PART
FOUR
The commercial break ended all too soon. The lights flicked back on and the
cheering returned, and I had to go back to my heart shaped note cards.
"Welcome back to 'Strike a Match!' Are you ready for Round 2?" Max
yelled.
No. Seriously, no.
"The rules of round 2 are the same as round one, with one small twist. The
guys get 30 seconds each to ask the girl! Pearly Whites, we'll start with you.
Ready... go!"
"Pearly Whites" cleared his throat and began. "Right. Um, Bachelorett,
if you had a fight with someone, would you give them another chance at
friendship?"
I blinked. "Um, what did they do?"
"Let's say they were on... er... another side of an issue."
I thought a moment. "Then, yeah."
"Alright. Um, where do you hold employment?"
His manner of speech was so strange.
"I work at an aquarium," I replied, thinking fast.
"Really? Which one?"
Bzzzzzzz. A loud buzzing noise echoed throughout the stage.
"Sorry, that's a half a minute!" Max called out.
Saved by the buzz.
Now thinking about it, Pearly Whites seemed somewhat suspicious too. Asking me
questions about my job and being an enemy. I made a mental note of that.
"Sun Streaked, 30 seconds! Aaannnnd... begin!"
"Bachloret, I'd like to finish up suitor one's question. Where do you
work?"
I cringed. "Los Angeles Children's
Aquarium."
"What do you do there?" he pressed.
"I give tours," I answered a bit lamely.
"Marine Biology in grad school's a pretty heavy thing. However do you
manage that and a job giving tours for what I'm guessing is a decent amount of
hours?"
I didn't like this guy. Not one bit.
"It's not easy but I work as hard as I can and somehow, I get by."
The buzzer sounded. Emerald Eyes's turn. Finally.
"Alright, I'm sure you know what to do by now, E.E. Mind if I call you
E.E.?"
Emerald Eyes laughed nervously. "No, it's ok," he replied.
"Alright then, E.E. Start!"
"Bacheloret, if you were attracted to a person, would you tell
them?"
I almost choked on the air I was breathing. "I guess that depends. What
are the circumstances?"
"Any circumstances, even dangerous ones. Would you tell?" he asked
again, the familiarity in his voice unrealistic.
"Um... yeah. Yeah I think that as long as I made sure no one was in
danger, when the time was right I would tell," I answered honestly.
If Vaughn was alive, I know I would've told him someday that I felt an
attraction. That I wasn't in love or anything, but my feelings were growing
stronger all the same.
He had time for one more question. "Do you like Slush-O's? Cause they're
delicious." The audience chuckled.
I caught my breath again. Was it possible? Was it even logical to think...
could he... no. No.
He's dead. You saw him drown with your own eyes, Sydney.
"I've...I've actually never had one."
Bzzz.
"Time's up, E.E. When we return, the bacheloret will ask her final
questions and choose the lucky man!"
I took the five minute commercial break to go over things.
I knew that Emerald Eyes was not Angel. He was too perfect, too familiar... too
Vaughn. If he hadn't died, I would actually believe it was Vaughn. But I knew
it wasn't possible. Michael Vaughn and a part of my soul drowned in Taipei almost three weeks
ago.
Pearly Whites and Sun Streaked, on the other hand, were equally seemingly guilty.
I wasn't sure which to suspect. I figured I'd go through the last round and
play it by ear.
When the show returned, I began again.
"Suitor One, What year of wine do you prefer?" I asked, wondering how
the hell the writers came up with these. How do you judge your 'soul mate' by a
year of wine?
"1982," he answered thoughtfully.
"Suitor 2, would you ever commit a crime?"
"Well, I don't know. If it was for the good of someone else, maybe. But
just because I felt like causing trouble? No."
I was thinking this was the guy.
"Suitor 3, where would you take me on our first date?"
"Besides Rome?" he joked. I
smiled. "A Kings' hockey game."
My blood ran cold. I almost dropped the microphone.
It was him. It had to be. But... that wasn't possible, was it?
"Bacheloret?" a voice broke my thoughts. "Bacheloret, you still
have five minutes left to ask your questions."
"Right. Um, sorry. Thank you, Suitor Three. Suitor One, where do you
work?"
"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," he answered in a serious tone.
The audience giggled nervously, unsure.
This was the guy. It had to be. Or... was it?
"Seriously though," he continued, "I work as an intern at a
recording studio while I work my way through college."
I sighed, still not completely convinced. Anyone can lie. "Suitor One,
what kind of music do you lie?" I shook my head quickly and recovered.
"I mean like. What kind of music do you like?"
"Anything that speaks my emotions." What. A load. Of bull. Ha.
After stifling my laughter, I took a deep breath and braced myself for my last
question to Emerald Eyes. I looked down at my cards and read, "What would
you do if you felt something for someone but weren't sure if they returned the
feeling?"
He sighed, almost regretfully into the mike. "I don't really know. In
fact, it's kind of happening now. To tell the truth, I, um, haven't done much
about it. Our lives are complicated and I'm not sure it would work out
anyway."
Oh, God. What if it was him? What if he was talking about me? What if it was
him... and he wasn't? What if, and this was most likely, it wasn't him at all
and I was winding myself up for some slightly balding blackjack dealer with
combat boots and tortoise shell glasses? That would be just my luck.
Max broke my thoughts again. "Alright, Lizzie. You've had the chance to
get to know each bachelor a little bit. Now... who's it gonna be?"
I took a deep breath and leaned towards the microphone, not sure of what to do.
I had a good idea of who the guy I was looking for was but... still. I squeezed
my eyes shut and announced, in a loud, clear tone much more confident than I
was feeling, "I choose bachelor number..."
TO BE CONTINUED...
Ok admit
it. How much do you all hate me and want to kill me right now? lol. But just a
reminder- if you're not happy with the ending I post first, there's still gonna
be two alternate endings. Sydney will end up picking a
different guy in each ending so everyone's happy. lol. But only one of the
endings is what *really* happened. That'll be the last one I post though.
So... who will
"Lizzie" pick first? Who is the mysterious 'Pearly Whites?' Will Sydney follow her heart and
choose EE? Find out next time on 'Strike a Match!' lol now review and tell me
how much you hate me for the cliffhanger.
