Page 1 of D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding

Week One

Chapter One

D’Vaughn

The Real Deal

“Are you just going to stare at it?”

Blinking out of my reverie, I looked up from the hefty, legal-sized, manila envelope that had been delivered directly into my hands not even an hour earlier, and stared at my best friend, my lips turned down pitifully. Pushing an obviously annoyed breath out through her nose, Cinta stomped across the living room and snatched up the envelope from where I’d placed it on the coffee table. Spinning on her heels, she stomped back across the room and leaned against the round bistro table that made up the dining area of the tiny apartment that we shared. Shooting a quick glare at me, she ran her fingernail underneath the seam, opening the envelope and pulling out its contents.

My heart lurched in my chest at the thick stack of papers now in her hands. That had to be a good sign, right? They wouldn’t send me a ton of paperwork just to tell me that I hadn’t been selected...right? Instead of voicing my thoughts, I stared anxiously at the woman who knew me better than anyone, watching her eyes rove the first page.

“What does it say?”

Ignoring me, Cinta pulled the first page off of the stack and tucked it on bottom, continuing to read in silence.

“Cinta,” I called, getting annoyed that she was reading on while I was still in the dark.

She continued reading, moving the second page to the bottom. That was the last straw for me, because there was no way in hell she’d read the second page that damn fast.

“Cinta!” I screeched, shooting onto my feet.

Brows lifted, she swung her gaze over to me. “Girl, why are you yelling?”

I just stared at her, my face scrunched into a pout. Taking pity on me, she giggled and waved the papers at me.

“If you wanted to know, you could just read them yourself.”

I took a single step toward her, lifting my hand to reach for the papers before pausing and shaking my head.

“I can’t, Cinta,” I whined, fear causing my voice to tremble. “I’m scared. Just tell me if it says yes or no.”

Pursing her lips, she shuffled the first page back on top of the stack. “Well...” she drawled, her lips drooping with remorse, “I’m sorry to say...but both of those words appear on the page.”

Releasing an indignant shriek, I flew across the room and snatched the stack of papers out of her hand. As my eyes flew across the first paragraph, my heart skipped at least three beats and my brain felt a little fuzzy.

Congratulations, D’Vaughn! We received your audition and believe you would be a wonderful addition to season three of Instant I Do.

The papers shook as my hands began trembling and the words blurred as my eyes watered. I looked up to find Cinta beaming at me.

“You’re in, boo!”

I was in?

I couldn’t believe it and wasn’t sure if I should jump for joy or crumble onto the couch and cry.

Auditioning to be a part of Instant I Do had been a long shot. I wasn’t a particularly outgoing woman and, although I was attractive, it was no secret that reality shows tended to put a certain style and shape of woman in front of the camera. Petite, with flawless skin. Dazzling smiles and relaxed hair. Skin so fair it was almost translucent. So aggressively heterosexual they were willing to fight another woman over a man offering community dick that was mediocre at best. In the more than twenty years that I’d been watching reality TV, it was clear what was the norm, and I was none of those things.

Well, I did have a dazzling smile thanks to three awkward years of orthodontia in junior high, and I was known to rock a bone-straight wig every now and then. That’s where the similarities between me and the “norm” ended. Beyond that, I didn’t tick any of the other boxes.

Yet, I held papers in my hands that said they’d chosen me. Far too often, even the calls for queer representation tended to leave out people who looked like me, but not this time. They’d accepted me in all of my cocoa-brown-skinned, plus-sized, and lesbian glory, so I suppose they were doing something different for season three. Brushing away the warm trails of tears from my cheeks, I read on. The first page informed me that I was to be a contestant on the show and then listed the contract, nondisclosure agreement, filming schedule, and terms and conditions that made up the rest of the stack. There was also a party I was required to attend where I would meet the other contestants. Moving back over to the couch, I sat down and spent the next hour silently reading through every page.

When I finished, I turned to Cinta with a wide smile on my face.

“Is this really happening?” I asked in a dazed voice.

Nodding, Cinta grabbed my forearm. She’d read everything just as I had, and knew the minute details of what I’d been tasked with for the next six weeks.