Page 53 of Billionaire’s Game

“Fine, just fine. I’ll cheer for you guys from the audience,” she said, swatting at the security guard’s hands. “Leave me alone. I know how to get to the audience side. I do NOT need an escort.” She looked back at me and said, “Good luck, Lesli! You got this, girl!” And to Magnus, she flirtatiously said, “See you tonight.”

She flounced away while the security guards looked on shaking their heads. “We’ll have to keep an eye on that one. She looks like trouble.”

“So, you’re seeing Violet tonight?”

“She’s persistent,” was all Magnus said.

I made a noncommittal sound, but inside I was fuming.

A photographer came by to take a picture of all the contestants and, for some reason, she said to us, “Don’t you guys make a lovely couple.”

“We’re not a couple,” I grumbled.

The photographer winced and mumbled an apology.

“What’s going on with you today?” Magnus had the nerve to ask.

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

He looked at me funny and I ignored him. It had been a few weeks since Violet had interviewed and been hired by Jude. She was a great worker and fit in with the team instantly, especially Maya. But I was starting to hate her. It was official, she and Magnus were dating. She had told anyone in the office that would listen.

I knew I didn’t have a right to hate her, after all, I’d had my chance with Magnus and I’d pushed him away. However, it pissed me off to no end that he liked her. And it felt like Violet was betraying me by going out with him. But she didn’t know that I liked him. In fact, I’d gone out my way to talk about how much I didn’t like him. When Violet had mentioned it to me initially that she was going out with Magnus, she’d asked me if I was ok with it. I’d pretended that it was no big deal and had replied, “Have fun!”

But clearly, I was anything but ok. I was angry and had spent the entirety of last week villainizing Magnus and Violet in my head. I knew it was petty, but it was either that or acknowledge that I had feelings for Magnus and the idea of him going out with my best friend made me sick to my stomach.

I felt so stupid for being so conflicted. I knew I was being unfair to Violet who I was now keeping at arm’s length. She’d looked hurt and had asked me if she had done anything wrong. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I didn’t like that she was dating Magnus, nor did I want her to know that I was interested in him. So instead I’d given her the silent treatment every now and then. I felt so bad about my behavior. I knew I was being childish, but I was at a loss in terms of what it was that I should be doing.

I broke out of my reverie as the lights popped on and an announcement filled the air.

“It’s time for Brain Pain,” said our host with a beatific smile. He was tall with beautiful hair, and sparkling blue eyes, I finally noticed.

“I’m Mickey Sims. Welcome to our show. Tonight, we have a special charity event for your viewing pleasure. The charity event will last for the next three weeks, so tune in each week for a new adventure where the competing celebrity and a representative from his or her charity compete to win one million dollars.”

The crowd clapped and cheered as queued.

I rolled my eyes and Magnus looked at me with amusement. I knew I was being unnecessarily cranky, but whatever. He was dating Violet of all people.

“Just in case you’re just tuning in, here’s how this show will go. Each challenge will be about strength or smarts. Some challenges will be team challenges and some challenges will be done by one person.”

He briefly explained which charities each of us were competing for and I begrudgingly acknowledged that each of the charities listed was reputable and supported a good cause. I wasn’t very competitive, but knowing that if we lost, it would be to a good cause was enough to make me feel better.

There was the usual game show chitchat and then we were told to stand at our placemats, which had the words pain or brain situated on giant buttons on the floor.

“Teams, in front of you there are two large buttons. One is for pain and one is for brain. When I tell you, one person from the team will make a selection by stepping on either the button for pain or the button for brain. The catch is, that selection will not be for you, but for your partner’s challenge... brain or pain. And the time to choose is now!”

Without hesitation, I jumped on a button, smiled broadly and said, “Pain.”

Before Magnus could say a word, his position was locked in. He looked at me in shock and I smiled brightly at him. God, I didn’t know I could be so bad. And it kind of felt good.

As luck would have it, all the other contestants chose Pain too. I guess we all had a personal vendetta against our partners.

The host looked absolutely delighted by our selections. Too delighted in my opinion. “Look behind you to find out what Brain Pain has in store for you today.”

I happily turned around and as they pulled the curtains back, I saw it. There were four makeshift hills covered in dirt and standing about twelve feet high.

“This will be relatively easy,” the host said. “You just climb that hill and ring the bell at the top. Easy peasy, right?” He gave us a big smile. “But you’ll climb it dragging half your body weight.”

I wasn’t impressed yet. Magnus seemed like a strong guy. He could probably easily pull half his body weight.