“You still have feelings for him,” Treana asked, eyes gleaming.
“Heck, no.” She frowned. “He didn’t deserve me.”
Anne watched the other girls nod in silence, as they reviewed their interviews in their own heads. Each had the same look on their face, which shone with nervous energy.
For the next few minutes, they discussed what questions they were asked and how they answered. For the most part, it seemed Chad’s family had very similar questions for all five.
Anne wondered if there was a defining moment with any of them for his family … if any stuck out in a good way. She hoped she did, but if there was one thing she’d learned in this process – nothing was guaranteed.
She took a long sip of her guava ice tea, and reflected on her conversation with Allyson and Abbey.
“Earth to Anne.” Treana waved her hand in front of Anne’s face.
She quickly recovered, jerked her head up, and grinned.
“Sorry.” Anne rolled her eyes. “I was just replaying everything in my head.”
“Well, at least you got to be one of the first and get yours out the way. I went last and had to battle the dread of seeing each of you come back with that glazed look, like you’d been bulldozed.” Brandi slumped back into her overstuffed chair.
“I wish I was first. Maybe if I had been, I’d be on a date with Chad right now instead of Staci,” Treana said glumly. “Where do you think he took her?”
“I don’t know.” Brandi shrugged her shoulders.
“Well, he takes time to make each one special, so you know where ever they are … she’s having a good time,” Anne said, wishing she was in Staci’s shoes as well.
“Where do you think Allyson and Abbey are right now? Think they’re as tired as we are,” Brooklyn asked.
“I doubt it.” Anne blew out air from her nose, almost laughing. “They get to relax, knowing who they’re recommendations are for Chad, while we just wait.”
“Wait a minute!” Brandi sat up. “Do you think that their favorite pick was Staci? Is that why she got be with him tonight?”
“No, silly,” Treana laughed, and opened her iPad. “This date was already planned before his family showed up.”
“Oh, yeah.” Brandi chewed her fingernail, and stared out to the pool beneath them. “Anyone up for a swim?”
“I’m going to hit the beach to go shell hunting.” Anne grinned and set her drink to the side. “You can join me if you want to.”
“Shell hunting?” Brooklyn’s eyes lit up.
“Yeah, you just walk the shoreline, where the tides roll in and search for sea shells. It’s super fun to see what you find.” Anne laughed.
“Sounds like fun!” She smiled, and started to stand.
Suddenly, Treana lifted her eyes from her iPad, and said excitedly, “Hey wait. Did you guys hear!?”
“Here what?” A few of them said in unison.
“I just read online that Grace Aundine has gone missing. I guess with all our own drama, I’ve not kept up with the news,” she said, eyes wide.
It was like a ton of bricks had fallen upon Anne’s body. She quickly dropped back down into her chair, feeling like the blood had completely drained from her system.
Everyone looked to her with concern.
“What’s with you?” Brandi asked. “Are you okay?”
“W-what did you say?” Anne stammered in return.
“I asked if you were okay.” She blinked at Anne, whose hands were shaking.
“No, before that.” She lifted an unsteady finger toward Treana. “Treana, tell me all you can about …
G-Grace’s disappearance.”
“You don’t look so good.” Treana narrowed her eyes to her friend.
“Tell me!” She lurched for Treana’s iPad. “Let me see that.”
Treana retreated back, pulling her iPad into her chest. “Geez, LaSal. Chill out! The story said the heiress has been missing and the police are looking for leads. It said she was last seen here on Oahu, and there’s a reward for any information on her.”
“Can you believe it?” Brooklyn turned to Brandi. “She’s somewhere on this island! I hope she’s okay.”
“I have to go. I’ll check in with you guys later,” she spurted in haste and abruptly left, almost tripping over her own chair trying to get inside.
“But what about looking for shells?” Brooklyn hollered to her back, but got no response.
“That’s weird. She’s sure taking that personal,” Treana said, frowning as Anne retreated. She then turned back to the Brooklyn, and shrugged, “I’ll go shell hunting with you.”
It felt like her entire world was collapsing in on her. Grace was missing, and she didn’t care about anything other than finding her. Her first instinct was to call her grandmother, but she couldn’t very well do that with her every second recorded.
She spun around to raise a hand to the camera, while dropping her microphone onto the table, inside the door.
“Don’t.” She stared down the cameraman. “Just don’t … unless you want me to walk off this show right now.”
Stunned, Joey, the camera man, turned off the camera and nodded.
“Okay, sorry. Do what you need to do.” This was completely unlike her, but he knew when not to tangle with an emotional woman.
He instantly radioed for Janie, to give her an update, hoping to see if they could position another camera on her as soon as possible. Whatever was going on with Anne would undoubtedly make for great T.V.
Anne swallowed, trying to keep the tears at bay, and fled out the front lawn. She stopped near the driveway, spotting an old banyon tree. She marched toward the large trunk, hoping it would provide her privacy. Immediately, she pulled her cell from her pocket, dialed her grandmother’s number, and closed her eyes to pray.
“Come on, God. Let her pick up. Just this once, let her pick up,” she said in desperation, unaware that Janie had already positioned a small camera nearby.
In typical fashion, when no one answered, Anne felt like throwing her phone across the lawn. Instead, she vented in frustration.
”Ugh! Of course grandmother doesn’t answer. Why would she? It’s only a family emergency.”
Janie’s ears perked up and her gaze shot to her cameraman.
“Does that mean what I think it means?” She whispered, only to get a shrug in return. “Keep rolling,” she instructed.
As Anne stepped out from behind the banyon, Janie and her cameraman pulled further back behind the shrubs.
“Stay down.” Janie whispered. “I’m going in.”
As she crossed the lawn, Anne shook her head in defiance.
“Oh, no … you don’t,” she warned. Anne put up her hands in effort to keep Janie from getting any closer.
“What’s going on? Will you talk to me?” She approached slowly. For reassurance, she tried to put her arm around Anne’s shoulder, but it was a failed attempt as Anne sidestepped her.
“Leave me alone! I mean it. I don’t need this. I already told Joey that I would walk if you guys didn’t give me privacy right now.”
In a quick flicker of recognition, a small part of her understood her grandmother’s urgent need to keep the Aundine name pristine … and didn’t like it one bit.
“Okay.” Janie took a step back. “But if you need me.”
Anne nodded, and walked down the drive toward the street.
“Where’s she going?” Janie wondered how to get audio, as she saw her leave the property.
When Anne was confident that she was out of earshot from any camera or mic, she dialed the only person she knew she could trust … her best friend.
Within seconds of hearing it ring, Chastity answered anxious to catch up.
“Hey, has he picked you yet?” She asked, hopeful that her friend was calling to give her good news.
Instead of hearing Anne’s laughter in return, she heard silence followed by a sniffle. A red flag went up immediately, and Chastity’s first thou
ght was that Anne had been asked to leave the show.
“Are you okay?” Chastity sat, filled with dread.
“It’s my sister.” Anne finally let the tears come.
“What happened?” She knew whatever was going on was much bigger than any details from the show.
“Sh-she’s missing,” Anne said between desperate cries. “My grandmother isn’t answering. I don’t know where to start.”
“Have you checked with the police back home?”
“She didn’t go missing there. They say she was last seen here, on Oahu.”
Anne stopped long enough to realize she’d walked a pretty far distance from the house, and turned to walk back toward the set.
“Okay, then. That’s some good news. You can check in with the police there.” Chastity knew she put her foot in her mouth. Nothing about this was good news.
“I was hoping you could check with your uncle. Since he’s a former Mayor, couldn’t he find out some details that the press aren’t releasing? Like what she was doing here … who she was with?”
Chastity sighed. “I doubt it, but he has some police buddies that could make a couple calls to your local department and see if they can get more details.” Chastity paused and said, “You should go check in there too.”
Anne groaned. In that exact moment, Chad approached in his jeep, on his way back to drop Staci off from their date. He waved and slowed, in what she could only imagine would result in an offer to ride back with them. She frowned and shook her head toward him. There was no way she needed them to overhear her conversation.
Chad gave her a look of concern, but she turned from the jeep and waved him off. The camera crew, who were following Chad and Staci, panned her from their vehicle, as they drove by. She could only imagine what she looked like as she saw all of their faces, in passing.
She wiped her face dry from the tears, and let out a slow breath.
“You still there?” Chastity asked.
Anne dropped her head, and sat down Indian style of the soft grass next to the two-lane road.
“Yes. I just saw Chad drive by after one of his dates. I’m sure they’re all wondering why I’m so upset.”
“Well, they’ll know once you go to the police department.” Chastity paused. “Are you prepared for that?”
Anne’s gut burned. “I guess I’ll have to be. Finding my sister comes first. This show was never about finding love for me. As much as it pains me to say, I’m prepared to walk out.” She grabbed a handful of grass and tossed it to the road.
“Have you found love?” Chastity brought her hand to her heart, and waited for her friend’s response. She wished she could be there in person for her.
“Yeah, and I’m about to throw it all away.”
“Well – if he feels the same, I doubt he’ll let you.”
“Come on, Chaz. Don’t be a fool. This is a show. He needs to have someone standing at the end. It would make no sense any other way, and if I walk out … then … I walk out. And that’s just the way it has to be. Besides all I can think about is Grace. I have to find her, and bring her home.” Anne’s voice broke.
“Okay sweetie.” Chastity’s heart broke for Anne. “I love you. Just take it one step at a time. And, I’ll let you know if I find out anything.”
“Thank you. Talk soon,” she said softly, intent on finding Ned to tell him the news.
She stood up slowly, only to stumble forward.
“I got ya.” Chad’s arms came from nowhere to lift her up.
Anne looked up in awe. “What are you doing here?” He looked to be out of breath.
“It seems I’m constantly running to you or after you, huh?” His eyes lit up, trying to lighten to mood. He noticed Anne’s did not. “Are you okay?”
“You shouldn’t have come.” She took a step back.
Her face fell, and once more she fought tears. This was going to be harder than she thought.
“Yes, I should. What man doesn’t comfort the woman he cares about? It’s obvious you’re deeply upset. I was going to jump in the jeep to find you, but I didn’t want a camera crew to drive after me. I thought you’d need privacy, so I snuck out the back and ran to find you. Let me help … with whatever is going on.”
“You can’t.” She dropped her head back to the sky, just now realizing there were stars out. “I was on my way to find Ned, to tell him I was leaving.”
“Leaving? You can’t leave. I just sent Staci home. And with every girl that leaves, it becomes more and more clear that you’re it. You can’t leave …”
Chad felt like his heart fell to the pit of his stomach.
“I have to. I have a family emergency and I can’t jeopardize anything by letting the show tape any of it. It would only slow me down … I don’t have time for the show when ...” Her voice trailed.
“Okay, I’ll go with you.” He crossed his arms determined.
“No, you can’t. This is your show. You have to have one girl at the end of this… the last girl standing.”
“You’re right. I do. And it’s who I choose! And I choose you. You’ve always known that,” he urged.
“Trust me. You don’t know everything about me. I’d be no good for you right now. I have to find my sister. She’s missing.”
Chad’s jaw dropped. He took a step closer. “I’ll do anything to help!”
She turned her back to him, in time to see the camera crew running to catch up with Chad. She looked over her shoulder with a sad smile, and said, “You can’t make them go away … and I can’t handle this right now. I’m sorry. I have to go.”
Anne started to jog back toward the house.
“Would you have even said goodbye? Or would you have left, leaving me wondering,” he yelled after her.
She couldn’t leave without at least telling him her heart. She quickly turned and ran back to him for one last kiss.
“I think I’m falling in love with you.” She breathed between her wet kiss, as tears ran down her face.
And that was all she left him with. Chad stood there dumbfounded, in perfect form for the cameras to capture his bewildered face.
It might have made for great television, if it weren’t for the fact that his heart was breaking for real.
Chapter 30
The next day, they were scrambling to pick up the pieces onset. As Anne was a fan favorite, Ned and the crew knew America would be shocked and mourn the loss of one of their top picks. However, they all knew it wouldn’t kill the ratings. If anything, it would keep the viewers tuning in to see what happened next.
Ned looked to the monitors in his room, seeing that Chad’s jeep had quickly pulled up the drive of the girl’s house. He watched, as Chad jumped from his jeep, to run for the front door and take the stairs two at a time to the second level.
“Hey guys.” Ned quickly alerted his crew. “This could get really interesting. Turn up a mic in here, and record whatever is going to happen.”
He heard Chad’s heavy footsteps, as he bounded down the hall toward their production suite.
Within seconds, Chad tossed the door open.
“Ned,” he raised his voice, but stopped short of the doorway seeing all eyes were on him.
Acting surprised, Ned spun around and took his headphones off.
“Man, you’re not slated for another hour. You’re chomping at the bit for your next date?” Ned smiled.
He’d hoped Chad would snap out of the funk he’d been in since yesterday, when Anne took such a dramatic exit.
“No, I was up all night.” He pulled a chair over next to Ned, and inhaled. He was clearly out of breath.
Ned leaned toward him inspecting the dark circles under his eyes.
“Okay? So you want to put your date off for a day? Get some rest?” Ned was confused.
“No.” He stood up, frustrated. He looked the group, and nodded toward the door.
“Guys, can you give us some privacy?” Ned nodded to his crew to leave, which they did happily as th
ey knew they had an open mic taping inside.
As soon as the room was clear, Chad shut the door.
“Last night all I wanted to do was go after Anne. I can’t be here if she’s not. I need to go after her.”
Ned stood, enraged. “Now wait a minute. You have a contract to tape so many episodes. We have a deal.”
The prospect of his show, tanking without Chad, was not an option he was prepared for.
“I know, and I’m a man of my word.” Chad held up his hand.
“Then what’s going on,” Ned asked, stressed.
He wasn’t about to let this whole thing fall apart over one girl.
“Just listen to me.” He yelled, before lowering his voice. “Listen. I thought Anne was the one … and still do, but she left. I can’t wrap my head around that. She left.” He dropped his head, before adding, “I’m not sure how to handle it, but I know I have an obligation to you and the show. So now, how do I know if these remaining girls are really here for me?”
“What does it matter?” Ned snorted. “You have three beautiful women downstairs. At the end of this – you’ll end up with one of them – and everyone’s happy!” He threw his arms up, wondering why they were having this discussion.
“No, I won’t be,” Chad groaned. “Not if I don’t know for sure who is here for me. So, this is why I was up all night … trying to find a solution. And I think I came up with one.”
Chad looked to Ned with hope.
“Oh, no.” He saw the telling look that crossed his friend’s face. “I know that look.”
“Just hear me out. Let’s offer a prize to the girls who come in second and third…but not to the first.”
“I don’t get it. Why would we do that?”
“Well, of the three girls left, Brittany, Brooklyn, and Treanna … what do they want most? Money? Modeling contract? An apartment in L.A.? or me?”
Ned squinted at Chad, wondering if he’d gone crazy. “How will this solve anything?”
“Because if the girls knew they had a fabulous parting prize for second and third prize, they may show their true colors. And the one picked at the end, to be with me … only earns me … then that should be enough.”
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