The One

by Danielle Allen

  “I’m not here to play games, Bailey.”

  “Who’s playing games?” She pointed at the door. “No one else was at the duo date. No one else saw what I saw, Zoe. You two have something that seems genuine. But have you seen the show before? In a few days, everyone is going to be calling him their boyfriend. I will be flirting with him and playing the part, but trust me, I don’t want him. I just need the camera time and a few more shots of me in this on camera will seal the deal.”

  “Why would you tell me all of this though? It makes no sense. You could’ve kept this to yourself and went about your business. I don’t understand the motivation.”

  “In this alliance, you would just need to play your part. It’ll succeed with just two, but three would be nice. Remember, three is not a crowd if everyone wins.” She walked to the door swinging her ponytail behind her. With her hand on the doorknob, she turned, gesturing outside with her head. “Everyone else out there wants the man you want and a man is only as faithful as his options.”

  She smiled, untying her robe and letting it drape open. “I figured you would rather have the hot girl who is not trying to steal your man in the competition rather than the hot girls who are.” She opened the door and peeked out. “Think about it.”

  With that, Bailey sauntered away. The sound of her ditzy giggle rang down the hall as she loudly claimed to be lost.

  I had so many thoughts running through my mind at one time that I just stood in a stunned silence for a minute.

  “Wow,” I breathed.

  It was too much for me to process and the information I had just learned wasn’t computing.

  An alliance? What does that even look like? Why would I even need one? If Julian and I are meant to see where this thing goes, it’ll be because that’s what we choose, not because of an alliance.

  Exiting the room, I didn’t see any production staff or camera crew members anywhere around so I slipped out of the side door. Moving stealthily and staying close to the house, I eased my way around until I got to the side where the darkened hair, makeup and wardrobe trailers were parked. With my eyes trained on the garden maze, I slipped undetected behind the overgrown rose bushes.

  Floodlights and decorative lamps lined the garden. It was early evening so the blue sky glowed with touches of orange. It was almost dark enough for the lights to come on, but not quite. I slowed down as I followed the path and right as I entered the maze, I heard a click and a buzz.

  Startled, I paused, questioning my decision to leave my mace hidden in my luggage. Once I realized it was the solar night lights gearing up, I let out a relieved sigh and continued through the blankets of greenery. Every few feet another section of flowers would be on display. It was quiet and I was alone with my thoughts.

  No cameras. No microphones. No petty bitches. No random ass alliance talk. No—

  “Ah!” I hoarsely screamed as I turned the corner and came face to face with Julian.

  He startled, yanking his headphones off of his head. “You scared the shit out of me!” He started laughing. “I thought I was out here alone.”

  My hand covered my chest and I felt my heart racing. “I think I’m having a heart attack,” I huffed as I tried to catch my breath.

  He laughed harder as he reached out for me. I swatted his hands away with my one free hand. I tried to glare at him, but my amusement kept pulling my lips upward. My heart rate started coming down, but when our eyes locked, it sped back up again.

  “Why did you scream like that?” He put his fist to his mouth in an attempt to stop, but his shaking shoulders and inability to speak gave way to more laughter.

  “Stop it,” I demanded through clenched teeth before I started laughing too. “Shh! We have to be quiet!”

  Five minutes later, we’d pulled ourselves together. I wiped the tears from my eyes and placed my hand on the tightness of my belly. It felt like I had done a thousand crunches.

  “So how did you manage to get out here without a camera crew following you?” Julian asked, looking around us. “You are out here alone, right?”

  “Yeah, I had to sneak out.” I pulled my jacket open, flashing the battery back for the microphone. “I turned my mic off and everything. I just needed to get away.”

  He was quiet as if he were contemplating something. Reaching out his hand, he took mine. “Well then, let me take you away.”

  I fell into step with him as we headed in the direction he was coming from. We made small talk about everything from favorite movies to passport stamps. The conversation was so good and so funny that I didn’t realize how long we had been walking until I peeked over the hedges toward the house. It looked like it was on the other side of a football field.

  “You don’t watch much TV?” He asked after I told him I hadn’t seen The One or any of the other shows he asked me about.

  “I used to. Studying for the bar was a full time job. And then working at the bar was my part time job. When I had free time, I wanted to do something different. But when I did watch TV, I watched shows from the nineties that I used to watch with my mom. Frasier, Martin, Friends.”

  “Okay, Martin and Frasier I watched reruns of those. Pretty funny.”

  “Pretty funny?!” I exclaimed, throwing my free hand in the air. “Try hilarious.”

  He squeezed my hand, looking down at me. “I think you’re hilarious.”

  “I think you’re a flirt,” I returned with a soft smile. I continued to take in my surroundings. “Were you headed to the house earlier?”

  “No, not at all. I was heading to the fountain.” He let out a deep breath that kind of sounded like a laugh. “I’m not going by the house unless I have to.”

  “What’s wrong? Overwhelmed with beautiful women throwing themselves at you?” I bumped my shoulder into him playfully.

  “The whole thing is a bit more than I bargained for,” he admitted, shaking his head. “It was my own fault though. I probably should’ve watched a few early episodes before signing up.”

  He tugged on my hand and we cut through two tall walls of shrubbery that was off of the maze path. Even though the lights only barely made it through the greenery, Julian moved seamlessly through the darkness.

  “Wait, you were giving me grief and you’ve never seen the show before either?” I asked, moving closer to him as the path became narrower.

  He slowed to a stop. “Get behind me.”

  I suppressed the urge to scream as I did as he commanded. Clutching at his t-shirt and burying my face in his back, I waited for him to tell me what was going on.

  It’s a spider. I know it’s a spider. We are walking through this glorified lair and—oh my God, there are probably spiders in my hair!

  “What are you mumbling back there?” Julian asked in amusement. He reached back and grabbed my hands, wrapping them around his waist.

  I didn’t know what to do so I didn’t move at all. But each time he breathed, I could feel his firm abs contracting and constricting. Each time I breathed, I couldn’t smell anything but the soft scent of his masculine body wash. Having my breasts crushed against his back and my head cradled between his broad shoulders, I was having trouble not melting into him, let alone answering his question.

  The squeaking noise of a gate being opened jostled my brain enough to kick start it back into gear. “Where are we?”

  “Check this out.” He walked through the gate and after I made it through, he locked it.

  My eyes widened as I looked at the large house several yards in front of us. “Is this where you’re staying?”

  “Yeah. But I spend most of my time over here.” Instead of walking toward the house, he grabbed my hand and pulled me toward a huge glass gazebo. As we got closer, I noticed the brown leather furniture and the cream and brown stone flooring.

  “This is incredible.” I marveled at the glass and mahogany structure. It was even more stunning than the house, which was also beautiful. But the gazebo was a piece of art.

  He opened the
door for me to enter. “Welcome. Have a seat. Make yourself at home.”

  The lights were low, giving the place a romantic glow. It was bright enough to see the rich luster of everything, but it was dim enough to really appreciate the tiniest bit of light in the horizon.

  “This is beautiful. Seriously.” I spun around in a circle, taking in everything.

  “Not as beautiful as you.”

  “Are you flirting with me?” I asked once my eyes landed back on him.

  He moved toward me. “Every chance I get.”

  I put my hand on my chest and fell to the couch as gracefully as possible. “Okay fine, it happened. You have officially made me swoon.”

  He laughed, but I was completely serious. It wasn’t just what he said. It was how he said it and how he looked while he said it. He had a way with words that touched me in my heart and soul.

  And also in a few other places that have needed to be tended to for far too long.

  Needing to get ahold of myself, I changed the subject. Pointing at a picture of an older couple in frame, I asked, “Are these your parents?”

  Julian sat down with half of a cushion separating us. “Yeah, that’s them.” He smiled with pride. “Mom and Dad are also known as Susan and Brian.”

  I studied the picture. “Where did your dark features come from? They look like they both have blonde hair and really fair skin?” I wondered curiously. Only the tips of their hair were showing because of the hats they wore. But even still, Julian didn’t resemble them at all.

  “My biological father is Puerto Rican. My mom had a one-night-stand with him a week before she met my dad. She was pregnant, but she didn’t know it. As soon as she found out, she told Dad everything. He married her and said I was going to be his son in every way that mattered. Signed the birth certificate as soon as I was born.” He smiled at the memory. “So that’s why I don’t look like him, but that pale man, with the grey hair that he still calls dirty blonde, is my dad.”

  I put my hand to my chest and let out sigh. “I love that so much. Real love stories. Complicated love stories. Those are the stories that have so much depth. It’s easy to love someone when it’s easy. It’s real when you love someone when it’s hard. Tell me more about them. Where was this picture taken?”

  He told me about Susan and Brian, two teachers who spent their summers finding adventures to get into. The picture he had on the table was taken in December when they celebrated Christmas in Aspen. As he told me stories about them, I learned more about him. Hearing how his parents loved each other, how much he respected their love for each other, and how much he wanted to end up in a relationship like theirs, made me believe that Julian was relationship material.

  Maybe he isn’t in this to date around. Although, when you are dating several women at the same time, you are still dating around.

  “Your parents seem awesome.”

  “Thanks, they really are. Now, tell me about yours.”

  I launched into my origin story and concluded with the fact that my parents have the kind of love that I want to find one day. And although the conversation was good, the topic of love shifted the air in the room.

  With our heads back on the couch, we were able to look through the glass ceiling and see the stars beginning to shine.

  “It is so beautiful in here. Is this where you come to write?”

  He smiled and nodded. “It’s easy to get inspired in here.”

  “I’m sure. I didn’t realize that they had you staying right next to us. I guess it makes sense for you to be close by though.”

  “Yeah, I have to be on set early so being next door made it easy. They want me to go over treatments before episodes. Can you believe that?”

  I scoffed. “I never thought that anything about reality TV was real, but I didn’t know it was staged to the point of scripts and treatments and all that craziness.” I shook my head. “I don’t know what I got into.”

  “Me either. I should have watched the show.” He smirked. “Lesson learned.”

  “So you’ve never seen the show before either?”

  “I only saw the final episode of last season. It was two-hours of my life that I couldn’t get back, but I wanted to understand what it was that I was being offered. And before I actually signed on, I heard the couple got engaged so I knew there was a method to the madness.”

  “Is that what your end game is? Getting engaged?” As soon as the words passed my lips, I heard them.

  When his eyebrows flew up, I froze.

  Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. That definitely sounds like I’m planning our wedding or something. Ugh! I sound like the women in the house proclaiming to love him after a weekend!

  Sitting up straight, I started gesturing with my hands. “No no no no no! I’m sorry, that came out completely wrong.” I shook my head profusely for added emphasis. “I just wanted to know what you want out of this experience, not if you’re ready to get engaged. That sounded…That came out all wrong.”

  “So basically, you’re asking me if I plan to propose to you?” Julian deadpanned, his eyebrows furrowing in mock confusion.

  I squeezed my eyes shut and pursed my lips. “You just took a slightly awkward question and made it into an abomination so thank you for that.”

  We laughed for a few moments and I collapsed back against the couch. Silence surrounded us briefly.

  “I don’t have an end game,” he answered, his voice low. “I took this opportunity to meet someone that I can be myself around and know they are here for me and not the money. To meet someone who can look at my life’s work, the thing I’m most passionate about, and see me in it. Someone who already has their life together and having me would be a bonus and not an opportunity. Dating in L.A. is hard enough without all the extra pressures of being in the industry. I can’t tell you how many dates I’ve been on where she will casually mention that she’s always wanted to be a singer.”

  I put my hand on his shoulder. “So is this not a good time to play you my demo?”

  Julian’s expression was a mix of shock and horror before he lurched toward me, grabbing and tickling me.

  I laughed, squirming across the couch until somehow I ended up in his lap. Sliding back, I dropped to the leather cushion yet my legs still remained draped over his thighs. He rested his arms across them and placed one hand on the outside of my thigh and the other on the outside of my calf.

  “Let that be a lesson to you,” he warned, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

  I started to reach up and touch his hair, but decided against it.

  If I touch his hair, I’m going to pull his face toward me. If I kiss him, I’ll end up taking off his clothes. If I take off his clothes, we’re fucking. It’s a slippery slope so I should probably keep my hands to myself.

  Instead, I covered his hand with mine and caressed his skin. “I hear what you’re saying though. It sounds like you’ve had some pretty bad dates and I think it’s really cool of you to try something new. And you know more about the women in the house than you would someone you’d meet at a bar or in the club.” With an impish smile, I admitted, “I must confess that I questioned the seriousness of someone who would come on a show to find love. But that was before I read your work and then met you.”

  “I get that, but I’m serious about this process. I’m looking for something special. You can hook up with anybody. But you can’t settle down with just anybody.”

  “So when was the last time you hooked up with anybody?” I asked, watching him to see if he’d panic because of my question.

  Without hesitation, he answered, “It’s been awhile. Early November. It was with an ex that I have no interest in rekindling anything with, but I have needs and she was in town.”

  “I get that.” I waited for him to ask me when the last time I had sex was but he didn’t. So I asked a follow-up question. “How did things end with your ex?”

  He laughed. “She is a great person, easy to work with but we weren’t compatible.
We were together because we were both trying to make it in the industry at the same time. But when it came down to it, when I was getting dragged through the mud over that copyright infringement suit, she bailed. And when I won and started making a name for myself and my checks got a little bigger, she wanted to reconcile.” He shook his head. “It was my first lesson on loyalty and four years later, I’m ready to actually find someone.”

  I searched his face. There was no bitterness, no anger. My heart faltered. “Sometimes you have to go through something like that to really understand what it is that you want.”

  He was quiet for a beat and then smirked. “It’s funny…when my manager brought The One opportunity to me, I was a little skeptical of what kind of women came on shows like this.” He squeezed my thigh. “Yet here we are.”

  My stomach fluttered. “Here we are.”

  Julian ran his hand from my calf to my ankle and then back to my calf. Heat radiated from his hand through my yoga pants and up to the apex of my thighs. “I want to know more about you, Zoe Jordan.”

  I licked my lips and his eyes dipped momentarily causing me to squirm in my seat.

  “What do you want to know?” My voice was softer than I expected.

  “When was your last relationship?”

  “It ended almost three years ago.”

  He stared at me, into me. “Do you feel like talking about it?”

  I slipped my fingers through his and tilted my head to the side. “Tate and I dated for about four years. We talked about getting married. He purchased a ring with the intention of proposing sometime during graduation weekend. He was going out of town for the NFL Draft, so he had scheduled all of his exams early. He wasn’t going to be back until graduation weekend. Oh, I forgot to mention, he was the star running back on our football team and even though he wasn’t invited to go to the televised Draft ceremony, he thought it would be cool to all be in the city and do all of the Draft Day events. There were four of them that went and they were all expected to be drafted but in the late rounds. And fortunately for them, they were all drafted. They came back and were rock stars on campus. We were supposed to meet at a party and I just knew that he was going to propose. But when I got there, he broke up with me. He said that since he’s a professional football player, he didn’t want to tie himself down. He said that it wasn’t fair to commit to one woman when he was going to be moving to New York and it made more sense for him to keep his options open.”