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.