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“We watched your audition video before you came on set,” Oswald said. “It was a first for many of these contestants, who weren’t privy to your many accomplishments.”
Snow waved away the compliment, though if she were being honest, it was true. She’d had to talk herself up big time to be considered. Lily had helped her record a passable video showcasing her musical abilities, her feats in gymnastics and ballet, and an impressive spread of her accomplishments in culinary and acting schools.
“I’ve been able to stalk them too,” she said, earning more laughter.
Oswald boomed before settling down again. “Ho ho! Might as well call it what it is, right?” he said, his chuckles dying away. He gripped his microphone and positioned himself in the space between Snow and the bachelors. As he had no chair, he remained standing, which put him face-to-face with Snow, thanks to her chair’s height. “In that case, I’m sure you’d like to meet the men you’ve been getting to know, so I’ll get out of your way. From this point on, we’ll leave you all to chat. The men have an assignment before the end of the night, however—which is in about twenty minutes.” Another chuckle.
This was news to Snow. She’d been briefed on the goings-on so far—she hadn’t known there would be anything else. “Oh? What assignment?”
Again, this was part of the agreement. The producers wanted as much reality and impulsivity as possible on HMW and not having every detail laid out was a way to facilitate that.
Oswald swept his arm toward the men, who rose to their feet. “You’ll have the opportunity to speak with each one of them, and they must each earn an apple from you in order to continue on in the show. No apple, no moving on to round two, gents.”
The audience released a sympathetic mutter. Snow already knew this was the case, but she also knew specific details were left off so she could react as naturally as possible. She hadn’t realized she could vote someone off after the first night.
No pressure.
“And how do they earn this apple?” she asked.
“They must give you three things. One secret. One truth. And one wish. If you feel like, based on their responses, they’re someone you’re interested in getting to know better, you grant them a coveted apple.” He sniggered and snarled the phrasecoveted apple,earning another reaction from the audience before offering Snow the handle of a basket filled with ruby red apples that gleamed under the stage lights as though they’d each been individually shined.
She wouldn’t be surprised if they were.
“Sounds like a challenge of my own,” she said.
“It is,” he said, his expression turning solemn. “Much as we hate to think of the eventuality, only one man can continue on with you once the show is done. The elimination is an unfortunate part of the situation. However, each of the men here is prepared to handle it if it comes down to that.”
His smile shifted as quickly as if he were a masked prop whose frown had been turned upside down. “But we’re not here to dwell on such unpleasantness tonight. Go on, mingle. Chat. Just know it’s okay if you still have more than one apple left in your basket by the night’s end.”
The basket was lighter than she anticipated. As she suspected, they weren’t real apples but plastic, spit-shined imposters. Snow took in the expressions on each of the men’s faces. This was going to be more daunting than she thought, and she wasn’t sure who to single out first. She liked the look of Carter’s smile, and so approached him.
“Hello, Carter,” she said, feeling the cameraman inching forward to zero in on the two of them. “Preston, Tys,” she said, greeting the two men who’d remained at Carter’s side. The other four contestants shuffled to the side and clustered to speak together under their breaths.
“Snow.” Carter adjusted his thin-rimmed glasses and straightened his shoulders. He had brown hair and wore a soft gray t-shirt and jeans with tennis shoes. Snow could practically wade through the nervousness radiating off of him. She was glad she’d picked him first if only so she could put him at ease.
“So nice to meet you,” she said, gripping the handle of the basket, which grew heavier the longer she held it. “I was impressed by your interest in software design.”
“Yeah,” he said, dipping his head as if to hide the color climbing the sides of his neck. “I mean, thanks. I was impressed by your profile too. You had some credentials, that’s for sure.”
“Don’t bore her,” Preston said, clapping Carter on the back hard enough to make him stagger. “She knows what her video contained. She wants to know about you. Or maybe, me.” Preston offered his hand.
Snow was immediately turned off by his arrogance. It was entirely possible he was also nervous and trying to play off the emotion, but putting Carter down wasn’t the most impressive way to do that.
She hadn’t thought she’d deny anyone an apple tonight, but with Preston’s act, that might be the case after all.
3
Snow slipped her hand into Preston’s. “Very well then,” she said, gripping hard before releasing her hold. “Why don’t you show Carter how it’s done.”
“Excuse me?”
“Impress me,” Snow said, planting her heels. “These apples are getting heavy.”
Several of the other guys laughed. A small smile tweaked the corner of Carter’s mouth. He shrugged and stepped back as if making way for Preston to take over.
“All right then,” Preston said. “I’m not just going to tell you my three things—secret, then truth, then wish. I prepared something special just for you.”
“Oh?”
