The Last Goodbye

While Patrick and Adam weren’t exactly back to how they were before Patrick had gotten drunk and Adam had punched him, they seemed to slowly be making their way back to that. They were both trying to forget that night and get on with their lives.

Adam currently sat next to Patrick in the living room, flipping through channels, trying to find something interesting to watch on television. “Don’t you have a place of your own where you could be doing this?” Patrick questioned, snatching the remote control out of Adam’s hand and turning the channel back to ESPN, which was currently showing highlights from a women’s sand volleyball tournament.

“Well,” Adam began, grabbing the controller back but staying on the same channel, keeping his attention on the bikini-clad girls. “I do have my own place, but this place is so much better. Besides, Delaney told me I needed to be here early today. I guess there’s some surprise that’s going to be happening.”

Adam’s last statement caught Patrick’s attention, as he whipped his head around, staring at Adam. “What kind of surprise?” he inquired.

Adam shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t know,” he said, changing the channel when the volleyball women turned into golf men. “She just said to be here because they made some changes and there’s some surprise. I have no idea what it is, though.”

“Oh,” Patrick said.

“So,” Adam began, drawing the word out. Patrick looked over at him, wondering what he wanted. “What’s going on between you and Delaney?” he asked.

Patrick furrowed his eyebrows, wondering where this was coming from, The two of them hadn’t been very open with each other when it came to the topic of Delaney. The each knew the other one had feelings for her, but they had never come out and directly talked about it. “Uh,” Patrick stuttered. “Nothing.”

“Really?” Adam questioned, raising an eyebrow at him.

“No, nothing,” Patrick told him, still unsure of the answer himself. “What about you? What’s going on between you and Delaney?”

“Nothing,” Adam answered. “Our date was terrible. I’m not really sure why I ever thought we’d be good together in the first place.”

“So, does that mean she’s fair game?” Patrick asked, a smirk coming across his face.

Adam shrugged his shoulders. “Sure, I guess. But, what’s up with you and your contestants? Know which one’s going to be the winner yet?”

“I’ve got it narrowed down. Why? Do you have one in mind that you’d like me to get rid of so you can sleep with her?” Patrick asked with a laugh.

“I’ll be happy with any of them,” Adam grinned as Delaney walked into the room. She was trying to get back to normal with the two of them, too, trying to keep it as professional as possible. She had learned that it was a terrible idea to date people you worked with, and she was going to do everything in her power to make Patrick realize what a bad idea it was, too.

“Hey boys,” she smiled at them as she looked at the television to see an old episode of Baywatch was on. “They really still show this show?” she questioned, rolling her eyes as Pamela Anderson ran across the screen.

“Of course they do,” Adam scoffed. “It’s a classic.”

“It’s stupid,” Delaney retorted, and Adam stared at her wide-eyed, unable to believe what she had just said.

“It is not stupid!” Adam argued. “It’s a work of art.”

“It’s a bunch of women in bikinis. Besides, this show is so old. Therefore, these women are now old, too. And yet, you’re still fawning over them. Do you not see anything wrong with that?” she asked, sitting down next to Adam.

“No,” Adam stated, crossing his arms over his chest. “I see nothing wrong with that,” he shook his head, and Delaney laughed at him as Adam returned his attention to the television screen. Delaney leaned forward, looking past Adam at Patrick. “We have a change of plans,” she told him.

“Yeah, Adam said something like that. So, what’s going on?” he inquired.

“Well, that’s a surprise. But, if you go upstairs and change, then we can announce it to everyone,” she said, taking in his clothing, which consisted of a pair of sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt. “The girls will be down in about,” she began before looking at her watch. “Fifteen minutes. So, you should hurry up,” she concluded.

“No hint?” Patrick asked.

“Nope,” Delaney shook her head. “Just wait fifteen minutes, and you’ll find out.”

“What am I supposed to wear? I don’t know what’s going down, so how do I choose which clothes to wear?” he asked, trying every way he could think of to get the secret out of her, instead of simply waiting fifteen minutes to find out.

“Something nice,” she replied, giving him no clues whatsoever. Patrick rolled his eyes but proceeded to go upstairs and change his clothes regardless. Delaney looked over at Adam, seeing his eyes still glued on the television. “So, how’s your life going, Adam?” she asked. She hadn’t really talked to him too much since their disastrous date, and she figured she might as well be friendly with him since she still had to work with him.

Adam slowly took his eyes off of the Baywatch women to glance at Delaney. “Why are you asking me that?” he asked suspiciously.

“I was just trying to make conversation, but never mind, then,” she replied, looking down at her hands in her lap.

“Sorry,” Adam apologized. “My life’s going just fine,” he answered. “And, you?” he asked, thinking it was only polite to ask her as well.

“Great,” Delaney said, not realizing how awkward this conversation was going to be. She stared out into space as Adam looked back at the television, both waiting on Patrick to come back down the stairs to get them out of this awkward moment.

The contestants began filing down the stairs before Patrick came back down, and Delaney jumped up from her seat to meet the girls at the end of the staircase. She directed them into the living room, along with the cameramen, and she grabbed a couple of note cards from one of the writers that had entered the house, making her way back into the living room.

All of the girls stared at Adam, who was still sitting on the couch, wondering if he was going to tell them what was going on. “Adam,” Delaney called, and Adam hopped off of the couch, making his way over to her. “Here you go,” she said, handing him the note cards. “This is what you’ll be reading,” she told him.

He quickly skimmed over the words before glancing up at Delaney. “This is what’s happening?” he questioned in shock, pushing the cards into her face, and Delaney nodded her head, a smile on her face.

“Yep. Now we’ve just got to wait on Pat,” she replied, just as Patrick began his descent down the stairs.

“Oh buddy,” Adam mumbled, reading the note cards more thoroughly, so he knew exactly what he had to say. Delaney ushered Patrick into the living room where the girls were, before directing all of them into the room where they filmed the elimination ceremonies, and all of the girls gasped, as they finally realized what was about to happen.

Patrick, apparently, wasn’t so quick-witted, however. “What’s going on?” he asked Delaney. “Why are we in the elimination room?” he inquired.

Delaney looked over at Adam as the cameras continued rolling, catching everyone’s reactions on film. “Why don’t we let Adam explain that one?” she replied, and Adam held his note cards out in front of him as he read them aloud.

“Tonight, we have a surprise for everyone. We’re going to have an impromptu elimination. Pat, you must decide right now the eight women you’d like to stay, and you must send the other two home tonight.”

Every girl in the room gasped in response, looking around at one another, trying to figure out who exactly Patrick was going to send home. “I have to choose now?” Patrick asked, not having given very much thought as to who he wanted to send home next. He had thought he would have more time, but obviously that wasn’t the case now.

“Yes,” Adam answered him. “You must decide right now,” he said as one of the assistants on the show came out carrying eight roses, setting them on the podium near Adam and Patrick. “Let the elimination ceremony begin,” Adam stated, and Patrick let out a deep sigh, trying to figure out what he was going to do.

Patrick looked from one girl to the next, not knowing who to choose to stay and who to go. He saw Adam staring at him, and he knew Adam wouldn’t have had this difficult of a decision. Adam had hated Marissa and Rosie since they had told Raylene that she was only on the show because of the producers. But, for some reason Patrick didn’t want to get rid of them just yet. No one could deny that they were definitely eye candy for him, and he wasn’t ready to get rid of these two hot girls just yet.

He picked up the first rose, looking out at the group of girls. “Kristalyn, will you stay?” Patrick asked first, and the young sorority girl clapped for herself as she made her way up to Patrick.

“Of course,” she told him, a wide smile on her face as she took the rose and enveloped Patrick with a hug. She moved to stand behind him, wondering who he was going to pick next.

“Bethann,” Patrick called next, and he continued repeating this process with Juliette, Raylene, Leah, and much to the dismay of Adam, Marissa and Rosie. He looked at Melody, Cameron, and Yvette, the three remaining girls, wondering who he should keep. He grabbed the final rose, staring at the three women. “Melody,” he announced, and he watched as Yvette broke down in tears while Cameron just stood there emotionless. “Will you stay?” he asked Melody, and she quickly came to the front of the room, accepting the rose from him.

Patrick quickly apologized to Cameron and Yvette for not choosing them before he left the group of women, just wanting to get away by himself, contemplating whether he made the right choice with who he had chosen to stay.