Page 5 of D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding

After introductions, the conversation shifted to expectations for the upcoming season. A few people wanted to hear more about Kris’s quest for love, but I needed to avoid her for my sanity’s sake. It was bad enough that I almost choked to death at the sight of her, I didn’t need to add “perpetually struck mute whenever she’s around” to my contestant profile on the season opener. Somehow, I was dragged into a conversation with Kirk and Jerri, but quickly begged off to refill my drink. To my dismay, they followed me, grabbing drinks of their own as they talked over my head about gender roles and what was expected of us during the season. Since I hadn’t been familiar with the show prior to auditioning, I was genuinely curious, but had nothing to add to the conversation so I kept quiet. The tenth contestant arrived, and with them came a final round of introductions. This one was quick and dirty, with Diamond calling out names and folks waving from wherever they were in the room.

About an hour into the night, my feet started to protest my upright position. Although the dark green platform heels were usually comfortable, that was mostly when I was moving around. Standing in one place and allowing my weight to settle made the shoes near torturous. Fully capable of appearing to be engaged in the conversation while sitting, I made my way over to the couch and eased down on the end, leaning my knees to the right and crossing my feet at the ankles. Almost immediately after I sat down, three other people joined me on the sectional, with Tanisha sitting next to me.

“Hey, Dee!” she chirped, pleasantly.

Dee wasn’t a nickname that I went by, but I figured I’d let it slide for the night. If Tanisha ended up being my fiancée for the next six weeks, I’d correct her when we discussed strategy.

As if she had heard my thoughts, Tanisha sighed and leaned into me.

“You know, you are exactly my type.”

My brows rose and an uncontrollable smile lit my face.

“Really?”

She nodded, brushing her microbraids over her shoulder and twisting in her seat until she was facing me. Her ombré lips pursed as she eyed me from head to toe, the undeniable interest in her eyes warming me from the inside and making me blush.

“Yep. To a T.” She gestured at me. “All this pretty brown skin and those dimples? I love it. Then, to top it off, you’re thick and know how to dress? Perfection.”

Bringing a hand to my face, I covered my eyes, my cheeks hurting from how hard I was grinning. “Please stop.”

Tanisha grabbed my hand and lowered it from my face. “Don’t do that. Don’t cover up that gorgeous face.”

Dropping my eyes to my lap, I stared at the glass in my hand. I was on my second and final drink of the night, but I might be tempted to have another if Tanisha didn’t let up.

Scooting closer to me so that our thighs pressed together, Tanisha bent her head to look at my face. “You’re either not used to being complimented, or you’re shy as hell and my attention is embarrassing you. Which is it?”

Lifting my eyes to her face, I tried to suppress my smile. “You are embarrassing the hell out of me right now.”

With a nod, she scooted away from me just enough so that we were no longer flush against each other. “Alright. I’ll ease up; but you should know that if you were my fiancée, I wouldn’t.”

“Well,” I began, lifting one of my shoulders, “it’s a possibility.”

She shook her head. “Making you my fiancée would be too easy. When I said you’re my type, I meant that you’re the kind of girl I could fall in love with. This show is about convincing our family and friends that we are doing something unbelievable. Nothing about me and you together would be unbelievable.”

I stared at her, lips parted, as I took in what she’d said. Tanisha’s words made my heart beat a little faster. I could see her point, though. Although I didn’t have a “type” in the traditional sense, my dating history tended to trend toward women who looked like Tanisha. With her caramel skin, pouty lips, and curvy shape, it wouldn’t be hard to convince those who truly knew me that we were a thing, and from the attraction I felt toward her, and her flirtatious nature, I wouldn’t even have to pretend that I was into her. But truthfully, my aim wasn’t to convince my loved ones I was into a stranger—not exactly. I was here to do something that I’d been unable to do, but was wholly necessary. It mattered not if my match didn’t make sense.

After I agreed with her, we moved on to a different topic, and she did as she said she would, easing up off of me. Able to breathe, I was in the middle of listening to Tanisha describe her perfect date, when I felt someone tap on my shoulder. Looking up, I saw a dark-skinned woman with a pixie cut smiling down at me.

“Hi, D’Vaughn. I’m Bethany, one of the executive producers for the show. Can you come with me?”

Nodding, I stood from the couch and sat my empty glass on the coffee table atop a coaster, before smoothing my hands down my dress and following Bethany across the living room. When we reached the foyer, she made a right down a hall of closed doors before stopping at the last one on the right. She turned to me, a bright smile on her impish face, and spread her arms on either side of her.

“Are you ready?”

Cringing, I hesitated. “Uh...ready for what?”

Sensing my unease, Bethany shook her head and touched my arm. “No worries, D’Vaughn. It’s just a little chat.”

“Um, okay then. Let’s go.”

Bethany pushed open the door, entering the room first. I followed behind her, stepping inside of the bedroom and casting an assessing glance around. There was a full-sized bed bracketed by two nightstands against one wall, and a round, plush rug in the center of the floor. In the space between the bed and the door was a chair with one of those professional light umbrellas trained on it and a microphone dangling above it. A few feet in front of the chair was a huge camera mounted on a tripod. The lens of the camera was aimed at the chair.

Bethany gestured for me to have a seat and I did so gingerly, pressing my knees together and crossing my ankles demurely as I eased down into the chair, my palms sweating more than a little bit. It was a bit nerve-wracking sitting directly in front of a camera, but it was something I was going to have to get used to, at least for the next six weeks. Standing off to the side of the camera, Bethany smiled at me.

“Thanks for giving me a moment, D’Vaughn. This won’t take long.”

I nodded, curious about what I’d be doing. “No problem,” I offered as if I’d really had a choice.