True Lover$

Stan and Nina were sitting at the bar. It was a Friday night. Their favorite place wasn’t as crowded as it usually was at the end of the week, not that they were complaining. It meant they were able to get a seat.

They had known each other for three years. They met at work. Nina took another job and Stan was let go as the result of a merger, but the two had remained friends and kept in touch. Friday night seemed like a great time to get a drink and catch up on things.

Stan got up to use the men’s room. Nina took this opportunity to check messages on her phone. When Stan got back, Nina was still immersed in her phone reading something. Stan could tell she was captivated by something.

“Is one of the Kardashians pregnant again?” Stan asked.

“Shut up,” Nina said. “I was looking at something while you and your small bladder were gone and…”

“And?” Stan asked before taking a sip.

“I get these messages from a casting company,” Nina said. “Sometimes they shoot movies downtown and I sign up to be an extra. It’s not bad. You usually get something like $50 to hang out and be in a movie scene. If you’re lucky, they feed you.”

“And you just found your next free meal?” Stan asked.

Nina put her hand up and said, “Listen to this,” She read, “Truelove.com is seeking real-life couples to appear on internet reality show for a chance to win $50,000. Must be willing to be taped in all situations and scenarios. No nudity. No sex scenes. Show will be livestreamed on truelove.com for one week.”

“What the hell is truelove.com?” Stan asked.

“It’s a website that features couples,” Nina explained. “The website travels to different towns and puts couples in different games and challenges. Sometimes the stuff is recorded and shown later on. Sometimes they do it live.”

Stan gave a puzzled look. “Fifty grand to make an ass of yourself? I don’t know. Stuff on the internet is forever. I’m not sure I could go through with something like that for 50k.”

“This is like a vacation, though,” Nina said as she scrolled down her phone. You’re responsible for getting there but you stay for free at a resort. Free room. Free meals. A free week by the swimming pool. I don’t know. It seems nice even without the fifty thousand.”

“But they’re looking for couples,” Stan reminded her. You’re single.” He took a drink and noticed Nina looking at him out of the corner of his eye. “What?” he asked. Nina was smiling at him. Stan knew that look. He knew her long enough.

“No,” Stan said, putting his glass down on the bar. “No. No. Hell, no!”

“Come on!” Nina pleaded. “It’ll be fun! We’ll get a week at a resort. Free meals. Plus, a chance to win money. We can split the money. Come on! Twenty-five thousand to spend on whatever you want.”

“Pretending to be a couple?” Stan asked. “Walking around a resort living a lie?”

“For one week,” Nina said. “It’s not the Witness Protection Program.”

“What if someone sees us?” Stan asked. What if we run into someone while we’re down there as a ‘couple’?”

“People are going to see us. It’s a show,” Nina said. “Besides, we’re doing a reality show at a resort for the internet. We’re not filing our taxes as a married couple.”

Stan shook his head. It was a lot of money. And it was an all-expenses week at a resort. There were worse ways to spend a week. And like Nina said, they were just saying they were dating. They weren’t saying they were married.

“Fine,” Stan said. “I’m going to regret this.”

“Yes!” Nina said as she clicked on the link and started to fill out the necessary form. Stan finished his drink and ordered another one.

Stan got home from the gym on Monday evening. His phone buzzed. He picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Hello, boyfriend,” Nina said. I just got a call from someone at truelove.com. They want us to go to an interview Thursday night. Six-thirty.”

“I think I can do that,” Stan said. “What are we going to tell them?”

“I think we should just keep it simple so it’s easy for us to remember,” Nina said. “We’ve been together for a year. We don’t live together.”

“They might ask us what we like to do together,” Stan said. “What do we like to do?”

“Umm,” Nina said. “We like watching movies. We go to the movies and we like to eat at this local place.”

“You mean the bar we hang out at?” Stan asked.

“I don’t think they’re going to do a background check on this,” Nina said. “We like to do these things. Anything else, we can just tell them what we do when we normally hang out.”

Thursday arrived. Nina and Stan got to the hotel where the interviews were being conducted. Nina took Stan’s hand as they walked up to the doors. Stan looked down at their hands and then at Nina.

“We’re a couple, now,” Nina said. “This is what couples do.”

Stan gave a little smile and looked straight ahead. The two made their way into the lobby. They walked to the front desk and told the attendant they were there for the reality show. The attendant directed them to a hall around the corner. Once inside the hall, they were invited to sit down and wait for their interview. There was coffee and soda at a table if they would like some. Nina and Stan sat down without taking anything to drink. Stan looked around the room. There were two couples being interviewed and another couple waiting. Nina noticed yet another couple walking into the room.

“Five couples,” she said to Stan. “Pretty good odds.”

“We don’t know if anyone else came before us or if anyone is coming after us,” Stan reminded her.

“I still like our chances, Babe,” she said as she put her head on his shoulder.

“What are you doing?” Stan asked her,

“We’re a couple and I’m tired,” Nina said. “Rub my shoulders when we get home?”

Stan rolled his eyes. A woman stood up from behind a table and called out, “Sean and Nina?!”

The “couple” stood and walked to the table. The woman shook their hands.

“Hi,” she said. “I’m Jade.”

“Hi, Jade,” Nina said. “I’m Nina and this is my boyfriend, Stan.”

“Hi, Stan. Nice to meet you. Have a seat,” Jade said. The three sat down and Jade started with the interview. “So, how long have you been together?”

“A year,” Nina answered for them. “We met through mutual friends.”

“And what made you want to do this?”

Nina looked at Stan and motioned for him to answer.

“Well,” Stan said as he tried to come up with something convincing, “We have been hoping to take a vacation soon and this seemed like something that would be fun.”

“We love your website,” Nina said. “I never thought we’d ever have a chance to be on it, but this seemed like the perfect opportunity if we were going to be. Plus, Stan loves reading ‘Awkward!’”

Stan looked at Nina. Nina was referring to a link on the website that called for submissions from readers that told of when they, their significant other, or both were in a compromising situation.

“What do you like about that, Stan?” Jade asked.

Stan, who couldn’t care less about reading stories that told of other people’s embarrassments, cleared his throat. “Well, I think it can be funny when, well, things get awkward! Plus, it’s always a good story when it’s not happening to you.”

“Yes,” Jade said. “That always makes it a better story when it’s about somebody else.”

Stan breathed a sigh of relief. He had never heard of “Awkward!”, let alone anything else on the website.

“Well,” Jade said at the end of the interview. “This has been a great interview. I think you are going to be at the top of our list. We’ll call you if you’re one of our couples.”

Stan and Nina thanked Jade for the time. They left the hotel.

“You owe me a drink,” Stan said to Nina.

It was a week and a half after the interview. Stan was watching television. His phone buzzed with a message from Nina.

“Getting out of work. I’m going to stop by if it’s ok,” the message read. Stan wrote back, saying it was alright. Nina arrived 30 minutes later.

“I got a call today,” Nina said. “You and I are going on vacation!”

“So, what now?” Stan asked.

Nina was sitting in a chair. She scrolled through the message. “We need to be on a flight out in a month. We’re there for a week. When we get there, we need to sign something saying we’re going to have a camera crew following us and we’ll be livestreamed on their website.”

“How many other couples are there?” Stan asked.

“Nine,” Nina said. “Ten couples are competing. The audience votes during the week for who should get the prize money.”

The day finally came for the big trip. Stan still had his doubts. He wasn’t sure about pretending to be a couple, even if it was for just a week and prize money was involved. The couples arrived at the resort. It was a beautiful, 19^th century styled Spanish building set in front of turquoise waters. White-gloved attendants opened the door to the vans that carried the competing couples. Luggage was loaded onto carts as the couples were shown to a grand lobby that featured a mahogany table in the center of the room. On the table was a vase containing flowers native to the area. The contestants were offered iced juices made from locally grown fruits. The open lobby allowed a breeze in. The contestants could smell the lightly salted air as they waited.

A moment later, contestants were led to a function room. The room kept with the period of the rest of the building. The couples sat down and one of the production assistants, a man in his mid-20’s addressed them.

“Hello, lovebirds. My name is Michel. I want to welcome you to this beautiful paradise. I want to run down some basic rules while you are here.”

Michel explained how the next week would go for the contestants. They were free to go anywhere they wished on the property but had to remember there would be a film crew everywhere following them. Nina, Stan, and the rest of the contestants listened. They would be given a copy of the rules to take with them and read after the meeting. People had a chance to go back to their rooms and get ready for dinner, a buffet that had been planned for everyone on the first night. No cameras would be rolling, but tomorrow morning, the show and the voting would be underway.

That night, Nina and Stan were in their room. Nina was sitting on the bed. Stan was sitting on the pull-out couch.

“What do you think?” Nina asked.

“So far, so good,” Stan said. “I can certainly get used to the accommodations.”

“The food isn’t bad,” Nina said. “I can’t wait for breakfast tomorrow.”

The breakfast was everything Nina had hoped for. She and Stan looked at the day’s itinerary that was slipped under their door that morning. Everyone was briefed on the day’s activities over breakfast. There were competitions planned that pitted couples against each other. Some featured the men against the women. A crew was assigned to each event. Viewers on the website could choose what event they wanted to watch. Some viewers chose the events based on what couples were competing. Each couple was getting its own following. Stan and Nina were no different. People followed them and voted for them at each prompt. No one knew who had the most votes. No one would know until the big finale.

One night, Stan and Nina were in their room. They were on Nina’s bed talking about the week so far.

“Do you think someone will recognize us and tell people we’re not a couple?” Stan asked.

“I don’t think so,” Nina said. “I don’t have any friends that pay attention to this show.”

“Me neither,” Stan said. “But still. This is on the internet. Anyone can access this, and I know there are people on social media who are talking about this. Our faces are everywhere.”

“Yeah,” Nina said. “But that doesn’t mean they know what we’re doing. How do they know we’re not a couple?”

Stan thought about it as he went to bed. Nina was right. Who was to know? He thought about Nina as he fell asleep. She was pretty, especially in that new bathing suit she bought for the trip.

The week was coming to an end. Stan and Nina were walking along the beach. They were holding hands, making sure the camera crew and whoever was watching kept thinking they were a couple. They looked out on the water. They heard the gulls flying overhead. Stan looked at Nina. Nina looked at Stan. They hugged.

“I wish these camera guys weren’t around,” Stan said.

“It’s just a couple more days,” Nina told him.

The couples assembled at a dinner that night. One of the production assistants addressed them after they had eaten their buffet meal. The contest was winding down and it was down to three couples. Everyone was welcome to stay on the resort for the remainder of the week. Even those who were no longer in the running for the grand prize didn’t mind the consolation prize of hanging around at a tropical resort.

Stan and Nina were among the three final couples. The rest of the week would feature more contests among the couples and, of course, some suggestive Q&A’s. Some would feature the couples. Some would feature just one of the couples. Stan and Nina were careful to keep their stories straight. The interviews called for some prep work on the part of Stan and Nina on the night before so they could have the backstories straight. Stan liked talking about Nina. It was easy for him to answer the questions people had for him. The more he talked, the more he thought about her. The more he described her, the more he realized what she was like. Stan thought throughout the interview. Had something been in front of him the whole time?

Nina giggled when she was asked questions about Stan. It was easy for her to talk about his personality. They had been friends for three years. She could talk about him with no trouble and tell what it was she liked about him. She just needed to remember that, as long as they were at the resort, they were more than friends and had been dating for one year.

It was down to the last event. All three couples were still in the running. The six remaining people were divided into boys and girls. The final event was an obstacle course. The ladies went first, then the men. No one knew the final standings until after the event. When the points from the contest were tallied along with the online voting, Stan and Nina came in second. The contest was over. The end of the week was celebrated with a luau attended by all the couples. The winning couple was the focus of attention, with people asking what their plans were with their new winnings.

At the end of the night, the couples went back to their rooms. Nina was tired and wanted to go to bed early. Stan wanted one last dip in the pool. The water was warm. He enjoyed himself the entire week and was glad Nina talked him into doing it. He liked the time the two spent together. They had gone out before but never gone on a vacation together. It was fun. The dining. The games. The small fame they had gained from being watched by who knows how many people.

Stan got back to the room. Nina was asleep. Stan changed into clothes for bed. Before he turned off the lights, he sat on the bed and watched Nina sleeping. He pushed her hair out of the way of her face. He looked at her. He soon stood up and went to the pull-out as quietly as he could. He didn’t want to wake her up. He fell asleep thinking about his friend. Nina was pretty. Why hadn’t he noticed that before?

Nina woke up the next morning. Stan was in the shower. He emerged from the bathroom showered, shaved, and dressed.

“Good morning,” he said.

“Hi,” she said with a stretch. She looked at the clock. She groaned. She didn’t have a lot of time to dress and check out. It was the last day. The contestants would need to be packed and back on the shuttle to the airport for their flight.

“We didn’t get the money, did we?” Nina said.

“No,” Stan said walking to her. “We didn’t. But that’s okay. It was a great week with you even without the money.”

He sat on the bed and smiled at her. He was glad he had brushed his teeth when he was in the bathroom. He leaned in towards her. Nina backed away with a confused look on her face. She put her hand up to stop him.

“Stan,” she said. “We’re just friends.”