Page 7 of Breakaway Heart
Still blinking in disbelief, he sat down on a violently lime-green couch with the chirpy blonde Love Villa presenter, Jemima.
“Wow! Quite the reception there, Randall, what do you think to that?
“Oh man, I feel their pain. They didn’t want me to leave. I’d be booing too.”
Randy’s face turned to confusion as another round of boos rang out, this time with a touch more venom behind them.
“I don’t think that’s why they’re booing, Randall,”Jemima told him.
“Um…What?”
“So, Randall, what went wrong for you in the villa?”
“When you say ‘wrong’, what do you mean exactly?”
“Well, how about we take a look at your highlight reel and you tell us?”
“Lucy, you there?”
“Yes.” I said back in amazement as Randall’s villa highlights appeared on-screen, punching an inflatable flamingo, pushing Hera in the pool, pulling down David’s shorts during the pie challenge, throwing hot dogs at Mandy while chasing her and shouting “Eat them!”, cracking a half-dozen eggs in Victor’s bed. And then there was the night-cam footage. A shadowy figure humping in different beds like a dog with no self-control.
The horrific highlight reel ended, and the camera switched back to Randall, his face as white as a ghost. He gulped and looked fearfully at Jemima, before murmuring weakly,“You didn’t show any of the good ones.”
“Wellll, there weren’t that many, Randy! Do you have anylast messages for your former housemates before you leave the villa?”
The color came back to Randy’s face, and his jaw closed into a determined look. You could visibly see the anger growing and then burning within the deep ridges of the frown that had formed on his sun-kissed forehead.
“Yeah, actually. Two words… Fuc…”
Jemima swiftly and professionally cut him off,“Thank you, Randy! I really hope you find love out there.”
A half-hearted applause followed, but it might as well have been a slow handclap. Randy got unsteadily to his feet, swaying and wondering what the hell had just happened.
“That wasamazing!” Hannah said.
“Sure was! I’m gonna miss him, though.”
“Me too. Hey, in the meantime, why don’t you get out there, see if there’s anything… Or anyone! To take your mind off it,” she teased.
I knew I should, but I couldn’t face it. Instead, I would end up spending two days living off room service and watching TV, wondering how to beat the slump I was in.
4
ADVENTURE
I emerged from my room and grumpily slumped at a table in the bar, ordering another flamboyant drink that would probably give me both diabetes and heart tremors, and then looking up at the TV.
“Hey, can you turn this up?” I asked the waiter as he placed my drink carefully down on a paper coaster.
“It’s been three days now since Randall Jackson left Love Villa. The show has lost four million viewers since his acrimonious exit as the villa’s ‘least liked member.’ But where is the person dubbed ‘The Worst Person in America’ now? No one seems to know. His coach could only say that he’s expected to report for pre-season with the Ice-Hawks in two weeks; otherwise, there’s been no word on the Merryville winger. Previous love interest, influencer Georgia Moss, has had plenty to say about Randy, but has so far said they have not been reunited.”
“Hi Lucy!”
Leon had a light bounce in his step as he spotted me and came over. That bounce made me suspiciously nervous.
“Oh. Hey Leon, how’s your day?”
“It’s okay. We had to fish a dead iguana out of the pool,and the kids in room 212 have got some kind of vomiting bug.”
