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I can already hear Danielle scolding me for not reading the fine print.
“What about me, am I just stranded here? What about what they were meant to give me?” I start to feel clammy. I can feel my chest tighten and my head starts spinning.
“I’ll try to find out, but I was the only one on my flight, and I haven’t been able to get ahold of anyone.”
“Okay.” I drop my phone and bend over, trying to breathe deeply.
I can vaguely hear Aaron asking me if I’m okay, but I can’t respond.
“Here.” He leads me to the couch and grabs me water from the fridge. “What’s going on?”
“The crew left. Everyone left. We’re stuck here.” I continue doing my breath work and look up at him. I feel ashamed admitting this to him. “I don’t have enough money to get home. The production team was meant to organize and pay for my flight, but they’ve all gone radio silent.”
“Oh.” He sits down next to me. “Okay. Well. You can just come on my jet. Where do you live?”
I sit up. Wait, what? “Seattle.”
“Huh. I have a project coming up there, so I might as well just go straight there. That will work out well.” He nods to himself.
I let out a deep breath and I feel lighter. “Oh. Okay. Thank you.”
Problem solved, I guess. I feel guilty for accepting his help. I feel weird that he’s helping me at all. I don’t know what to feel. This is such a bizarre situation. I’m just lucky he has the decency not to leave me stranded.
I lean back into the couch and look over at Aaron who’s already on the phone to his pilot.
I can’t imagine having my own jet and being able to go anywhere I want wherever I want. I can’t imagine not freaking out when you’re suddenly left stranded in The Bahamas with no money.
I suddenly realize that with the crew gone, we no longer have to pretend to like each other or be romantically involved. I feel a mixture of relief and something else I can’t quite put my finger on.
“What do you mean?” Aaron says into the phone. He stands up and starts pacing. “All because of a storm? Is it only in Seattle?” He continues pacing. “Right, right… but we’ve flown through storms before. Oh. Okay. Um.” He glances at me and bites his lip. “Yeah. Keep me posted.”
“We’re stuck here?”
He nods. “There are storms up and down the West Coast. We aren’t going to be able to get to Seattle anytime soon.”
I sigh, picking at my nails nervously. “How long can we stay here?”
He looks around the apartment. “If the crew ditched us, I’m guessing not much longer.”
“Maybe we should find somewhere to stay?” I gnaw on my lip.
I don’t want to seem desperate, but at this point he’s the only person that can help me.
“We can just go to my place.” He shrugs. “It’s not too far from here. There’s plenty of room so you’re welcome to come, if you want.”
Something hits me. “Wait, you own a house in The Bahamas? Why didn’t we just film there?”
He’s got a sheepish look on his face. “I didn’t want my real life to overlap with the show.”
I hold back a laugh. How ironic, keeping his real life from a reality show. I mean, I get it — I would do the same — but it’s funny.
“Fair enough.”
He looks around. “Let’s pack up and I’ll have a car take us there.”
I start to walk to my room and pause. “Thank you.”
I really would be screwed without his help.
