"I'm not talking to you in a...professional manner right now, Lauren."
I swallowed, suddenly nervous.
"How are you talking to me, Trevor?"
"I am talking to you as a man," he said in serious voice.
Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God!!!! My heart slammed in my chest at his words. He was into me! Not knowing what to do, I ran my hand through my ponytail and nervously looked around.
"Are those attentions...welcome?" he asked.
I bit my lip and stared at him for a few seconds before responding. Were his manly attentions welcome? Hell, yes!
"Yes," I whispered in response.
He nodded and took another deep breath before smiling his beautiful smile.
"Good. That's good."
I smiled back. "Okay. That is good."
Still smiling, he looked at my face, and then at my lips before looking in my eyes again.
"I just want you to know the difference, okay? I'll be professional with you for the most part...but the times when I can get away to be personal...I look forward to those."
Feeling myself blush, I smiled.
"I do too."
He smiled ever brighter then. "Alright. Get on back into the house, okay? Get ready for the event. Make sure you stay in the competition, okay?"
"Is that professional, or personal?" I asked, teasing him a bit.
"It's both. Be good. Don't suck. Make sure you stay as long as you can."
"I'll do that."
With that, I turned around and gave him my back and walked up the trail that would lead me to the mansion. I had a gentleman caller. I was having fun. I was having a blast. This competition was the best thing I had done so far, I knew.
Chapter 12
We were sitting around the dining room, having just finished lunch when Trevor came in from the outside. He looked so handsome in a green long-sleeved shirt that really brought out his eyes. His jeans were quite the sight too; he filled them out in all of the right places. He scarcely looked at me as he stood before all of us at the table and I knew that he was acting as the professional. Inside of me, I was anxious to seeing the personal side of him again.
"Alright, folks. I hope you enjoyed your lunch because it is officially time to compete."
The words sobered every single one of us. Some of us shifted in our chairs, others stood up and others stopped talking. Trevor took the time to look every one of us in the eye before speaking again.
"Let us begin."
With those ominous words, we got off of our chairs and grabbed our jackets before following Trevor outside in a very nervous procession. A short van ride later, we arrived at a field that had a course of fire on it. There were various plywood cut-outs in the shapes of people set up in a cordoned area. Within that area were lots of trees, wooden crates and other barriers within. As I walked to an area with benches along with my fellow competitors, I looked at the walking area within the course of fire. It was thin and windy, but not unlike the hog trails I was so used to pushing through.
Sitting on the cool bench, I brought my legs tightly together to keep warm. I then zipped my jacket all the way up and tucked my hands under my arms that were across my chest. A contestant I hadn't spoken much to sat next to me.
"Cold for you?" he asked.
I glanced at him. George Diller, I thought his name was. He only wore a t-shirt, jeans and boots. He looked completely unaffected by the weather.
"I am," I frankly admitted.
He shrugged. "I'm from Minnesota. This is nothing to me. Where you from again?"
I forced myself to not roll my eyes at him; by this time, everyone knew I was from Texas.
"Olney, Texas," I replied.
"Doesn't get too cold there, does it?"
I stared at a red flag billowing in the course of fire as I wondered if I was obligated to have this conversation. I got the feeling that George Diller was trying to get me uneasy before the competition, and I didn't like it.
Before I had even decided which way I was going to answer, Max spoke up.
"It gets cold in Texas; it gets hot in Texas. So you are walking around in fifty degree weather with a t-shirt; bully for you. Someone, get this guy a ribbon."
I was shocked. I had no idea that someone would speak up for me like that. Apparently, so was everyone else. I watched as George Diller's cheeks went red in embarrassment. I then looked at Max, and opened my mouth to thank him. He shook his head and put his hand up in a stopping motion, so I said nothing. Suzy, who was seated next to Max, was trying to get my attention. I watched her hands as she discreetly held her left hand flat while she did a cranking motion with her right hand. I felt my brow furrow as I tried to interpret her signal. She rolled her eyes and then tilted her head in a direction behind her. Looking that way, I saw a cameraman focusing right in on us. I felt a little chillier then; had he caught the entire exchange between George and me on film? Would that make it to the show?
Shaking myself, I turned away from them and faced forward, looking out to the course of fire again. A few minutes later, Trevor showed up and stood before us all.
"Listen closely while I describe our first course of fire."
He then explained the rules of the course and safety and emergency measures as well. He was very thorough. I was impressed, again. He then explained the order of people going in. I would be third. He had one more thing to say before he sent the first competitor into the course.
"Now, we will find out whose barks are worse than their bites."
He had his sunglasses on so I didn't know who he was looking at. Still, I felt his gaze center on me and George Diller. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched George fidget uncomfortably on his seat next to me. Thankfully, Trevor walked away with the first contestant, leaving us all alone. Before I could take a sigh of relief, George spoke again.
"Feel better now that your boyfriend told me off?"
I felt blood leave my face in shock. How dare he? What did I ever do to him? I turned around and faced him.
"I think that you are trying to get a rise out of me, but that is not going to work. How do you think it's going to look on film when the viewers at home see a big, six foot man trying to egg on a five foot tall itty bitty thing like me? It will look bad. Especially so once I beat you at this."
He stared at me with a look of surprise on his face. With that, I closed my mouth and faced forward again. I couldn't help but feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins at the exchange. My heart was pounding too. Darnit. This was not the way I wanted to go in for this challenge. Maybe George Diller got the best of me anyway.
Sooner that I would have expected, I found out just how much George Diller had discomfited me as my turn on the course had come up. Trevor had walked me all the way to the entrance.
"You going to be okay?" he asked me in what was almost a whisper.
It was funny that out of all things that had transpired so far, his concern for me was what gave me confidence. I smiled at him as I placed my protective eye gear.
"I'll be fine. You just watch."
He nodded at that and stepped away, leaving me alone at the entrance. As soon as he yelled, "Go," I took off. I ran to the table which held the M16 weapon I would use and a couple of magazines. One, I jammed in the gun and the other I shoved into my jacket pocket. I then made a run for the path to the left with the instructions clearly committed to my memory. As soon as I saw the motorized plywood cutout of a bank robber pop out from behind a set of stacked crates, I released the safety and shot him twice in the center of his chest. Not waiting to see if the shots landed, I ran around the corner and jumped over a hay bale before shooting at another pop-out villain. I ran around corner after corner, making shots and hold other shots back. I was in the zone. The very lost shot was a tricky one. The hallways made of wooden crates were tight - so tight that I couldn't get a shot in. Thinking quickly, I retraced my steps and walked behind the stack of crates I needed to get around. Looking at the bottom of th
e stack of crates, I noticed that there was clearance between the bottom crate and the floor - at least two and a half feet distance. Thinking quickly, I lied on my back and placed the safety on the M16 and held it against my chest vertically. Wiggling up, I made my way under the crates and towards my final target. Smiling, I noticed that I now had enough clearance to make my shot within the small confines of the space. I rolled onto my belly and aimed my weapon before taking the safety off. Once there, I looked through the sights and shot the last villain in his face. After that, air horns went off and lights shone on inside of the course.
"Cease fire," I heard Trevor's voice yell.
How did I do, I asked myself. Did I score well? Did I tank? Did I miss any of my targets? Well, it was time to find out. I worked my way out of the tight space I had gotten into and made my way around the crates around the final target to the exit. Once there, I found Trevor greeting me with a huge smile on his face.
"Well done, competitor!" he exclaimed.
Darnit, he looked so handsome when he smiled.
"Did I do well? Did I get them all?"
He threw his head back and laughed.
"That you did, Miss McCoy. And you just made the new leading time!"
My face split in a huge grin and I moaned in relief.
"Oh, what a relief," I added out loud.
Trevor laughed and reached out to put his hand on my shoulder to lead me to the rest of my fellow competitors. His touch felt good, so very good. I bit my tongue to avoid moaning out loud when I felt him rub a small, secret circle on my shoulder. I loved his hand on me. I loved his fingers on me. I wanted more. He smiled down at me before directing me to sit down on the side of the benches that housed the competitors that had already run the course. A couple of them shook my hand and congratulated me. The rest ignored me.
Two more competitors were due to run the course - Suzy and Max Allen. I cheered for Suzy as she expertly shot at all of the targets. She was competent and strong, but simply wasn't able to match my time. Still, she didn't do badly. Max Allen was next. He kicked butt and beat me by six seconds. Everyone cheered for him then - much more than they did for me. I told myself that it didn't sting because I was cheering right along with them. But it did - just a little bit.
The two bottom scorers were Bob and Sam, surprisingly. I tried not to give empty encouragement to either of them when Trevor revealed the scores. We made our way back to the mansion to celebrate the end of challenge one. After dinner, we hung out downstairs in the living room enjoying the rain coming down from outside. It was a beautiful night.
I went upstairs to touch up my make-up after dessert which was when Suzy intercepted me.
"Hey Suzy, what's up?" I asked with my back to her. I was still applying my lip liner.
I heard her sigh, which sounded troubled. I then turned around to face her.
"What is it?"
She shrugged. "George is telling the others that Trevor told you what the course of fire was going to be like. He said that's why you did so well."
My heart dropped and I sat down. Darnit. I had hoped that the lies and the scheming wouldn't start so soon.
"Do you think they believe him?" I asked her.
She shrugged and sat down on her own bed.
"I don't know. Maybe some do. I think that a lot of them have a hard time with the fact that a cute, tiny blond is a better shot than they are. It probably doesn't help that Trevor Garrett keeps looking at you so darned much."
I couldn't stop the blush that came to my face. She immediately smiled.
"Do you like him?"
I wanted to tell her that I did, but also recognized that she was still a competitor. I really didn't know how much I could trust her. I decided to go with part of the truth.
"Have you seen how handsome he is?" I said with a smile.
She laughed at that. "It's kind of hard to miss."
"Well, I hate that I check him out so much, but I just can't help myself."
Suzy nodded.
"I know; you are human, cute, young and single. Why not check out the handsome host?"
I smiled in relief.
"Alright. Let's get back down there. Might as well jump in with the beasts."
I nodded. She was right.
Unfortunately, she was right about everything. Everyone was praising Max's prowess while they ignored me. As a matter of fact, it felt like I was getting the cold shoulder. I tried to talk to Bob, but he was pretty monosyllabic with me. Maybe he thought that giving me the cold shoulder would keep him safe; it was a sound strategy, but it stung. Suzy was able to speak to some of the competitors, though. Maybe they didn't consider her to be a challenge. Before I could think of some sort of way to ingratiate me to my fellow competitors again, George Diller approached me.
"I've got to be honest and tell you that I might vote for you in elimination."
My mouth dropped open in shock at that and I almost dropped my beer.
"What?" I sharply replied. "Why?"
"I think that you are getting help from our charming host."
"But I am not," I exclaimed.
We had drawn some attention at that point. All of the competitors had turned to face us. Absentmindedly, I heard the sounds of whirring electronics around us. I wondered if we were being filmed.
"There is no other explanation as why you did as well as you did."
"There doesn't need to be another explanation! I did as well as I did because I am good, damnit."
He shrugged at that and smiled.
"I just don't see it."
I was so mad; I didn't know what to do. I decided to go with my emotions.
"You know what, George? You are just a coward. You are instigating trouble and suspicion on my part because you think I'm an easy target. Everyone else here might even believe you, too. But you know what? This crowd here and whatever hold you might have over them is the only place where you will dominate me because I will best you time, and time and time again on the gun range - where it counts."
His face paled at my words and I watched him blink a few times.
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see how everyone votes, won't we?" he said with a sneer.
He turned away from me then and walked towards a couple of guys who were talking beneath their breath. I felt like such an outsider just then. I looked at Suzy who gave me a sympathetic look, but remained where she was standing. I was by myself. All alone. It sucked.
Before I could make a decision on whether or not I should stay or go back to my room, Trevor appeared out of a small room which I had deemed the control room. He looked at me for a few seconds before looking back at everyone else assembled there. He looked pissed.
"It appears that the ethics of this show and my personal ethic are being called into question," he said in a heavy voice that carried throughout the entire first floor of the mansion.
No one said anything. Not even George.
"There's not much I can say that will convince you all about me one way or the other. But this is what I will do. I am going to bump up the voting for the elimination round to tonight instead of tomorrow morning. That way we can all see who stands where."
Everyone was still silent.
"No one is opposed? Good. Now. I will point you out with my finger and you will tell me your vote."
"Aren't we supposed to write it down on paper?" George asked.
"Yes. But I'm changing things up a bit, George. I think that seeing how everyone is voting will do a lot to clear the air."
Everyone was surprised to hear the change of the voting methods. Even me. The first person he pointed at was me.
"Lauren McCoy. Who are you voting for and why?"
I swallowed nervously. I took a few seconds to look at everyone who stared back at me expectantly.
"I need an answer now," Trevor intoned.
"I vote for Bob." I said out loud.
Bob whipped his head at me, looking surprised and hurt. I continued.
"Bob scored the poorest today in the course of fire."
"One vote for Bob. George, how are you voting?"
George nervously fidgeted under Trevor's glare.
"I vote for Lauren."
"Why?" Trevor's voice thundered.
George shrugged. "We don't get along."
That bastard. Unfortunately, a lot of people voted in the same lines that George did. Some were very frank with their reasons. One person said that they were going to vote for me because they couldn't beat me. Another one said that they would vote for me because my shooting skills "didn't add up." It would be me and Bob going up for the final shootout. I could not remember a time I was more angry than I was right then and there.
Trevor was serious as he stared at all of us.
"Well, I can't say that this is the first time that I've seen such a disparity between skill...and class. It won't be the last time either, I am sure."
He then turned to me and Bob.
"Pack your bags tonight. One of you will be going home tomorrow."
I'd heard enough. I grabbed my jacket and headed out the door and away from everyone. I hated this day.
Upstairs, I quickly put all of my cosmetics and toiletries back into my small carry-on. Luckily, I'd never unpacked my clothing. I set my packed bags at the foot of my bed when Suzy walked in.
"How are you?" she gently asked as she leaned on her dresser.
She was concerned and that was sweet, but she had no idea how I was feeling. She was a worse shot than I and no one voted for her. Silently, I wondered if maybe she had been one to spread rumors about me. I grabbed a ball cap of mine out of my suitcase and walked towards the door.
"Lauren, don't go like that. Don't you want to talk about this?"
I turned and faced her from my position at the doorway.
"Actually, I can walk out just like this, and no, I don't want to talk about things."
I turned away from her and left the room and the house too. I just wanted to get the hell away from all of them. Once I made it outside, I walked down a trail I didn't know. It led away from the house, the pool and the tents that were still erected from last night. I passed another trail that I assumed led to the training area. I kept walking. Eventually, I ended up at a small gazebo that sat on a cliff that looked over a body of water that I was completely unfamiliar with.
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