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“Please? I promised Brittany I wouldn’t tell you where we’re going, and she’ll be mad if you see ahead of time.”
I can’t believe he’s serious. I also can’t believe he thinks there’s a place in town that’s worth this amount of excitement. Closing my eyes, I tell him, “You’d better be driving me to Chicago.”
“While that would be fun, we’d never get to bed on time.”
I lean my head against the headrest as he pulls out of the parking lot. I’m so weary from the past few days, I’m not even tempted to open my eyes. In fact, I start to doze off. I jolt awake to find there’s a scarf wrapped around my face.How did I sleep through that?
“What’s going on, Chip?” I demand.
A freezing cold blast of air blows through the car when he opens the door. “I’m coming around to get you. I’m going to lead you.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake …” But I suppose like my grandmother used to say, if I’m in for a penny, why not a pound? When Chip reaches my side, he takes my hand and puts it on his arm. “Be careful, it’s a little icy.”
Holding onto him, I let him slowly lead me to wherever the heck it is we’re going. Moments later, he opens a door and we walk inside a building. The faint aroma of patty melts immediately alerts me to where we are. He’s brought me to the country club! Why would he do that? I pull against his arm. “No way, Chip. I’m out of here!”
Pulling the scarf off my face, I turn to leave. But then I see the group of people standing in front of me. Tim, Trina, Cami, Brittany, and of course, Chip. “Paige,” Trina says. “We’re glad you came.”
“I wouldn’t have if I had known where I was being taken.” I glare at Chip who shows the good sense to look contrite.
Trina steps forward, “Let me explain why you’re here and if you want to leave after that, I won’t stop you.”
“There is nothing you can say to me that will make me want to stay,” I warn her.
“Just hear me out, okay?”
I take a step toward her while doing my best not to look at any of her conspirators, especially Tim. It’s clear they’re all in this together. As such, they’re all on my list. “Fine. Why am I here?”
“Let’s go into the ballroom,” she says.
I follow her like I’m being led through a swamp full of live alligators—extremely cautiously. When we get to our destination, I notice there’s a camera crew set up across the room. “What are they doing here?” I demand.
Trina motions for everyone else to go sit down. Once they walk away, she tells me, “I’ve gotten the producers to agree not to air last night’s footage in exchange for you and Tim coming in for an exit interview.”
If that’s true, then I won’t lose my job for public indecency. “How did you do that?”
“I told them I wouldn’t be their host anymore if they continued to play dirty pool. I also stipulated that they needed to let both of you off the show without penalty. In exchange for that, all you have to do is sit down and talk to me.”
“I want to be paid for the full season,” I suddenly demand. I know that’s pushing it, but my roof still needs fixing, and this is the only leverage I’ve got.
Trina nods. “Okay. But you have to answerallof my questions, and you have to listen to Tim.” I’d rather this deal was contingent on dental surgery or a minor amputation—like my baby toe.As it’s not, I agree, “Fine.”
Trina leads me out of the room to hair and makeup where they rush me through faster than they ever have before. When we get back into the ballroom, she signals Tim to join us. He and I sit on a loveseat in front of the camera with me doing my best not to make eye contact with him. Trina sits on a chair adjacent to us.
While our mics are being put on, she says, “We’re going to pretend this interview was shot at the end of the season.” Then she tells me, “The two of you left the show early because ofillness.” Before I can comment, she looks at the camera and says, “Let’s do this.”
Smiling at us, she continues, “Paige, Tim, thank you both for coming in to talk to us. We were all sad when you had to leave early due to sickness.” She asks, “How are you both feeling now?”
Tim answers first. “I’ve been feeling great, thanks for asking.”
I mumble, “I’m okay.”
“Tim,” Trina says, “it looked like you and Cami were making a love connection before you left. Is that true?”
I turn and stare at him. Keeping his eyes focused on the camera, he answers, “That’s how Cami and I wanted it to look but that wasn’t the case.”
Wait, what?
He continues, “I’ve been married before, and my ex-wife left me for an NBA player.” I can’t believe he’s telling everyone this. “Eva lovesMidwestern Matchmaker, so when you asked me to be one of your singles, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to show her what she was missing.”
