“The truth is …” He stopped, almost forgetting he was supposed to talk like the action was still happening. There was the sound of clicking and snapping as someone off to the side took a mountain load of pictures. Normally, being in the greenhouse, no matter how brief, filled Ejiro with a sense of excitement and calm. Now, though, all the flowery scents and the low buzz of insects were doing nothing but giving him a headache. Ejiro swallowed. Cleared his throat. “So, uh, Sophia and I are having a good time, right? We’re talking, getting to know each other better. She’s really interested in knowing how it feels to be a twin, so I’m sharing some of my experiences when, suddenly, she leans in and kisses me.”
Ejiro wanted to close his eyes. He wanted to curse. Instead, he imagined a tiny Obiora with pompoms sitting on his shoulder cheering him on. The image made his lips twitch. He subconsciously straightened his spine.
“And I’m … surprised. I hesitate because, well, truthfully, I don’t want to kiss her.” He panicked at how terrible that sounded, and added quickly, “I mean, I’m not ready to kiss her. At least, not at that moment, and I kind of panic because of all the cameras. I don’t want her to feel embarrassed or hurt, so I kiss her back. She looks pleased, afterwards, which just makes me … upset. I’m upset. Really upset.”
Ameri looked slightly alarmed. She quickly wiped the expression from her face.
“I don’t want to kiss her,” Ejiro continues, struggling to keep his eyes on the camera, “and it makes me feel awful that I do it anyway. I know I should say something in the moment, I should tell her how I feel, but I’m so overwhelmed—it’s all happening so fast. Before I know it, the date is over, and I’m back at the mansion.”
There was a brief silence, but Ameri took over effortlessly, smoothly wrapping things up.
Ejiro heaved a sigh of relief when it was over. He felt unusually drained by today’s cutaway and just wanted to go to his room and have a little lie down.
“Ejiro, sorry, hold on. Can I see you for a sec?” Ameri called before he could make his escape.
He briefly tilted his face up to the heavens, before turning to face Ameri, a small smile on his lips. “Yes, of course.”
Ameri led him out toward the smaller pool, away from the rest of the crew. None of the bachelors were outside, thank God.
Ejiro resisted the urge to hug himself.
“Are you okay?” Ameri asked, her expression and tone serious.
Ejiro’s eyes widened in surprise before he quickly concealed it. “What? No. I mean, yes. I’m fine. Why?”
“While this is reality TV, the last thing I want is for any of you to be uncomfortable. You said just now that you didn’t want to kiss Sophia, but you did anyway, because of the cameras.”
Ejiro swallowed. “I—that’s not—”
“No, look,” Ameri interrupted, “You should know that at any point during the filming, if you feel uncomfortable, at all, even the slightest bit, you can make a signal at either me or any of the other directors, and we can stop the filming immediately. You don’t have to do anything just because the cameras are rolling. Do you get me?”
Ejiro felt a little choked up. “Oh,” he whispered.
“Jesus,” Ameri said, patting her locs the same way Blessing did when her scalp was itchy but she didn’t want to mess up her hairdo. “This is my fault. I’ll make an announcement later to the other bachelors. Don’t feel pressured by the cameras to do anything. Jesus. I’m not mad at you, I’m mad at myself. The whole point of reality TV—for me, personally—is the real part. I don’t care if other producers allow icky stuff to slide just because it looks good on TV; do not, under any circumstances, do something you do not want just because you feel it might look better on TV.”
“I understand,” Ejiro said, a little sheepishly. “Obiora said the same thing.”
“Smart man.” Ameri grinned. “All right, then, love? Good. I’ll be coming in to talk to the other bachelors in a bit anyways. I won’t mention you, don’t worry,” she added when she noticed Ejiro’s slight look of panic.
Ejiro blushed. “Thank you.”
“Right. I’ll see y’all in a bit. Thank you for talking to me.”
“Thank you,” Ejiro responded.
Ameri waved him off, then went back to the crew. With a small smile on his face, Ejiro headed back toward the mansion. He was the last to film his cutaways for the day, so none of the other bachelors were waiting on the back patio as he climbed up to the back doors.
The second he closed the sliding doors behind him, the smell of something delicious and familiar wafted into his nose.
“Just in time,” Obiora said from where he was just turning off the stove.
Ejiro inhaled again, deeply. “Is that …?”
“Goat meat pepper soup? Why yes. Yes, it is,” Obiora said smugly. He untied the apron from around his waist, and removed the hairnet from his hair, ruffling his curls after.
Ejiro swallowed. “How …?”
“I may or may not have ordered some goat meat from Ameri last night. She had one of the staff bring it this morning while you were preoccupied.”
