"The icing piper from Platinum Provisions," Nina explained.
"Your company is on a roll," Nick said to me. "I love what you did with the candy, Nina."
"I made all of it myself," Nina said. "I candied the fruits and the citrus peels and hand-made the candy cane lights."
"You can taste the care you put into the gingerbread house. There is also the complexity of flavor," Anu added. "I can taste the flavors of the candy; it's not just stale sugar like what you taste from drugstore sweets."
"And last but not least," Nick said when Hartleigh walked up.
I recognized the house. She had made a gingerbread replica of my childhood home.
I clenched my jaw. I knew she wanted me to say something.
"I made a gingerbreadhome," Hartleigh said, looking intently at me. "Ahomewhere you can have a family, and a husband. See, there's a Christmas tree inside."
"It's interesting you decorated the inside," Anu said.
Nick pulled off a piece of the house. "The gingerbread is a little dry."
After she walked off, I turned to the other judges. "So Hartleigh is out, correct?"
"I think so," Anu said.
"She's never won a round," Nick said. "She's always been average, and that’s just not good enough when you're talking about the finals."
Hartleigh did not take the news well.
"Jack!" she cried, sinking to the floor, "How could you let them do this to me? I trusted you."
Dana had to come into the studio and lead her away.
"Well," Anastasia said. "Clearly emotions are high. It is Christmas, after all. Now we have our final two contestants, Chloe and Nina. The finals are in two days, so rest up."
Chloe left to film more interviews, and I stood up with the rest of the judges, stretching my legs.
Nick turned to me. "See, that’s why I don't sleep with employees or contestants."
"I didn't sleep with her," I snarled at him. I was a good head taller than Nick, and he gulped, looking up at me.
"Okay, man, okay, that’s cool, man."
When we left the studio, I heard Hartleigh screeching in the interview room.
"I guess you won't be able to film any usable footage of her," I said to Gunnar.
"Are you kidding?" he said. "Crazy people make reality TV. Shoot, I might even give Hartleigh her own spin-off show. She's a pretty controversial character. Haven't you been watching the episodes?"
"No."
"Right, you don't need to," he smirked. "You have the real thing in your apartment."
I looked at him darkly.
"I'm not hating, man, just pointing out a fact," Gunnar said. "Where's your security team? I think Hartleigh is going to have to be escorted off the premises."
Eddie was somewhat sober when I went down to the lobby to tell him to remove Hartleigh.
"So the wicked witch is finally being tossed out!" he said, putting on his Santa hat.
