Seven Roses (Haremworld)

“This is why virgins are such a challenge.” I typed a few words into my computer. “I’m so used to hearing nothing but hot—muscular—sexy. Some of the contestants even specify dick size.”

“Oh my...” She blushed and giggled.

“I should have enough information now. I’ll run the algorithms and see what I come up with. You’re finished for the day! Go home and celebrate. Shooting starts in two days.” I leaned back and smiled.

“Two days...” Her eyebrows raised. “Okay, I’ll be ready!”

A few hours later

“THIS IS LYNETTE JOHNSON.” I sat down at the table with a few other members of the crew and pointed at the screen as it lit up to show her best shot from earlier that day. “She prefers to be called Lyn.”

“Jessica Quinn is really out? That sucks...” An older crew named Jerry who was in charge of our social media accounts shook his head back and forth.

“Jessica Quinn is old news. She’s getting married and she found her happily ever after. We’ll leave it at that. Lyn will be wonderful. America is going to love her.” I scrolled through a few more slides.

“Well, she is certainly pretty.” Jerry nodded and shrugged. “I’ll get started on a new campaign.”

“I’m going a different direction with the story this time. I’ve wanted to do something new for a while, but I haven’t found the right girl. Lyn is perfect.” I smiled and scrolled a few more slides.

“What kind of direction are you thinking?” A crew member named Chad leaned forward at the table. “The formula works. Why are you going to mess with it?”

“I don’t want to spoil anything, but I can promise you that this will be must-see TV.” I flashed a smile and made eye contact with each person until they nodded in agreement.

LYN WAS SPECIAL. THERE was a sweet innocence that surrounded her. She wasn’t the kind of contestant I would normally have on the show, but after losing Jessica Quinn, I needed her. She was sweet uncertainty, spinning in every direction all at once with no one to stop her. She was the kind of girl that used to make my knees weak when I was younger. The first day of the show was going to light the world on fire and when it aired, she was going to be America’s sweetheart, and she was going to be living a dream that some girls were too afraid to even consider.

The seven guys who would woo her were chosen and they had all agreed to come on short notice. Some of them had been in the contestant pool for a long time, but they were chosen for a very specific purpose—every single one of them.

I lay in bed with a smile on my face thinking about the first day of the show. I normally didn’t get butterflies when I was about to debut a new star, but I had them with Lyn. I wanted her to be happy and it was my mission to see that when the week ended, she walked out of the competition with her happily ever after. I was more invested in her than I had been for any contestant in the last few years. Everything had to be perfect for Lyn.

Chapter 3: Lyn

I’m going to be on Seven Roses. Holy shit, I’m going to be on Seven Roses!

My heart could barely contain the excitement when I pulled up in front of the house. I was about to walk on the same ground as all of the other contestants. I was legitimately over the moon. I had told Jessica the good news, but she seemed to be too consumed with Sullivan Banks to care about my good fortune. I sat in the car and waited for the driver to open my door. I stepped out with a smile and found the camera to my right. I was supposed to smile into it and then walk up the steps—easy—or not. My first attempt was a bit of a stumble, so I had to redo it. The car did a circle and returned to give me another chance. It took five attempts before they were finally happy with my posture, smile, and delicate walk up the steps towards what was supposed to be true love.

I could hear the theme song playing in my head and tried to time my steps to the beat. Once inside, I was instructed to walk down the staircase, pause, and wait for Charles Montgomery to come in and give his line. After that, I would get a chance to introduce myself. I took my place and waited for him to appear. He walked out as dashing as always, with a smile on his face that looked nothing like the angry scowl I saw when I first met him.

“Hello America, welcome to the hottest dating show on night time television—Seven Poses.” He stopped in his tracks. “Fuck.”

“Go again.” A man waved at him from behind the camera. “Charles enters the room—take two.”

“Hello America, welcome to the hottest rated show on—fuck.” He turned around and walked back towards the door he entered from.

This is just like acting—everyone thinks it is so simple, but they’re only seeing the final cut.

“Hello America, welcome to the hottest dating show on night time television—Seven Roses.” He turned to me and approached. “Tonight you get to meet the lovely Lyn who will be the object of affection for seven very lucky men.”

“Hi, Charles! I’m s

o excited to be here!” I lifted my arm in a wave as I had rehearsed.

“Tell us more about yourself and what you’re looking for in the perfect man.” He tilted the microphone towards me.

“I grew up in Chicago. I’m an only child so I’m used to being spoiled.” I smiled on cue as I had been instructed. “I’m looking for a nice romantic guy who will treat me right.”

I had no idea why they wanted me to say I was used to be spoiled—it wasn’t really true and I thought it didn’t make me sound very appealing, but Charles was the expert.

“Well we have seven guys who believe they should be the one to get that chance. Are you ready to meet them?” Charles tilted the microphone towards me again and smiled.