Reality Check Read online

  “We’re… dating, if you can call it that. She’s not my girlfriend, but I won’t say anything to yours. Like I said: give me a minute, and I’ll finish what I started. But… if you’d rather go home to that girlfriend of yours, feel free.” Dayton nodded toward the door to her bedroom.

  “You’re a bitch,” the woman said as she picked up her purse and left the room.

  “Sorry, I’m back.” Dayton flopped onto the now-empty bed, holding the phone to her ear.

  “Another one? Really, Dayton?”

  “What? I’m not married, Alec.”

  “Was she?”

  “I guess she has a girlfriend. I didn’t know that when we met tonight. She was by herself at the bar.”

  “Do you even know her name?”

  Dayton heard the front door to the apartment slam shut. She would lock it later.

  “I did, earlier.”

  Alec sighed and said, “I’m emailing you the contract. Sign it, and get it back to me.”

  “What’s the theme this time?”

  “Newbies versus OGs.”

  “Really?” Dayton laughed. “They really do like their rhymes, don’t they?”

  “It’s eight new people and eight veterans from other seasons.”

  “Same crazy challenges,” she said mostly to herself. “Cool. I’m in. I can’t wait to bring home that five hundred grand.”

  “Well, you’ve got to make it past fifteen other contestants first.”

  “I’ve done it before.”

  “Always so damn confident.” He laughed. “I’ll send everything over. Maybe go talk to the girl you’ve just pissed off and see if you can get her name this time.”

  Dayton laughed and said, “Not really worth it. Bye, Alec.”

  She tossed the phone on top of wrinkled sheets. The sex had been good with the bar girl, but not the best she’d ever had. They’d just been about to start round two when she’d seen Alec’s name on her phone. She had been waiting to hear about her next opportunity, so she wasn’t about to let it go to voicemail just to go down on the girl she’d met about four hours earlier when she’d been three drinks in. Dayton wasn’t about hooking up with women who had girlfriends, but if they didn’t tell her, she didn’t ask. She heard the email notification but didn’t bother picking her phone back up. She could sign the contract tomorrow. She was sated enough to hop in the shower and get some sleep. So, that was what she did.

  She woke up the next morning, made herself a giant cup of coffee, and scarfed down a huge breakfast. Then, she pulled up the contract on her computer, read through page after page of waivers, and signed the thing digitally. She’d done this all before, so there wasn’t any need to have a lawyer look at them. She had been on three reality shows, including the very first season of Berserk – the show that pitted contestants against each other in one ridiculous challenge after another. She had won that very first season and had earned herself two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in the process. Dayton had been twenty-one back then, and she’d planned on having some fun. Winning the money was just icing on the cake.

  That gig had led her to a job as a judge on another show, where Dayton hadn’t won any money, but she had picked up thousands of Instagram followers and started her own YouTube channel where she did some stunts and interviewed other reality show stars. Then, Berserk had called her back for its third season. The theme had been friends and enemies. That season, she had come in second place and had won a cool hundred thousand dollars. Since then, her YouTube sponsors netted her enough money to support herself with no college degree, and made it so she didn’t have to work a traditional nine-to-five.

  Now, the producers wanted her back again, which made sense to Dayton. She was one of their biggest draws. Dayton was a very attractive woman with long, wavy blonde hair, that she often left unruly, and bright-blue eyes. She was also athletic, outgoing, and confrontational, which was perfect for the camera. This time, they were offering five hundred thousand dollars; which, after taxes, and in combination with her other income streams, would set her up for the next few years.

  She didn’t need much. Her one-bedroom apartment wasn’t glamorous and was often unkept because she didn’t care enough to keep it organized or clean. What attracted Dayton to the shows was the adventure, the challenges, and the partying. It also helped that the shows typically casted attractive women; some of whom were gay or at least questioning their sexuality, and Dayton had no problem helping them figure it out if they asked.

  “You’re doing another season? Really?” Margot asked.

  “What? They called. Why wouldn’t I?” she asked back.

  “Dayton, this crap was fine when you were a kid, but you’re an adult now.”

  “Margot, don’t rain on my parade. It’s half a million dollars. I’d be stupid to turn down the chance to win this money.”

  “You’re not exactly short on cash, Day. Be honest. You’re not doing it for the money.”

  “But it comes with it,” Dayton said.

  “How did I turn out the way I did, and you turned out this way?” Margot asked. “Were you adopted? Was I adopted?”

  Dayton laughed at her sister and said, “I think it’s because you are the oldest. They didn’t let you get away with the shit they let me get away with.”

  “You were their late-in-life baby,” Margot reminded.

  “I think the term you’re looking for is ‘accidental baby.’ ”

  “Are you sure you want to do this thing again,” Margot asked. “You’re almost twenty-six years old, Day. You have no degree. You make videos and blogs for a living – which is fine, I guess, but I don’t even know what you do with your time.”

  “You have no idea how long those videos take to film or how long it takes to edit them. I also have to meet with vendors and sponsors to negotiate fees, mentions, and likes. It’s not easy what I do.”

  “You’re saying this to an emergency room doctor… You realize that, right?”

  “Please, it’s not that hard. Aren’t you mostly just pulling things out of noses?” She winked at Margot.

  Margot laughed and said, “I did that today, actually.”

  “See?”

  “How long is this one?”

  “A month. It’s shooting in Honolulu, so… free trip to Hawaii.”

  “Day, you can’t have TV, internet, or anything else. You’d get, like, one phone call a week or something. And you’d all have to live in some house together. It might be huge, and come with a pool, but you’re still sharing it with, like, fifteen other people.”

  “Some of them are hot,” Dayton said as she made eye contact with a woman on the other side of the bar.

  “Are you checking her out right now?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Aren’t you dating Heather?”

  “Dating? Yes. Married? No.”

  “Does she know you hit on women all the time?”

  “Not all the time. And I’m not hitting on her; I’m checking her out. There’s a difference. Also, we’re only dating. She’s free to sleep with whoever she wants to.”

  “That is not how it should work, Day. You should hate the idea of her being with anyone but you.”

  “Margot, you are thirty-seven and in a very different place than I am. I’m twenty-five. I make good money. I don’t have to go to some lame office all day, but I earn my fun. Heather is nice. We have a good time together, but I don’t want to get serious with her.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I don’t want to get serious with any woman right now. I’m enjoying my life. Let me have my fun.”

  “What’s she going to say about you doing the show again?”

  “I met Heather on the last season. She’ll get it.” She shrugged.

  “Whatever you say, Dayton.” Margot took a sip of her white wine. “Okay. It’s late. I need to get home.”

  “It’s nine o’clock.”

  “And I have a husband at home, and two kids that I don’t get
a lot of time with as is, so I want to put them to bed.”

  “You put Will to bed, do you?”

  “I put the kids to bed. I hope to take my husband to bed.”

  “How long has it been?” Dayton took a drink of her beer and smirked at her sister.

  “We have a healthy sex life; thank you very much.” Margot stood.

  “For a couple that’s been married for eleven years,” Dayton said.

  “Hey, it works for me.” She hung her purse over her shoulder.

  “And this works for me. So, stop judging, okay? I’ll stop inviting you out for drinks.”

  “Please. I’m the only one you can invite for drinks. You’ve slept with most of the women in Los Angeles and haven’t called any of them back. Without me, you’re drinking alone, baby sister.” Margot kissed her forehead. “I love you. Be safe. Don’t drink and drive. I never want to see you in my emergency room, Day.”

  “I love you, too. I’ll order an Uber.”

  “Night,” Margot said.

  Then, she left their usual bar. Dayton returned her eyes to the woman she had been checking out earlier. That woman was now talking to some guy, so Dayton finished her beer, looked around the bar to see if there was anyone else there that she wanted to talk to or possibly do more with, and finding no one of interest, she went home.

  CHAPTER 3

  She crunched the numbers again, but it wasn’t the lack of funds in her bank account that had her down in that particular moment. Cali was bored more than anything. She’d had another interview for a software company that morning, but she didn’t think she’d be hearing back from them about an offer anytime soon. She was one year shy from her master’s degree, and with only a bachelor’s and three years of work experience, she was being overlooked by people with advanced degrees and more than five years of experience under their belts. She couldn’t get experience unless the companies gave it to her, but she couldn’t get into the companies to get it.

  When her former company had gone through their first round of massive layoffs, she’d been there only a year and had feared she would be on the list. She had actually been surprised when she hadn’t been cut. Her team had been spared entirely. The next round had been smaller and had included most of the support staff that didn’t help the company generate revenue. The third round had been the final round. Well, it was the final round for Cali, because she no longer worked there.

  She would probably always remember how it felt, being called into that office. Cali had been sitting at her desk; hard at work, and not thinking she was about to lose her very first job as a professional. Her heart had started beating rapidly as the HR manager walked her down the narrow hallway. When she noticed the security guard walking out another employee, she knew her number was up.

  The severance package they had given her was more than generous. She had read in some online reviews from other people who’d been laid off by their employers that some people only received two weeks in severance. One woman had reported being at a company for fourteen years and only getting a month. Cali had gotten enough to get her through now, but that, along with what her parents could afford to send, was about to run out. She knew what she had to do. She went online and registered herself as both an Uber driver and a Lyft driver. She could at least make a little extra cash while giving herself the flexibility to interview whenever she needed. If she took that barista job, she’d have to report at certain times, and if someone called and asked her to come in for an interview, she might not be able to get out of work.

  “You’re really driving now?” Megan asked her the following day as they sat in Cali’s apartment.

  “I don’t have a choice. At least this way, I can drive and then not drive when I need to work on my resume or take interviews.”

  “I guess,” Megan replied, grabbing a handful of popcorn from the bowl between them. “Hey, do you think Becks is cheating on me?”

  Cali nearly choked on her drink.

  “What?” She coughed.

  “She says she’s at the library all the time, and I know law school is tough, but she’s been staying later and later, and I hardly ever see her now. We haven’t had sex in, like, a month.”

  “Really?”

  “I read somewhere that people who cheat lose interest in sex with their partner; but then I read another thing where it said the sex actually increases with their partner. I don’t know which one to believe.”

  “What are your sources?”

  “Psychology Today and BuzzFeed,” Megan said, giving her a look that told Cali she already knew which source to believe.

  “Have you talked to Beckett?”

  “No. She’s not around all that much to talk to. It’s weird. We’ve been together for five years, but I kind of feel like I’m single,” Megan replied.

  “Well, you’re not single, and if she’s cheating on you, I will kill her.”

  “I don’t actually think she is; at least I don’t think I think that. It’s just my brain trying to figure out how she could be okay not seeing me as much. She comes home at night and crashes. By the time I’m up in the morning, she’s already gone, or she’s showering fast just to get to class early to talk to a professor.”

  “Shower sex?” Cali asked.

  “I tried once, but I was too late. She was already hopping out and had a nine o’clock class that she was running late for.”

  “Wake up earlier than normal tomorrow. When she climbs in, go in after her. If she says no, talk to her, Megan.”

  “And if she has to run to class again?”

  “You can either just fuck her so good, she never wants to leave again, or you can ask her to make some time for you later tomorrow night, for a date, and talk then.”

  “I’d prefer the former.” Megan sighed. “And also, the dinner.”

  “Meg, talk to your girlfriend.”

  “I will. I love her, Cal.” She placed her head on Cali’s shoulder.

  “I know you do.”

  Cali patted her best friend’s knee just as the show they had been watching went to commercial. What was it about the sound on commercials? A TV show could be at the perfect volume. Then, the commercial came on, and the sound went crazy.

  “Why do we even still watch live TV?” Megan asked her, lifting her head off of Cali’s shoulder.

  “Because I stopped paying for streaming services and have been reduced to the old-school antenna and now only have network TV channels.”

  “We should have gone to my apartment,” Megan said.

  “Or you could just share your Netflix password with me.”

  “I don’t know what it is. I keep meaning to ask Becks, but she’s never around. She set the damn thing up, but I’ll get it for you.” Megan seemed interested in the commercial. “Hey, what about doing something crazy like that?”

  “Like what?” Cali asked.

  “Like Berserk,” Megan said. “It says the new season is casting in LA now.” She pointed to the TV. “You and I almost did The Amazing Race together.”

  “When we were in college. That was before you met Becks.”

  “Berserk is kind of the same, and you’re single, so you’re free to do something crazy and maybe a little reckless.”

  “A little? Have you seen that show? The challenges are nuts.” Cali laughed.

  “But the prize is half a million bucks, Cal. That’s a whole lot of money.”

  “If you win. There are, like, twenty people. You have to fight through all of them to win. Plus, taxes come out of it, so it’s really only, like, half that; maybe.”

  “And you’re above two hundred and fifty thousand dollars all of a sudden? You canceled your Netflix, and we’re eating generic popcorn that tastes like they used burnt rubber for butter,” Megan replied.

  “It does not.” Cali laughed and considered taking a handful to prove Megan wrong, but decided against it now that she had the smell of burning rubber in her mind.

  “We’re hanging out at my place tomorr
ow night.”

  “No. You’re talking to your girlfriend tomorrow night,” Cali reminded. “Take her to a nice dinner; or better yet, cook something for her so she doesn’t have to get all dressed up and stuff, since she’ll probably be tired.”

  “Why am fI cooking her dinner? She’s been the absent one in the relationship.”

  “Are you going to be petty now?”

  “No, I’m not going to be petty. I have to get her to agree to stay home and not go to her study group first. Then, I’ll figure out dinner.”

  “Order in or something. Just get her to understand that you know things are hard with school, but she still needs to be around.”

  “And if she is cheating?”

  “Then, you two have a lot more to talk about, Megs.” Cali gave her an expression that she hoped conveyed her empathy.

  “Okay. Let’s stop talking about my relationship. What about Berserk?”

  “The show?”

  “No, the cat in the alley by the dumpsters, Cal. Of course, I meant the show we just mentioned, like, thirty seconds ago.” Megan rolled her eyes.

  “I’m not going on some reality show, Megs. I only considered The Amazing Race back then because you were all into it. I don’t even like cameras. I’m not even a fan of using them, let alone being in front of them.”

  “So, you just hang back and let the camera hogs get their fifteen minutes, and you play the long game. Focus on the competition. Give them nothing good to film, and they’ll leave you alone. Then, you swoop in at the end and steal the prize money.”

  “You’re crazy,” Cali said, laughing at her. “I should probably call it a night.”

  Her phone buzzed on the table. She knew it was too late to be getting a call from a potential employer, but she checked it anyway.

  “What’s that face?” Megan asked her when she noticed Cali’s expression.

  “It’s a text from Kate. She wants to know if I can meet at the bar.”

  “What? Why? When?” Megan leaned over to read the message.

  “Do you want to add a who, where, or how, too?”

  “No, I know who. It’s Kate. I know how. She texted. I know where. It’s the bar.” Megan gave her a smug expression. “What are you going to do?”