As Seen On TV

26. Ex Marks the Spot

"In this short meeting, I will be explaining to you all how the next couple weeks will go down. We're almost at the end, here. I would like to express my gratitude to you all for your cooperation as we come to the latter half of the show's filming. Now."

Veronica was at the head of the long oak dining table, in the house's fancy dining room that we only ever used for meetings of the full cast and a lot of the crew. She was in her usual pantsuit and perfect makeup, addressing us all with a cool gaze and a perfectly disinterested demeanor. Victor, I hadn't failed to notice, was leaning casually on the wall not far behind where I was seated, his attention completely captivated by the stern woman. Camryn and Jared were right; he was hopelessly in love with her. Despite the fact that I still held a strong distaste for Veronica, I couldn't deny that it was adorable. He deserved some happiness. He was my first friend here.

"Now, as some of you have already evidently found out-" Here, Veronica paused to take in some scowls and expressions of extreme (yet controlled) anger from around the table, including my own. "-this week has been dubbed 'Ex's Week'!" She plastered a garish fake smile onto her painted face. Actually, come to think of it, she probably wasn't faking. I knew she often took pleasure in other people's misery. Namely, ours.

"I have, of course, been notified that some of you have already run into your ex- boyfriends, girlfriends, lovers-"

"Baby mamas!" Uriah interjected loudly from his seat further up the table. A chorus of laughter from around the table followed, but we were all quickly silenced by Veronica's glare. She cleared her throat and continued.

"-and whatever other names you'd like to call them. We do apologize for not informing you of our plans earlier. However, we were able to get a hold of most of your exes, and they will be joining all of you this week on a group date. Since there are only ten of you left now, our final five couples, that makes for around 20 people this week." She smiled again, in a way that said 'have fun, but behave yourselves.'

"Now. I won't mince words. Your exes are merely here to stir up drama and create problems where previously, there were none. I am sorry for any personal inconveniences this may cause, but they are being compensated monetarily, and you, of course, are looking to complete your run on this show and win personal fame and glory for years to come. With, of course, the added bonus of having found the love of your life."

Various groans and grudging nods of assent chorused from around the table. As Veronica wrapped up the meeting and kept going on about some details of filming and such, I zoned out, thinking of my unfortunate run-in with Dylan earlier that day. 

It had been brief, yet weird, as one would expect from someone I had been so close with and then not seen once for the span of several months. He was polite and let me know that he was only here because 'they were paying him a shit ton of money,' and also said that he had known I was on the show because some of his friends from home had told him when it had begun airing, but that he had never really watched. I quickly let him know that he could fuck off and once again leave my life as soon as we were done with the episode, and he expressed no objections. Stupid bastard could leave his girlfriend of one and a half years for some super important job thing and then come back at the simple promise of some money? I didn't know how much they were paying our exes, but it couldn't be much.

Maybe I was being unfair, but I didn't really care. No doubt I was now completely over Dylan, and I had more than enough drama on my plate at the moment, but the manner and situation in which he had left me still stung a bit, if I thought about it long enough.

I glanced down at my phone surreptitiously to check the time. I had two texts, which I quickly read while no one was paying attention to me. Andrew had sent me a cute message about how he was ready and willing to kick Dylan's ass if I wanted him to. All I had to do was say the word. The other text I was not so thrilled about. Patrick:  We need to talk.