Page 99 of The Baking Games

"I can't believe we're the last two standing. Honestly, I thought I would go home very early. I'm not much of a competitor."

"I think you're a lot more of a competitor than you think you are, Sunny.”

"Well, either way, we're almost to the finish line, and I want to say that you deserve this just as much as I do."

"Same to you," Rhett says, reaching over and taking my hand. "You deserve the world. I know you haven't had such an easy time in life, but how you approach everything with such positivity inspires me. I'm actually going to try to take a little bit of that into my regular life when we go back home."

It makes me sad to think about us not spending time together anymore. "Yeah, going home. I haven’t really thought about it because it made me so sad to miss my sister, but now I will get to see her in a couple of days. It's going to be wonderful to be together again.”

"I'm really happy for you," he says. "And I, of course, am jumping straight back onto the cruise ship. I was only able to get the six weeks off. So whether I win or lose, I have to fulfill my contract. I'll jump right back on the ship the day after this competition ends.”

"Really? So you're not going to get any downtime?"

"No, I'm not. I have to go on at least one more run. If I win, then, of course, I'll quit. If I don't, I’ll just return to my normal life until I can find something better."

"I know you'll find whatever it is that you're looking for, Rhett. You deserve it. Whether your family supports you or not, I do."

"And I thank you for that. I really do," he says, squeezing my hand. "I'm going to miss spending so much time together, and I literally never thought I'd say that about you, Savannah Greene.”

"Ditto," I say, laughing.

SAVANNAH

The kitchen is alive with activity. We have more cameras, lights, and excitement in the air. Rhett and I are both positioned behind our stations, each of us nervously standing there, tapping our fingers or moving from foot to foot.

They finally get Dan miked up, the lights lit up before him, and it's time. This is it, our final competition.

"Welcome to The Baking Games!” he yells out. I can hear the theme music playing in the background. "Tonight, we are so excited to present to you the final competition of The Baking Games. This competition will last a total of four hours. Our last two finalists will make the wedding cake for celebrity couple Keaton Mallory and Keira Donaldson." Dan pauses for dramatic effect as if people at home stand up and clap.

"You can watch the full competition live online using streaming. Those who are watching this on TV will only see the last ninety minutes of the competition with a summary at the beginning of what's happened so far. Then, in the last fifteen minutes of the show, the audience will be allowed to vote, and those votes combined with our judges and our two special guest judges will determine the winner of this competition. So why don't we go ahead and introduce our two guest judges," he says, pointing at the judging table. They have fancied it up with twinkle lights and detachable curtains around the table.

Our three judges are sitting there. Dan points off through another doorway and says, "Please welcome Keaton Mallory and Keira Donaldson!”

Oh my gosh, the actual celebrity couple is here. Why did it never dawn on me that they would be the ones who would help judge the wedding cake? After all, we'll be making a cake that we would then have to recreate for their wedding in a few weeks.

Rhett looks at me, surprised as I am, but Rhett is not into pop culture at all. He has no real idea who these two people are. He's only seen them in passing on magazine covers or movie trailers, but he's definitely not a fan.

Me? I'm a huge Keira Donaldson fan. I've followed her career since she started as a child actor. She's one of my favorite actresses. They walk out, smile, and wave in our direction.

Dan puts the microphone in front of Keaton. "So Keaton, what have you thought of The Baking Games so far?" He's very handsome, even more handsome in person than he is in the movies. He would put Brad Pitt to shame, and I love Brad Pitt.

"Well, so far, I have seen a lot of talented people," he says. Very diplomatic.

"What about you, Keira?"

She smiles broadly. "I'm a huge Savannah fan," she says. I feel like I'm going to melt into a puddle on the floor. I put my hand over my mouth. "I think she has done amazing and been such a sweetheart in the process. I would say that Rhett is a very lucky man," she says, winking in Rhett's direction.

He turns and smiles at me. "I would say you're right." Again, I don't know if he's pretending or being serious, but it doesn't matter. By this time tomorrow, we will both be back in our normal lives like none of this ever happened.

"So Keira, tell the contestants what you're looking for in your wedding cake."

"Well, I'm looking for something unique that speaks to our relationship or our own interests, something that will be a showpiece and can be showcased in photos when we have our wedding layout in People Magazine."

My heart starts to race. People Magazine? My cake could be featured in People Magazine. That's insane to think about. So much is happening at one time that I can barely take it all in.

"Great. Okay, contestants, are you ready to get started?" We both nod. "Then let's get this competition going in 3, 2, 1… go!”

As soon as he yells, we both start scurrying around our stations. As usual, Rhett grabs his sketch pad and starts drawing something out. I have no idea what he's planning. We didn't talk about any of it in advance. The one place I think I might have a leg up is that I know pop culture. I know a lot about Keira Donaldson and about her relationship. I know what she likes and what she doesn't like.

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