17 year old Callie is at her lowest point. Alone and depressed most of the summer, she feels fat and ugly-and school starts Monday. Her mother Michelle is about to have a baby, and won't tell anyone who the father is. The reality TV show that Michel...
In a long moment of silence, Michelle listened to the lazy gurgle of the deserted swimming pool. A man and a woman walked by, silhouetted in the greenish light, the woman badgering her mate about some transgression. "That's just not the time. Not howz your kids, howz your grandkids, you know? Not when we're trying to go..."
The man made no reply, and they kept walking, never glancing at the film crew with the bright lights and strange equipment. Her hectoring voice bounced off the walls and balcony rails of the surrounding rooms and faded away.
"Okay, so what are we left with?" Jock looked at Donna.
"Well." She touched her chin. "There is one possibility. How are you two doing?" Edouard squirmed in his chair, which squeaked like it wanted to collapse.
"Us two?" Michelle could feel the lenses zooming in on her now. Were they talking about her and her baby?
Jock glanced from Michelle to Edouard. "Yeah. Tie the knot?"
"Oh!" Michelle shifted gears. "Uh... well." How to find the words?
"Unh-Uh." Edouard shook his head. "Not really a possibility."
Michelle felt a little surge of relief that the idea of them getting married was definitely dead to him as well.
"Not even in a wildlife preserve?" Jock gave them his most honeyed tone. "That way we all get what we want."
"No!" Michelle laughed, and wagged a finger at Jock.
Jock leaned toward her. "Fletcher, here, has an idea that we cut the number of finalists to just two couples, not four."
For the first time the new man smiled with his whole face.
"Really?" Michelle looked down at her hands in her lap, showing the top of her head to the cameras. So that was the game. Either give them something juicy or you're out on your ass. Obviously what they wanted was either Booms and Callie and teenage sex, or Edoo and herself as the bickering, hopeless lovers. When the meat gets tough, the tough keep chewing. "Let's put it this way." She took Edouard's hand. "We're not at a high point right now."
Edouard made a strange surprised sound, a cough mixed with a giggle.
"We had some issues this summer." Michelle felt herself acting sad on purpose. Just a little.
"Yeah." Edouard came to life, his eyes and mouth working together really for the first time since they'd been sitting there. "I was a real, a real, jerk-ass."
Michelle waited until Edouard met her gaze. "But we could work on those things." Edouard nodded. "We have to try. It means too much."
At this point, Michelle felt certain that everyone in the group knew what they were talking about. It had nothing to do with a relationship, and everything to do with a show. She was not being real, she was acting. And Edouard hadpicked up her cues and improvised. That's what reality television wanted from them, and they delivered.
A warm, wiggly phrase crossed her mind. "We're losing weight, but finding each other."
Jock's tan cheeks glowed with happiness. "Not bad! They're losing weight... but gaining love."
Michelle smiled. "You print it any way you want."
***
Oops! Ang larawang ito ay hindi sumusunod sa aming mga alituntunin sa nilalaman. Upang magpatuloy sa pag-publish, subukan itong alisin o mag-upload ng bago.
As he drove her home, Edouard patted her knee, relaxed and confident again. "I'm sorry about this summer."
Michelle took very little satisfaction from this apology. "Me, too."
She stared out at the stores and lighted signs around PV mall, still brightly lit, though there were few eyes around to see them at this hour.
"I don't know what happened. We never seemed to get on the same page."
Instead of unloading on him, Michelle spoke from the heart. "I felt very rejected, at a time when... well."
"I'll do better."
"No." Now she had to set him straight. "No. I haven't changed my mind about us. I'll play your girlfriend. I'll play like we're getting closer. But I'm not going to mix up the show and my life. You play your role. I think you should be pretty good at it."
Edouard looked at her in surprise. "I never pretended any feelings toward you."
"Isn't that the truth."
"I mean, I really liked you. I still do."
This big lug, always hanging around the edges of her affection. Never quite bad enough for her to just wing a frying pan at his head and be done with it. "I liked you, too. But this is a job now. Just remember to keep it real on the set, by which I mean, phony, but believably phony. And keep it real off the set. By which I mean, don't get the show and our lives confused. Maybe we'll win some money, but we'll go our separate ways. That's it. That's everything."
Hope you are enjoying the drama . . . and the comedy. We've got a long way to go, Tuesdays and Saturdays.
