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Roe and I exchanged a smirk, and I adjusted my ball cap.
Game face on.
Bailey listed the topics, invisible to us as they would appear on the TV screens digitally. “‘The ’90s are Here to Stay,’ ‘Rainforest Versus Jungle and Such Differences,’ ‘The US Military Then and Now,’ and ‘Can I Quote You on That?’ Here we go! Roe, are you feeling confident?”
“Of course,” Roe replied, not missing a beat. “I’m banking on Jake knowing every plant in the rainforest and jungle because he’s hella proud of our lemon tree at home.”
I cracked up and shook my head.
Bailey was almost as amused, and he moved on to Zoey and David in the other booth. “What about you, David?”
“Not in the slightest,” he answered smoothly. “I’m afraid any reference to jungles will put me to sleep.”
He was funny. I liked him. He was a photographer too, so we’d exchanged numbers earlier. His job sounded interesting. He was essentially hired to document everything on a movie set.
“Well, Zoey, you’re gonna have to make sure he stays alert,” Bailey chuckled. Then he faced the camera briefly. “We won’t keep you waiting. Here are the first set of questions.” He turned to us once more, and Roe and I had our notepads ready. “The Cranberries released their hit ‘Zombie’ in 1994. List three bands that also had hits that reached the number one spot on a Billboard chart that year. Question number two, which is the second largest rainforest in the world? And on the US Military Then and Now—give us another term for stand at ease, and please explain what ten-hut means. Last but not least! Finish these sayings, quotes, or proverbs. ‘Who dares, wins…’, ‘Gone with the Wind in the morning…’, ‘Cut your coat according…’, and ‘Do not call the forest…’”
Jesus Christ. I scratched my eyebrow and scribbled as quickly as I could. Thank fuck it was Zoey and David’s turn to go first this round.
Our sound was cut off as Bailey spoke to them.
“If we don’t nail the military stuff, I’ll never hear the end of it from Greer and Cullen,” Roe muttered.
My mouth twitched. No need to worry. That was the easy one.
“Ten-hut calls for attention, and standing at ease is parade rest,” I answered. “The Gone with the Wind quote—didn’t we hear that in the filmmaking class?”
“That’s where that was!” he exclaimed. “I couldn’t fucking—yeah, that’s the one. Gone with the Wind in the morning, Dukes of Hazzard after lunch. Hell. I’m writing that down. But the ‘Who dares, wins’ thing? I thought that was it.”
I shook my head and jotted down the Congo as my only guess for the second largest rainforest. “No, it continues. The rest just isn’t as punchy as the first bit. It’s something like…” I squinted and scrubbed at my face, and I racked my brain. “Dammit. Uhh… Who plans, wins. Who suffers, wins—no, who sweats… Something like that.”
“Well, you figure that out—I’ll work on the songs.”
All of a sudden, they cut for problems with the lighting, so we were instructed to write down all our answers within a minute and then take a ten-minute break. In other words, the break wouldn’t give us more time to come up with answers. We’d simply go with what we’d written down once we taped again.
As Roe and I exited our booth, we were separated. He was ushered to one side of the stage, me to the other. Zoey requested a touch-up in makeup, and I didn’t know where David went off to.
I let out a breath and grabbed a bottle of water from a nearby bar table. People rushed by, but it was otherwise empty and fairly dark in this area.
Roe had done well. He’d also guessed the Congo, so that better be right. And he knew that weird coat proverb…? I’d never heard of it. He had solid guesses for the songs too.
I chugged some water and—
“Jake?”
I spun around and almost choked on my water. Fucking hell. Sandra. I’d almost forgotten she was here. As a “fan of the show,” she’d tagged along as Roe’s guest.
“Hey. Roe’s on the other side,” I said.
She smiled timidly and folded her arms over her chest. “That’s okay. I wasn’t exactly looking for him. Are you having fun?”
Really? Small talk? Now?
Roe’s annoying plea reverberated through my skull.
Please give her a chance.
“Yeah, sure. Definitely.” I bobbed my head, feeling a bit awkward. “It’s more stressful than I anticipated.”
She laughed softly. “Funny, it’s exactly what I anticipated. I had a feeling I would see just how well you and Roe know each other.”
Yeah, we fucking do.
Let me keep that. She was getting the rest of Roe soon enough.
I hated her, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever hated anyone before. Maybe my grandmother on Ma’s side. And Sandra made it worse by being so goddamn perfect. She was kind, spoiled Roe rotten with attention and affection, cooked like a chef, she was somewhat funny… Maybe she wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but she was by no means dumb. She worked at her dad’s agency and apparently did a great job.
