Page 39 of Desirous

Too bad. I resent have to run interference through a dinner date because one of their contestants is a goddamned criminal.

“When Emma and I went out to dinner for our date, she tried to drug me. Roofie me, actually. Thankfully, someone gave me a head’s up, and I didn’t drink any of what she drugged. To be honest, I’m not sure it was only her. I get the feeling your cameraman was in on it too.”

Both Shane and Maria stare at me for a long moment, probably trying to process all of that, and then her mouth drops open in shock. His doesn’t, though, and I immediately wonder why he’s not more surprised by anything I just said.

“That doesn’t sound like something she’d do,” he says, showing his hand about what he thinks of her. “I’m having a hard time believing any of this.”

Although Maria looked upset by my announcement at first, now she shakes her head and agrees with her fellow producer. “That’s a very serious charge to make, Alex. I’m not sure what you think we can do without proof. I mean, we can’t just go throwing people off the show because someone says they were drugged. We need more than that.”

Putting aside her hypocrisy since that’s exactly what they did to Kat, I hold up the sheet of paper with the lab report on it and say, “This is a report on something found in my drink at dinner the other night, the one Emma and I went to at CK. Now before you even think of saying that someone at my restaurant slipped Rohypnol into my water, stop yourself. My people wouldn’t do that, plus one of the owners tipped me off to my drink beingdrugged after he saw the stuff actually being put into my glass. I don’t know if it was Emma or Randy or the two of them, but they were the only ones at the table when he watched a hand holding a vial of something pour it into my water glass.”

Maria holds her hand out to take the lab report, so I give it to her. “It’s right there. Roofies in my water. What I want to know is what are you going to do about it? And by the way, this should make you take a much harder look at who actually poisoned that chicken bourguignon because it wasn’t Kat.”

Now the two of them look stunned. Shane leans over to look at the report as Maria studies it and I wait. Anything less than a full investigation and Emma’s speedy removal from this show will mean I leave.

“We’re going to have to check into this, Alex. I hope you understand,” Maria says in a shell-shocked voice.

“That’s fine. I want a full investigation. You need to know that I won’t be doing anything more with either of them. No more pretending to like her for some stupid storyline the audience will love. No more going anywhere off this set with either one of them.”

The two producers nod their heads in solemn agreement, clearly shaken by my claim and the proof I have to back it up. “I’ll give you a day or so, but if she’s not removed from this show by then, I’ll leave. You got rid of Kat without a shred of evidence she did anything to that food. I expect whatever investigation you do to be quick and Emma gone. You have proof right in your hand. I’m more than happy to give you Kane Jackson’s number. He’s the owner who saw it happen at the restaurant.”

Shane holds up his hand at my mention of Emma’s removal. “Now wait a second. You can’t demand a contestant be gone. We need to look into this, and it may take a while.”

Taking a step toward them, I say, “Then I’ll be speaking to an attorney tomorrow morning. Your choice. You handle this and we move on, or we get lawyers involved. It’s up to you.”

My threat changes his tone, and he immediately agrees to handling the problem quickly. “Okay, okay. You don’t need to do that. We’ll handle this. We promise, Alex.”

When I walk away, I see Emma eyeing me up while I head toward my area to begin the day. It’s her or me. That’s all there is to it.

And then when she’s gone and everyone knows what she did, I plan on doing everything I can to get Kat back on this show where she belongs.

I watchKat’s face as I tell her the whole story about my date with Emma. Her expression morphs from surprised to horrified by the time I reach the part about the roofies.

“Oh my God! You didn’t drink any of the water, did you?”

Shaking my head, I shrug. “No. My uncle saw her or Randy, whoever it was that did it, put the stuff into my glass. Thank God he caught me before I went back to the table because if no one had seen it, I would have been completely at her mercy in the back of that limo.”

“That bitch! And here I thought she was a nice person all along.”

“Not so nice that she won’t use a little drugs to get someone to do what she wants.”

Kat gets up from the sofa and looks down at me. “I’m not surprised Maria and Shane weren’t all about finding out the truth at first. Look what they did to me. Talk about judge and jury convicting without any proof. They had me off that show soquickly my head was still spinning the next day. I’m going to get another beer. You want one?”

I hold up my half-filled bottle to show her I’m good. “Thanks, but I’m nursing mine because I’m too busy telling my story.”

While she’s gone to the refrigerator, I say, “I didn’t tell you the best part, though. Wait until you hear this.”

“What?” she calls out from the kitchen. “Hang on. I’ll be right there. Don’t say anything until I get back because I want to hear every word.”

I can’t wait to tell her what I have planned. Finally, I’ll get to make up for my mistake.

She walks back into the room and sits down next to me. “I’m not going to lie. I wish they’d find out she tried to drug you and also was the one who put whatever it was in my entrée so I could come back, but I doubt they’re going to let me.”

“That’s what I wanted to tell you. When they find out it really was her, I plan to make sure she goes and you come back. I don’t see why they won’t invite you to come back on the show. They’re going to need someone to fill Emma’s spot since they’re already down two people.”

Kat takes a sip of beer and shakes her head. “That sounds like a lot of confusion, though, doesn’t it? One show she’s there, and the next she’s gone replaced by me? I don’t know if the audience will like that.”

I lower my head and look at her like she’s lost her mind. “Are you kidding? Drama is the name of the game for these people. They’ll love it. They’ll probably make you the star of the show. Unjustly accused and then redeemed while the person who tried to ruin you is sent packing? That’s ratings gold right there.”

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