After The Rose

“I can’t believe you chose me,” Briana smiled at Sam. They walked along the beach hand in hand, as the sunset in the background.
“After everything was said and done, I knew that we belonged together.”

“Well the producers really wanted me to choose someone that I could tolerate for more than six months,” Sam chuckled. He had been the most recent single guy on the hit reality show, He Loves Me. “And throughout the show, I really fell for you.”

“Every time you handed out the roses, I worried that I wouldn’t get one. And then you gave me the ring.” She held up the diamond to the sun as if looking at the bauble for the first time. Her blue eyes sparkled almost as much as the diamond. “And now we’ll be together forever.”

Sam took her hand in response, as they made their way back to the car. The drive back to their shared house was filled with popular love songs, and the wind blowing their hair. Their hands intertwined the entire ride home.

In the driveway, Sam got out of the car and opened the car door for his fiancée. Hand in hand they walked to the front porch. “Well hello.”

“What are you doing here, Tessa?” Sam asked, his voice shaky.

“That’s not a very polite way to greet a guest. I’ve been waiting for you to come home for a very long time.”

“I made my choice, deal with it.” Tessa had been the villainess of He Loves Me. Many of the other women had asked that she be removed from the house but the network loved the drama that she stirred up.

“Well you didn’t have all of the facts,” Tessa shot a smile at Briana. “Polly Anna, do you mind giving Sam and I a few minutes for adult talk.”

“My name is Briana, we were roommates in the hotel.”

“Go away.”

“Bri’s staying. She’s my fiancée, so anything you have to say to me, you can say to her.”

“Fine. Remember that night we were in the hot tub, under the moonlight? We conceived a baby!”

“What?” Briana cried out in shock. She turned to Sam, “I thought you said that you didn’t have sex with anyone else on the show.”

“Don’t you have a unicorn or a pony to go pet? The grownups are talking.”

“Why are you telling me this? You know I don’t want anything to do with you.”
Tessa just smirked, and watched as Briana ran off. “You really are something. Why couldn’t you let us be happy?”

“Because I lost.”

****


Briana walked tentatively back into the house. Tessa sat in the kitchen, a Cheshire grin on her face. “Welcome back, Bratz doll that came to life.”

“How did this happen?”

“Well we tore off each other’s clothes and I rode him like a jockey!” Tessa shrugged her shoulder as if it was no big deal. “Face it, Sam and I will be tied together for life. There will be no room for you, so you might as well just pack your bags and leave.”

“No. Sam love me and I love him, that is how it will stay. Even if you are pregnant, there is no way that I am going to abandon him.”

“You’ve lost the race. Get used to it. Sam will be with me, until the day I sign a contract to be the single lady on She Loves Me.”

“So you want to break up people who really care about each other, to try and get back on TV?”

“Well what do you know? The blonde girl isn’t as dumb and naïve as she seems. Too bad you lost the man.”

“You do realize that if Sam dumps me for you, I will be the one signing the contract to star on She Loves Me. You’ll be a loser all over again.” Briana pushed back her hair, and squared her shoulders. “So leave us alone. I know that you’re lying about being pregnant.”

“We’ll find out in 2 minutes.” Sam said walking into the house, he held up a pregnancy test. “If she is, then there will have to be decisions made.”

Tessa snatched the test and went into the bathroom. “Sam, you lied to me. You told me that I was the only one you slept with.”

“I know but to be fair, I said that to 24 other women.”

“That doesn’t make it better. I don’t know where this leaves us but I do know I can’t be with a liar.”

“I didn’t mean to lie, but I really wanted to have sex with all of you. And if you think about it, I chose you after everyone. So that’s really romantic.”

Tessa came out, her eyes blazing with anger. The test dangled in her hand. Sam took it and let out a sigh of relief. “It’s negative, so it’s not an issue.”

“You guys do whatever you want but I am out of here.” Briana stormed out of the house. A single tear slid down her face.

****

“Marcus, I want you to accept this rose!” Briana smiled at the shirtless man that stood in front of her.
He shot her a smile, and held out his hand to accept the rose. It never made contact because Sam stormed into the mansion and knocked it down. “Briana, I loved you from the first moment I saw you and the last few months have been torture without you. Please take me back.”

“You screwed 25 women and lied about it. There is no way for me to get over that.”

“You screwed 25 guys, plus me. I’m still willing to give it another chance.”

“Do you realize how offensive you are?”

He answered her with a kiss. Fireworks started going off in the background, and violins played in the distance.

“I know that I screwed up but can we make this work?”

“I love you, Sam.”

“I love you, Bri.”