Love Game

“I’m going to kill you.”

There was silence on the other side of the phone before I heard a mumbled, “I knew I shouldn’t have answered.”

“Aliy, did you hear what I said?” I asked

The rest of the ten contestants were all looking for rooms to stay in since the live part of the show is now over.

The rest of the show will be taped then edited to play on every Wednesday.

Gee, I can’t wait.

“Nevaeh, it’s so good to hear from you! I just wanted to tell you how beautiful you looked last night an-“

“Cut the crap, Aliy. What am I supposed to tell my partners? That I can’t participate in the leopard research because I’m now on TV?”

I held the phone tighter, that research is supposed to help the world understand the need to conserve land.

“I’m sure they’ll understand. It’s not like you can’t do paper work, you just can’t go into the field…”

She stopped because she knew that was my favorite part.

“Okay,” she sighed, “I get it. I’m totally dead, but in my defense I thought the whole thing was a hoax since there were no commercials to portray it!”
I sat down in one of the chair placed in the phone room. I look up to see a camera in a corner on the roof. Taking a pillow, I chuck it at the camera, dislodging it from it’s perch.

Oops, I hope it isn’t broken.

Man, my sarcasm is really getting out of hand.

“Hey,” Aliy inserted, “At least he’s hot, it could be so much worse.”

I closed my eyes and laid my head against the chair, “That’s not the point.”

“I know, and I’m really sorry.”

~*~

“I can’t believe you kept her!”

Nico sat on his room’s balcony, watching the moon in the sky, “All the other girls I could peg, but her? I’ve never met her type before.”

Adam paced behind Nico’s chair, “That’s because her type isn’t the one for you! She doesn’t understand your life! She’s-“

“Adam?”

Both Adam and Nico looked to see one of the TV crew men at the door’s entrance.

“Yes?” the producer asked

“The girl, the trouble maker? She just took out the Phone Room’s camera.”

Adam turned to Nico, “See what I mean?”

The friends followed the crew man to the Phone room where Nevaeh was just hanging up the phone. She turned to look at them.

“What?” she asked “Are my phone conversations no longer private?”

Nico smiled, she sure does have fire in her veins.

“That camera is the shows property! Do you know how much it cost?” Adam walked to the camera, checking to make sure it wasn’t broken.

“Probably more then it should have.”

She moved to exit the room, but Adam stopped her with a hand on her arm, “Not so fast, you owe the show $4,200.”

She turned with a shocked face, “You’re kidding right?”

“No, cameras aren’t cheap.” Adam looked smug

“There’s nothing wrong with the over priced camera!”

“And how do you know?” Adam asked

“Because,” she stepped closer to him, “I use that exact camera when I travel to document my work.” She turned to leave again, stopping at the door, “Oh, and I only pay $3,800 for my cameras, which can outlast a tiger’s curious claws.”

As she stepped out Nico turned to look at Adam, “And that,” he insisted, “Is why I kept her.”

~*~

That arrogant jerk!

I followed one of the crew men to the room that my stuff was taken to.

How dare he even insist that I pay for that camera?

“Here we are, miss. The other ladies have already picked their rooms, so you have the one that wasn’t chosen.”

“Oh, that’s okay. I don’t need a big extravagant room…”

I couldn’t finish my sentence after I stepped into the room, it was huge! If this was the room that no one wanted then what did the other’s look like?

The room was open with bronze/gold detail, two maroon chairs sat by the windows on the far wall. The large bed was to the left with an expensive television surrounded by marble accent. A doorway off to the left lead to the spacious bathroom which was painted dark steel with gold accents and patterned tiles.

All-in-all, the entire set up was beautiful.

“This is your room, one of my personal favorites.” The crew man inserted

I frowned, “Then why didn’t any of the other’s choose it?”

The man smiled, the exited the room, answering as he left, “Because it’s the furthest from Nicolai’s room.”

That made the whole thing absolutely perfect.