by Jenna Baker
*****
The sound of the alarm clock ringing in my ear at six o’clock was quite painful, but I was glad that I had allowed the extra time to drag myself out of bed, get showered and get ready. I shaved my legs and threw on some nice underwear, not knowing where the night might lead. I put on a pair of fitted dark jeans and a loose black tank top that was cut low in the chest and hung down to just above my knees. I threw on a silver and black necklace and some bangle earrings. I was the picture of someone going for a night out on the town in LA: not too dressy, not too casual, just right. I spent some extra time on my hair and makeup, and despite the bags under my eyes, I managed to look pretty darn good.
Mac had texted me Reid’s address, so I popped it into my GPS. I stopped at the store on the way over and picked up some beer and chips. I was about five minutes away when I started thinking about Reid and what I would say when I saw him. I knew how I felt, but what if he was just caught in the moment the other night and had changed his mind about me? On the other hand, what if he was really serious about us and where this could lead? As I turned onto Reid’s block, I was lost in my thoughts. My grip on the steering wheel loosened, and suddenly my car jerked to the right and careened onto Reid’s front lawn. “Shit!” I blurted out as I slammed on the breaks. Luckily he didn’t have a fence for me to break, and I stopped just short of his house. My car sat idling in the middle of his front lawn. In my daze, I had forgotten about the little alignment problem my car had.
The front door opened and Reid came running out. I popped my head out the window and looked up at him. “Reid, I am so sorry.”
Reid had his arms folded, and he was shaking his head. I quickly threw the car into reverse, pulled off the lawn and onto the street, and parked. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was 7:45. I grabbed the beer and chips, then got out and inspected the damage to the lawn. “It’s okay,” I announced to Reid. “The lawn survived.”
“Uh-huh,” Reid said from the doorway, still shaking his head.
Reid’s house, a ranch, was brown and white on the outside. I walked up to him in the doorway, and although he was trying to look stern, he had a big smile on his face as I approached.
“Hi,” I said, glowing. “Sorry about that. My car has alignment issues.”
“These things happen – to you at least,” he grinned. “Come on in.”
“Thanks.” I stepped inside to see Mac and Manny spread out on the couch and Foxy and Sherry sharing a love seat together. There was a third couch with a beer bottle resting on it, and I figured that was where Reid had been sitting. Leave it to a man to over-furnish. The room had hardwood floors and a huge flat screen television, and it looked very much like the bachelor pad that it was.
“Hey, guys,” I said to everyone.
“Sharpe!” Foxy called out.
“Let me show you around,” Reid said.
“Oh, I brought this,” I said and handed Reid the beer and chips.
“Thanks.” He threw the bag of chips into Foxy’s open hands and led me into the kitchen. Reid opened the fridge to keep the beer cool. I tried to get a glimpse inside as the door opened and saw that it was basically the same as mine – stocked with alcohol and not much else. The kitchen was really nice, with cherry cabinets, granite countertops, and stainless steel appliances. “I did all this myself,” Reid said. “Saved a lot of money.”
I ran my hand across the granite. “Very nice. You’ll get along with my dad just fine – he’s a designer and loves this kind of stuff.”
Reid led me into a small dining area and then down the hall, where he had two bedrooms and a bathroom. It was a small house, but I really liked it – it felt warm. “And this is my room,” Reid said and led me into the master bedroom.
It wasn’t much larger that the first bedroom, but it was decorated nicely, and Reid had managed to get a king-sized bed in there. “Was all this just a ploy to get me into your bedroom?” I asked.
Reid closed the door. “Maybe.” He grinned, pressed my back against the wall, leaned in, and kissed me. I felt his tongue, hot and hungry. He moved his lips over to my neck and ran his tongue up just below my ear. My body started to tingle. I was glad to know his feelings hadn’t changed, and judging by the bulge I was feeling against my leg, I knew we were going to pick up right where we left off.
I pushed him off, wanting to stop before things went too far. “Oh no,” I said. “You’re not gonna make me miss my show. Come on – it’s almost eight.”
Reid backed off and hung his head. “I don’t want to see myself on TV, I’m gonna look stupid.”
“You are not. As a matter of fact, one of the network executive’s wives wanted to know if I had any footage of you shirtless to add in.”
Reid turned white. “Did you?”
I shook my head no. “Come on, let’s get back before people get the wrong idea,” I joked.
“Right,” Reid joked back. “I would hate it if they saw the intimate details of our sex life. Oh, wait, they already have.”
We walked down the hall and back into the living room. Foxy looked at us and smiled. “Now, where did you two disappear to?”
I walked past Foxy and knocked off the baseball hat he was wearing in the process. I flopped on the empty couch and looked at the TV. The guys were watching football. “Are you people kidding? It’s almost eight. Put on channel forty-six.”
“Bossy, ain’t ya?” Sherry said and picked up the remote.
Reid walked in the room carrying a beer for me. He picked his beer off the couch and plopped down next to me. He threw an arm around me and I leaned into him, taking a sip.
“Isn’t this cozy?” Foxy said.
Reid pointed at Foxy with his beer bottle. “One more crack and you’re cut off.”
It was two minutes to eight and commercials were playing on the TV. I jumped up and stood in front of it, addressing the group. “Okay, guys, quick speech.”
“Oh man!” Foxy said and threw some popcorn at me.
“Sharpe, you’re blocking the screen,” Manny chimed in.
I stood proud, ignoring their commentary. “I would just like to say that it has been a pleasure to work with all of you – even you, Sherry.” That elicited a dirty look from her, but I pressed on. I looked at Foxy and then Reid. “After this show airs and you guys become famous, you may forget about us, but try to remember who got you here. The network executives were thrilled with the cut and they’re already talking about season two.”
“Really, Sharpe?” Mac asked.
“Yep. Maybe you can skip the debutante bridezillas and hang with us instead, Mac.”
Mac moved his palms up and down as if weighing the options. I rolled my eyes and pressed on. “Anyway, I present to you all – Murder Live!” I dramatically moved my arms in front of the screen and jumped back to my seat on the couch next to Reid.
The credits rolled and everyone burst into applause. Sherry turned to Foxy and gave him a kiss. “Oh, honey, I am so proud of you.”
The credits were a compilation of scenes from all of the episodes that had been shot. “Hey, there’s AJ!” Reid said to Foxy, recognizing his friend on the screen.
Reid was featured in the credits breaking down the door to get into Miguel and Diego’s hotel room. “Oh yeah!” Foxy cried out.
“Reid, you look sexy, man!”
Sherry gave me a knowing glance as if to confirm that Reid and Foxy were in fact gay lovers. The show began with Reid and Foxy talking to camera, telling their various stories. Reid buried his head in my neck. “I feel like such a tool,” he said, hiding.
Foxy was on the screen talking about Sherry and I could tell she was just melting. “Oh, baby, you are so sweet.” The next image was a picture of Sherry and Foxy at their wedding. I threw it in because I knew it would get Sherry on my good side, and it worked. “Oh my God, that’s us!” Both Foxy and Sherry were beaming ear to ear.
We all watched the first act of the show making comments to the TV and enjoying. It depi
cted Chaser’s death and the interviews with his mother, Rose, and so on. When the commercials started to play, everyone clapped again.
“Sharpe, it looks really good, man,” Mac said to me.
“You shot it, Mac.”
“Yeah, but I like how you cut it – it feels real.”
I was on cloud nine. Next, my cell phone chirped. It was my father. I picked up and spoke into the phone. “Dad, I can’t talk now, my show is on.”
“I know, honey,” my dad said. “I’m laughing, I’m crying. Your mother is, too – this is good stuff, kid.”
“Thanks, Dad. I’ll call you later,” I said and hung up the phone.
The show came back on the air, and we watched the next few acts, which featured the stakeout in Mexico and Kitt’s death. It was a lot of information to be packed into a sixty-minute show. The last act featured Rose’s confession and busting Diego and Miguel. I had edited the fight scene in the motel room to look like Foxy had punched out Miguel rather than Mac.
I took a look over at Sherry, who was rubbing Foxy’s leg vigorously. “Oh, baby, you looked so sexy punching that guy out.”
Foxy gave me a look that said I’d better not dare tell her that it wasn’t him. I nodded that I wouldn’t. At the end of the show the murder was solved, and Reid and Foxy looked like heroes. As the credits came up and we each saw our names, we all cheered and applauded. It had been a wild ride, but everything was worth it for this moment.
I exchanged some high fives with the guys, then took another long pull on my beer. Mac stood up holding something behind his back. “And now I would like to play a little video of my own. Sharpe, I hope this won’t be too embarrassing for you.” He pulled out a video tape from behind his back and held it up to me.
I panicked, thinking about the video Mac took of me getting in the race car with Kitt and acting like a bimbo. I didn’t want Reid to have to watch me flirting with him again. “Mac, no, come on, you promised that tape was private.”
“Promises are meant to be broken,” Mac said, smiling.
Reid looked irritated, and I was two steps away from jumping up and tackling Mac.
“This footage is courtesy of Evelyn Sharpe, everyone,” Mac continued and popped in the tape.
Now I was confused – was it footage of me naked as a baby or something? The image came up and Reid and I both turned brick red as we watched ourselves making out hardcore on the dance floor at Ginny’s wedding. Everyone busted out laughing, including me and Reid.
“Whoa, chica. Yeah, sexy!” Manny said excitedly.
In the background I could see my sister staring at us, wide eyed and shocked. “Oh no, look at Ginny!” I said to Reid. “She is so pissed!”
Reid pointed at the man standing next to Ginny and shaking his head. He whispered to me, “Look at my dad.”
I choked on my beer. “Oh man!”
“I’ll be sure to add this to the Sharpe highlight reel,” Mac laughed.
Reid shook his head and turned to me. “Well, I guess we don’t have to worry about hiding in my room when we want to make out.” Then he planted a big kiss on me in front of everyone. I was still laughing, and by the end of it, so was Reid.
“To Murder Live!” Mac said raising his beer bottle.
“To Murder Live!” We all agreed and clinked bottles.
Reid put his arm around me and nuzzled my neck, and I knew that right here, right now was exactly where I wanted to be.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
At the age of 23, after graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in film and television from New York University, Jenna Baker picked up from New York and drove west to Los Angeles. It was the same summer that a television series called Survivor was premiering. Jenna caught an episode of the show in a hotel room and was instantly hooked. She was so smitten that she moved her travel itinerary around to ensure that she would not miss a single episode.
When she arrived in Los Angeles, Jenna landed an assistant job for a company called Rocket Science Laboratories. They were producing another groundbreaking reality television show called Temptation Island. Jenna stayed with Rocket Science for several years, moving up from an executive assistant to an associate producer before moving on to other companies to further her career. Jenna worked on numerous reality shows, including Surprise Wedding I & II, Married By America, Paradise Hotel and two seasons of The Swan.
Working on reality shows was a blast, but it was extremely difficult for Jenna, as it meant completely giving up her own life in order to follow someone else’s. The hours were brutal and the competition was fierce, but mostly it was the mantra “anything to get the shot” that ultimately forced Jenna to choose a different career path. What she took away from her reality television career was a wealth of hilarious stories about doing anything and everything to make the show work.
Jenna now lives on Long Island with her husband and two children, Austin and Avery. She currently works in pharmaceutical meeting planning, getting ideas for her next book.