Bleach: Orihime's Gambit
Chapter 2: Time to Kick Things Off
oOo
Orihime hung out at the studio for awhile before heading back to the apartment she had rented. She decided to talk to the other two men who had joined the competition so far. Even if one or both wouldn't be around long, it would still be nice to get to know them. The cameras were off, or so it seemed. Their interactions would still be captured.
"So, what's your name and what brings you here?", she asked the first one.
"Pablo", he answered. "I work in the family business, it's been doing quite well."
"Oh, that's cool. What is that?"
"I work in shipping... flour, and sugar. Things like that." He chose not to fully divulge what the "family business" was; all that mattered was that he won a slot on the show. "I also thought this show would be fun. You can't be too careful meeting women nowadays. I think my last girlfriend was an informant", he caught and corrected himself, "for a rival flour company."
"Well, it does sound like a good gig to have", Orihime commented. The flour business must be a cutthroat one.
They headed out from this green room and down the hall to get some ice. They'd probably make some more small talk before Orihime talked to the other contestant. This errand, of course, was captured on camera.
Orihime found the third contestant checking his phone in the main foyer. He was killing time before heading to his hotel. She introduced herself, "hey there, I thought I'd meet each of the guys first before our challenge tomorrow. So what brings you here?"
The man looked up. "Sorry, I was just texting my business. It's 24 hours. Nice to meet you, the name's Jeffrey by the way."
"Cool, what kind of business?"
"It's a massage parlor. I own a couple in Miami. We just got some new employees in, so I was texting about that."
Orihime understood the concept of a massage parlor. "Sounds like a fun business."
"Yeah, maybe I can give you a job offer after all of this-" He was caught off guard by some bad news. "Ah damn, the damn cops came again. Always sucks, my girls have to keep out of view", he said in an annoyed tone.
"Why are the cops there?" Orihime was confused at this.
"Uhm, I owe back taxes. My business deals in cash, you see. I can swear some of those same pigs have been my customers before", he offered as a rationale.
"I guess that makes sense. American tax collectors must be serious", Orihime answered though this still seemed excessive. Surely they could just send a letter?
The two went into the greenroom to have a seat and talk more about the show. The cameras captured them going into the room; the show could work with this. Orihime asked him, "So what brings you to this show? What are you looking for?"
"I don't know if I'm looking for a relationship. Like I said, you seem like good talent for my type of business, and more potential customers may hear about me from this show."
Orihime wasn't looking for work. "I don't think I can work at your parlor. I'm not really trained to be a masseuse, and I'm planning on returning to Japan after it's over." Once again, Orihime missed certain things.
"Well we'll see how things turn out. I'm always looking for new girls."
These two wrapped up their small talk and then went to their respective lodgings for the evening. Meanwhile, Dixon's editing team was busy polishing the first episode. They would also use the bonus material captured tonight for the next trailer and lead-in for Episode 2.
With Pablo, Orihime was shown walking down the hallway and out of sight, with some kissing and zipper sound effects added. Tense music was laid over the footage.
Later, with Jeffrey, as they walked into the green room, the team added a "moaning" sound effect, and left the goings-on up to the audience's imagination.
"This is gold!", Dixon said. "Our first episode can air while we film tomorrow's elimination. Then we'll air this new trailer after on the same day." Despite the rigorous professional standards and production quality of such a show, Dixon's crack team was able to guarantee such a schedule.
The next day, all three contestants and Orihime met up at Hayden Park. "I'll be kicking, or pitching, first", Orihime instructed them. Jeffrey would be first on the mound, while Ron DeSantis stood behind him as the umpire to kick back any misses. Since there were only four total, a couple of the show's staff joined the pitcher's "team" to kick toward the opposing team and take their players out.
"So it's alot like baseball. Alright, I can do this", DeSantis thought to himself. He was older but still in pretty good physical shape. He didn't do as poorly as expected.
The game got quite spirited, with Orihime yelling out encouragement such as, "Great Ron, I bet you can last all day." During team changes, other players might brush by Orihime, or lean in to ask questions to confirm they were playing this "base-cer" correctly. It could be loud out here, so when Pablo asked one such question, Orihime put her hand on his shoulder to bring his ear closer. Surely, a purely platonic gesture no one could misinterpret?
The game lasted for roughly two hours, with DeSantis finishing second and Jeffrey finishing first. One would expect that Pablo would be eliminated; this was the plan. First, everyone went back to the studio, showered and filmed the contestant interviews of what they were thinking during the game. This interview footage would be spliced into footage of the game itself. After this, Jeffrey and Ron went back to their lodgings while the elimination would be filmed. Pablo was bummed, but maybe him being on TV would help his business?
It had been a fairly short "work day", but Dixon's team would comprise Episode 2 of the material captured from the evening before, the game itself, contestant interviews, and this elimination. They could stretch it to an hour. Episode 1 was also now airing.
Dixon's team also embellished the game's footage. Orihime's remark of "Ron, I bet you can last all day" was laid over when she and he were passing by each other. This followed an innocent segment of Ron's post-game interview, where he said he appreciated Orihime's compliments. Erotically suggestive music was laid over this exchange.
Footage of Orihime putting her hand on Pablo's shoulder was also emphasized, with an added "slurping" or "smooching" sound effect. Viewers at home would fully expect Orihime and all the contestants to break out into an orgy in the middle of the game; this was the desired effect, and it worked every time.
Barely an hour had passed after Ron DeSantis and Jeffrey had left, and they were about to begin filming Pablo's elimination. Orihime was rehearsing her lines in her head to make it dramatic but also civil. However, before they could begin filming, one of the show's staff rushed in for an emergency meeting with Dixon; the camera crews stood by.
Shortly, Dixon came out and put on one of the studio's TVs to breaking news:
"Local business owner Jeffrey Silverstein, owner of massage parlors including The Eager Spigot and Green Card Optional, has been found dead of an apparent suicide. He was found hanging in his home. Local police, who deny rumors they were also patrons of his massage parlors, describe his death as 'tragic' and 'a complete surprise'. Next up, today's winning lottery numbers-."
Dixon turned back to the others. "This is AMAZING! We'll put this story at the end of Episode 2." He turned toward the man who was just facing elimination. "Pablo, it looks like you're still in the running. We'll smash records with this one."
Orihime was shocked. "But he's dead? Wha-?"
Dixon continued, "Great work everyone. And you Orihime, I understand you have another game idea for tomorrow. Excellent, I'm sure you can fill them in at that time. Well I'm off now. Editing Team, do your magic!"
And so Episode 2 would end with the surprise suicide of one of the contestants; great for ratings. Orihime was still in disbelief that this guy was dead and no one seemed to even shrug at it. She went back to her place; she would have to continue with the show, but Dixon had definitely worsened her view of him.