Page 78 of Idle

“Hi! Sorry I’m so late. We loved your apartment. Great job!”

Why is she extra-perky? “Oh, uhm, thanks. Yours was good, too.”

She looks up from her dresser drawer. “I can’t believe it’s over. We made it to the bitter end and one of us is going to walk away with a television show. Incredible.”

“I know. Mind blowing, huh?”

“Right.” She holds up a royal blue dress—one that matches the walls of their primary bedroom. “I’m going to take a quick shower. I’ll be faster than a one-legged man in a butt-kickin’ competition.”

While the water runs in her “butt-kickin’” competition, I put on lotion and slip into my Vera Wang dress. I bet Jesse’s going to want to rip it off my body as soon as he sees it. For this reason alone, I dawdle. Deciding to make a perfect entrance, I futz around until Mary Ellen’s ready. After sharing a hug for good luck, we stroll into the living room arm-in-arm.

“Took you long enough.”

Bo’s opening salvo strikes his mark, as Mary Ellen flinches and steps away from me. Annoyed the cowboy carpenter still has any sway over his ex-wife, I defend her. “We’re not late. Quinn isn’t even here yet.”

“Whatever.” He addresses his partner. “I wanted to coordinate my tie with your dress. I’ll get my blue one.”

Bo strides out of the living room and I inhale a cleansing breath. Mary Ellen looks as if she’s about to burst into tears, so I dive into verbal diarrhea. “We won’t be in the ViewPad after tonight. Isn’t that great? No more hidden cameras stalking our every move. I, for one, will be happy to get rid of them. How about you, Mary Ellen? What are you happy to be leaving?”

Using her palm, she straightens her long blonde hair. “With any luck? Him.” She points toward the hallway her partner took.

“Can’t blame you.” If they win, she’ll be stuck with him for at least one more season—more, if the show’s a hit. All the work we put into our primary suite can’t be for naught, though. I pray Jesse and I will be crowned the winners and Mary Ellen can get her life back. Correction. A new life.

I walk over to Jesse and do a twirl. “Do I look ready for my close-up, Mr. Dimon?”

He smiles. “You’re always ready.”

I accept his compliment. As they go, his is tame, but still a vote of confidence from him. I run my palm over his torso. “You’re looking mighty handsome yourself. I like the way this button-down hugs your arms and chest.”

He tugs on the untucked, beige checked shirt. “I bought this hoping we’d be in the finals.”

“Like your sense of positivity, partner.” Because of the cameras, I don’t give him the kiss I’m dying to share with him.

“You don’t have to pretend to be so lovey-dovey. The cameras aren’t rolling.”

Jesse’s comment catches me off-guard. “Way too much is wrong with your statement. First, just because the camera crew isn’t filming doesn’t mean that the hidden cameras aren’t rolling. Second, I’m not pretending anything.”

He grabs my hands. “That was a moronic thing for me to say. Must be nerves.” He kisses the back of my palm. “Forgive me?”

When his khaki eyes meet mine, I’d forgive him anything. “Don’t let it happen again, Mr. Carpenter Extraordinaire.”

We share a chuckle as Bo reenters the room, now wearing a blue skinny tie. “I’m ready to start working on the name for my own television show.” He elbows Jesse. “Didn’t do it sooner because I thought it was in bad taste.”

I slap my hand over my wrist to keep it at my side. Next to me, Jesse straightens to his full height. “I think I can safely say for all of us we’re happy to see this contest come to a close.”

“Here, here!” Mary Ellen gets into the mix.

The front door opens, and Quinn walks in, trailed by the host of the show and the three judges. Since she already has our attention, Quinn starts talking. “It all comes down to this. Well done, Bo and Mary Ellen,” she directs her attention toward our rival team. “And Paige and Jesse.” Her head swivels in our direction. “Let’s get set up for this last part of the show, the final elimination round.”

We got this. We worked hard on our rooms, and I’m proud of what we produced. So what if we had a few minor flaws here and there? Our aesthetic complimented the whole apartment. I’m sure anyone would want to move into ours. Hell,I’dlove to move into 1626.

After we’re all situated and the lighting has been set, Miss Antonia takes over explaining what’s about to go down. First, she’ll give her assessment of the apartments, followed by each of the judges. When the show airs, though, the judges’ reviews will be done by overdubbing a taped walkthrough of the primary suites.

I smooth my dress. Even though I’m in black and white and Jesse’s wearing a cream shirt, I prefer our look to the matchy-matchy of Bo and Mary Ellen. Kind of a metaphor for our apartments. And our relationships.

“Rolling!”

The green lights flick on over the cameras, and the host begins. “Since you’ve enjoyed a recap of the apartments our teams did to date, let’s take a deep dive into what they accomplished in the primary suites. Jesse and Paige continued with their pre-war with a modern twist feel, while Bo and Mary Ellen went in a different direction for this round with an Old Hollywood theme.”

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