Page 54 of His Choice

“He’s not my favorite,” I admitted. “I understand from my mother, who likes to pretend she has Mafia connections to get a rise out of people, she has already promised Mikey a hit on the guy.”

Aaron chuckled. “Well, the director did say we needed more drama on the show.”

I laughed, too. “Listen, let’s stick with the plan, okay? I will gush about you over the next couple of days. I won’t let you lose face by seeming uninterested in you. It will be easy for me to act enamored. You’re a very good-looking guy, and you have a beautiful soul. As the show progresses, I’ll begin to raise concerns during my on-camera confessionals that you’re falling for Mikey instead of me. You come clean at the end of the program like we discussed. Okay?”

He nodded. “Thanks.”

“Find a moment while we’re touring the town to talk to Mikey. Make things right between the two of you.” I clapped his shoulder and winked. “It will be difficult for viewers to believe you’re falling for the guy if you two aren’t speaking to each other.”

“I will,” he promised. “Thank you, Cliff.”

The bus pulled up in front of Central Diner, the first stop on our little excursion.

“This ought to be fun,” I said sarcastically, dreading what the people in town would have to say about everything they’d seen so far.

* * * *

Once we deboarded the bus, I was happy to see Aaron made a beeline to Mikey. Although several people were trying to catch my attention, I watched the two roommates long enough to see Aaron mouth the words that he was sorry, followed by conversation that ended in an embrace.

There was a crowd of onlookers. Some held large poster boards with my picture, which was embarrassing. Several others carried signs with the name of their preferred contestant. Not surprisingly, they skewed in favor of Aaron and Mikey—the two locals. I glanced to Aaron and Mikey, and they seemed in awe of their sudden rise in popularity as people shook their hands and patted their backs.

“Let’s go inside,” Marv directed, reminding me that the camera crew was filming everything we did. “Emilio, narrate what’s happening. Action!”

Emilio stepped in front of a camera, holding a microphone like he was a news reporter.

“There’s a massive turnout here in Cliff’s hometown with folks eager to cheer him…on his journey to love,” the host announced. “You can see White Pines residents are primarily showing their support for their fellow citizens, Mikey and Aaron. Last night’s hot date between Mikey and Cliff has locals hoping there’s a White Pines union on the horizon.”

We entered the diner where customers sat at tables, but nobody was eating. All eyes were on the scene we were creating. Clem, Simone, and Keller stood near the door, welcoming the crew as we entered.

“Viewers might remember Simone and Keller from premiere night. They’re not only employees of Central Diner, but friends of Cliff’s,” Emilio reminded viewers. “Nice to see you both again. And who do we have standing with you?”

“I’m Clem, the owner and manager of the diner,” Clem explained, a seeming mix of nervousness and excitement.

“Best food in all of White Pines,” I cut in, happy to give his place a shout-out.

“In all of Vermont,” Clem corrected.

The camera might have caught Keller rolling his eyes in disagreement.

“This place has a real throwback vibe,” Emilio said. “Just look at the uniforms. It’s like something from the television show Happy Days.”

Keller appeared baffled, no doubt never having heard of a show that aired long before he was born. Simone didn’t seem too sure what Emilio was referring to, either.

“It’s the vibe we create here at Central Diner,” Clem piped up. “Happy days! Come in on Tuesdays when free all-you-can-eat helpings of fries are added to every meal!”

Emilio fake-smiled at the shameless self-promotion. “Yes, well, how about we get updated opinions on the contestants from the three of you now that you’ve seen a couple of episodes.”

Some of the contestants played along, shouting out their own names to the trio before they could respond.

Simone appeared worried each cast member would accost her if she didn’t mention them. “Um, I think they’re all wonderful.”

Emilio smirked. “Do you really? Every one of them?”

I imagined Simone wasn’t fond of Daryl, considering her strong sense of fairness, kindness and civility. But I also knew she was savvy enough to keep a negative opinion to herself.

“Well, I still think Ted is a dream,” she admitted.

Ted shouted ‘yeah’ with a fist-bump to the air, but he was met with silence from the diners.