The Ultimate Blind Date

by Jill Ferraro

  Brielle could feel her face flush. She suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe. Abigail’s earlier comments echoed in her heads. They could do whatever they wanted. She realized Mark and Abigail were manipulating her.

  She was so overwhelmed, she couldn’t hold it in any more. “They’ve seen me, haven’t they? HAVEN’T THEY?” She began to yell.

  “Brielle, I think you should take this up with Mark and Abigail. We’re just the film crew. We have a contract, just like you.”

  Laura and James promptly left the apartment. Brielle fought off tears long enough to make it to the shower. She sat on the ground, the only place safe from the cameras, and cried. She was trapped in this apartment and being lied to at every turn. Was there even a possibility of her finding love here? Or was this just a sick game being recorded for the world to see?

  When her silent tears slowed she got up off the floor and took a deep breath. James was right, she would take this up with Mark and Abigail. As soon as she came up with a plan.

  Chapter Eight

  Damien

  Damien: So what’s your wildest fantasy?

  Brielle: Reading a book on an island in the sun without getting a sunburn or getting super sandy. With a big hat.

  Damien: That’s cool. Not really what I meant though.

  ◆◆◆

  He wasn’t surprised Jason was going home. After all, Damien had made it pretty clear to Brielle that he wasn’t involved in Jason’s drama. Or, at least he thought he had.

  If he was going to stay in this and win Brielle as his wife, he’d have to try harder to make her fall in love with him the next day. He didn’t think she was talking about him when she filmed her video to send home Jason but he also knew it was possible. Jason could be pretty persuasive.

  Instead of arguing with Jason, he now had the remaining seven days to get to know his wife better. He always had a hard time figuring out what his girlfriends wanted from him. They always wanted him to change something but Damien really didn’t think there was anything wrong with him or how he chose to live his life.

  His last girlfriend broke up with him because she found some inappropriate pictures on his phone. It wasn’t his fault that girls sent him photos. He wasn’t in charge of what other people did or didn’t do. Or what they were wearing or not wearing when they did it.

  Maybe before he committed to Brielle, he should figure out if she was that type of girl. Would she want him to change everything about his life? Or would she go with the flow? He just wanted a chill girl, a girl who wasn’t like other girls. He hoped the producers knew what they were doing when they picked Damien as a potential match.

  Damien was staring at his device, trying to figure out what to say to Brielle, when Jason came back into the apartment. His shoulders were hunched forward and he looked pissed. Damien tried to hold back a smile but could feel a smirk crossing his face.

  “What’s so funny?” Jason growled.

  “Nothing, nothing,” Damien backed up and held up his hands.

  “Oh, you think so? It’s your fault I’m going home, asshole.”

  “You’ll find another girl to boss around, I don’t think there’s a shortage of wo-” Before he could finish his sentence Jason lunged at him.

  Laura and James jumped back with the camera and moved to get a better angle. Damien slammed his device down on the counter as he jumped out of the way. Jason flew into the wall and bounced off. Damien backed away but Jason took a swing at him.

  The entire apartment was in the living room in a matter of seconds. Peter and Shea were yelling at them to calm down. Brandon was shaking his head in the corner. Carl put himself between the two men.

  “Cool it, man, he’s not worth it!” Carl yelled as he pushed Jason back.

  “He needs to shut his mouth.” Jason hadn’t taken his eyes off Damien.

  “Just pack your bags man. Go home. You don’t need to stop off in jail on your way.”

  Jason narrowed his gaze and backed up. Carl lowered his hands and Jason brushed by him, stomping down the hallway and slamming the door to his room.

  “I had it handled man,” Damien said as he held his hand out to Carl.

  Carl didn’t shake it. “No, you didn’t. Shut your mouth and leave me alone.”

  Damien felt his face run hot. He wasn’t sure if he should try to fight Carl or walk away. Carl left before he could make a choice.

  Damien tried to avoid making eye contact with anyone else. He picked up his device. Still nothing from Brielle. She couldn’t be mad at him, could she? If she was, she was dumber than she looked.

  James and Laura emerged from Jason’s bedroom. They walked down the hallway and motioned for Damien to meet them at the door.

  “Mark thinks it's best if you come film a confessional now, while Jason packs up.”

  “Why?” Damien wanted to see Jason leave, it would give him great satisfaction.

  “Because he doesn’t think the show needs an assault charge on the first night of filming. Now let’s go.” Damien liked Laura, she was feisty. He could have some fun with her while he was here.

  “Whatever you say, baby.” He winked.

  Laura rolled her eyes. “You’re literally here to find your future wife. Get it together and stop acting like a pig.”

  Damien puffed his chest out but said nothing. He’d met girls like Laura before, thinking she was better than him. He didn’t need her approval. She’d probably sleep with him anyways.

  Damien, James, and Laura rode the elevator in uncomfortable silence. They got off on floor 6 and headed to a different apartment that had been set up to resemble a variety of different living rooms. Damien realized they would film different confessionals in this room, making it seem like there were more set options than they really were.

  “Sit over there.” James pointed to a red chair. Damien went and sat down.

  “Now tell us what happened between you and Jason.”

  Damien rambled for about 20 minutes, talking about how Jason had tried to start multiple fights but Damien wanted to stay out of it. He thought he painted a pretty good picture of why he acted the way he did. If Brielle didn’t believe him, some chick would.

  Laura’s phone buzzed. She looked down at the screen and then at Damien. “I think we’ve got enough.”

  James motioned for Damien to walk back to the door. When they got back to the apartment, Jason was gone and the guys were all sitting in a circle in the living room.

  “Good, you’re back,” Brandon said.

  “Are we having some sort of intervention?” Damien joked.

  “No. Just making a pact.” Peter’s voice was serious. “We don’t want to get roped into any more drama or fights. We all are here to hopefully find our wife. Feelings are going to be hurt and egos will be bruised because there’s seven of us left and only one of her. But we can at least be civil.”

  “Raise your hand if you agree to be level-headed and 100% honest for the remainder of our time in this apartment.”

  Damien looked around. Everyone’s hand was raised except for Carl’s.

  “Carl?” Brandon looked annoyed.

  “What? I just think this is stupid. Why do we need to take some weird oath to not start fights?” Carl’s arms were crossed in front of his body.

  “Let’s just keep the peace man,” Shea said.

  “Whatever. Sure.” Carl threw his arm into the air and then put it back down.

  Damien looked over at him. For the first time all day, Carl looked nervous.

  But why?

  Chapter Nine

  Brielle

  Carl: u up?

  Peter: ???

  Shea: Did you fall asleep already ;)

  Damien: I like it when girls play hard 2 get

  Matthew: Do you have any hobbies?

  ◆◆◆

  Brielle flew out of the elevator and down the hallway to the producers’ studio. She started banging on the apartment door, yelling for them to open up. Laura and James were camp
ed out in the hallway, waiting to film her. She was sure she looked insane, but she didn’t care. She was done with this show.

  After she stopped crying, she realized there was no way she could complete the show without losing her mind. She could find a different way to get married, one that didn’t require her to be manipulated, lied to, and filmed for days at a time. She pounded on the door again.

  This time, it opened. “Brielle, come in.” Abigail was cool and collected, which only made Brielle more upset.

  “What else have you lied to me about?” Brielle’s voice was high and she was beginning to pant.

  “I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.”

  “Jason. He could see me. He had my picture. How does he know what I look like?”

  Abigail picked up a mug of tea and took a sip. “We gave them your pictures.”

  Brielle paused. She had expected Abigail to deny that they had seen pictures. After all, those were the rules of the show. That’s what was outlined in her contract. But she hadn’t expected Abigail to tell her the truth. “But...why...we had...they weren’t supposed to see them…”

  Abigail laughed and picked up a stack of papers. “See this?” She pointed to Brielle’s signature. “You signed this contract. You agreed to this.”

  “I went over the contract! There was nothing about this in there!” Brielle had gone over every page with a fine-tooth comb.

  “We informed you that we changed some things before you signed it this morning. You chose not to read it over.”

  Brielle was fuming. “You tricked me! You told me it was the same!”

  “No. We told you that we had changed some things around. We didn’t think they would be an issue for you.” Abigail smiled at her and dunked her teabag a few times before taking another sip.

  “You didn’t think they would be an issue?” Brielle could barely contain her anger. “I’m done. I’m packing my bag and I’m done. You can find another girl to manipulate.”

  Abigail laughed again. “No, you’re not going anywhere.”

  Fear washed over Brielle. She looked to the door in a panic.

  “Oh don’t worry. You’re obviously free to go. This isn’t a horror show, the doors are unlocked.” She walked out from behind the kitchen island towards Brielle. “You’ll just owe us the cost of production and ad buys. Oh, and the loss of the projected revenue.”

  Brielle turned white. “You know I don’t have that kind of money.”

  “I do. So you’ll be staying here. You’ll be happy and you’ll participate. Or you’ll go home. And you’ll be poor for the rest of your life. And humiliated on national television.”

  Brielle suddenly felt suffocated. She couldn’t breathe. She lunged for the door and ran down the hallway to the elevator. When she finally got to her apartment, she ran to the bed and sobbed. She didn’t care if the cameras saw her.

  After about an hour, with her device buzzing incessantly the entire time, Brielle got up and looked in the mirror.

  This situation wasn’t good. But it wasn’t worse than anything she’d been in before. Her time with Seth taught her how to be scrappy and resilient. She had been with him for years, she could make it through a week of this. She had to, her livelihood depended on it.

  And, she might meet the man of her dreams in less than a week. Finding a husband who truly cared about her, that would be worth the drama, right? He could be messaging her right now. Or...not messaging her.

  Brielle picked up her phone and found Asher’s name. In all the drama of the day, she had almost forgotten what he’d said earlier. How he would be there when she was ready. She may not trust many people but she didn’t think Asher was going to be like other people.

  Brielle: What a day. How’re you holding up?

  Asher: You’re telling me

  Asher: I’m better now that you’re messaging me. Anything you want to talk about?

  Brielle: No, it’s just nice knowing I’m not alone.

  Asher: Why don’t you get ready for bed? You’re probably exhausted. I’ll be here in the morning.

  Brielle: : ) Nite

  Brielle breathed a little easier after talking to Asher. He was right, she should try to go to sleep. She went to the bathroom and washed her face. She looked in the mirror. Her eyes were puffy and swollen but, overall, she looked okay.

  “I can beat them,” Brielle said aloud to herself. “I will get married and I will find my happily ever after.” Her reflection smiled back at her. There was a man, in this building, that could make her happy. She just had to believe it.

  Brielle powered down her device for the night, crawled in bed, and went to sleep. She’d need her strength to pick up the fight tomorrow.

  Chapter Ten

  Mark grabbed two wine glasses from the cabinet and set them on the coffee table. He was appreciative Abigail had taken the brunt of Brielle’s meltdown, he’d had his own share of drama dealing with Jason for most of the day. Fights were great for TV but he could tell Damien was litigious and Mark didn’t need multiple lawsuits threatened in one day.

  With Jason, gone, seven men remained. They just had seven more days to make it through. He sank down onto the soft blue couch cushions and poured two glasses of wine. Abigail almost raised hers to her lips when he stopped her.

  “A toast,” he offered. “May Brielle find love. Or at the very least, may she find a chill pill.”

  Abigail laughed and took a gulp. “I haven’t had this adventurous of a day of filming in a long time.”

  “Me either. At least there’s only a week to go.”

  “If we make it. I really thought she was out.”

  “I didn’t want to come out and make it worse. You really kept you cool there.”

  Abigail rolled her eyes. “Oh sure, you just didn’t. And it was tough but she wanted a reaction. Craved it. I did what I had to do.”

  “Can you imagine if she left? We don’t have a leg to stand on, she’d never have to pay a dime.”

  She shook her head. “I know. She’s desperate for love though. She’d do anything for a husband. She’s been blinded by it.”

  “Let’s try to keep her happy for the next few days, huh?” Mark took another sip of his wine. “We need her subdued for our big plot twist.”

  “Oh for sure. If this is how she reacted to them having her photo, just wait for the day she figures that one out.” She thought for a moment before adding. “You can deal with that one.”

  “Lucky me,” Mark said.

  Mark and Abigail finished the bottle of wine. He hugged her good night before venturing down the hallway to his room. Abigail got up, put the glasses in the sink, and turned in as well. They had another long day ahead of them tomorrow and they both needed their strength, who knew what would happen next.

  Thank you for purchasing The Ultimate Blind Date! This is Book One in the Sight Unseen Series.

  Book Two: Out of Sight, Out of Heart, is available now by clicking here! Book Three, Setting Her Sights on Love, will be released June 22, 2020.

  To receive special offers, exclusive content (including the prequel to the Sight Unseen Series, Book Zero: Before the Fall), and news about Jill Ferraro’s latest books, please subscribe to her newsletter!

  Click here to subscribe!

  You can also visit her website: www.jillferrarobooks.com

  Missed the prequel? Check it out to read even more about Brielle’s journey!

  Get the prequel for free by clicking here!

  Sight Unseen Book Two, Out of Sight, Out of Heart, is available now!

  Find Book Two of the Sight Unseen Series by clicking here!

  Looking for a sweet romance series? Look no further than the Matchmaker Inn Series by Jill Ferraro

  Find Book One of the Matchmaker Inn Series by clicking here!

  Find Book Two of the Matchmaker Inn Series by clicking here!

  Find Book Three of the Matchmaker Inn Series by clicking here!

  Want more from Naupost Harbor?
>
  Read it for free by clicking here!

  About the Author

  Jill Ferraro wants to be an author when she grows up. She enjoys drinking copious amounts of coffee, reading as many books as possible, and taking photos of her dog, Lady. She lives in Alexandria, VA with her wonderfully supportive husband and the aforementioned dog.