Page 21 of House of Deceit

“Attorneys? Wait, hold on.” She jogs, getting in front of me and throwing herself in front of the doors. “I can’t be kicked off this show. At least, not before I fulfill the obligations to get the five grand I was promised just for making it to the mansion.”

Her deep blue eyes are panicked, and for a moment the expression reminds me of Lorelei. Even though I’m fuming with the situation this woman has put us both in, I soften. But barely.

“I can’t make any promises. The attorneys will have to make the call, but I’ll do what I can to at least get you the five thousand, okay?”

“Okay. Thank you.” She straightens, clearing her throat. “I never got your name.”

“Alec. Alec King.”

“Well, Alec King, it’s nice to meet you.” She sticks her hand at me again, and this time I take it. The air must be dry because I feel an electric shock as our skin meets. She gives me a tentative smile and I feel one side of my mouth kick up.

“I have to go. Continue with the rest of your schedule and I’ll let you know what decision is made.”

My footsteps echo against the marble floor of the hallway as I rush to Sheila’s makeshift office.

I burst through the door exactly twenty minutes after Sheila texted me. She checks her watch, ever the stickler for punctuality. Chairs for twenty ring the oak table. Sheila is at the head of the table across from the doors while two attorneys sit on her left. The chair’s wheels drag across the carpet as I pull it out from the table.

“Alec, you have us all here,” Sheila says, linking her hands in front of her, “why don’t you tell us what the issue is?”

“The contestant I picked completed the application using the name ‘Charles Price.’” I hand out copies of the application to each person. “However, her legal name is Charlotte. We need to get one of the backups here in the next twenty-four hours.”

“Her?” Sheila flips through the prints. “How did this happen?” She stops at the box asking for the person’s gender and sees what I saw. “How did you miss this?”

I sigh, heavily. “Marshall thought it was an accident and, without confirming, he added it to the pile he sent out to the male wranglers. And to be transparent, it’s not something I double check. After looking at the names, I move to their answers.”

“Fucking Marshall. Okay, what’s done is done. Now,” she looks to the attorneys, “what are the actions we need to take? How can we avoid a lawsuit here?”

They take their own papers from the briefcases and give me and Sheila copies as well. The attorney on the right takes a deep breath and begins speaking.

“When we heard about there being an issue with Alec’s contestant, we pulled the contract. Even though the application was filled out with the name Charles, she signed the contract to participate with her legal name. Using a nickname on the application doesn’t make it invalid. The contract has been signed and notarized. She can only be removed from the competition if she breaks a rule.”

“You’ve got to be kidding. We don’t have the ability to remove someone for any reason?” Sheila asks.

The attorney on the right takes this question. He reaches up and pushes his glasses up his nose.

“The subsection that talks about falsifying anything does not include using a nickname. Everything about her is correct as far as we can tell and, as my partner said, she signed the contract with her legal name. It’s binding.”

Sheila taps her phone on the table. Her eyes are sightless as she calculates the options and makes a choice. “Obviously, we’re not getting rid of this girl. Here’s what we are going to do.” She sits forward in her chair and I prepare to take notes to fulfill her wishes.

“The rooms. We are going to intermingle them this time around. Two women and two men in four of them. The other room will have three women and the last man. This could be a chance for more drama. Instead of the competitions for privileges being split based on gender, which was always stupid, it will be a random split. You will need to spread these changes to the others.”

I nod, making notes.

“Now, you will need to talk to Charlotte and see if she would like a female wrangler.” My heart freezes in my chest as I try not to let emotion take over. If she picks another wrangler, I’m out.

“I’m sorry, why would we need a new wrangler for her?”

“Alec, the role of the wrangler is to be this person’s confidant, their best friend in the entire house. The one that keeps them from losing it when they don’t know if they can trust anyone.”

“I can be that for her. I’m the most senior wrangler. This isn’t my first rodeo.”

“The choice is hers. I’m not going to make her agree to having a man watch all of her footage, do her interviews, and all of that if she would feel more comfortable with a woman. I’m in the business of putting on the best show I can and that requires people to open up. Ask her. Now.”

I pace outside of Charlie’s hotel room after the concierge confirmed she hadn’t come back down. Whispering to myself, I rehearse my speech. My hands fiddle with the edge of my jacket, pulling it down. Button. Unbutton. Button it again.

“Stop stalling.” I lift my hand to knock as she pulls the door open.

“Oh, fuck me running!” She puts her hand to her chest and bends at the waist before standing straight and putting her hands on her hips. “You scared the shit out of me.”

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