The Bachelor

Five

The next day I wake up to the sound of Becky rusting around in the kitchen. I sit up and rub my eyes.

"Sorry," she says.

"It's fine," I say, "What are you doing?" I ask when I notice the strange array of items that have accumulated on the counter.

"Hangover cure I found on google. I'm ready to try anything," she groans.

"Yeah I'm not surprised, you had a rough night," I laugh and she shoots me a look of mock annoyance. She continues her preparations, which ends in her loading everything into a blender and producing a thick green 'smoothie' according to her. As she chokes it down, I thank god that I'm feeling fine.

I check my phone and notice one missed call from last night. I listen to the voicemail and it's John asking me to call him. I dial the number and wait for his answer,

"Hello?"

"Hi John it's Caroline," I say.

"Ah yes, I was waiting for your call. I believe I told you that filming starts this Wednesday?" he asks.

"You said Friday actually," I say.

"Well we've had to adjust so we're going to have to get you down to the filming site in Agoura Hills as soon as possible. When is the earliest you can leave?" I think it out before answering,

"Technically today," I say. He laughs,

"Good. I was hoping you'd say that," he says. He continues on to say that transportation has been arranged for me for today, under the assumption that I would agree. He says he'll email me a list of the things that I need to bring, as well as the information for my flight. He hangs up and it hits me that I'm going to be in California by tonight.

He promptly sends me the things I need and I start to look down the list. It's kind of like a list you would give a kid to pack for summer camp. It's mostly normal stuff, but they specify that you'll only need about two days worth of day clothes. I guess they provide you with stuff. I borrow a suitcase from Becky and throw everything in. It really doesn't seem like enough but I have everything on the list. My flight information says that I leave at 5:30, and there will be someone from the show waiting at the gate for me.

By the time I'm packed and ready it's one fifteen. Becky has been helping me a bit, and she still hasn't finished her drink. I call my parents and apologize for not being able to say a proper goodbye and they give me a kind of pep talk about keeping my eyes open and being smart. Jack left for his parents' house this morning. So I ask Becky if she wants to go out for something to eat. I can tell she would rather stay home and sleep but she begrudgingly agrees.

We take the bus away from campus and stop at a Tim Hortons. We sit down with our food and talk. We just talk normally, like I'm not about to leave. By the end I've almost forgotten. We sit there until about three fifteen when we finally get up and go back to the apartment.

John said that I could take a taxi to the airport and the show would cover it, so I call the local company. I'm making sure I have lots of time, I don't really have much travel experience and I'm not confident in my ability to navigate the airport. Becky walks me down to the building's foyer and we wait for the taxi together. It pulls up right on time and after hugging Becky goodbye I load myself in.

Once I arrive at the airport, get my bag checked and find my gate, it's five. I know that I'm supposed to be meeting someone but I realize that I don't know who they are or what they look like. So I stand in the gate area awkwardly with my satchel carry-on slung over my shoulder.

"Caroline Davies?" I hear someone ask from behind me. I turn around to see a middle aged woman.

"That's me," I say. She holds out her hand.

"My name is Leslie Freeman," she says. She must notice the questioning look on my face because she answers the question I had in my mind.

"You've met my husband, John."

"Of course. Do you work on the show too?" I ask.

"Yes I'm an assistant producer," she answers. She gestures for me to sit, which I do, and she takes a seat beside me.

"This must be overwhelming," she says, "You came into this in an... interesting way."

"That's for sure," I respond, laughing.

She tells me that she lives with John in Eugene, Oregon all year, except when they are doing filming for the show. John has already flown to the site, but she stayed behind a few extra days.

"Flight 316 to Los Angeles now boarding," a voice says over the announcement system. We both stand and after showing our tickets, we get on the plane.

After sitting for what seems like hours, and watching all the emergency preperation videos, the pilot comes over the intercom and announces that we're taking off.

"Are you ok?" Leslie asks and I realize that I'm shifting around and running my hands up and down my legs.

"Um yeah, I've just never flown in a plane before," I admit. She smiles,

"It'll be fine, I fly all the time," she says and it reassures me. I'm not scared of heights, It's just the idea that we're going to be floating, with nothing underneath us that kind of boggles my mind.

The take of goes well and once we're in the air I just kind of sit there and think about the fact that I'm actually flying. I make myself smile thinking about it. I only jump a few times, when we hit turbulence. I talk to Leslie for a while before taking out a gossip magazine that I had borrowed from Becky. The flight is only about two hours so I don't need much more than that. Before I know it, the pilot announces we are landing. People clap when the plane touches down but I look at Leslie and she just rolls her eyes, so I don't clap. I just smile at her.

After some hassle with finding our bags, we get out of the airport, and I expect her to call a cab, but she walks directly to a black car and opens the back.

"Well come on!" she shouts back to me, because I'm still standing on the sidewalk. I follow her and put my bag in the back next to hers and get into the back seat.

We drive for about half an hour and Leslie tells me that we're going to a hotel where all of the 'bachelorettes' and most of the crew are staying before filming.

When we stop, we have pulled up in front of a high end hotel. Men in uniforms emerge, and take our bags from the car.

"They'll take them up to your room," Leslie says. I'm impressed.

As we walk through to hotel foyer, she says,

"You might see some of the other girls around, don't talk to them. It makes it more exciting on the first night when you all meet each other."

While I ride the elevator up to my room I think about her comment, and that they just want to make a good show, it's all for the viewers. So, once again, I remind myself to not get invested in it all.

I unlock my room and go inside to find my bag already sitting on my bed. Next to it is a sheet of paper. It has the title of the show, with its signature rose under it, at the top. Under that, is my agenda for the next two days. I have to meet with some people, and apparantly film some things. I glance at it, but decide that I won't worry about it until tomorrow. My first item of business isn't until ten thirty. I move my bag onto the floor, to lazy to unpack for now. I dig out my pyjamas and then climb into the queen sized bed, which is much bigger than I'm used to. I flick around the channels on the TV but there's nothing good on. Once I set the alarm on my phone, I put my head on the pillow and go to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Ok so I don't think anyone is reading this story but if you are I'm sorry it's taking so long for Niall to actually appear. These past two chapters have also been really boring. I'm thinking I'll try to do one more before she meets him so just hang in there. Also, I'm not putting a cast and I'm barely describing the characters because when I read I kind of like to imagine the characters however I want them to look. So just use your imagination.

If you read this PLEASE leave a comment telling me whether you like it or not.

Thanks :)