A voice much too deep to be Gwen's.
What?I stopped and strained my ears to decipher what I'd heard.
"I don't care if you think he's boring, or if he broke up with you. Just think of the payday we'll get from the alimony after you're married for a couple of years. We could be set for life."
"I don't think he'll take me back. I think he's starting to figure out there was nothing between us from the beginning, and I'm having a hard time faking it when it's just us alone for a weekend. When I had everyone else around, it was a lot easier to keep the charade going." Gwen's voice drifted through the door.
My legs went weak and I had to lean against the wall for support so I wouldn't collapse to the floor.
Everything had been fake?
She'd only been after me for my money?
"I'll figure something out," the man's voice responded. "I convinced Drew to choose you the first time, I can get him to take you back."
Dion?
Is that Dion?
My brain whizzed, piecing everything together. Dion and Gwen were having an affair? Had Dion put Gwen on the show to go after my money from the very beginning?
A wave of nausea flooded me as I remembered back to filming and all the times Dion had told me what a great connection Gwen and I had. How she always said the nicest things about me when I wasn't around. How I seemed to light up in a different way when Gwen was by his side.
Had they all been lies?
Had I sent home a great girl that first night just to end up with the girl Dion had planted in the show to make himself richer?
"I'm gonna take a shower." Gwen's voice sounded closer than it had been a moment before.
Footsteps padded on the carpet inside the room, moving toward me. I panicked and darted down the hall as fast and as quietly as I could, my heart pounding like a jackhammer.
Only once I’d made it out of the garage and into my truck did I take a full breath of air.
Had anything between us ever been real? Had she meant any of those things she'd said to me while we were together?
Or were they all just lies to get her to stay a little longer?
It all made sense now. Gwen had been simply acting the whole time we were together. The side of her that I was now watching on TV each week was her true character.
How had I fallen for it so badly? And why had no one else seen it? Were they all in on it? Could I trust anyone at the studio?
I cancelledall my meetings the next morning and drove straight to the studio after my workout, chugging a protein shake the whole way. I needed to get this over with, so I could stop seeing images of the gossip magazines after everyone found out on the after-show.
Drew Burrows had twenty-five women to choose from, and he still couldn't find one to fall in love with him.
"I have to tell you something," I said once Alexis had me take a seat in her office. Her desk was usually described as organized chaos, but today it just looked like a mess.
She probably doesn’t have time for this.I looked at the stack of papers again.Yeah, this is going to be the last thing she wants to hear.
"What's up?" She shut her laptop and leaned forward on her forearms. "How was your weekend with Gwen?"
"Well." I scratched behind my ear. I might as well just cut to the chase. "Gwen and I, um…we broke up. Or rather,Ibroke up with her." I braced myself for the explosion that was sure to happen.
Alexis closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath before glaring at me. "And what reason do you have for throwing my ratings out the window?"
"She's not who I thought she was." I wanted to pout like a child, but I settled for crossing my arms.
"No one is who they appear to be anymore.” Alexis pointed to her nose. "You see this? It's not my real nose. But it makes me look good. Kind of like how a happy ending on this show makes me look good. I thought we had a deal, Drew." She pounded her laptop with a fist.