Perfect Match

Chapter 13

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"Hello Elena, Stefan." Alyssa, one of the producers said coldly and emotionlessly as the couple walked into the tiny room. They greeted her with polite but anxious words, taking a seat in the leather couch directly across from the chair that Alyssa was in.

Elena hesitantly reached out for Stefan's hand, which he held gently but firmly. His simple action seemed to calm her nerves; they hadn't been asked to speak with the producers since they were brought to the airport in the limo. "It's awfully late," Stefan said politely. "Is this urgent?"

"Yes," Alyssa replied sternly, her silicone lips in a firm line. "We need you both to leave the show."

Elena's eyes widened more than they should have, and her posture notably stiffened. She furrowed her brows. "Excuse me?"

Alyssa sighed, "You are disqualified from the show. I'm sorry."

Stefan's grip on Elena's hand tightened, his gaze confusedly fixated on the producer across from them. "Would you care to explain why?"

Crossing her legs, Alyssa let out a deep breath and reached into her bag, mumbling, "I should have listened to Eric." Finally, she pulled out a little leather book with the letter "E" elegantly written on the top corner. "Is this yours?" she asked.

With a furious gasp, Elena glared. "How did you get that?"

Alyssa did not reply, but simply changed the subject. "Is it true that you both came into this competition for money, and that you were not in love at all?" Her voice was polite, but Stefan couldn't help but recognize her slight bitterness.

"We were in love," Stefan corrected levelly. "We just didn't know it."

Elena greatly admired Stefan's words, and his calm attitude. Gently, she caressed the back of his hand with her thumb. "First off, even if someone did show that to you, or however you got my diary, you should NOT have read it! And second, we were -are- best friends. But you see, I've always viewed Stefan as more, and he's always viewed me as more. We just didn't realize that until a few weeks ago," she tried to explain.

This answer did not seem to please Alyssa, for she glared slightly and looked between them. "So you were not in love when you came into this competition? You do realize that you signed a contract about this..."

"It doesn't matter!" Elena snapped furiously. "We are now!"

Alyssa eyed them both again, making them feel like animals in a zoo under her intense stare. "I had a good impression when I first met you two. You surely fooled our viewers too. Congratulations," she hissed, her attitude clear now. "You do realize this just makes the show look bad."

Stefan bit his lip. "No one even has to know. We can keep participating without anyone finding out. Does it really matter what happened when we first came, as long as things are alright now?" he offered.

"There's no way that I can tell if you're lying now," she said in reply. "You broke your contract. I don't know if we can overlook this. Do you really love him, Elena?"

"I do." She nodded; there was absolutely no hesitation. "I'm in love with him."

Alyssa shifted her gaze to Stefan, who was currently frozen in shock, staring up at Elena. She loved him? "Are you in love with Elena, Stefan?"

He jumped and quickly turned his attention back to Alyssa. "I... uh," he trailed off, moving his eyes to the ground. Did he love Elena? Absolutely. Did he want to announce this right in front of Alyssa in a moment like this? "Umm..."

Alyssa's huge lips turned to a scowl. "See? We don't need these kind of games on our show. We're going to politely ask you to leave. And if you are given any interviews, we'd recommend that you don't speak about the reason you were disqualified, for it would just make the show look bad."