Lucky in Love (A Reality TV Romance)

Nineteen (after that confessional)

"Where were you?" Heather looks at Alex with wide eyes, her voice almost a squeak, it's so tight. "You missed Brad! Becca left on her date with Kai, and there's gonna be more group dates coming up, and a chance for a four-on-four."

"Jesus, this really is like dating bootcamp, isn't it?"

"I can't believe you missed it."

Alex grabs Heather around the waist, pulling her close by her side - even lifting her up slightly until the other girl squeaks again, which makes Alex grin. "Just spilling my guts to a very awkward camera operator."

"Confessional?" Heather nods understandingly. "God, those go on forever. It's like I can feel the superiority coming off some of the crew, y'know? Like, hello, I'm a person, please treat me as such?"

Alex shoots Heather a bemused look. "My crew is usually pretty cool? I dunno, I have 12."

Green eyes widen comically, and Alex is laughing even before Heather gets out the words, "Twelve?! You have twelve crew members in your confessional?"

Alex has to let go of her, she's laughing so hard. "Jesus— fuck no, oh my god," she's cracking up. "I have camera 12. The camera number." She's eager to bounce back from the emotional session, and getting overly excited is the best way to do that.

"They have numbers?"

Turning to face Heather in full, Alex puts her hands on either side of Heather's face, eyes bright with mischief. "You are beautiful, don't ever let the world change you."

Rolling her eyes, Heather is grinning, blushing, "Oh stop it."

"You beautiful cinnamon roll. You gorgeous pure virginal baby." She pinches the blonde's cheeks.

Heather giggles, "Alex, stop!"

"Never." But she does. "You're my baby bird now, I'm the— the— the fuckin'... chickadee to your cuckoo."

That draws a snort. "What does that even mean?!"

"Aren't— you know, the birds that replace other eggs? And then the other species raise their kids?"

"How... why..."

Alex has to laugh at Heather's perplexed amusement, shaking her head. "Christ, I need a drink. And a hug."

-*-

"Sorry for leaving, by the way," Ben mutters, falling into step when Jonas is halfway to the control room in search of answers.

"Yeah, what was that about?" He slows his pace to a stop, staring at Benji.

"Got commed, said you'd be fine, Blue Hair's better talking one on one."

Jonas's brow furrows for a second, lips thinning into a line. "That's fucked. You know how fucked that is?"

Benji shakes his head briefly, shrugging. "Look, I'm just saying what Production told me."

"That's not my job, Ben."

"You could probably angle it for a bonus, to be honest. You're doing Delia's job for her— deserve to get paid."

Jonas can't stop shaking his head, but he can't think of how to respond.

"Tell me this, Jo: why are you here?"

"...A paycheck." It's the truth.

"Exactly. And so are they. They all sign up for it, man. They sign a contract. Anything they do and say is officially on the record; it belongs to the studio. You're getting great footage." Ben prods a finger into Jonas's chest. "Get paid, dude. You deserve it."