Setting Her Sights on Love

by Jill Ferraro

  Brielle went back to the apartment and flopped on the couch. She was exhausted and still had to finish her duties for the rest of the day. She hoped Stacey would suggest more coffee at their next meeting.

  Her device buzzed. She’d been away from the device for almost 45 minutes and had 10 missed messages. None from Carl.

  Asher: How did dress shopping go?!

  Brielle: I found two dresses. The wedding planner is going to see if we can get them both altered and I can decide the morning of which one to wear.

  Asher: You could wear a paper bag and I wouldn’t even notice, I would be too busy looking at you.

  Brielle’s heart skipped a beat as she reread Asher’s message. He was so thoughtful and he seemed genuine. She decided to message Carl, curious if he’d give her a similar response.

  Brielle: I found a dress! Well...two dresses, actually!

  Five minutes went by without a response. And 10. And 20. By the time a half-hour had passed, Brielle decided she’d had enough. She opened up a new message to Carl.

  Brielle: You say you want to marry me but you are making absolutely no effort to win me over! What’s the problem, Carl? I’m not going to beg you to talk to me. This is your warning.

  Brielle: I like you a LOT for some reason but if you can’t be bothered to put in even a minimal amount of effort, you’re going home.

  She tossed her device to the other side of the couch and paced the apartment. She was mad but she needed to calm down before Stacey got there. She walked over to the kitchen and made some coffee, on high alert for the sound of a new message.

  If he wanted to get married, he’d respond to her message. No one naps this often. He had to be avoiding her messages.

  Stacey arrived and there was still no sign of Carl. Brielle tried to push him out of her mind and get back to work planning her wedding.

  Chapter Four

  Carl

  Brielle: And now you’re not even going to respond?

  Brielle: Seriously?

  ◆◆◆

  Carl tried to focus on his lunch but noticed his phone buzzing away on the table beside him. He was alone, the other guys in the apartment were avoiding him and he liked it better that way. He didn’t need to make polite small talk with Peter or talk about his feelings with Brandon. He was much more content sitting alone, working on his plan to win the show.

  His plan was failing. He thought keeping her guessing about when he was going to respond would be intriguing but it clearly backfired. Now she was fired up, she hadn’t stopped messaging him about how mad she was. And Carl didn’t yet know how to respond.

  Maybe it was best to let her tire herself out. She had to get bored of threatening to send him home eventually, right? Carl noticed Peter’s bags were already packed, he was going home that night. Carl had 24 more hours to convince Brielle he was worth keeping around.

  The sandwich in front of him was growing cold and he took a bite. The peppers from the cheesesteak weren’t cooked through and added a crunch to his meal. Carl wasn’t a big fan of peppers but didn’t have the desire to pull them out. He ate them anyway.

  Halfway through his lunch the front door to the apartment swung open and Mark strolled into the room. He was wearing his signature outfit of jeans and a black t-shirt. Mark scanned the room until his eyes rested on Carl.

  “How are ya, Carl?” Mark approached the table but didn’t sit.

  All eyes were on them. Mark never came to the apartment unless he needed something. “Fine.”

  “When you’re done, can we talk? In the hallway?” Mark’s tone made it clear this wasn’t a request.

  Carl didn’t want to make a scene. He didn’t want to speak with Mark in the hallway, he already knew what he was going to say. “Sure, Mark. As soon as I’m done with my lunch.” He picked up the bag of chips, making a conscious effort to stare at the TV over Mark’s shoulder.

  Mark stood there waiting for Carl to say more but he didn’t say a word. He wasn’t about to hand his power over to Mark. He shifted uncomfortably. “Ok. I will wait out there.” He walked off in a huff and slammed the door.

  Carl took his time finishing his chips. He didn’t want Mark to think he had the upper hand before they started their conversation. Despite not being hungry, he finished the whole bag and sat to let it digest for five minutes before throwing away his plate and making his way into the hall.

  Mark was leaning against the wall, scrolling on his phone when Carl emerged from the apartment.

  “You took your time.”

  Carl rolled his eyes. “Listen, I don’t have anything else going on-”

  Mark cut him off. “You do. You could be messaging your future wife.”

  “She’s pissed at me.”

  “Well, you need to get her un-pissed at you. And fast.”

  He shrugged. “She’ll come around eventually. Don’t worry.”

  Mark raised his voice. “I am worried. I’m really worried, Carl. You can’t mess this up.” He closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Abigail wants the three of us to have a meeting later. After filming.”

  Carl scoffed. “Is she serious?”

  “You’ll be there.” He didn’t wait for Carl to respond. “Pull out your device.”

  “Why?”

  “You’re not in the position to ask questions right now.”

  Carl reluctantly pulled out the device. Anger was building in his chest. It was taking great restraint not to yell at Mark.

  “Open a new message to Brielle and send her this.” Mark dictated a message for Carl.

  Carl: Brielle i am so so sorry. i understand ur pissed and u have evry rite 2 b. i do REALLY care about ur dress. i cant wait 2 c u in it. i guess i just miss my friends from home nd have ben spending time with the guys here to make up for it. Not a excuse and i shudnt have ignored ur txts this morning

  He hit send and Mark nodded, satisfied Carl sent the message. “That should hold her over. You will respond to every message she sends within five minutes of receiving it for at least the rest of the day. Not a discussion.”

  Carl gritted his teeth. “Whatever you say, boss.”

  “We will see you at 9 PM tonight in the producer’s suite. Don’t tell anyone where you’re going.”

  “Can I go now?”

  Carl went back into the apartment, slamming the door with such force a glass fell off a shelf in the kitchen and shattered on the floor.

  “Someone clean that up,” he said to the room full of men. No one dared to move but also couldn’t look away. He stomped off down the hallway and spent the rest of the afternoon in his room.

  Chapter Five

  Brielle

  Carl: Can u forgive me???

  Brielle: If you show me you’re serious then maybe

  Brielle: TBH idk if I even believe you

  ◆◆◆

  Brielle tried to focus on what Stacey was saying but it was growing increasingly difficult. She’d gotten in a fight with Carl over whether or not he even wanted to be with her. He wasn’t showing it and it was driving her crazy.

  Stacey was giving her options for the DJ. Brielle considered asking all of the guys for their top 10 favorite songs but it would have taken far too long to compile the list. Stacey wanted to move on from the music to more important things. Brielle hoped her future husband shared her musical inclinations.

  She decided on a pop/rock blend with plenty of popular classic love songs. She didn’t want the music for the wedding to be too flashy or different from what was expected, his family could be super conservative or hate country music or come from a long line of musicians. It was better to stay mainstream than rock any familial boats on Day One. She had the rest of the day to finalize the playlists.

  Her device wouldn’t stop buzzing. It was Carl. He was still trying to convince her he was serious about their relationship and didn’t take too kindly to being ignored.

  Carl: Please believe me

  Carl: i really dont want to lose you beca
use i was so stupid

  Carl: U have to admit we have sumthing here, right ???

  Brielle was frustrated because he was right. They did have something. It was hard to explain but over the past few days, when Carl was responding they had an instant connection. He seemed easy to talk to and like he’d do what he needed to do to provide for her and their family when the time came.

  She couldn’t figure him out. He was hot and cold, playing games or completely attentive. He was all over the map. She tried to write it off as him being bad at responding to messages but it felt intentional.

  Whatever he was doing was clearly working, despite Brielle’s best attempts to distance herself from him. He was on her mind all the time and she analyzed every message he sent, rereading them over and over again.

  He had power over her and she was finding it hard to resist him. Especially if he proved to her he was consistent and caring from that point forward. Brielle knew the point of the show was to find someone without meeting them but what if he was the man of her dreams and was just bad at being on his device all the time. Isn’t that what she wanted, a man who gave her his full attention without his face in a screen?

  “Brielle?” Stacey was holding up two pictures. Brielle tuned out and had no idea what she was talking about.

  “I’m sorry, Stacey. I was completely spacing out. Can you repeat that?”

  Stacey put the photos down and re-explained her options for makeup. She had several photos laid out on the table and went over the various benefits of each. Brielle tried to stay focused on her words but was distracted by the photos. Which one of these women did she want to be on her wedding day?

  “So glam? Natural? A mix of both?”

  “Um...I want to stick to the natural side. I do want a red lip, it will go great with either dress.”

  “Great.” She brushed the photos into a pile and stuck them in a folder. “You can look at more pictures later for homework. Now we need to talk about your hair. Should we make more coffee?”

  Relief washed over Brielle. “Yes. Definitely yes.” She got up and started brewing another pot of coffee. Their mugs were still on the table from the previous pot. She felt like she’d had more coffee this week than she had in her entire life.

  “How are things going on the husband front? Make any progress” Stacey asked as she got up to get the half and half from the refrigerator.

  “Confusing. No change there.”

  “And Carl?”

  “Carl won’t leave me alone all of a sudden. I call him out on his behavior and he changes completely. But the question is, will it last? I don’t know.”

  “Is it possible your stress is making him seem less responsive than he is?” Stacey returned to the table. “You’re hyper-aware of every message and have a lot of other people to compare him to. It could be easy to make a mountain out of a molehill.”

  Brielle paused. Was Carl being distant? Or was he simply responding to what Brielle was putting out there?

  Brielle: Yeah, I do think we have something

  Brielle: I’ve been really stressed. I’m sorry if I overreacted. This is a big decision.

  Carl: Don’t worry about it

  Brielle: I need to know you’re gonna be there for me. And right now the only way to know for sure is by you responding to my messages. It sucks but that’s all we have right now.

  Carl: i get it

  Carl: ill do better

  Carl: Promise

  Brielle tucked her device in her pocket. She felt a little better having talked to Carl and getting quicker responses. If he messaged her consistently, she’d know he was serious. And if he didn’t, she’d know who to eliminate next.

  As Brielle and Stacey were pouring over hairstyles, the phone rang. Brielle hopped up to answer it.

  “Hello?”

  “Who are you going to eliminate today?” It was Abigail.

  “Peter.”

  “Great, come down and film the video in 10 minutes.”

  “But I need to get dressed.”

  “You better do it quickly.” Abigail hung up the phone.

  “Stacey, bad news. I’ve gotta go film my video to eliminate Peter.”

  “Oh, it’s not a problem. I’ll leave all of these photos here. Look them over when you get a chance tonight and we can decide in the morning.”

  “Perfect.” Brielle pulled on her interview outfit. She left Stacey in the apartment, arranging the various photographs, and left to film her elimination video for Peter.

  Chapter Six

  Peter

  Brielle: Thanks again for making this so much easier. You’re a great guy!!

  Peter: :) No problem! I hope you find the perfect husband!

  ◆◆◆

  Peter set his device on the bedside table and leaned back against the wall. His bags were packed and he was leaving the apartment any moment now. The day dragged on longer than the previous two as he counted down the hours until Brielle’s face popped onto the screen in the living room to tell him he was going home.

  He didn’t regret his decision to be on the show. Despite the drama of the first few days, most of the guys had their hearts in the right place and Brielle was a great woman. She would make a great wife one day, just not for him.

  The familiar call came over the loudspeaker. Mark was requesting the guys make their way into the living room to learn who was eliminated. Peter hopped up and stood behind the couch, waiting for the video to begin.

  It was hard to read the faces of the other guys. Asher was standing next to Peter. He appreciated his solidarity and hoped Brielle chose Asher to be her husband, he was a great guy and seemed to have her best interests at heart. Matthew and Shea sat on the love seat, each jiggling a leg while they waited for the latest decision. Brandon was leaning against a wall and Carl was laid out on the couch, making it impossible for anyone else to have a seat.

  “I’m not going to review the rules because you already know them. Any questions?” Mark looked around before hitting play on the video.

  Brielle’s face filled the screen. Her hair was different from the previous day but she was wearing the same red dress. She looked amazing but Peter tried to focus on her words.

  “Hey everybody! Day Three is almost over, can you believe it?! I found my wedding dress today, I’m so excited for one of you to see me in it.” She paused and Peter closed his eyes to prepare for the next part of her speech.

  “Today’s choice was easy because one of you decided to step up and be a man instead of acting like a child. Peter, you’re a great guy but we both agree we don’t have a connection. Thank you for recognizing that and sharing it with me so we both don’t waste our time.”

  Everyone in the room turned to Peter. He was about to respond when Brielle’s voice continued.

  “Tomorrow’s choice will be more difficult. I’m excited to have gotten to know each of you but I’m only getting married once. Time will tell who the lucky guy will be.”

  The screen went blank and no one moved for a moment, letting her words sink in. Carl was the first to get up and leave the room, no doubt he’d be brooding in his room for the rest of the night.

  “Peter? Come with me.”

  Peter followed Mark to the apartment they transformed into a studio for recording one-on-one videos. He sat on a couch and Laura and James began to set up to film.

  “How long will this take?” He was anxious to get on out of the building and make the trip home.

  Mark glanced up from his phone and raised an eyebrow. “You’re awfully eager to leave.”

  “I’ve known from Day One this wasn’t going to work out. I want to go home.” Peter adjusted in the chair.

  “Well, you can’t leave until she confirms she’s not going on a date with you. So you’ll have to wait a little while longer.”

  “Oh. Right.” He’d forgotten there was an option to go on a date. Fortunately, he didn’t think she’d want to waste her time.

  James poked his head from aro
und the camera. “We’re ready when you are.”

  Peter was overwhelmed. He hadn’t given this part any thought. “What am I supposed to say?”

  Mark rolled his eyes. “Tell her how you feel about going home. She’ll only see it if you don’t get a date. Damien and Jason were a bit...colorful.” He went back to his phone before adding, “And remember, she doesn’t know you know what she looks like.”

  This made Peter uncomfortable. He’d managed to forget about that lie for the day. He shifted in his seat and tried to craft a message that wouldn’t make him look like a loser in front of a national audience.

  “Ready?” Laura asked. Peter nodded and she counted from five.

  “Hey, Brielle. Sorry this didn’t work out between us. You’re really sweet, kind, and will make an excellent wife to someone. Just not me. I wish you good luck and thanks for letting me go home sooner rather than later.”

  “How cute.” Abigail came out from the other room.

  “Thanks?” He looked from Abigail to Mark. “Can I go back to the apartment now?”

  “Sure. Wait by the phone. Laura and James will be coming up with you.” Abigail shooed the trio out of the apartment.

  Back upstairs, life had returned to normal in the apartment. There was no sign of Carl, Asher and Brandon were deep in conversation on the couch, and Shea and Matthew were playing a football video game.

  Peter went to his room and grabbed his suitcase. He rolled it down the hall and rested it against the wall near the entry. There was nothing left to do but wait for the phone to ring.

  He watched Shea and Matthew’s game as he waited. 30 minutes later, the phone rang. Peter jumped up to answer it, with Laura and James close behind him to film.