Nice Shootin' Tex

by Cyndia Rios-Myers

  "This is a reality show, ladies and gentleman. We need to provide footage to our viewers of all of you guys engaged with each other and not with outside distractions. You all knew that we would require all of your attention when you signed on the dotted line of your contracts. If the no cell phone communication requirement is something you cannot fulfill, you can walk away right now."

  Trevor's voice had taken a serious, business like quality to it. I had heard my father use it on phone calls to people who didn't pay up; I'd even used it myself a time or two. His tone softened as soon as he appeared to have everyone's attention.

  "I understand where you all are coming from. This here will mean that for three weeks you will not have communication with your families. But that is not to say that they won't be able to reach you in a crisis or vice versa..."

  Trevor went on to say that there would be two emergency phone lines that would be manned twenty four hours a day and that we would not be unreachable by our loved ones. He also added that if anyone wanted to leave that they could do so - and that there were alternates standing by for the opportunity to be on the show. That statement ended all protests regarding the strict rules.

  "Now that we've gotten the worse news out of the way...here comes the rest. There will be no internet access during your time here either."

  That got more moans. "What are we supposed to do when we are not competing?" asked the policewoman.

  "Shower, cook, eat, sleep and socialize. Be friendly with everyone. But trust me when I say that most of your time will be taken up by training and competition. You might not even have time to notice the things you are so sure that you will miss right now."

  I couldn't help but notice that his green eyes looked right at mine as he said the last sentence. Was he trying to say something to me? It felt like he was. Shaking myself from those thoughts, I distracted myself by looking at the other competitors. They were good. Whatever challenges Trevor would put their way, they would still compete. I would too.

  A little while later, we were ushered into the beautiful mansion. Beautiful blond hardwood floors adorned the floor, beige rugs and beige walls all brought attention to the floor to ceiling windows and the beautiful outdoors. Marble pillars throughout drew my attention to the twenty foot ceilings. Directly in front of us was a space that held couches, small tables and a baby grand piano. To the left of that was a large dining room with a massive oak table that held sixteen chairs. A small bar was directly behind that with beer on tap. No lie. A hallway to the side of that led to what was presumably the kitchen. To the right of us was another lounging area with large bookcases on the wall. Another hallway led to another area of the house still unknown to me.

  Just then, Trevor smiled and pointed to the hallway to the right of us.

  "To the right of us, you will find several powder rooms. You'll probably want to freshen up after such a long ride and the travel preceding it. After that, we will have some refreshments followed by important paperwork that must be completed before commencing the competition."

  Paperwork, indeed. Following the lead of the others, I made my way to one of the empty powder rooms. It was easily the most beautiful bathroom I had ever seen. Silver-toned wallpaper graced the walls. Marble floors and countertops, soap in the shapes of shells, a large counter by the sink and a mirror in a very beautiful gold frame finished the high end look.

  "Fancy, fancy," I muttered to myself after using the facilities and freshening my makeup.

  I joined the rest of the group at the bar area. One of the cowboys poured me a beer which I accepted with a polite Thank You.

  "You are welcome. Watch yourself, Texas," he muttered to me as he took a sip of his beer.

  A chill went up my spine at his words. Confused, I felt my brow furrow. The middle-aged cowboy with the Alabama accent shook his head and then tilted his head to the side indicating that I follow him. Not knowing what else to do, I did just that. Once we were standing just away from the others, he spoke to me in a low voice.

  "Relax, there. I'm not threatening you or anything like that. I have no idea what kind of shooter you are."

  "My name is Lauren," I replied.

  He nodded at that.

  "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Lauren. I'm Bob."

  "Nice to meet you, Bob. What did you mean when you said, 'watch yourself'?" I prompted, growing just a tad impatient.

  He sighed and looked around before speaking again. "The host. Trevor Garrett? He's got his eye on you."

  I couldn't stop the thrill that shot up my legs and spine at his words. I wondered if I was blushing.

  "That is probably just because there are only two females here, Bob."

  He shrugged.

  "That might be it, Lauren. But I'm old enough to know better. Maybe you are too. Just watch out, young lady."

  With a tip of his hat he then took his leave from me. I stood there staring at his retreating form with what was probably a stupid look on my face. Trevor caught my eye then, so I looked his way. He swallowed a bit of his beer before looking at Bob...and then looking back at me. Quickly, he turned away from my direction and begun to speak to some of the contestants near him.

  Before I had time to process the awkward exchange, we were being ushered to seats at the dining table. In front of each chair sat a stack of paperwork with a pen next to it. Sighing, I sat down and signed every single form. The last form I filled out was the emergency contact form. Without hesitation, I listed Arnold's name and cell phone number there along with the home number.

  "Alright, folks. I hate sounding big brother about this, but I am going to have to collect your cell phones." Just then, a small wooden crate was placed at the center of the table.

  I stared at the crate and processed the fact that we were being treated like criminals. I began to second guess the whole thing when Trevor spoke again.

  "Please take the time to make once last call home. Explain to your loved ones why it is that they need to respect your decision to maintain communications silence. At the longest, this will only last for twenty one days; at the shortest, it will only last for three."

  Scrolling through my phone, I found Arnold's number. It went straight to voicemail. I tried again and got the same result. Annoyed, I called Tim.

  "Hey you! I've been waiting to get your call!"

  I smiled at his excited voice. Quickly, I explained the situation about the no phone calls. Tim was silent on the phone for a long time.

  "Lauren? I don't like that at all. That sounds positively cult-ish."

  I sighed. "I can't argue with that."

  "What if we need to reach you?"

  "There is an emergency phone number - I texted it to Arnold."

  "I still don't like this, Lauren."

  I looked around the table and saw the other contestants speaking words very similar to mine.

  "No one does, Tim."

  "Where are you, Lauren?"

  "I'm in a little town in Washington State called Silverdale. It is absolutely beautiful here."

  I couldn't keep the smile out of my voice. That seemed to brighten Tim's mood which was nice.

  "Well, be sure to take lots of pictures."

  "Well, you'll see it on video...with the rest of America."

  He groaned at that. "I'm still not a fan of all of this."

  "I know," I said as I drew circles on the table with my finger.

  Just then, Trevor walked by all of us twirling his hands in the air in a "wrap it up" sort of motion.

  "Well, that's the warden. I gotta hang up now."

  The contestants at either side of me laughed out loud at my joke. Unfortunately, Trevor seemed to have heard me. His eyes looked straight at mine for a long second and I got the sense that I had offended him. After a long blink, he turned away from me and spoke.

  "Yeah - I am the bad guy. But you guys know the rules. Please end your calls as soon as you can."

  Instantly feeling contrite, I told Tim that I loved him and to p
lease pass that message on to everyone else. I then swiftly disconnected and placed my cell phone in the crate first, wanting to be a good example. Soon after, many other cell phones joined mine in the crate. After a couple of the show's producers went through our paperwork to confirm that they were completed correctly, they then advised us that dinner would be served outside that evening.

  "But first, let show you all to your rooms," said Trevor.

  All six of the men bunked in two different rooms. The other female and I would be sharing a bedroom at the other end of the hallway and away from the men. It was a nice room - actually a nice suite with a large bathroom attached to it. The walls were a light peach in color and the two single sized beds that were at either side of the room were made of white wicker. The floors were made of pine and were wide-planked. It was a gorgeous room.

  "Would you like the one next to the window?" asked Suzy, the female cop from the Bronx.

  I smiled at her.

  "I have no preference. This is such a pretty room; I'd be happy with either."

  "Why don't you take the bed by the window? I heard you say that you were an artist."

  My smiled widened at that.

  "Thank you so much, Suzy. The nature out here sure is beautiful," I replied as I stood at the second floor window that faced the beautiful green trees.

  "That it is," she said with a smile.

  I'd forgotten that Trevor had been standing at our doorway.

  "Well ladies, I'll let you two get acquainted. Please be outside in about forty minutes or so for the barbeque."

  "Sure thing," I said from my position by the window.

  He nodded at me once and then turned and left, closing the door behind him. Someone had already brought our luggage to the room, which was nice. I opened the first drawer to the dresser across from my bed and saw that it was empty. I stared at the cedar boards before me and wondered if it was even worth it to unpack.

  "What's up?" said Suzy.

  I turned around and saw that she was sitting on her bed, looking at a magazine.

  "I'm just wondering if it is even worth it to unpack."

  Her brow furrowed at that. After setting her magazine down before her, she leaned back on the headboard of her bed.

  "Are you that intimidated by the other shooters?"

  Leaning on my own dresser, I answered her.

  "No. I don't even know any of them. As a matter of fact, I didn't even watch Season 1 of the show."

  "Then what are you worried about?"

  I absentmindedly scratched my arm as I thought about my brother's words.

  "My brother told me that women...don't usually last too long on the show. He says that while they seem to be excellent shots, that they cannot seem to handle the pressure as well as men."

  The pretty, thirty-something brunette nodded and that and sighed.

  "I hate that he's right. I'm an ace on the gun range. I have even had to shoot at a couple of perps on the job before too. But all of the testosterone has a way of...making a woman diminish a bit. I really hope that I don't choke out there."

  Her words didn't make me feel any better, unfortunately. I nodded, and turned to face the mirror on my dresser. I looked at my long blonde hair and at my black jacket. Would my competitors look for a weakness in me tonight - size me up? What could I do to help me brace myself against their scrutiny? How could I arm myself?

  Suddenly, my eyes went to my make-up bag on the dresser. Should I vamp it up? Thinking that I had nothing to lose, I pulled out a dark pink lipstick and applied it. I added a bit more brown eye-liner to my eyes and shook my hair out a little bit. Going to my suitcase, I pulled out a pretty pink western shirt and put it on. I added small earrings and a spritz of floral perfume and I was done.

  I turned back to look at Suzy who was staring at me with a curious expression on her face. Blushing, I explained myself.

  "I can't win at the testosterone-guy game. I might as well charm them into not voting me off."

  Suzy's eyes widened.

  "That is...smart. Do you mind if I jump on that bandwagon?"

  I laughed. "Not at all!"

  She laughed and then jumped out of her bed and then went to her own dresser. Twenty minutes later, we were headed down the stairs that went from the second floor to the first floor. I smiled as we caught the eyes of the men standing by the exit that led to the patio. I watched a few of the ogle at Suzy which was great. She was a brilliant looking brunette with long dark hair and beautiful olive shaped eyes that she highlighted with mascara. She'd vamped it up with red lipstick too. She was a stunner. She spoke to me out of the corner of her mouth.

  "Well done, Lauren!"

  I laughed and then followed her down the stairs and outside. Vibrant red canopies covered the grounds behind the mansion. Under one canopy was a Barbeque pit being tended to by uniformed employees. Another tent contained tables with electronic equipment with small monitors, and a few people watching those. The third tent, a very large one held a massive screen. Stepping closer to that tent, I found that the images on the screen were bits and pieces of Season One of American Sharpshooter. I was impressed by the skills demonstrated by the competitors on the show. Some of the shots I knew I could have made; others I was certain that I could not make.

  "I'm going to go mingle," said Suzy after a minute.

  "I think that I'll stay here to watch the footage for a while longer," I said with a smile.

  "It's good preparation; I watched the entire show myself already."

  With that, she left my side. I watched her as she easily mingled with a few of the guys outside of the food and beverage tent. I knew that I should do the same, but I was too transfixed with the footage from the last season of the show.

  "I hated the way my hair looked last season," I heard a voice say from next to me.

  Trevor was standing right next to me; he wasn't looking at me at all but was watching the video on the large screen. My heart began to pound in my chest at the realization of his presence. How long had he been standing there? Not knowing what else to do, I looked back at the screen. His hair had been longer, but it didn't look bad. Nervously, I turned to look at him and noticed that it was shorter - and that it looked better too.

  "It looked good then, Trevor. It looks good now," I said with a blush.

  Just then, he turned his beautiful green eyes from the screen to my own. My breathing quickened and my pulse raced as I felt his eyes drink me in. I watched as his eyes looked me over and I felt my mouth dry.

  "You look lovely tonight, Lauren," he said in a quiet, husky tone.

  I took a breath and held it as I looked at him up close. His skin was lightly tanned - he probably worked in the sun a lot. He had a long straight nose that looked so refined on him. His dark brown hair and his dark eyelashes made his green eyes pop even more. He wore a red canvas shirt like the kind Tim wore. He also wore blue jeans and boots. He wasn't that tall though - maybe only five foot ten to my five feet of height but with all of his features, he looked like he belonged on a commercial or a magazine or something - he looked that handsome. Which was probably why he was on television, after all. Finally, I released the breath I'd forgotten I'd been holding. He half smiled at me before speaking again in a low tone.

  "It was nice...standing with you here, Lauren. But I've got to get back to work now."

  My heart picked up its pace with those words. Did that mean that Trevor...the person and not the TV host might be interested in me? God, I hoped so. I then remembered my words earlier and my face flushed.

  "I'm sorry about what I said earlier - when I called you a Prison Warden. I'm sure that you have a job to do and I'm sorry if I offended you."

  He leaned his head back then and laughed out loud. His green eyes were mischievous as he looked at me again.

  "Don't you apologize for that. It was pretty funny, actually."

  I smiled in relief at that.

  "Good."

  His expression went a bit serious then.
I watched his eyes go from me to something just behind me. He then looked down at me and smiled again, but it looked forced.

  "I am the face of this show. Sometimes that's fortunate but other times it is unfortunate. Just like it is now."

  I watched as he took a step away from me and addressed someone I had not yet seen. Looking around, I saw that the rest of the contestants were watching us with varying degrees of interest. Had I done something wrong?

  "One of those unfortunate things is the footage I am about to show you all here on the big screen. It is the audition footage that each of you sent in. From this point on, you'll be able to gauge your competitors - see their strengths and weaknesses."

  Trevor took a couple more steps away from me and spoke in a louder voice.

  "You might have made friends in the past four hours or so - or might have at least made friendly with your competitors. That might be about to change."

  We all stared at each other apprehensively, trying to understand how our group dynamic might change. Or at least that was what I was doing.

  "Please - take a seat. Take notes," Trevor ominously added.

  We then carefully filed into the small rows made between the long benches that faced the large screen. I sat next to Suzy and next to Bob - the cowboy who'd spoken to me about Trevor earlier. Nervously, I tapped my foot on the grass under my feet as Trevor began to work the remote. The first face on the screen was the one that belonged to the tall, black competitor.

  "My name is Sam Jones. I'm a police officer out of Jacksonville, Florida..." The footage went on and showed him in his uniform. Lord, he cut the dashing figure when he was all dressed up. The footage also showed him on the gun range, sinking round after round of 9 millimeter bullets into a bull eye. It also showed him wearing sweats as he ran down a road. Apparently, he was a marathoner runner. Yikes. The final frame showed him eating dinner with his beautiful wife and two sons at a small dinner table. I was charmed!

  Video after video, I was introduced to every one of my competitors. The ones that stood out the most was of the one of Max Allen. He was a Marine on leave for the show and was a sniper too. I was impressed! But what really got were his words near the end of his tape.