in with the women of the mansion.
“What do you think of Sebastian?”
Ana smirks. “He doesn’t seem to like these women any more than I do. I’ll give him credit there.”
“He wasn’t having fun yesterday?”
“He definitely wanted to be anywhere but on that date with us. When we all sat down for lunch, Bridget sat in his lap, and he legit pushed her off him. She fell all the way to the ground.”
“Did that turn you off from him? Some of the other women have expressed frustration with his attitude.”
Ana flashes the camera a predatory smile. “Are you kidding? It was the highlight of my day.”
After watching Ana’s interview, I head back to my room. I’ve got a while before Jules gets back and has to get ready for the dinner part of her solo date, and I’d like to avoid running into Aaron again. I plop down on my bed and search through my bag for my phone. I’ve got a new book on my reading app. Contestants aren’t allowed to have any contact with the outside world, so phones or anything with an Internet connection are a major no-go. The crew is allowed to have them as long as no one shares them with the contestants. But we’re not allowed much interaction with the contestants beyond necessity anyway. They want the contestants to have nothing else to do but talk to each other and create drama.
A chuckle comes from the bunk above mine. “Avoiding Aaron again?” Sadie asks.
I groan. “I don’t know what I did in a past life to deserve his attention. I barely escaped him this time. I had to lie and say I was helping James.”
“Yeah, he sure does have his sights set on you. Jeff the sound guy said he picks the youngest, hottest crew member every season to seduce.”
I shudder. “Does it usually work?”
“He’s probably got good radar for the ambitious ones or the groupies. I don’t know how the lot fell to you this season, but I’m sure glad it’s not me.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“I should be thanking you.”
We both laugh. I find my phone and frown when I see over twenty missed calls from Ella. There’s one voice mail. I shoot straight up, hitting my head on the top bunk when Ella sobs into the phone. “Viv, call me. I need you.”
My heart drops into my stomach. Something is really wrong. I could hear it in her voice.
“Ella?” I nearly shout when she picks up the phone. I’m so worried, I can’t control myself. “What is it? What’s wrong? Is it Apollo? Brian?”
She bursts into more sobs. When she finally gets words out, she’s hiccupping and stuttering though them. “It’s D-d-dad. It wasn’t an ulcer. It’s c-c-c-cancer.”
I gasp. “Oh, Ella, I’m so sorry!”
“Stomach cancer. Stage four,” she bawls. “He has to go in for immediate surgery in the morning. Then he’ll have to do chemo. Viv, the survival rate isn’t good.”
My heart sinks. Richard Coleman is a good man. He and Ella have had more than their fair share of problems, but she loves him, and he loves his family more than anything. I like him. He’s always treated me like one of the family. This is devastating.
“Ella, I’m so sorry. What can I do? What do you need?”
She hiccups again and tries to calm herself down enough to get more words out. “I need you to tell Ana and Juliette. I want them to hear it in person from someone they care about. I’d come out there myself, but Jennifer is a wreck, and I don’t want to leave either of them right now. Brian’s stuck on set.”
I sniffle and try to sound strong for my distraught best friend. “Of course I’ll tell them. Juliette should be back any minute. As soon as she walks in the door, I’ll sit them down together. We’ll get them home by this evening. Promise.”
“Th-th-thanks. I’m s-s-so glad you’re there.”
“I love you, Ella. Rich is strong. And he’s too stubborn to let a little thing like cancer get the best of him. You guys will get through this. I’m here for you. Do you need me to come home too? I will.”
She sniffs twice and takes a breath. “No. Don’t quit. There’s nothing to do here but wait around. Ana and Jules will want to be here for the surgery, and Alice already said she can watch Apollo as much as we need her to. I can’t ask you to give up your dream job just to come hold my hand. Juliette can do that.”
I get what she’s saying, but part of me still wants to pack up and be there for them. They’re basically family.
“Have them call me as soon as you can.”
“I will. Promise. Hang in there. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
As soon as I hang up, I take a shaky breath. I need to get a good grip on my emotions before I see the twins. They’ll need me strong to get through this. It’s going to kill them. Rich may be their stepfather, but he’s been their dad since they were seven years old. He saved them and their mom from an abusive man. They worship him. Even Ana, the world’s iciest woman, is a total daddy’s girl.
How am I going to break this news to them?