Chapter 33: Carter

Carter knew exactlywhat he'd be doing if he weren't running a television program right now. He'd be waiting, hands in his pockets. Rocking back and forth on his heels. Spiraling through thoughts of whether or not she was okay, or maybe whether or not she still wanted him.

Fortunately, he was running a television program and he had a camera trained right on her. Seemed he was skipping the first couple steps and going right to the spiraling.

Last night, he'd understood. They had the baby. They were meant to be caring for it. And with the blasted plastic crying every hour, Cora couldn't very well sneak out of her room without Foster's notice. He'd cursed himself for the challenge idea from the very first tinny wail but he cursed himself tenfold when it'd kept her away from him.

Now, though, the absolute fucking headache of the elimination was over and there should have been nothing keeping her from him. They were supposed to sail blissfully into their reconciliation after their row. God, he'd heard her when she told him she wasn't going to fight for him but was she really not going to see this through? Was she really not going to meet him and, at least, break his heart with finality?

He stared at the shape of her under the light summer duvet and willed her to get up and go to their camera. He willed her to turn over and curse at him. Anything to show she was still thinking of him.

So intent was he on her, that he didn't give a bloody fuck about Killian and Maia shooting a porno in the backyard. He'd blur it later. Right now, Cora just needed to wake up.

His crew asked him if he thought he made a mistake, forcing two Honeymooners to exit the manor. He knew why they asked—the atmosphere was different without them. His gut reaction was to tell them that they couldn't introduce consequences they never intended to follow through on. The reality, though, was that this elimination had sobered his contestants right up.

It was so abysmal, in fact, that he would probably have to get that little weasel to give one of his on-brand, callous DR quotes. He was good at setting a more cutthroat tone for the others, good at forcing them into decisions they might not otherwise have made.

Carter hated the guy but Maxon was damn good for TV.

This sort of problem solving, though, was Carter's element. He knew how to edit a compelling episode out of utter shit. And if he couldn't? Well, he could always end the week early again.

The problem of getting his woman to talk to him was another beast. One he didn't know how to solve. At least, not yet.

Maybe it was just that she needed space. Or a second to think about where she saw the two of them. He knew he shouldn't have said all that shit yesterday. He'd likely scared her off. It was just that, in the moment, he'd been prepared to do or say anything to keep her.

And what a bang-up job he'd done.

How much sleep did a person need, really? Carter wasn't exactly the leading authority on the matter, considering he'd had little more than a few hours to rest at a time since the show started. Still, the amount of shut-eye Cora was getting was suspicious.

He'd give her one more night.

If she didn't seek him out tomorrow, she was avoiding him.

She was avoiding him.

Carter was prepared to do something drastic.

Currently, the only "drastic" thing he could think of was summoning her for her video diary but that wasn't exactly revolutionary. Then again, he was running a hare-brained reality dating show so he was already pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel.

It took every iota of his will not to descend upon her when she walked in. He was a starving man and her lips were the only meal he'd seen in a year. It wasn't even that he wanted to fuck her—he did, of course. He'd never not want to fuck her. He just wanted to touch and hear her promise that nothing between them had changed yet.

If she would just smile his way, maybe that would be enough.

But Cora's features were practiced and blank as she took up residence on the loveseat and the familiar view of her folded into the velvet had his heart lurching.

"If you're going to ask me how I feel about the elimination, don't bother. They've asked me about it every day since it happened."

He knew this. He'd watched her other entries, after all. But what did he want to ask her? He probably should have planned for that before bringing her in here.

"I wasn't going to ask that," he said, rather pathetically and with no justification of it.

Cora raised her eyebrows and flicked her gaze to the button on the wall. "Keeping the audio on this time? That's different."

Her tone was practically frigid enough to make his balls shrink. Still, he had to say something. He'd brought her in to talk, hadn't he?

"I wanted to see you."

"You see me every day."

He certainly did. But it wasn't the same. "I haven't," he argued. "Not since?—"

"No. Not since." Cora stood and tossed her hair over her shoulder. He wondered if she did it to taunt him. To give him a whiff of something he might never have in his grip again. She turned the handle of the door and blinked his way innocently. "Can't do it forever, right?"

Carter couldn't take it anymore—the waiting for something to change. He'd told her that their sneaking around had an expiration date but it seemed Cora was determined to ensure her freezing him out did last forever. He had half a mind to end the show just so he didn't have to endure it.

If it were over, he'd be free to pursue what he wanted. He could get serious about a project he actually liked. And maybe get serious about a girl. The girl.

There wouldn't be any sneaking around because there wouldn't have to be.

It wasn't like the contestants weren't miserable. None of them were happy and they certainly weren't garnering votes. Carter had been monitoring the media perception and the fans of the show were only excited by one of the current couples. If there was only one option, that meant there was no discussion. He needed viability from the others to make sure that all those endless threads he'd scrolled through weren't reduced to nothing. That drivel was his advertisement and he wouldn't lose it.

He'd have preferred to fix things with Cora before shutting it all down, would have preferred to know she wasn't cutting him out of his life as soon as the cameras were off. He had time, though. They'd need a few days after the next partnering to make sure new couples were cemented and potentially worthy of the prize.

So maybe Cora still wasn't talking to him but things felt…hopeful.

All his little assholes were thrilled at the prospect of ending the week early. They bolstered Carter's confidence in the decision when three of the boys even submitted for a swap. He tried—quite hard, actually—to temper his excitement at the change but watching the couples shift around into brand new fodder was exactly what the ache in his chest needed.

Lainey, too, admired his handiwork. She stood on the roof, her hands on her hips as she stared at the couples. "Quite a change, right at the end," the hostess mused. "Cora, what are you feeling right now?"

Cora smirked at the other woman. "Deja vu."

"Yes!" Lainey agreed, laughing. "I suppose most of you are, at the moment. That means, of course, that we only have one couple competing in today's challenge."

Willow and Leith, the couple in question, seemed mostly unfazed by Lainey's announcement but the other contestants eyed her warily. Carter couldn't blame them, really. He imagined they were picturing being forced into a friendly game of Russian Roulette after the bloodbath of the last challenge.

Lainey just offered her consummate, camera-ready smile and Carter had to admit that she'd fallen quite well into her role, despite his initial reservations about her. It was difficult to tell if this was due to actual improvement on her part or if it was only a sign that he'd found something else to sink his bitterness into.

"But don't worry," Lainey assured them. We've decided to go easy on y'all this week and go back to our dating show roots. How do we feel about a friendly round of the Newlywed Game?" She paused, letting the relief settle—just as Carter'd instructed her before she went on. "Well, as friendly as you can get when there's still an elimination on the line. And we're going to do it right here."

Lainey procured two chalkboards from where production had stashed them, handing them out to Willow and Leith respectively and shepherding the rest of the contestants to the area nearest the manor and forcing Willow and Leith to remain with their backs to the night sky.

"We've prepared ten questions for you two, based on a questionnaire you were asked to complete before coming on the show. In order to pass this challenge, you'll each need to get at least eight of these questions correct about your partner. If you can't you might just be following the others out the door."

Willow shifted on her feet, her only tell to betray her nervousness, while Leith stood firm with his chalk poised and ready to write. Across the roof, Cora huddled into Eloise's side and Carter wished desperately that he'd been over there instead to protect her from the wind. He longed to wrap his arms around her again, longed to have her seek him out for anything, even something as mundane as warmth.

"Let's start with an easy one," Lainey announced. "Where is your partner from?"

Indianapolis, Indiana.

Lainey waited a moment for the chalk to scrape. "Leith, what answer should Willow have written down?"

"Summer Bay, South Carolina."

"Willow?" Willow's chalkboard swung to reveal Leith's answer in her looping handwriting. Lainey offered her quick congratulations. "And what should Leith have written down?"

"Pine Springs, Arkansas."

Polite claps sounded when his chalkboard revealed the same and Carter couldn't help but think they were well-suited, each of them coming from idyllic-sounding little towns. He and Cora wouldn't have that, the connection of a similar upbringing. But that didn't mean he didn't know her just as well.

Off Lainey went, asking question after question and Carter answering each one of them for Cora in his head.

"What is your partner's favorite food?" Blackberry ice cream.

"What is your partner's zodiac sign?" Taurus.

"Where is your partner's dream vacation?" Mallorca.

"At what age did your partner have their first kiss?" Thirteen.

"What was the duration of your partner's longest relationship?" Four months.

"What is your partner's biggest turn on?" Restraint.

"What would your partner consider to be their love language?" Acts of service.

"How many children does your partner want?" After that challenge, none.

Carter knew he'd had the advantage of actually reading Cora's answers to the questionnaire but hers was the only one he'd committed to memory. He couldn't have verified with any accuracy the answers Willow and Leith were providing—not that he was paying much attention to them. But when another rapid-fire question didn't come, he was snapped out of his obsessive stupor.

"I don't know that I need to even ask this final question when you both have proven to be so in sync." Lainey crossed her hands over her heart to simper at Willow and Leith. "So let's say that this one's just for me, or maybe even for all the folks watching at home…Is there a future with your partner after the finale?"

It was a throwaway question. One they'd decided to include to offer a little heartfelt hope in the wake of all the drama. If they didn't want to look like pricks, they'd both say yes.

And maybe it didn't exactly apply but Carter still found himself giving a silent answer. Not for Cora this time, but for himself.

I hope so.