Reality Love Bites

Chapter 12


"So tell me what the television powers that be had to say to you, Bo. I still can't believe they didn't haul my ass down there with you!" Kenzi flopped down onto the couch with the phone to her ear, happy to hear from her friend. "Maybe I should have come with you anyway. For moral support, you know. Am I a terrible friend?"

Bo shook her head, then realised that Kenzi couldn't actually see her. "No, you are the best friend a girl could have Kenz and you have several gigs lined up this week and you're the one paying the rent at the moment, remember," Bo responded with a chuckle that her friend matched on the other end of the line.

"Yeah, well don't feel down about that Bo Bo. I have been networking for you big time and the word is spreading about why you left your firm and went out on your own."

Bo winced, hating to remember why she was now a talent agent without an agency and only a few clients. An image of her now ex girlfriend Melissa bent over her kitchen cabinet with her ex boss giving it to her from behind hit her in technicolor. Bo shook her head in an effort to rid herself of the images. It still hurt. That betrayal. She thought of Lauren and her heart hurt a little less.

"Bo! Earth to Bo!"

"Huh, oh sorry, Kenz. I tuned out for a second."

"I said that you should expect a few calls over the next few days. A lot of people are unhappy with their new representation at your old agency. Fear not, Bo Bo. I got your back. You will be drowning in new and old clients in no time! Now tell me what's been happening with the TV people. Are you stalling? Is it bad? Are we going to lose the shirts off our backs. They should be grateful! Our fuck ups are going to make GREAT television," Kenzi said emphatically, her voice getting louder and louder."

"Calm down, Kenz. I haven't even seen anyone yet!"

"What?"

"A driver picked me up at the airport and brought me straight to a hotel not far from the mansion where the shows being filmed and I was told to enjoy the hotels facilities because the powers that be and their lawyers couldn't meet me till late tomorrow afternoon."

"You're kidding me?!"

Bo slumped down in the front seat of her rental car as the gate to the contestant mansion opened and a limo pulled out. "They probably just want to make me sweat a bit. It's just a scare tactic, Kenz," Bo said as she quickly exited her car and passed through the gate as it closed.

She gave out a small squeak as a second vehicle started winding its way down the long driveway towards the gate. Bo cursed herself for not remembering that there was always a vehicle full of crew that needed to be on hand to touch up the contestants and handle the other equipment while they were off site on dates and challenges.

"Hmm, okay. If you say so. So what? You've been lazing around the hotel pool all day? Sounds like fun! Are you sure you don't want me to come down and keep you company?" Kenzi heard her friend curse through the phone followed by rustling sounds and Bo's rapid breathing. "What the hell is going on there, Bo?"

"I had to hide," Bo answered before letting out another curse followed by more rustling sounds.

Kenzi sat up a little straighter, her spider senses tingling. "Bo, please tell me you are just hanging out at the hotel. Lounging by the pool, drinking cocktails and ogling all the pretty ladies in their bikini's. Eating the all day buffet. Working out your frustration in the hotel gym. Watching porn and drinking all the little bottles of booze in the mini bar. My spider senses are telling me you are doing something crazy in your down time, Bo! Please, please tell me it isn't so." There was nothing but more rustling and the breaths of exertion. "BO!"

"Shh, Kenz!" Bo hissed as she edged around the side of the mansion. There were sounds coming from the backyard near the pool. She could distinctly hear Crystals irritating squeals of laughter. Bo heard people approaching along the path and quickly ducked behind another shrub as a group of three male crew members laughed and joked together as they headed to the many trailers lined up along the side of the mansions huge grounds.

"I'll shh if you tell me what kind of crazy stunt you are pulling right now. You are supposed to be the sensible one remember!"

"I need to see Lauren," Bo responded simply. "Get her attention and talk to her alone if I can! The big elimination is tonight, Kenz. I need to tell her why I left so abruptly."

"God! They are going to add trespassing to your breach of contract charges. I implore you to turn around right now, Bo. You are about as stealthy as a bull in a china shop!"

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, Kenz! I'll be careful, I promise. Besides, if I get caught, I get caught. She's worth it," Bo said as she edged towards the wall and peeked around the corner looking for Lauren. She quickly hid back behind the wall. Did Evony just see me? Bo edged back to her hideout shrub. "Do you have any helpful tips or advice, Kenz? If you don't I'm hanging up," Bo said softly into the phone as she waited to see if Evony had indeed seen her from her position beside the pool, or if the distance had concealed her presence sufficiently.

Kenzi paced the small area in front of their couch in their compact apartment. "Okay, listen up and don't move from that spot until we come up with a good plan for operation Desperately Seeking Lauren, got it?"

Bo smiled into the phone, "Thanks. You really are the best friend a girl can have. You've always got my back," Bo whispered quietly into the phone and sat down from her crouching position to get comfortable in her hiding spot."

"I always got your back, Bo Bo. Where are you right now?"

"Sitting behind a bush along the side of the main house," Bo answered.

"Okay, so the first thing is to just listen and talk as little as possible because bushes don't talk, Bo."

Bo gave a small, quiet chuckle," okay. Got it. So what's the plan?" ...


"You a bit nervous, Tamsin?" Vex asked as the cameraman took a close up of her sitting at a table in a little bistro, the afternoon sun shining through the large picture window.

"What makes you say that?" Tamsin asked her friend.

Vex pointed to a spot in front of her, "That makes me think you're nervous."

Tamsin looked down at the shredded napkin heaped into a pile between her hands. She frowned as she gathered the mass of shredded paper and looked around for a place to dispose of it. Vex motioned for one of the assigned service staff to take the rubbish from the anxious blonde who muttered her thanks.

"Tamsin? What are you feeling at the moment? This is the last date before you will be forced to choose your final three contestants for the overnight dates. Is it the fact that you are about to have a date with someone you already know so well, just not in a romantic sense?"

Tamsin glared at her friend. He's enjoying this way too much, she thinks as she starts to fiddle with the straw in her glass of water. "It feels like I have been here forever. Are they running late? If you are doing this just for dramatic effect, Vex, I swear to God you'll pay for it in the near future!"

"Apparently your date has hit a little unexpected traffic. Ciara should be here soon, Tamsin. You've missed her haven't you?" Vex tried again to get Tamsin to engage and share her feelings with the camera and what he hoped would be a captive audience when the show gets released.

"I've been away from my best friend for almost two months now with no contact, even once she surprised me and entered the house, so of course I've missed her!"

Tamsin had had about enough of the whole damn reality circus. She longed to go home and get back to her life. She was sick of the camera's and sick of pretending to be someone she wasn't. She wasn't a big sharer of her feelings, never had been, but Vex's damn show required her to express every little damn thing. She longed to lock herself in her own house for days to just enjoy the silence and privacy that she had been without for so very long.

Vex wasn't giving an inch and she gave him a look that told him that he would be in the doghouse for quite some time after this fiasco was all over. "Yes, Ciara has been a great friend since college correct?"

Tamsin sighed and closed her eyes, "That's right. I met her and my late wife Jess in college. We were as close as anyone could be and I would never have made it through losing Jess in such a senseless act of violence if not for Ciara. I... I guess that's what makes me nervous that... That..." Tamsin let out another sigh.

"That what, Tamsin?" Vex pushed.

"I'm worried that now that Ciara has decided that she wants more... That she wants a romantic relationship with me.. That, well, our friendship will change, be different. What if I hurt her and I lose her as a friend? I don't think I could survive losing them both!"

Tamsin felt tears threatening to fall and she placed her head in her hands and took several deep breaths to try to get her emotions under control.

"You are talking about losing Jess to an armed gunman in a robbery and losing your friendship with Ciara? Just for the viewers clarification," Vex said, his voice hitching just a little as his own emotions broke through.

Jess was his friend too, Tamsin thought and her anger eased because she realised that Vex wasn't as unaffected as he always appeared to be. He had loved Jess almost as much as she had and he adored Ciara.

"Have you thought about what it could be if you and Ciara could find love and happiness together? Or have you only thought about what you could lose and not what you could gain?"

Tamsin raised her head and looked at her friend, who was standing behind the cameraman's left shoulder. They shared a moment of complete understanding and the weight of the situation before her, hit her all at once. There was knowledge in her friend's eyes. Ciara's feelings weren't a new thing to him.

"How long? She whispered. "How long have you known?"

"I don't think that's my place to say. Perhaps you should ask your date who I am told has just arrived."

As if on cue, there was a distant tickle of the bell signalling that someone had just entered the bistro. A moment later, Ciara rounded a corner, stunning in a drop dead gorgeous cream pantsuit and a string of pearls adorning her long elegant neck. Tamsin couldn't help but return the huge smile that her friend gave her in greeting.

"I'm so sorry. Traffic was dreadful! An accident on the freeway. It's hot out there, I must look a fright," Ciara said in her crisp, musical English accent. "Should I freshen up?"

"You look wonderful, Ciara. You always do," Tamsin said, rising from her seat and making her way around the table to embrace her best friend. "I've missed you so much," Tamsin whispered beside Ciara's ear, as her friend wrapped her arms around the blonde in a familiar comforting hug and didn't let go.

"I've missed you too. I, however, knew that I wouldn't be able to talk to you straight away after the bombshell I dropped on you. I'm sorry for that," Ciara said before moving back a step and out of Tamsin arms. The air seemed to change around them as they just stood there in silence staring at one another.

Ciara wasn't sure if it was only her feeling this new static energy until Tamsin let out a deep breath and took another step back and hugged herself, rubbing her hands up and down the goose pimpled flesh on her arms. "Well, this is new."

Ciara gave her friend what she hoped was a reassuring smile, "Shall we sit."

Tamsin nodded and surprised Ciara by pulling out her chair like a gentleman would do on a date in all the old movies they watched together. "Thank you," Ciara said as she settled into her chair.

Tamsin didn't respond as she made her way around the table and took her place across from Ciara, who seemed to be almost as nervous as she felt. The room was surprisingly quiet considering the amount of crew members surrounded the two women. Every single person in the room seemed to sense that something significant was happening right before their very own eyes.

Tamsin fidgeted with her fork for a few minutes before she shook her head and looked Ciara straight in the eye, "I'm not really sure where to begin. I've wanted to be able to pick up the phone and talk to you every night since this whole thing started and yet now that you are sitting across from me, I'm at a loss for words and have no idea where to start."

Ciara leaned over and took Tamsin's hand with her own. "I'm sure you have questions and I will answer them the best I can, Sin.

Tamsin shook her head and smiled, "You're the only one that calls me that. I never really understood why."

Ciara's expression was suddenly very serious, her eyes intense and seemed to penetrate Tamsin's very soul. "That's what you were to me for a very long time, Tamsin."

The blonde looked at Ciara in confusion. "A sin?" Her friend gave her a small nod and Tamsin decide to ask the same question she had asked Vex, "How long?"

"Since college. Then it was just a crush. You were my Sin of Lust and after you met Jess, it turned into Envy. Over the years the lust turned into a deep profound love that has never been matched by anyone else in my life. The only person I have loved as much as you was Jess."

Tamsin was momentarily stunned by Ciara's response. Her mind flashed back over the years trying to see sign's that she may have missed. "Did Jess know?" Tamsin asked curiously.

"I never told her and if she suspected, she never said anything."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know," Tamsin said and she wasn't even sure what she was saying sorry for. For not realising Ciara's love went well beyond the realm of friendship. That it must have been torture seeing her and Jess together day after day.

"I'm not sorry. I got to witness my best friends live happily together for a very long time. You made Jess so happy Tamsin."

"Not always," Tamsin responded sadly, pain clear in her eyes.

Neither Ciara or Tamsin noticed Vex slip out the side door to take a call. They were too focused on one another. But they certainly heard him as his voice steadily rose to whoever was on the other end of the connection.

They looked up as the door was flung open and a furious Vex stormed in his face red as he continued to yell into the phone, "NO! YOU KEEP HER THERE! BUT SEPARATE WHOEVER SHE WAS TRYING TO GET TO! I'M ON MY WAY." Vex snapped his phone shut. "Bring the car around! Now!" Vex screamed to his assistant and she scurried off without a word.

"What's going on?"

"Your little project, Tamsin. She will be the death of me! Or at the very least my career!"

"My project?"

"Yes! The one I brought back under false pretences. She decided to tresspass and sneak into the mansion!" Vex said in exasperation.

"Oh, that project," Tamsin said. She smiled as she thought about Bo sneaking into the mansion to see Lauren.

"Oh no, no, NO! Don't you dare be smiling, Miss Thing! This woman is a pain in my ASS!"

Tamsin laughed, stood up and went to Vex. "She may be a pain in your ass, Vex, but this woman is television gold! Get it all on film and scour those hidden camera's to get all the footage you can of her attempt to make contact with the woman she has so desperately fallen head over heels and out of her mind in love with."

"We are going to have to let her in on the real reason she's been brought back though. I think it is the only way we are going to get her to cooperate." Vex said as his colouring finally settled down from crimson to a rosy pink.

Tamsin patted Vex on the back, "Take her back to my cottage. I'll talk to her after the rose ceremony, choosing the final three. Okay?"

"Fine. You two will be fine to carry on the date and give me some good footage, right. I really need to get this situation at the mansion under control. All hell is breaking loose, apparently. Evony is going off her nut!"

Tamsin turned back towards Ciara and bathed in the warm feeling she got just from looking at her friend. "I'm sure we'll be fine. Right, C?"

"We certainly have a lot to discuss and I'm kinda hungry. I haven't eaten anything today because I was too nervous. So go and leave us to our date."

Tamsin liked the sound of that. This was actually the first date that she had actually taken seriously and in that moment Tamsin realised that that was significant. Tamsin couldn't lie. She had had thoughts about Ciara over the years of a sexual nature. She had chalked it up to loneliness and the fact that Ciara made her feel safe and loved, but now...now she thought that there may have been more to it than that...


Bo paced the length of the room while she occasionally glared at the head of Vex's security team. "You seriously think you can keep me here against my will. That's kidnapping!"

Bruce shrugged and gave Bo an apologetic look. "Sorry, Bo. I like you; you were always nice to me and the other boys. If it was my choice, I would just let you go, but the boss wants to talk to you."

Bo's phone rang and she stopped pacing and fished it out of her jacket pocket. Kenzi's name flashed on the screen. "Can I answer my phone?" Bo asked Bruce sarcasm dripping from every syllable.

Bruce shrugged again. "I s'pose. I'm just doing my job, Bo. I'm not your enemy."

Bo softened a little towards the security officer. She really did like the musclebound softy. Bo pressed accept and lifted the phone to her ear, "Hang on a sec, Kenz. Can I get some privacy, Bruce. You can guard the other side of the door."

"I don't know, Bo," Bruce replied with a large hand rubbing his chin in uncertainty. "I promised Vex I wouldn't take my eyes off of you."

"Where am I going to go, Bruce?" Bo headed to the sole window in the room and gave it a yank. "See! Locked, and I'm three story's up! I'm not going anywhere, Big Guy."

Bruce took a moment and then gave Bo a small nod. "Okay, Bo. I'll be right behind this door so please don't try anything crazy."

"Cross my heart and hope to die. Out you go." Bo watched Bruce leave and close the door behind him. By this time Kenzi had settled down and was waiting patiently for Bo to tell her what was going on. "Hey. Sorry, I had to get rid of my guard dog so that I can have some privacy."

"You didn't check in. I got worried. You got caught didn't you?"

"Yeah. Now I'm stuck in a room by myself with Bruce guarding the door until Vex get's here. He's pissed, Kenz. I could hear him through the phone when Bruce called him."

"Fuck Vex, his bark is worse than his bite. Did you at least get to see Lauren."

"No. But I am hoping that she will get the message I gave Nadia."

"Nadia?"

"Yeah, I ran into her in the main hall on the way to the bedrooms. Then Evony came in and lost her shit and called out to Bruce and his cronies."

"I'm sorry you didn't get to see her, Bo."

"WHERE IS SHE?!" Vex's voice came echoing through the huge house.

"I've gotta go, Kenz. I'll call you when I can."

"Okay. Take it easy, Bo Bo. It will all work out in the end. I'm sure you'll get to see Lauren now that Vex is here. One look will be all she needs, Bo, even if he just marches you out of the house."

Bo smiled into the phone, "Thanks, Kenzi," she said as the door to her prison was thrown open and a furious Vex stood at the threshold.

"You are a royal pain in my ASS, Dennis!"

"I've missed you too, Vex," Bo responded with a disingenuous smirk as she hung up her phone and put it back into her pocket.

"Who was she talking to? Why didn't you take her phone?"

"She's not a prisoner, Boss," responded Bruce.

Vex ignored him and closed the distance between him and Bo. "I should call the cops and have them charge you with breaking and entering and trespassing, Dennis. Give me a reason not to."

Bo saw all the camera's behind him and sneered at him. "I think you have something else in mind, Vex. This show is your baby and just hauling me off by the police isn't dramatic enough for you."

"You got that right! I'm going to expose you and the woman that you snuck in here to see and I'm going to get it all on camera. Let's go. Everyone is waiting downstairs."

Bo shrugged and led the way out the room and down the stairs. Her heart hammered in her chest as her eyes fell on Lauren and the look she received back told her that Nadia had come through and had relayed her message. What puzzled Bo was the fact that Lauren was standing beside Crystal and Evony and Nadia was standing several feet in front of them. Bo met Nadia's eyes and understood that she was standing there because Evony believed that Nadia was who Bo had come to see.

"Stand there in front of Nadia, Bo. Evony caught you red handed conversing with Miss Fivola." Vex sounded awfully proud of himself and when Bo saw Nadia give her the slightest nod, she realised that Nadia was throwing herself under the bus for her and Lauren.

"Nadia? What did Bo have to say to you. Would you like to tell everyone watching at home why she snuck onto the grounds and into this house so desperate to talk to you?"

Bo focused on Nadia as interested as all those viewers would be when they saw this footage. Her eyes flicked to the other contestants behind Nadia. Evony and Crystal wore smug expressions as they watched on eagerly and Lauren seemed perfectly calm except for the emotion that Bo saw in her expressive eyes.

"Bo wanted me to know that I wasn't the reason that she left." Nadia gave Bo a smile that suggested that she play along as she continued to speak. "Well, I was the reason, but not in a bad way."

Bo gave Nadia the smile that she usually reserved just for Lauren. Bo wasn't sure why Nadia was taking the bullet for Lauren, but she was thankful to the sweet woman for doing it. Bo suspected that Nadia had known all along about her feelings for Lauren. And her smile reflected just how grateful she was for Nadia's sacrifice. Bo had a feeling that Nadia knew she would be on the bus home tonight and wouldn't be one of the top three. That she had nothing to lose."

"You and Bo have feelings for one another?"

Nadia nodded, "We found a connection and expressed our mutual affection and attraction for one another, yes."

"Is this true, Bo?"

Bo nodded and found she couldn't talk with her mouth so dry. "May I have a bottle of water, please?"

Vex snapped his fingers impatiently and moments later, Bo was taking large gulps of the cool refreshing liquid.

"So is everything Nadia said true, Bo."

Bo cleared her throat, "Yes. I know it was against the rules to develop feelings for another contestant, but it's not like love is in our control, is it? I left because pretending to have feelings for Tamsin when I had feelings for someone else was wrong. I couldn't kiss another woman even if it meant nothing, because it would have been a betrayal of who my true feelings lie with. It was a moral decision and I stick by it, but I also couldn't bear the thought of her thinking that I left because of what I felt between us. When this is over we will be together if you want that. I love you." Bo had ensured that she kept her speech general and didn't mention Nadia by name because Nadia and she both knew that she was speaking directly to Lauren.

Nadia went to open her mouth to speak, but Vex cut her off. "And on that note you will now be escorted off of the premises, Miss Dennis."

Bruce and another one of the security team took Bo firmly by her forearms and started walking her towards the front door. "What about Nadia? What are you going to do to her. Please don't do anything to punish her for my actions. Nothing physical ever happened between us. Nothing," Bo cried out as she was pulled out of the house in a last ditch effort to show her gratitude for the woman that had protected her and Lauren's secret.

"That is no longer your concern, Bo. If you try to interfere again we will have you arrested. Is that understood." Bo could see that Vex was enjoying the drama immensely and she could understand why. Bo suspected that his show would be a huge hit and it would be mostly because of her and Kenzi's antics.

Bo blew a kiss over her shoulder and yelled, "UNDERSTOOD, BUT THE JOKES ON YOU, VEXIE! I GOT THE GIRL! BYE BABY SEE YOU SOON. I LOVE YOU!"

Yeah, Bo thought to herself as she was pushed into a town car right outside the gate, this is going to be a great show!


Author's Note: Well, there you go! lol I hope you enjoyed this installment and that I recieve some sunshine for my efforts. Review my lovely readers. Review. ;)

Take care and thank you so much for reading. I love you all!

Doccubus21 xoxo