“Hello?” Ryan’s voice said.
“Hi, Ryan, this is Gemma MacLeod. So sorry. I just got your message.”
“Gemma, great to hear from you.” She heard the shuffling of a few papers in the background. “I’m sorry I’m reaching out to you so late tonight. One of my kids got sick this week and now I’m playing catch up with my work.”
She gave a nervous laugh. “Of course.”
“The reason I’m calling is to let you know that we’d like to select you to move on to our third and final casting round ofCupid’s Arrow! You’re one of three women in the running to become the next bachelorette. Of course, applications are officially open through the end of the year, but if we find another candidate, they’ll probably be shuffled into the pool for the following season.”
“Wow. Just wow.” Her breath hitched. “I never expected to make it this far.”
“Your videos for the first two rounds have stood out heads and tails above most of what we’ve received.”
It’s all thanks to you, Mr. T.
“Thanks.”
“We also loved your friend Frankie and her boyfriend Charlie. Are they the two people you were planning to have appear with you if you’re selected? Or were you planning to use Suzanne, or someone else?”
“Uh, no, it would probably be Frankie and Charlie.”
“It makes me glad to hear you say that.” More papers rustled. “Frankie and Charlie had great chemistry on your audition video. The team and I think that in addition to falling in love with you, the millions of people who watch the show will also fall in love with them. Charlie is going to be great for marketing the show to our targeted female demographic.”
“Marketing? Female demographic?” she repeated aloud.
Something about the way Ryan was wording things was putting her off. Charlie wasn’t a piece of meat the producers could just use to toss to a savage pack of hungry female viewers. He had only volunteered himself to help her out so she wouldn’t be taken advantage of. She shivered. The words Charlie had said to her weeks ago echoed in her mind. “You can kiss your personal life goodbye.”
“I can hear the hesitation in your voice. Trust me when I say that once you’ve been in front of the camera for a couple days, you’ll forget all about the world watching you.”
I highly doubt that.
“Anyway, here’s a quick rundown of how the next round works.” Ryan cleared his throat. “Sometime in the next few weeks, we’ll fly each of you ladies out to LA. You’ll do a few promo shoots, and then we’ll have you spend about three days living in theCupid’s Arrowhouse with some of the prospective male love interests.”
“But I thought my friends would be the ones who got to choose the blokes.”
“They do. It’s just a little different than how it’s portrayed on the show. The ten guys who make it onto the showarepicked by the friends of our bachelorette from our curated pool of twenty bachelors.”
“So there aren’t thousands of blokes?”
“No. We edit in a couple audition videos the guys send in to make it appear that way. We need to keep the show entertaining and make sure the guys who make it have therighttype of personality. This isn’t just about finding love—it’s also a numbers game. If we want to keep the show running and our sponsors happy, we need to make sure we hit all the network’s ratings targets.”
It’s all a giant lie. None of it was real. What does the network consider the right personality? Would it be somebody like Tim? Probably not. If it’s a matter of business, they’d pick people who’d start fights and drama. It may be great for the audience, but that’s not for me.
Gemma looked through the foggy front windshield. Her eyes settled on the form of Tim chatting animatedly with his friend. She realized that her goals and what she wanted in a guy had changed. She didn’t just want any man in her life. She wanted one. She wanted Tim.
“You know what, you can withdraw my application. I’ve decided I’m not interested anymore. I value my privacy, but more importantly, I’ve met someone I deeply care about.”
And there’s nothing Hollywood about our love story.
Ryan sighed on the other end. “Are you sure? Once you decide to pull out, you won’t be eligible to apply for any of the other Connect Hearts Network family of shows for another year.”
“I understand.”
She heard Ryan muttering something on the other end. “I’ll tell you what, I’m going out on a limb here, but as a gesture of goodwill, Icouldpull a couple strings and sneak your boyfriend into the finalist pool just like we did for our first season’s bachelorette, Yvonne.”
Doesn’t this bloke get it? I’m not interested.
“No.” Gemma’s tone was curt. “I’m one hundred percent positive.” She heard the car door opening. “I don’t want Tim to have anything to do with this.”
