Bellamy's Redemption

“I understand,” said Bob.

“My ten year reunion is coming up this summer. I’ll talk to him then,” I offered.

“Yeah, that’ll soften the blow,” said Bob. It was rare to be unchaperoned and to be able to have a somewhat honest conversation. Normally there were always other girls around, and usually a producer as well, but with all the hubbub happening, we seemed to be a little understaffed. Bob wasn’t filming any of our conversation. As a rule, a conversation with a cameraman would never make it on the air anyhow. I felt a smidge of trust towards him that I hadn’t felt before, but not enough to let my guard down. I wiped away my tears and headed up to the room. Bob followed behind me. Once I got inside I flopped down on the bed and he settled into a chair and began reading the thick novel

about the Trail of Tears that he’d been working his way through since we were in California.

“Good book?” I asked him.

“Hmm. This? Oh. Yep. It’s pretty interesting.”

“So what’s happening right now in it?”

“Well, they’re on this trail, and things aren’t going very well.”

“Are you honestly reading that, or is it a decoy?” I asked him

“A decoy?” he asked.

“An eavesdropping tool. It’s just, you’ve been working on it forever. Are you really that slow of a reader?”

“It’s two thousand pages long. It would take anyone a long time to read it,” he said.

I rolled over and buried my face in the pillow. Just as I was about to doze off, I heard a commotion from the street down below. There was talking and shouting, and it was all in English. I realized that it was Alanna and the hockey player coming back from their walk. Bob sprang to his feet. “Emma?” he asked.

“Hmm?” I murmured, pretending to be more asleep than I actually was.

“You gonna be sleeping for a while?”

“Hmm?”

“I think I’d better head down there. We’re down a cameraman today and it sounds like we’ve got something big happening.”

“Mmm.”

“I gotta go. Don’t do anything while I’m gone.”

“Okay,” I mumbled. I waited until a few minutes had gone by, and then got up to use the bathroom so I would be out of view from the camera mounted in the corner of the room. While in there I carefully removed my microphone, hiding it behind a stack of towels. I opened the door a crack, sneaked out, and slithered along the wall like a snake, hopefully out of view of the camera. I grabbed my room key and before I had time to change my mind, I was out the door, safe and anonymous in the hallway. I breathed a deep sigh of relief, but then remembered I hadn’t grabbed any money. And I was still wearing an evening gown, but I was now barefoot. I wasn’t sure exactly what my plan was; I just wanted a little freedom.

Suddenly I heard voices from down below me and footsteps coming up the stairs. I panicked, trying to get into the rooms nearest to me. They were all locked. The footsteps were getting closer. I recognized Alanna’s voice: “How can I get past everything that happened, just like that? Do people really change, Jean-Luc? Have you really changed?”

I ran down the hall and dived into an alcove with an ice machine. Beside a cigarette machine (how French) there was a tall, skinny door. I fiddled with the old fashioned latch, expecting it to be locked, but instead found a closet filled with brooms and cleaning supplies. I ducked inside and closed the door. A moment later they were right outside the door.

“I’m older now. I’m wiser. Quit with these stupid shows and come home.”

“Bellamy really likes me. Maybe I’ll marry him.”

“You would have married him last time if you had wanted to marry him. You’re doing all this to torture me.”

“You always think everything I do is all about you. Maybe I’m doing this just for me.”

“No one is going to love you like I do, Alanna. You make a great first impression, and everyone is crazy about you, but then they realize you aren’t perfect, and they give up on you. I’ve seen it a thousand times. I’m the one who stuck around long enough to see who you really are after the first impression, after the big let-down. I know the real you. And I love her.”

“Awww,” I whispered, unable to help myself. Even if it was kind of an insult, his sincerity made it practically a compliment.

“Did you hear that?” asked Jean-Luc.

“It’s just the ice machine,” said Alanna. “What about the other girls? What about all the cheating? You broke my heart! How can I ever trust you again?”