I stared at the barren walls of the room I’d been trundled off to after Arabella’s little escapade and fumed. Carol and her goons had come to retrieve me an hour later. Carol’s only words made it sound like I was a prisoner.

“You will not be allowed out of this room until the finale, do you understand? You should have listened to Arabella. To make sure you don’t find a way to communicate with your little lady love, you’ll be kept here. Have a good day. Someone will bring you dinner.” She gave me an insincere smile before she closed the door and locked it.

I felt like a prisoner and wondered how legal this all was. I went over to the television, a stack of DVDs on top of a player, and knew I was fucked. What happened if I had to go to the bathroom?

One more day left, that’s all there was, just one more day. They’d driven me around in a van for a while before it was decided I’d be taken back to the island. A plane trip, and a few hours of sitting in the van later, I was brought to this room. There was no phone, no computer, just a bed, a television with a DVD player, and another door. What was behind the door, a closet maybe?

I found some clothes, a sink, a toilet, and a shower in a tiny room behind the door. There was also a fridge with drinks and a few snacks in it. Well, at least I wouldn’t be humiliated with my bathroom needs. I took a bottle of water and dug through the pile of DVDs. I settled on a long documentary I’d been meaning to watch anyway. It looked like I was going to have a lot of time on my hands.

I spent hours watching the documentary, trying not to think about what destruction Arabella and her pictures were doing. I’m sure Carol had a hand in it all. She was still trying to force me to choose Arabella over Laney, and it just wasn’t going to happen. This whole thing with kidnapping me too? These people were up shit creek and didn’t even know it yet.

I kicked at the lumpy mattress and glared at the windowless walls. This sucked in the truest sense of the phrase. There was nothing to do, no way to call Laney and tell her it was all a setup, and no way to defend myself. This was so much suck!

I wanted to punch the wall but decided to do pushups instead. I went through several exercises before I’d calmed down enough to sit on the bed again. I started to pace around the room, but too many sleepless nights had left me exhausted. I turned out the lights, stretched out on the bed, turned on the documentary once more, and tried to get to sleep.

Thoughts of Laney crying kept me awake. That’s when I knew I truly did love Laney. Not just because she made me laugh, or because I always wanted to be with her, but because the thought of her crying filled me with rage at the same time it made me want to soothe her tears away. I’ve never been the kind of guy to seek out trouble, but I wasn’t afraid of it either. If Arabella and Carol were men, I’d stomp them into the ground, but they weren’t. I didn’t hit women, ever. But I’d find a way to make them pay, because I knew—somehow—that Laney was crying.

“Fuck!” I shouted as I stood up from the bed. “Just let me out of here!”

I pounded on the door but nobody answered. I went back to the bed and kicked it, feeling totally useless. This fucking sucked!

I finally flung myself back on the bed and made myself watch the documentary. Before long, exhaustion finally won, and I fell asleep.

I had nightmares about being trapped in the room, fire building around me, until I finally found a window hidden behind one of the walls. I was about to climb out when I heard Laney screaming for my help.

I ran through the room once more, following the sound of her voice, but every time I thought I’d found her, the location of her voice moved. I kept running and running until I was exhausted, and slumped against the window, too tired to even climb out. Laney’s voice still called to me, and I didn’t have the energy to stand up and find her, to save her!

I woke up the next morning angry and not in a very good mood. Somebody had to pay for this total farce. The video diary guy came to see me early, and I glared at him, unable to hide my anger.

“Wait, you’re looking a little shiny. Makeup!”

I had to sit and wait for a makeup artist to apply powder and fluff out my eyebrows before the video diary finally started.

“So, what you been up to?”

His monotone voice just irritated me more. “None of your business,” I said.

“Fine. Any idea who you’ve chosen yet?” He bounced on one foot, obviously ready to go.

“Also none of your business.”

“Right, we’re sulking this morning. Fine. I’m done.” He scuttled off and Carol came in to take his place.

“Hi there, handsome.” She gave me a conspiratorial wink and I clenched my fists at my sides. “You all ready for the big night? I think you know what’s expected of you, don’t you?”

“Of course, I do,” I growled at her, not caring that she flinched and stepped back.

“Good. Glad to see you’re so biddable, at last.” She came up to me and looked at me. “If you’d done what I asked to begin with, none of this would have happened.”

“I’m sure. How much longer until this is over?”

“About six more hours. We’re going to start shooting as soon as it’s gone dark. We need to get a bit of film from the girls, then the big finale, some shots of all the losers crying, then you’ll get to go home with your princess. She deserves it too, after what you’ve put her through.”

I didn’t scream, or punch the wall, though I really wanted to, I just gave a slight shake of my head and let her go on. I stopped listening. After what I’ve put Arabella through? Didn’t she mean Laney? Laney had put up with shit from both of these women and was still putting up with it, if I guessed right.

I was going to play by their rules, I’d decided. I was going to do what I was told. Then, I’d do what the fuck I wanted and hope I could pick up the pieces later. At least until I was off this island and had fulfilled my part of the contract.

I stared at Carol, her voice droning on, but I didn’t hear her words. That dream haunted me, the fire an obvious memory of my past, but a new element had been added; my inability to save Laney from pain and fear. I’d felt so helpless when I woke up, so angry that I’d had to shut it all down just to get through this day without killing anyone.

It was a technique I’d learned after my parents died and the grief had begun to overwhelm me. Just shut it down and get through the day. That’s what I was doing now, just getting by. Carol patted my cheek for some reason, her touch making me cringe both internally and externally, and I had to fight the urge to vomit as she left.

A few more hours. I could do it. Someone came in to bring me breakfast and I ate it without paying it any attention. Someone brought me clothes and shoes, a tuxedo and black patent leather shoes, and I left them on the bed until it was time. I took another shower, dried my hair, shaved, and waited.

I was planning out the best way to use my money on education for children, when someone popped their head in. David!

“David, thank God, somebody to talk to!” I pulled him into the room and he sat on the bed with me.

“What’s going on? Why do they have you in here? Kelly said there was some really bad stuff going down, but this looks like a prison! Is it because of those pictures with Arabella? Man, I got to tell you, Kelly is so mad at you!”

“Damn, they got out then?” That was not the news I wanted to hear.

“The pictures of you and Arabella wrapped around each other like melting licorice sticks? Oh yeah, they did! And Kelly wants your, as she so eloquently put it, balls for those pictures.”

“It was all staged, David! Arabella came to my room. How she even knew where I was staying I can only speculate, but she threw herself at me and cameras started flashing around us. She made all these threats and then Carol came and hauled me off here. One minute a tolerable hotel, the next an intolerable prison.” I waved my hand around to indicate the sparse room.

“The room does suck, Jake, I have to admit. How did you not break the door down?” He looked at it and I laughed.

“It’s solid metal, David. I wasn’t getting through that with my bare hands.” I’d have tried otherwise. Without a second thought, I’d have torn that door down, but there had been no way I was getting through that door.

Judging by the shine on the hardware, it was brand new. I guess that’s why they had me sitting outside for so long, to prepare this room and install that door. Bastards. I clenched my fists once more and looked away from David. He was studying the door, trying to figure out how to science his way through it, I’d bet.

“I see. No, I suppose you weren’t. At least it’s almost done.” He seemed nervous now and pushed at the air on his nose.

“Do you think you’ll go back to glasses when this is over?”

“It depends on whether Kelly minds them or not. If she does, I’ll keep the contacts in.”

“Laney is just so adorable with her glasses on.” I let slip before I realized what I’d said.

“You’ve seen her with glasses? When?” He looked at me, lost.

“She had them on one day... probably the same day you talked to Kelly about how mad she was at me.” I let my words trail off in a mutter as he caught my meaning. He’d been in contact with Kelly after we’d all been sent home. Just like Laney and me. I grinned at him and he pushed air up the bridge of his nose once more.

“Ah, yes, well. Okay then. Well, I just wanted to see you before the show. Good luck. I know I’ve chosen Kelly. I haven’t seen Trent, or Skip for that matter. Are you choosing Laney? Kelly will kill you if you don’t!” His cheeks had flamed red for a moment before he stood and turned away from me.

I looked at him, wondering if he was really curious or if he was spying.

“I’ll do what everyone expects me to do,” I responded.

“That could be anything, Jake. Follow your heart, isn’t that what you told me?” He clapped me on the shoulder before he left and I took a deep breath. He hadn’t been spying then, just curious. I felt bad for even wondering now.

He’d probably tell me it was the intelligent thing to wonder anyway. You could never tell in contests like this.

I could do this. I had to.

I dressed in my tux when prompted and followed the man out that came to get me as the time rolled near.

I could hear the women in the other part of the house and knew the time had come to do what was right. Even if I wanted to climb the stairs, go through every room until I found Laney, and run out of the house with her, I had to do the right thing right now, and that meant heading in the opposite direction, so that’s what I did.

Cameras were still being set up in the foyer and the set designer was running around in a panic. Somehow the roses that adorned every surface were wrong and she hated them and was on the verge of suicide. “They won’t show up as well on camera! How could you order the wrong color, you idiot?”

She was screeching at some underling and I felt sorrier for them than I did the designer. People only glanced at that stuff, the roses weren’t so important that she should be in such a panic. Was everybody in this business an infantile butthole, or was it just the staff for this show?

I left the woman now in tears and walked to the same area where we’d started from and stood in the spot marked for me. People rushed by, none paying any particular attention to me. Only the set was important at the moment. I watched it all, hating every moment of it, but determined to see this through properly. I had to.

Memories played in my mind as I stood there, waiting for the others to appear in this farce of a show. Only a few weeks ago I’d watched Laney come down those stairs and fell in love for the very first time. Her eyes had sparkled they were so full of laughter and irreverence. I knew then she wasn’t taking any of it seriously, much like me. She’d fascinated me from the start. Sure, she was breathtaking in her gown, and she had the most amazing eyes, and damn! All of that red hair! That wasn’t what caught my eye though, it was how she looked so beguilingly amused that got me.

I knew she wasn’t here for wealth. Tony had signed her up for the show in collusion with my grandmother. What had started out as whim had turned into something far more serious. Now, I had to make a decision that could throw it all away.

Calm, cold, collected, I reminded myself as I waited. Do what’s right, do what you have to do. Get through this. Then pick up the pieces.

I grimaced and clenched my jaw. I could do it. I had to, right?

I felt my knees go weak as a new thought occurred to me. After those pictures, would Laney even bother to show up tonight?