The Bachelor

Six

The next morning, once I'm up and dressed I go down to a meeting room on the first floor, as indicated on my sheet. It says: General Information Session. I knock on the closed door and it is soon opened by John. He smiles warmly and invites me in. Already seated at the table is a younger woman, dressed in a business suit.

"Take a seat Caroline," he says. I sit.

"We're just going to go over some general things that you'll need to know about the show and how it will work," he starts, "I'll start with the general format. On the first night, so tomorrow, you and the rest of the women will meet The Bachelor or the first time. You will arrive in groups of five in limos, to the mansion, and one by one you will exit, have a breif conversation, then procede inside. This will be followed by a cocktail party. You will be free to talk to each other, and The Bachelor, if you get a chance."

Most of what he's saying, I already know, but I smile and nod and make it look like I'm interested.

"At some point during the evening, he will give out a 'first impression rose' to one girl, then at the end of the night he will hand out the rest. From the twenty five, who go in, five will be sent home on the first night. If you advance, you will be assigned a room, and you will move your things in."

I glance over at the other woman, and she is not paying any attention,

"There are some general rules that you will need to follow for the duration of your time. You cannot leave the mansion property, unless on a date. This is mainly to prevent media from taking pictures or trying to talk to you. Don't try to start any physical violence with the other girls, production will intervene immediately and you will be sent home." I laugh out loud at this one. He looks up at me, with a small smile on his face, eyebrows raised.

"I don't think that will be a problem," I say. The guy at the party was the first person I've hit in a long time. Plus, I feel like with the kind of people that are usually on the show, I would probably lose if I tried to start a fight.

"Well good!" he says, "When you're in the house, meals will be provided, you will have access to food so you can make your own meals, or you can have prepared meals, you could order a pizza if you really wanted to." I smile at the last part.

He goes on to talk about how foul language isn't really against the rules, but they discourage excessive swearing. He also explains that I will be given a wardrobe for time on the show, which explains a lot.

"You may already be familiar with the process, but it's fairly simple. Each week, there will be dates, either one on one, two on one, or group, and a rose can be given out on each date. At the end of the week there will be a rose ceremony, like on the first night, and someone will be sent home," he elaborates on what I already know.

"This is Michelle by the way, she's the other head producer, you'll see her around a lot," he adds. I say hello to Michelle, she seems quite pleasant. John dismisses me and I leave the room.

According to my sheet, I have to go to a room back up on the floor my room is on, for 'Wardrobe'. I make my way up, and I arrive exactly at my scheduled time. I knock on the door, and I can hear voices inside. It's opened by a black woman who looked about fifty.

"Caroline?" she asks, while looking me over.

"That's me," I reply. She opens the door wider.

"Come on in hun," she says, "I'm Barb". When I go inside I see racks and racks of clothes, and more stacked in piles and in bins.

"We're going to pick out your clothes," she says and I mentally thank her for pointing out the obvious. She grabs my hand and drags me over to the bed and sits me down. She immediately moves to one of the racks.