“What happened?” Ivy asks.
He rolls his eyes. “I had two tasks, and my fake date freaked out! I kissed her. I mean, it’s not like I forced her, she came on to me! But—”
“Fake or not, you never attempt that, bro,” I say. “Read the room. You probably freaked her out if you got all into it.”
“This is stupid anyway,” Jude says once we get in.
Ivy steps closer to me, and I kind of like it; I like that she’s putting distance and air between her and that dick.
Maybe now she gets the whole arrogant vibe from him like I do, the one that says nobody is good enough for him, but he’ll take it because he just likes to use women.
We say nothing to each other as we get off the elevator and meet in the lobby; Jude keeps walking. I wonder if he got fired.
The rest of the interns are down here wearing various colors of tracksuits. It’s so strange?
Dustin’s waiting in his typical bowtie and black-rimmed glasses; he’s carrying an iPad and grinning from ear to ear. “Welcome to day two of The Emory Games. I have to be completely honest; we had to test everyone yesterday to see if you would truly follow through with our instructions. Our safety measures are different this year, so you understand why we would do that; today will be much different.”
I breathe a sigh of relief.
He clears his throat. “We’ve eliminated one couple already; sadly, Brad and Jessie are gone. The rest of you will be competing for the next few days in a brand-new game that has nothing to do with seduction or our products. Count yourselves lucky because Max just bought this company called Passion Plus, and they have the hugest dil—”
“And that’s where you learn to stop talking,” Max says as he walks up and slaps Dustin on the back, making his glasses go askew on his face. “But as he said, welcome to day two. Now,” he says as he checks his watch, “let’s get going.” He rubs his hands together after that like he’s gleefully pumped to be at work right now.
Which only means one thing.
We should have all just gone along with seduction and pheromones.
I grab Ivy’s hand and pull her back. “Tell me you’re not terrified.”
She rolls her eyes. “What could be worse than last night?”
“EXACTLY my thoughts,” I hiss. “Imagine!”
“You worry too much, oh stapler of blank paper. We’ll be fine.”
I gulp. “Okay.”
“Everyone in the vans!” Max claps.
In hindsight, I was right, she was wrong. I will one day make T-shirts to commemorate the rare moment.
The trip takes about an hour.
There’s this huge building a bit outside of Manhattan that looks like it was once a hotel or laser tag sort of place. It says Escape Room ETC.
Huh, I’ve kind of always wanted to do one of those.
I’m feeling more confident.
And then Max lets us in the building and locks the door behind us. “Dustin, will you please start the cameras for our guests?” He adjusts his tie.
“Guests?” I ask.
“Oh, yes!” Max nods eagerly. “We always allow our Board of Directors to watch The Emory Games. It invigorates their old souls.” And just like that, Max opens a black door and goes up a few stairs.
It shuts with finality along with Dustin’s mouth as he smiles weakly at us and points to another black door. “Just through there, instructions will come over the loudspeaker.” He starts to walk away, then backs up and says, “You’ve all signed your NDAs, correct?”
Ummmmm.
Nods go around.
I want to yell no.
I want to grab the door, but it closes as he escapes through it.
“Open it,” I tell Ivy.
“You open it!” she says back.
Anderson sighs. “Guys, for once, could you just not argue?”
Grumbling goes around the rest of the interns as he pulls open the door.
It’s super dark inside the room.
If this is a haunted house, I am officially out.
I’m scared of the dark the way I’m scared of lizards.
The lights flicker on.
And all I can say is I’m stunned shitless. A life-sized version of Max Emory dressed as this girl in an orange dress is facing away from us. When I glance around, I realize it’s a legit exact replica of Squid Game, where the contestants would play their first game, red light, green light. If you get caught by the giant girl or Max, you get fucking shot. And you still have to make it past the finish line in minutes.
“IS HE MURDERING US?” someone yells.
“We’re a Dateline episode.”
“I sucked at this game as a kid!” People start yelling and running in all directions like we’re about to get bombed or something.
Music starts.
And then his voice, like that of the devil, comes over the loudspeaker. “Make it across the line in two minutes. If big Maxine sees you move, you’re toast.”