Page 19 of He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

‘Let’s get you back to the apartment. If I’m reading you right, you’ve got some self-loathing and man-hating to start on.’ He winks, a sly grin on his face as he slides into the driver’s seat.

I don’t know how the next few weeks will go down, but there isn’t an ounce of me looking forward to any of it. Even though Dax has made me smile more than I expected, there’s still the lingering issue of starting my life over at twenty-nine. I don’t even know where to begin.

5

DAX

Five Days Later…

I called the woman from the magazine. McKenzie. I need the money, and the only other way I have of getting it would offend my mother.

We’re at a steakhouse in downtown Portland having a meeting so she can sweet talk me into partaking in this competition. Little does she know this forty-dollar steak is helping already.

‘Let’s talk about your audition,’ she says.

I stop, my fork full of mashed potatoes midway to my mouth. ‘My audition?’

Considering I know exactly nothing about an audition, I can only assume Brynn had a hand in this part. McKenzie slides an iPad to the center of the table, pressing play on a video she’s loaded.

‘Watching it live was so much better.’

Oh no. I glance up at her, then back at the video playing. No, no, no. She recorded this? Shit. I laugh nervously to myself or maybeatmyself. There I am in all my glory, throwing rose petals and dancing my ass down the aisle of the Altman wedding last weekend.

‘You’ve proven to be quite popular on the website.’

‘It’s on your website?’ I nearly drop my fork.

‘Of course. Viewers have already voted you as favorite potential contestant. We had many submissions and had to find a way to narrow it down from twenty-five to five. Honestly, I knew you’d make it the moment you stepped into that aisle. It was perfect,’ she says with a chef’s kiss. ‘The flower wall, the flower boy, the essay has all—’

‘Theessay?’ I interrupt her, now confused.

‘Brynn sent in an essay as your application weeks ago and your story really moved us. When it came time to pick our top twenty-five, you were in my top two.’

Brynn. I sit my fork on the edge of my plate, rubbing the back of my neck.

They were moved by my story? I don’t even have a story. I’m just a regular guy struggling every day to keep his business going. What the hell did she tell them?

‘I uh…’ I pause, suddenly nervous. ‘I’m confused. You’re talking about things I didn’t even know existed. Truthfully, I’m not even sure I want to do this. I’m already booked through the entire summer.’

‘Completely understand,’ she says, grabbing her wine glass. ‘Let me explain the basics of the show.’

‘It’s a TV show?’

‘YouTube. Online is now more popular than traditional television according to many surveys.’

I had no idea.

‘Listen, I get that you’re busy. We intentionally chose wedding season because this isn’t the kind of reality show where you’re sequestered for months until it airs. We’re trying a new format. You’ll compete right from your hometown for five weeks against five other florists with weddings you’ve already booked. We cover the cost of everything, even what the couples would owe you for your services, so you won’t be losing money. Not only does this help get them on board for changes, but it encourages them to allow us to film. Free wedding flowers.’ She cocks her head. ‘What engaged couple could refuse that? More honeymoon money.’ She laughs as if the idea is genius.

‘These are your actual clients and your business name on the line; we respect that, Dax. We also understand wedding orders take time to create so we won’t disrupt that. We’ll only be judging you on one centerpiece, per wedding, that you’ll have three hours to create on-site.’

‘Threehours?’

The Altman flower wall took me over four hours to build and I have a feeling to compete against other talented florists, I’ll need more than flower walls.

‘That’s the catch. Some of these creations are time-consuming and difficult to manage on your own in a short period. We get that. Which is why you’ll chooseoneassistant. Someone from your life who has no experience in the industry. Show us how you manage someone else because, should you win, we’re investing in your business with a fifty-thousand-dollar prize.’

An assistant without floral experience? Not exactly helpful and probably more of a hindrance than anything else. How am I supposed to train someone on the job while competing?

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