by Aubrey Dark
Piers whispered something to Dylan, and Dylan shrugged, shaking his head. An anonymous donor? I wondered who it would be that would donate to a child they didn’t even know. It was then that I noticed the donation tally pop up on the screen at the back of the stage. It was a huge counter, and it was already well into the hundreds of dollars. I watched, agog, as the numbers spun upwards in bursts of activity. Two thousand, then three thousand, then four thousand. I swallowed the lump in my throat.
Mia was doing a dramatic reading of a poem about cancer survivors now at the front of the stage. I had to admit, she was really good at getting the crowd worked up. As I peered into the audience, I could see some people crying, and lots of them were on their phones—I didn’t know if it was them making the donation counter rise, but it didn’t matter. She was getting results. I watched the counter spin up and up. Thirteen thousand, fourteen thousand.
I’d hated Mia before. I’d thought she was a horrible person, a catty bitch. But I couldn’t even be a little bit mad at her now. She was throwing herself into her performance, and whether she was doing it just to get Dylan or to help Arlen, it was working. She read through an article about childhood cancer, and how hard it was to treat certain kinds. Every other paragraph, she would remind people of the number to call in. She had assistants going down into the audience with baskets to collect cash donations.
And the donations just kept coming.
Seventeen thousand. Eighteen thousand.
When she finally finished, the donation tally paused at the total: Thirty-two thousand, three hundred and twenty dollars.
“Thank you, Mia,” Piers said. “That was an impressive total.”
“It’s doubled,” Mia said earnestly. “My—the anonymous donor will double it, remember?”
“Can we get that tally doubled?” Piers called out. He only had to wait a second before Mia’s donation tally was updated on the screen. Sixty-four thousand… the rest of the number blurred in my vision. It was enough. Even with just Mia’s donations, it was enough. We could do the treatments. I could have kissed her right there on stage.
“Thank you, Mia. And now, Kate, you have the stage and you’re the one running the charity. Your time starts… now!”
Kate walked up to the microphone. Before she even got there, her donation tally had jumped up to over five thousand. Apparently a lot of people had been waiting to call in for their favorite contestant. My heart soared, not just at the money but at the thought that Kate might actually win this challenge, despite Mia’s anonymous donor.
“Thank you,” Kate said. She took a deep breath, and I could tell she was nervous, looking down at a slip of paper in her hands. “Cancer is something that affects us all, and I was very sad to learn that Lisa’s niece was diagnosed with leukemia. Right now, I’d like to take a moment to remember all of our friends and family who have been affected by this awful disease, whether they are here today or no longer with us. Let’s think of them.”
She paused and bowed her head. The entire theater went silent, completely silent. And for a moment, all I could hear was my heartbeat pounding. I thought of Arlen, adorable Arlen, waving her arms in the air and hiding under the coat racks when we went shopping. Tears slid down my cheeks.
I wouldn’t know what to do without Arlen. It terrified me to think about coming home to an apartment that wasn’t covered in applesauce and crayons. She and Emma were the only family I had. I sat there in the darkness and the silence, and my fear came out in sobs, choking my throat. I didn’t hold them back anymore.
“Now,” Kate was saying, “I want all of you to message someone you know, someone who might want to help a little girl who needs help now more than ever. And if you haven’t donated already, please pick up your phone and give anything. A dollar, if you can. If all of you just gave a dollar, it would be enough, I know it would. It could be the most important dollar you ever give away.”
I couldn’t see through my tears anymore.
“There’s something else,” I heard Kate say. “I know that this competition is about fundraising for a charity. And so far we’ve got a lot of donations. You’re all so amazing!”
A burst of applause and cheering came ringing through my ears.
“But for the last few minutes here, there’s something else I’m going to ask you to do. Because I talked with someone who works with leukemia patients, and there’s something they need even more than money. And that’s the promise of a lifesaving bone marrow transplant.”
Again, I could see people moving through the audience. This time, though, they weren’t carrying baskets for donations. They were carrying—
“I’m asking all of you in the audience, if you’re willing, to get tested as a bone marrow donor. Right now, the only thing you need to do is swab a little Q-tip in your cheek. We have assistants coming around with the swabs and the sheet of information to fill out. And if you’re a match with Arlen, or with another cancer patient, we’ll let you know—and you might just be able to save someone’s life.”
An assistant came up to Kate on stage.
“I’m going to get tested right now,” Kate continued. “So you can all see how easy it is. And everybody at home, you can get tested too—just go online to BeTheMatch.org and they’ll send you a kit to see if you’re a match for someone who needs it.”
She stepped away from the microphone. I glanced up, and my heart twisted in my chest. The donation tally was up over fifty thousand. I couldn’t wait to tell Emma about it. But Piers was talking again, and my attention went back to the competition. That’s right. This was still a dating game. I had almost forgotten.
“And that’s the final tally!” Piers said. “We’ll continue to accept donations for Arlen, so keep them coming. Right now, though, it looks like the winner of the charity competition is… Mia Firenze!”
The audience clapped, and Mia was jumping up and down. I wiped the tears from my eyes and stood up shakily, my mind suddenly reeling. Was she really the winner? The final winner? How could Dylan let this happen? He didn’t want to date her!
“As the winner of the Billionaire Dating Game, you can choose to leave with your billionaire…or take the money and run,” Piers said, sliding back into his TV host voice. “If you decide to leave, you’ll get a hundred thousand dollars.”
Kate smiled a trembling smile and gave Mia a congratulatory hug.
No! I wanted to shout. This isn’t right!
Mia didn’t need the money. Kate did. And Kate was a better match for Dylan anyway! What the hell was going on?
“This is your moment to decide,” Piers said. “Take the money… or take the billionaire?”
“Thank you, Piers,” Mia said, stepping forward to the microphone. “That’s a hard choice.”
She cleared her throat, and looked out into the audience.
“But first, I have something to confess.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“Confess?” Piers asked.
He had a small hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth, and I realized that he knew more about this than he had let on. What was happening here?
“Yes,” Mia said. “I have to take the money and leave. Dylan, I’m sorry. But my heart belongs to someone else.”
A collective gasp came from the audience. Dylan, though, didn’t look surprised at all.
“You see, my parents really want me to date a billionaire. They were the ones who pushed me to come on this show. And since I’ve been financially dependent on them, I’ve done whatever they told me to do. But not anymore.”
A burst of noise came from behind me, backstage. I turned to see one of the producers pushing through the hallway, the woman with dark hair. A security guard was holding her back by the arm.
“Let me go!” the woman cried out. “That ungrateful little bitch! Does she really think she can do this to me?”
My jaw dropped as I realized that the producer was Mia’s mother. At the picnic, she’d been hidden under her hat and sunglasses, bu
t now I recognized her.
That’s how Mia had gotten onto the show. That’s how she had won immunity and gotten through all of those competitions.
Mia’s mother had been pulling all the strings this whole time.
“You can’t go on stage,” the security guard was saying. Another guard came to pull Mia’s mom back. She was right behind me.
“This is my show!” she screamed. “This was all my idea!”
Mia turned slightly, hearing the commotion offstage.
“Mom? Is that my mom?”
Piers looked over and saw me standing in the wings.
“Lisa?” he said, dumbfounded.
The producer yanked her arms out of the guards’ grip and shoved me onto the stage out of her way. I stumbled into the lights, and the producer marched by me, right up to Mia.
Before I could escape back to the wings, Piers was across the stage and at my side.
“Lisa!” he whispered. “What are you doing here?”
“Dylan brought me here,” I replied. “He told me you were doing the charity. Piers—”
His hands took mine, and I steadied myself in his blue-green gaze. The audience, though, wasn’t paying any attention to us. They were focused on the crazy woman who was screaming at Mia.
“Mia!” she yelled. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Mia stood to face her mom. I could see even from across the stage that her legs were trembling. And I realized that she had done it all, everything, because her mother had wanted her to. Her fists clenched at her sides.
“Mom, I don’t want to date a billionaire. I want to date Alex.” Her voice trembled.
“Who’s Alex?” Dylan asked.
“He’s a pizza boy!” her mom screamed at Dylan. “A goddamn pizza boy!”
“I love him!” Mia screamed back. “And you can’t do anything about it now!”
“I’ll take back your car,” Mia’s mom threatened, leaning forward and spitting the words. “All your credit cards! Your shopping accounts!”
“I don’t care!” Mia yelled. “Take it all back! I don’t want it anymore! I’m going to move in with him, and we’re going to be happy!”
Mia’s mom waved her hand in the air.
“How do you think you can live on a measly hundred thousand dollars?!”
The audience burst out laughing. Mia’s mom spun around, her dark hair whirling.
“What?!”
Mia was smiling now. She put her hands on her hips.
“Mom,” she said. “We’ll manage.”
Applause drowned out whatever Mia’s mom was screaming next. She threw her hands up and huffed offstage, shoving aside the security guard as she made her way out.
“One second, Lisa,” Piers said, grinning at me. “I have to finish this up.”
I nodded, smiling back as he squeezed my hand and turned back to the microphone.
“Well,” Piers said, “that was certainly a surprise! And look here, another surprise! Lisa Forrester is here, back on the show for one last appearance!”
I waved into the bright lights and the crowd noise swelled in my ears.
“But wait! That’s not the last surprise. Mia, you said you were in love with someone else?”
“That’s right,” Mia said. Piers gestured offstage.
“Let’s bring out the lucky pizza boy now!”
A gangly young man came out from the wings on the other side of the stage. Mia gasped and ran over to him, throwing her arms around him.
“Alex!”
She had a goofy grin on her face, and I couldn’t help but be happy for her. I had thought she was a terrible person this whole time, but I guess I had been taken in by reality TV after all. It wasn’t me who was the villain here, and it wasn’t Mia.
“So,” Piers said, stepping up to the front of the stage. “It looks like Mia has decided to run off with the pizza boy. Sorry, Dylan.”
“That’s alright,” Dylan said, grinning.
He had known. They had both known about Mia. I was astonished that they had both hidden it from me the whole time.
“Do I get a second chance now, Piers?” Dylan asked.
“You sure do,” Piers said. “I’m guessing you’re going to choose the other contestant who’s left on The Billionaire Dating Game. Kate Penrose, step forward.”
Kate moved shyly to the front of the stage, looking over at Dylan.
“Before you ask Kate to date you, though,” Piers said, “there’s one last secret you should know about.”
Dylan’s eyebrows raised in surprise. He hadn’t expected this.
And Kate…Kate looked like she wanted to melt into the floor with shame.
“Piers—” I whispered, but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything. My chest clenched. Piers wouldn’t give away Kate’s secret, would he? He had promised—
“Kate,” Piers said. “There’s something you haven’t been perfectly honest about with Dylan. Isn’t that right?”
Kate flushed red, pushing her blonde hair back away from her face.
“I—I don’t—”
“You have to tell the truth here,” Piers said. “Relationships have to be based on trust, and you can’t have trust if there are secrets between you two. Isn’t that right?”
Kate flashed a glance up to Dylan, who was waiting expectantly.
“Kate?” he asked. “What haven’t you been telling me?”
“We have him here, Kate,” Piers said.
Kate gasped. Dylan’s face dropped into sincere disappointment.
“It’s another guy? You have a boyfriend too?”
“No!” Kate cried out. “I… I…”
“Dylan, we want you to meet Jacob!”
Piers gestured to the other side of the stage.
A stage hand came out, leading Jacob by the hand. He sucked his thumb shyly. When he saw Kate, he ran over to her and threw his arms around her leg. I couldn’t breathe as I watched Dylan’s reaction. His expression turned from disappointment to utter confusion.
“Mama!” Jacob cried.
“Hey, sweetie,” she said, ruffling his hair and hugging him to her side. “It’s okay. Don’t be nervous.”
Dylan was staring at the kid like he had no idea what to make of anything. Kate looked up at him nervously.
“I’m sorry, Dylan,” she said. “The rules said that you couldn’t have a kid, so I lied. I wanted to be on the show so badly. I’m sorry. I…I understand if you don’t want to date me anymore, after I lied to you. I just want you to know that I really, really like you. A lot. And no matter what, I think you’ll find a great girlfriend because you seem like such a great boyfriend.”
She bit her lip and waited.
“A kid?”
Kate nodded. Dylan’s gaze swept over all of us on stage, landing on me.
“Lisa, did you know about this?” Dylan asked. “Did you all know she was breaking the rules?”
“Dylan, don’t make a hasty decision,” I said, putting all my emotion into my words. “Love isn’t about following rules. It’s about following your heart.”
“So… I mean… You have a kid?” Dylan repeated. His mouth was open in shock.
“His name is Jacob,” Kate said, turning her son around in introduction. “Jacob, this is Dylan.”
There was a pause as Dylan looked down at the little boy standing between them. Then he knelt down.
“Hi Jacob,” he said, holding out his hand. They shook hands seriously. “How old are you?”
“Five!” Jacob said, holding out one hand with his fingers spread.
“Huh. Five,” Dylan said, stroking his chin as though he was thinking intently about the answer. “I like your Batman T-shirt.”
“Thank you,” Jacob said proudly.
“Is he your favorite superhero?”
Jacob nodded.
Dylan’s hands pressed his knees as he stood up.
“Well, if he likes Batman, I think we can work things out,” he said. A grin sp
read across his face and he held his arms out to Kate. “Whaddaya think, Kate? Still want to date a billionaire?”
Kate beamed as Dylan swept her into a big kiss. The audience cheered loudly, and behind them, Piers was clapping.
“I love you, Kate,” Dylan said.
“I love you, Dylan,” Kate said.
“YUCK!” Jacob said, making a face. “Kisses!”
“Better get used to it, buddy,” Dylan said, tousling the kid’s hair. “I’ll make it up to you. Wanna take a ride in my Batmobile?”
“Batmobile!”
The audience laughed, and when Dylan kissed Kate again, they erupted into a roar of applause. I clapped heartily. My heart swelled to see them together. They were two of the most kindhearted people I’d ever met, and they truly deserved each other.
My gaze went past Dylan and Kate, and landed on Piers, who was already looking intently at me. He moved across the stage, and my body twisted with desire as he came close, his eyes smoldering.
“Follow your heart, huh, Lisa?” he asked, wryly sarcastic. “Sounds kind of hippy-dippy to me.”
“Yeah, well,” I said. “I guess I’m turning into a romantic after all.”
“So what does your heart say?”
The applause was dying down in the audience, but I couldn’t wrench my eyes from Piers’ face. His persona was gone, and he was there, really there, with me.
“Are you asking what I think you’re asking?”
“Lisa Forrester, do you want to date a reality TV host?” Piers asked, a gleam of amusement in his eyes.
“As long as I don’t have to beat out a dozen other girls for the privilege,” I said, teasing back.
“You’ve already beat them all,” Piers said, and then his hands were on my waist and I was wrapping my arms around his neck. He pulled me into a kiss and from far away, I heard the shouts and cheers of a thousand screaming fans. The lights were on us, but I didn’t care. Because right then—his lips seizing mine with passionate desire, his arms clasping me close to his chest—it felt like we were the only two people in the world.
Chapter Forty
Three months later