Chapter 20
CHAPTER 20
MORNING CONFESSIONAL
Producer: So, Rhett, how did you feel about Savannah’s win last night?
Rhett, beaming with joy: I think she deserved it, and I’m absolutely thrilled for her. And proud.
Producer: Proud?
Rhett: She’s a great person, and I was so happy to see her finally win a challenge.
Producer: Are you still claiming nothing is going on with the two of you? I mean, we did see you slow dance in the kitchen the other night.
Rhett: We couldn’t sleep. You know, it’s kind of hard to sleep when you’re chained together.
Producer: Is that all?
Rhett: What do you mean?
Producer: Viewers want to know if you have real feelings for Savannah. Do you?
(A long pause. Rhett looks uncomfortable.)
Rhett: I do.
Producer: So you’re dating?
Rhett: No. Not exactly.
Producer: Then what would you call it?
(Another long pause)
Rhett: I would call it me falling in love with Savannah, and her not realizing it.
SAVANNAH
It feels like the competition went into overdrive the last two weeks. At our third main challenge, Dan suddenly announced that we would have double eliminations from now on. Everyone was terrified of being sent home. The fewer people that are here, the more likely your chance of being sent home.
In week three, we had an edible art challenge. I made a vase with flowers. Rhett made a vintage car, which I still don’t understand how he did it. Connor made some abstract art piece. Of course, Rhett won the competition. His was, by far, the best.
Unfortunately, Sophia and Hank didn’t fare so well, and both of them went home. I really thought it would be me when one of my flowers literally flopped onto the counter while Chef Alain was talking to me. But the audience apparently saved me, and I don’t know why.
Our week 4 challenge was to create macarons that were ocean or beach-themed. I created a tiki bar cake, while Rhett created a beach scene complete with umbrellas and lounge chairs. Again, it was amazing.
Sometimes, I wonder how in the world his family can’t be proud of him. Rhett is talented and should have a cheering section at home. I can only hope that seeing him on TV will make them eat their words and tell him how they were wrong.
Tanya and Nate went home during week 4. Again, I was shocked because Nate had created a better cake than me, or at least I thought so. Tanya, on the other hand, had lost her way in the competition. Missing her kids had become unbearable, and I will always believe she threw that last competition so she could go home.
Sometimes, there are more important things than winning a competition.
Now that we’re entering week five, I’m ready to push and win this thing. The only people left are me, Rhett, Zara, Maggie, Lainey, and Connor. Two more people will leave this week, and then the final four will battle it out in week six.
I guess Rhett was wrong about us needing to be in a fake relationship to win. I’ve reminded him of that several times—using the word hippopotamus so viewers don’t understand—and he just smiles.
I think we’ve become good friends, and things are easier now that we’re not chained together. Although I still feel those feelings sometimes, it’s not hard to escape them now that the chain is gone.
“I still can’t believe Nate got sent home,” Rhett says as we sit on the couch in the courtyard. “Now it’s just me and Connor in the room.”
“Sorry about that,” I say, laughing. Connor is still a snake. He tried to sabotage me in last week’s challenge by stealing the mixing blade I needed. Turns out his congratulations the week I won was him trying to distract me from the fact that he wanted to sabotage me. Producers had a talk with him and gave him a warning.
“We’re getting so close to the end that I can taste it.”
“Yep. I can’t believe I get to see Sadie in a couple of weeks. I hope I have good news for her.” My eyes tear up.
“You miss her a lot, don’t you?”
“So much,” I say, my voice cracking. “Who do you miss?”
He pauses for a moment. “No one.”
“Really? That makes me sad for you.”
“It makes me sad, too.”
“Why don’t you do something about it then? Get on one of those dating apps?”
He waves his hand and grunts. “No thanks. I don’t intend to be cut up into little pieces and put in someone’s freezer.”
I roll my eyes. “Oh, come on! Everyone does it these days.”
“Do you?” he asks, looking at me.
“Well, no. But I’ve been too busy to look for love after my breakup. I’ve kind of enjoyed being alone.”
“So you’re swearing off love?”
“Maybe. For a while. I’m tired of getting my heart broken. I’m tired of being disappointed. I thought I’d be married with kids by now.”
“Same.”
“Rhett Jennings wants to be married with kids?”
He laughs. “Why do you always call me by my full name?”
“I don’t know. It seems more dramatic.”
“To answer your question, of course, I want to be married with kids.”
“Why?”
“Why? What kind of question is that? Why do you want that?”
I shrug my shoulders. “I guess I want someone who is always there for me. Someone to wake up to. Someone to cuddle while I fall asleep. Someone to be there when I want to vent or cry. Someone to share sunrises and sunsets with. A family. A real family that loves me, and I can love them.”
He stares at me for a moment. “Ditto.”
“You don’t like to share your feelings much, do you?”
“You want me to share my feelings?”
“Yes. I think I do.”
He gathers his thoughts for a moment and then speaks. “I want a woman who wants me. The real me. Not the version of me from a wealthy family. Not the version of me who can cook. The version of me that I don’t show anyone else. The one that likes silly rom-com movies. Or the one that wants us to dress in matching pajamas for Christmas pictures. I want someone who wants to snuggle under the covers on Saturday mornings. I want someone who’s excited to see me come home at the end of the day. I want someone who will encourage me no matter what crazy dreams I have, and I can do the same for her. Most importantly, I want someone who makes me a better man.”
I’m stunned. I don’t know what to say. If he’s acting, he should win an Oscar.
“Wow. That was so poetic, Rhett. I’m sure you’ll find her, especially after this. Every woman in America just fell in love with you.”
He smiles. “I’m only interested in one.”
“Anybody wanna play pool?” Zara asks, walking over to us. We’re still staring at each other like the two characters do at the end of one of those sappy rom-com movies. “Hello? Anybody here?” Zara waves her hand between our faces.
Rhett breaks our staring contest and clears his throat. “Sure, I’ll play.” He stands up and follows Zara to the table, looking back at me one more time. He winks, and I know. Rhett was talking about me .
RHETT
I can’t even concentrate on this pool game. I keep looking over at Savannah until she goes back inside the house with Maggie. I want to follow her. I want to tell her this isn’t fake. I want to say that I’m falling for her, and will she please just believe me? But I know she doesn’t. She thinks I’m playing the game, and honestly, I don’t even care about the competition anymore.
I realize that if I won Savannah, I wouldn’t need to win anything else for the rest of my life.
I feel like such a weakling. I’ve never felt so confused and off-kilter as I do right now.
She can’t find out that I said I was falling for her in my confessional. If she does, she’ll think it was a game move, and none of this meant anything to me.
It means everything to me.
A part of me wants to quit the competition and run screaming for the hills. Of course, there are no hills here, so I guess I’d just run screaming into traffic.
The other part of me wants to beg the producers to chain me to Savannah again. It was the happiest time of my life to be chained to that woman for three days. I imagine what being with her all the time would be like.
That’s it. I’m making an appointment for a mental health evaluation as soon as I get home. This isn’t my brain.
I remember seeing those old 80’s commercials that showed a fried egg and said, “This is your brain on drugs.” Well, this is my brain on Savannah.
“Earth to Rhett.” There’s Zara’s hand again. She’s staring at me, obviously annoyed, as I look at the door instead of the pool table. Apparently, it’s my turn.
“Oh. Sorry. I was just, um…”
“Why don’t you just tell her?”
“Tell who?”
“Savannah. Why don’t you just tell her you love her?”
My mouth drops open. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, come on, man. Everybody can see you salivating over that girl. Everybody but her, of course.”
“Not true.”
“Liar,” she says, putting chalk on her cue. “The great Rhett Jennings is in love with his pastry chef school rival, and she has no idea. The movie script practically writes itself.”
I take my shot and miss. “You’re wrong.”
“No, I’m not. And it’s okay if you’re not ready to admit it. But you may only get one shot, Rhett. Don’t miss it like you just missed that one.”
SAVANNAH
Today is the reward challenge. For some reason, I woke up really missing my sister. Like the kind of missing someone where you could make a bad decision and leave the competition.
But knowing my sister, she would kill me. Like literally go to prison for stabbing me with her little craft scissors if I came home early.
She would never let me live it down, and she would taunt me forever until I needed a restraining order. So, no, I won’t be quitting.
“Good morning, contestants. Welcome to the week five reward challenge!” I don’t know how Dan is always so chipper, day or night. I’d like to see what medications he takes and maybe borrow a pill or two.
“Good morning,” we all say in unison like robots.
“Today’s challenge is a decorating duel!” I have no idea what that means. “The judges have chosen a beautiful cake from the Internet. Your task is to replicate it exactly and finish with the fastest time. You have all the tools and decor items at your stations. Judges will be looking at your attention to detail. The cakes have already been prepared and have cooled. All you have to do is decorate!”
“What do we win?” Maggie calls out. She’s gotten a lot more vocal and comfortable in this competition.
“Glad you asked, Maggie,” Dan says, winking at her. I swear those two are flirting with each other all the time. “The top two contestants will get a very special reward today. I can’t say what it is right now, but trust me, everyone wants this reward.”
Ooh, mystery. I like a good mystery.
A few moments later, Dan counts us down, and we begin. We have ninety minutes to decorate a very intricate cake, and I don’t know how any of us will do it.
The picture of the cake appears on the screen, and I want to cry. It’s a replica of a Christmas tree, complete with detailed little ornaments on every limb.
I stare at the image for what seems like ten minutes before my hands finally start to move. Everyone is hard at work, and no one is looking anywhere but at the picture or their cake.
I’m curious about today’s reward and want to win it. Being here has brought out a competitive side of me that I didn’t even know existed. It feels good to strive for something and actually see it within reach.
“Man, this is going to be a challenge,” Rhett says in my direction.
“Yes, it definitely is. Cake decorating isn’t my top skill.”
He looks at me and chuckles. “Don’t you decorate birthday cakes in a bakery?”
“Not well,” I respond as I pour the ingredients for my Swiss buttercream icing into the mixer.
The next ninety minutes are a whirlwind as I try to recreate the cake on the screen. Every little detail matters. The gold- encrusted star on the top. The red and green ball ornaments. The meticulously crafted angel ornaments. Even the Christmas tree skirt at the bottom has a detailed Christmas village scene.
This is hard. Whoever wins this reward deserves it.
When the bell chimes, we all step back and drop what we’re holding. There’s nothing left to do.
The judges are impressed with everyone, but they’re looking for the two people who came closest to the picture on the screen.
“Lainey, yours looks beautiful, but you forgot to put the gold leaf on your star,” Chef Alain says, making a tsk sound.
“Dang it!” Lainey isn’t happy. She hasn’t won anything this season, but viewers keep her around as either eye candy or a source of amusement.
“Let’s take a look at Connor’s,” Tessa says, craning her head in every direction as she looks at his cake. I swear, I think Tessa flirts with Connor sometimes. If she only knew what a dirtbag he is. “You did a wonderful job with the detailing on the tree skirt.” Connor smiles. I can tell he’s been using his teeth-whitening strips. If the lights go out, we can use his teeth to find our way back to our rooms.
“Still, the ornaments don’t quite match the original photo,” Marco says, leaning in. It looks like they might use a magnifying glass to point out the differences. Connor is fuming, which makes me want to laugh. Instead, I stick out my tongue like a three-year-old. That’s when I hear Rhett snicker beside me.
The judges continue making their way around until they get to Rhett. They rave about his craftsmanship and how he duplicated everything so exactly.
“Look at this ornament. So delicate and fragile, yet you totally made it look like the original,” Tessa says. She outwardly flirts with Rhett. There’s no question about it. But he told me she’s not his type and that her fingers are too long. I didn’t know that was something men looked for—normal-length fingers. Learn something new every day.
“Wonderful!” Chef Alain says, and I know Rhett has to be one of the winners. I’m happy for him, which is something I never thought I’d hear myself say.
They move to my station, and I feel butterflies zipping around in my stomach. Why do I care about this one? It’s just a reward challenge, but I really want to win it for some reason.
All three judges stand there for a moment, looking at my cake. Time seems to stand still because they aren’t moving. They’re just staring and then looking up at the image on the screen.
“Is everything okay?” I finally ask.
Marco smiles. “It’s identical, isn’t it?” He looks at the other judges.
“Savannah, your work here is superb!” Chef Alain says, his French accent on full display. “Our winner!”
I can’t help but grin as Chef Alain grabs my hand—which is way too covered in icing—and thrusts it into the air. He pulls me from behind my station and walks toward Rhett. When he grabs Rhett’s hand and pushes it upward, too, I know we’ve both won.
“Congratulations to Savannah and Rhett!”
Most of the contestants cheer for us, except for Lainey and Connor. Typical.
Once Chef Alain lets go of our hands, the judges return to the end of the room where Dan is standing.
“Congratulations to our winners! I’m sure you two want to know what your prize is?”
“Of course,” I say, smiling. I’m so proud of us.
“You two have each won a five-minute video chat from a loved one!”
I immediately start jumping up and down, squealing with delight. I cannot wait to see Sadie’s face. I can’t wait to hear what she’s been up to and just hear her happy little voice.
That’s when I notice Rhett. He’s smiling, but it’s a fake smile. That’s not his real smile. He looks embarrassed or sad. I can’t pinpoint what it is.
“…right now!” I only hear the tail end of what Dan just said, but suddenly, production is moving us toward the house.
“Where are we going?” I ask Rhett as we move.
“To have our video calls,” he says under his breath.
I can’t believe I’ll be able to see Sadie in just a few moments. This is a dream come true.