Page 75 of The Cuffing Game
ALEX:Um, okay! And you just cuffed with her in the previous episode. Congratulations! How is that going?
KYLE:Pretty good. I’ll be honest. At first, I was only interested because she’shot.But we’re a lot more compatible than I thought we’d be. We’re going to drop out of the show. You know, like Matías and Jack? I watched the first few episodes before I came here so I know that’s allowed. I want to take her to Vegas for the holidays.
ALEX:Oh! That’s rather... fast. I mean, I’m not judging, but uh... that’s amazing! Did you already tell everyone else?
KYLE:Yeah. We told Mia and got her approval.
ALEX:And what exactly are you guys going to do in Vegas? If you don’t mind me asking.
KYLE:I’m doing what Noah couldn’t do.
ALEX:Uh, okay, well, I hope you guys have an amazing time in Vegas. I’m so jealous!
KYLE:Yeah, I’d be too, if I were you. You film people work way too hard.
ALEX:Right. Okay, bye, Kyle. Have a safe trip.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Mia
Two hours into their drive out of Big Bear, Mia was deep in her thoughts about her conversation with Noah when Alex said, “Hey, so, you know how everyone else left before us?”
Something about their tone made her sit up from where she’d been moping in the passenger seat.
“Yeah?” she asked. “What about it?”
“Some peopledidhave things to do. But it was also because of another reason,” they said, shooting her a nervous glance. “A surprise. And normally, I wouldn’t say anything. But Damien said we should give you a heads-up, because, well, you’re you.”
Mia bit her lip. After growing up in a household with four sisters, where a “surprise” could mean anything from a disastrous makeover to a completely inedible but well-intentioned homemade birthday cake, Mia had grown to hate surprises. In fact, most surprises—and other unexpected occurrences—gave her a lot of anxiety.
“But it’s a fun surprise!” Alex continued. “I promise. Just a little something the rest of the crew and I prepared for you. You know, to congratulate you on being almost done with the show.”
They sounded so excited that Mia pulled her lips up into a smile.
“Aw thanks!” she said, doing her best to force her voice to be bright and cheery. “I’m looking forward to seeing what it is.”
By then, they’d arrived at the beach house, a white, modernly designed cubic building with two stories and floor-to-ceiling windows. It was somehow even bigger and more grandiose than it looked in the photos, a stark contrast from the nice yet understated exterior of the lodge they’d stayed in at Big Bear.
Alex parked their car in the driveway and got out the boom mic from the back of the car. As she stepped outside, Mia let out a quiet breath of relief. It wasn’t warm, not by LA standards, at least. But after spending the last several days in Big Bear, even fifty degrees seemed nice and pleasant.
She’d just shut the car door behind her when Damien and Kallie came out of the house. Damien was empty-handed, but Kallie had her camera pointed right at her. Before Mia knew what was happening, Alex moved to stand behind Kallie’s camera with the boom mic.
“Since today is our fun travel day episode,” Damien said, joining Mia in front of the camera, “I thought it’d be nice if we filmed some moments with the crew, too. Youknow, since it’s the last recorded episode before the live streamed finale tomorrow.”
Mia nodded. Filming cute behind-the-scenes footage of the cast and crew was something they’d discussed before, although they never figured out when to do it. She guessed that time was now. “That’s totally fine,” she said. “But why are we recording now?”
Damien exchanged glances with Alex, who nodded.
“I gave her the heads-up about the surprise,” they said.
Mia smiled. Out loud, it sounded so ridiculous that she needed aheads-upbefore a surprise. But after months of working onThe Cuffing Gametogether, her crew accepted her as that type of person. It felt nice to be known.
“Excellent,” Damien said. “And Mia, just trust us on this, okay?”
She nodded and bit her lip.
“Mia,” Damien said again, but in his formal “producer” voice. “You’ve been the driving force behind the show. And I speak for the contestants as well as the rest of the crew when I say that we appreciate all that you’ve done for everyone.”
