Epilogue: Carter

"Hi,everybody. Welcome to a very special edition of Honeymoon Manor: Where Are They—what? They changed the name again? Jesus Christ." Jolene Jordan shook her hair back out, resetting for another take, and tried one more time. "Hello, everyone and welcome to the very first episode of After Moon—your exclusive, inside scoop on everything that's happened…after the ‘moon."

He thought Where Are They Now would have been less stupid but this, fortunately, wasn't Carter's show to worry about.

"I'm here with the man responsible for the smashing success that was Honeymoon Manor. If you all could join me in welcoming Carter Benton to the podcast!"

Carter, as he was instructed, waved to the camera in the wall. They thought they were being clever, converting the diary room into a podcasting studio, he was sure. If only they knew the memories he'd made in here.

The velvet loveseat had been replaced with an intimate table housing various drinks and equipment and, across from him, sat a woman he was assured was a breakout star in the podcast scene. Over the course of the next few weeks, she would be releasing Honeymoon Manor-themed episodes in which she conducted interviews with all the major players in the show, starting with Carter himself.

And since the network was paying to produce this, he wouldn't have to worry about Maxon showing his face and getting a platform to slam Carter.

Little wins, he supposed.

"How are you doing, Carter?" Jolene asked, reminding him that the point of a podcast was to make conversation.

"I'm doing well. Yourself?"

"I'm fantastic," Jolene answered with unearned enthusiasm. "Excited to kick off this series and see where all our favorite Honeymooners are these days."

Again, if that was the purpose, why had they changed the name?

"I definitely want to get into what you've been up to since the wrap of the show but let's start with you walking us through how the show came to be. Specifically, how you came to run it."

He'd already been coached not to say that he had been thrust into this as a test or a punishment so Carter didn't have to think when he answered. "Well, given the success of reality dating shows in the past, we wanted to create something that gave audiences the experience of quintessential summer love. Something they could come home to after spending their days on the beach and feel like they were right back in vacation mode. And what's a better, more romantic vacation than a honeymoon?"

"I'm not sure there is one," Jolene agreed.

Of course not. That was what he'd just said.

Jolene clearly didn't care about Carter's annoyance because she just kept talking. "And were you passionate about reality television before you took on this project?"

This question, he hadn't been steered away from. "Honestly, no. I was much more interested in projects like my latest release, The Ochre. But it was an interesting challenge to make such a drastic genre switch."

"Would fans of Honeymoon Manor enjoy The Ochre?"

Yes,Carter was supposed to say. If they like anything on this network, they're sure to like everything else.

Instead he laughed and said, "Probably not."

He could tell that Jolene had no idea whether or not he was joking.

She moved on. "So as someone with no interest in reality TV, how did you tackle a project like this?"

It was boring drivel, answering these questions. Everyone had told him how much he'd changed since Honeymoon Manor. How he'd grown less surly or irritable. And maybe that was true. But Carter had not lost himself entirely. He was still an asshole.

He was just an asshole with a little bit more to live for now.

Jolene smacked the table in a clear attempt to direct Carter back to the conversation and they'd certainly have to edit out that banging later. "Alright," she conceded. "I can see your eyes glazing over the more we talk shop. So let's get one more question about your job out of the way. There's no contest that your new series has been a success and, yet, Honeymoon Manor has also topped the charts. Do you think you'll come back to do another season?"

His answer should have been a resounding, overwhelming no. He hadn't wanted the project the first time, hadn't enjoyed it for the most part. It wasn't where his passions or his interests lied. And even if it was, he'd already gotten all he could have hoped to get from it.

Yet, he couldn't bring himself to shut down the possibility. He had ideas that he hadn't dared voice to anyone. Ways to make it better, correct what all had gone wrong.

Really, though, he should just let it go. Let another showrunner take his place and do it better than he could ever hope to.

Carter didn't say that, though. He said, "At this point, I'll say I'm open to it. There's no way it could be more disastrous than this season, right?"

"Whatever disaster you're talking about clearly didn't make it to our screens at home because, from what we saw, Honeymoon Manor was everything we could have wanted from the show." Jolene's smile was wry and Carter was briefly grateful to her when she didn't make him elaborate on the disasters. "Let's move on to the topic we all really want to know: what have your Honeymooners been up to since the show aired?"

"Am I meant to give you everyone's story?" he asked. "I thought you were interviewing them later."

"Ah, an excellent plug for future episodes—thank you, Carter. Yes, we are indeed going to interview some other Honeymooners in the coming weeks. But who wants to wait that long? At least give us the basics," she begged.

And just as he'd been instructed to, Carter did.

"Start with Silas and Eloise," Jolene urged. "Everyone's favorite enemies-to-lovers story."

"Well, I'm not sure they were ever really enemies. At least not on Silas's part."

Jolene feigned swooning. "Oh, I know. His obsession with her was one of the hottest things I think I've ever seen. So you gotta tell us…are they still together?"

If they liked Silas's fixation on Eloise, he wondered how the public would feel about his own fixations?

"As far as I know, the two of them are planning a wedding in north Washington for the end of the year. He asked her to elope and, I believe, the story is that she told him she wanted a storybook wedding or she'd make him go golfing with her dad."

Jolene giggled. "I'm guessing she's getting her dream wedding, then."

"Of course she is," Carter confirmed. "And I'm also told that her dad doesn't even like golfing and that Silas made a caddy cry. But you can get the full story from them."

"And were you invited to the wedding?"

"Somehow, I made the list."

Carter knew exactly how he'd made the list but that reveal was supposed to wait until later for podcast plot twist reasons.

"I'm surprised they're not using Killian's venue," Jolene mused.

He raised his brows, taking a moment just to stare at her. See if she could think that through on her own. "Are you really?"

Jolene's laugh rumbled through headphones on Carter's ears. "No, I suppose Silas is much too jealous for that. But what about Killian? And Maia? Do you know if Maia was ever able to get over her relationship hangups?"

"I can't say I'm privy to Maia's psyche but Killian thinks we're penpals and has written to inform me that she's moved into his house on the winery's property."

"Ah, I thought the background of her photos had been looking a little vine-y recently."

So they were just rehashing shit everyone already knew? Why the hell was Carter here? This was starting to feel a lot like one of those blackout text screens at the ends of bad movies where they accounted for the closing of storylines the creators had been too lazy to write.

"And what about our winners?" Jolene went on, oblivious to Carter's internal complaints. "Any updates to share on Willow and Leith?"

"Last I heard, Willow dragged the man to Arkansas where she helped him start his own carpentry business."

"And what about Willow's…extracurriculars?"

Carter couldn't stop his nose from curling at the phrasing. "What about them?"

"Does she still, um, partake?"

"Not sure how that's any of our business."

"Well, I just thought—" Jolene cleared her throat and pretended to straighten her notes. "Let's move on."

Good. He hoped they cut that part out. Those two were near delirious in their happiness and it wasn't any of Jolene's business if he heard that Leith had maybe joined Willow in a video of two.

Carter took a patient sip of his water to wait Jolene out and she jumped back in fearlessly. He guessed that was necessary, so no one would know she'd been reprimanded or wonder why she suddenly got shy.

"What about our stragglers? Heard anything from Foster, Danica, or Maxon?"

Carter resolved to run through the rest of this quickly so he could either get to what he wanted to talk about or leave. "Foster's set to compete in the next US Open. No update on his love life. Maxon's somewhere back in New York, doing what Maxon does—we don't really keep in touch. And Danica's been seen at some charity events and galas here and there but I don't know that anyone's confirmed a relationship status."

"Wow," Jolene deadpanned. "Efficient."

He'd throw a bone to whoever had to frankenstein this into an actual entertaining show. "I thought my babysitting gig was going to end when the show did but I guess I've retained the title."

"Well, we've still got one Honeymooner to cover."

Finally.

"Let's talk about Cora. Poor Cora had probably the worst luck of any person I've ever seen in that manor. One of her partners flirted with the host every chance he got. Both of them ended up walking from the show, leaving her high and dry by finale night. Was that an experience you foresaw for any of your contestants?"

Was she serious?

"Obviously not," Carter bit out.

"So walk me through what happened."

"I think you've about summed it up."

Jolene huffed. "Then why don't you tell us about what Cora's up to now?"

Carter gave one crisp nod towards the camera and, seconds later, the door to the diary room opened. She'd been in here a hundred times, at least, but he thought she may never have looked better. Her hair was just as fiery and wild as it'd always been. Her body was just as lithe, clad in her signature color. Her glow was just as blinding.

Maybe it felt different because, this time, she was walking in as his.

He stood and took her hand, leading her to the vacant chair beside him, where they'd set up a third microphone—this studio had been built to interview couples, after all.

He couldn't take his eyes off of her so he didn't, even when he answered the host. "Jolene, I'd like you to meet Cora." He paused, extending one final, example-based lesson in the building of suspense. "My wife."

THE END