Page 32 of Love Unexpected
I’d been doing this long enough to trust that the answers would eventually come, but it didn’t usually take this long for inspiration to strike.
“Maybe you just need to get out of the studio more,” Dani said. “I know you went out to California a couple of weeks ago, but even that was a pretty controlled shoot. You used to just go out on the streets and talk to people.”
“That was easier when fewer people knew who I was,” I said, wishing it wasn’t the truth. “With Captain Practical over there”—I motioned toward Alex—“it’s hard to get out and really engage like I used to.”
“My job is to protect your assets,” Alex said, his tone unapologetic. “And believe it or not, you are actually the show’s most valuable asset.”
I sighed. “Yeah, yeah. But I do like the idea of getting out of the studio.”
“What about the road trip idea you’ve been talking about for so long?” Dani asked through a yawn. “Just take your camera crew and drive somewhere. Stop at little no-name diners, talk to people who are off the beaten path enough that engaging won’t pose the same risk as, say, hanging out at Waterfront Park.”
“A road trip?” I repeated. I really had been talking about doing some kind of road trip segment for years. But the timing or reason for going on a trip had never felt right.
Alex nodded. “It would take a little arranging, and we’d have to carefully plan your stops, but a road trip could work.”
I rolled my eyes. “A spontaneous road trip that isn’t actually spontaneous,” I said. “Sounds fun.”
“You’re too big to put people on camera otherwise,” Alex said. “You want to be spontaneous? Don’t film anyone but yourself. Then you can be as spontaneous as you want.”
“Alex?” Dani reached up and cupped her hand around her husband’s cheek. “You’re kind of a buzz kill.”
I grinned. It was nice having Dani on my team.
No matter how planned out and precise Alex would need a road trip to be, the idea was growing on me. We were close enough to summer that the weather would be good no matter what direction we decided to drive. I just needed a destination. And a reason for going.
“Hey.” Dani nudged me with her toe, exchanging a quick look with Alex—one of those weird couple looks where they had an entire conversation with only their eyeballs. “What if you went to Kansas to meet Ana?”
My eyes jumped to Alex, his expression telling me he wasn’t at all surprised by Dani’s suggestion. So that’s the way it was.
“You guys are good,” I said. “I mean it. It didn’t seem scripted at all the way you worked it right into a conversation about the show. Well done.”
Dani smirked and lifted her shoulders in a little shrug. “We practiced. But that doesn’t mean the suggestion isn’t valid. Youshouldgo to Kansas. It’s time, Isaac. You’ve been messaging this girl for over a month, and you haven’t dated anyone else the entire time. You obviously like her.”
I did like her. We weren’t messaging quite as feverishly as we had those first weeks, but we’d settled into a predictable routine, sending messages once or twice throughout the day, then chatting for a few minutes late at night. I’d given up suggesting that we talk on the phone; for whatever reason, Ana didn’t seem to want to do it. Whenever I pushed, she quickly retreated, either changing the subject completely or ending our conversation altogether. I worried she was hiding something, but I was afraid pushing her might push her away. Despite the things I still didn’t know about her, I really liked talking to her. She was funny and smart and had really good insight about music and books and people. And I didn’t want to ruin that.
Plus, when I’d shared her artwork on the show, the follow-up conversation we’d had made me think that even though that circumstance had worked out to her benefit, she might not be the kind of person who would appreciate an on-air ambush as our first meeting. “I don’t think Ana would go for it,” I said. “I get the sense that she’s a really private person.”
Dani shifted, pushing herself up a little. Probably to make it easier for her to give me the evil, twin-stink-eye she’d used when we were kids to try and make me do what she wanted. “I love that you’re being so respectful of Ana’s wishes. I really do. But Isaac, this is who you are. Unless you’re planning on a career change, at some point, Ana is going to have to decide if she’s willing to be a part ofallof your life, and not just stay safely tucked away inside your phone. Besides, it’s not as if you’d have to film theentireroad trip. You could pick and choose what you put on camera. Make it more about the journey and less about the destination. That way, you can just turn the camera off when you actually meet Ana for the first time.”
Dani had a point. But the fans wouldn’t be nearly as invested if they couldn’t also be excited about the destination. Like it or not, the content that sold best was always the content that made viewers feel the most connected.
But the segment didn’t need to be aboutmyconnections. It could be about viewers’ connections. Online friendships and online dating was an enormous part of modern culture. The thrill of meeting someone in person for the first time that you’d only ever met online was definitely the kind of thing that would get people excited.
“I think you woke him up,” Alex whispered to Dani. “It’s like I can see the actual wheels turning in his brain.”
I shot Alex a bored look, but he wasn’t exactly wrong. If I’d had paper in front of me, I would have been scribbling down notes for how fast the ideas were flying through my brain. “That’s it,” I said, standing up.
Dani’s feet dropped from my lap and thudded onto the floor. “Hey,” she said. “A little warning next time.”
“What if we turn it into a whole segment?” I said, pacing around their living room.
“Turn what into a whole segment?” Alex said. “So far, you haven’t actually said any of your ideas out loud, man. Back up and bring us up to speed.”
“Right. Okay. What if we create a new segment for the show based on making connections? We find people who have known each other online for years but have never met in person. We could send two separate crews, one to each person, and then we road trip to a designated location in the middle so they can meet.”
“Why not just fly?” Dani asked. “Wouldn’t that make things a lot easier?”
“There’s nothing magical about flying,” I said. “The road trip would be what we use to get to know the people we’re connecting, highlighting their life, getting to know the ways in which this relationship they’ve formed has mattered to them. We can stop at roadside motels. Eat in old diners. Do all the road trip things, but with the express purpose of bringing two people together. Any two people. Gaming friends. Potential couples. Old ladies who have been playing scrabble together for years. Whatever. We could do anything.”
