From what I hear, Giselle’s date is a bust. She keeps trying to get him to kiss her, push her against the wall, look like they are having sex. But Blitz is having none of it.
Duke’s texts are hilarious.
She-cat’s in heat!
Blitz just ordered her raw steak and called her a cougar. Oh, she is mad!
I’m pleased it was horrible, but also know that those antics will get a lot of airplay. It’s just too Tweetable.
The next week’s shooting is so much easier. No dates. No late nights. Just dancing, set, wardrobe. There are a few interviews in the dressing room like Devon said, questions about my dancing history and what I will be doing with Blitz. I meet the announcer Barry and he laughs about how I charged on the stage for the finale, leaving him speechless for the first time in his life.
I hear rumors that there are arguments between the other girls caught on camera, but I’m left out of it, other than the accidental one with Giselle. I hope they don’t try to manufacture something on the live show. I don’t know how I will handle it.
It feels strange not being able to see what we’ve done so far. I want to know how the date episode looks, how my practice footage is working, if I should adjust. Devon assures me I’m doing fine and that the editing is going well.
The first hint I get about what will go into the episodes is when I’m sent to the recording booth to say some of the lines from the castle date.
A sound engineer shows me around. There’s a big screen showing a still of me on the staircase in the castle, and a microphone and headset next to a transcript printed out of what I said.
I finger it all, fascinated. “So I have to say it again?”
“Yes, we’ll practice it so it matches your mouth.”
He points to the door. Devon has come in and pauses in front of the screen.
“When you came down the stairs,” Devon says, “what you said was perfect and how you said it was perfect. Unfortunately, you took a big echoing step on that wood staircase, and we lost a word.”
The engineer plays the moment with the original sound. I watch eagerly as the footage shows me walking down the steps. It cuts to Blitz, and he says, “You look beautiful, like a princess.”
Then I say my line. “Is that why you chose a castle for our date?”
And I hear it. I take a step down on the word “castle” and it disappears in the CLUNK sound of my shoe.
“All we have to do is have you record the line again. It might take a few tries to make it match,” he says. “But we’ll get it.”
I glance at the transcript. “Do I have to redo everything from that night?” I ask.
“Oh, no,” he says. “That would be too expensive. There’s only five lines, I think. This one, one on the floor when a microphone buzzed, and a few outside where we just didn’t pick you up.”
I nod and look at the page. We practice the castle line a few times, and the engineer explains how I’ll hear three audible beeps with flashes, then the flash with a silent beep is when I start talking.
I mess up the first couple of tries and talk too soon or too late, but then I get it. We have the new lines recorded again quickly.
Devon stands up as I pull my headset off. “Good work, Livia. It’s nice to have the prerecorded show about ready to go. It will air in a couple weeks and then we’ll be ready for the live ones.”
He pats my shoulder and takes off. I’m about to follow him when I notice another sheet below mine. I shift the top page aside and see some lines that Christy will have to rerecord. I quickly read them.
“I just want us to have a chance, Blitz.”
“Tell me you’re not really in love with her.”
“She can’t feel as passionate about you as I do.”
My stomach sinks. Were there others?
The third page is full of Blitz lines, all from the castle. Nothing for Giselle or Mariah.
I glance up at the screen again. The last scene I recorded was during the waltz, when we thought no one could hear us. I had whispered, “I love you.”
I sure hope I’m not going to look too stupid on the show. I keep telling myself it won’t matter. In the end, Blitz will walk away with me, no matter what the television voters decide.
But I do still have pride. And I am still a little afraid.