"Your shoes are everything, diva! Are they new?" Sharon asked Sophie as they walked toward the restaurant."They're Chanel, darling," Parker replied, but not in the snobbish tone she used with most people. Instead, she spoke playfully, a tone she reserved for a select few, like her best friend. "But they're not new. They were my grandmother's. They seem new because my grandfather used to buy her all sorts of things, but she didn't really have many opportunities to wear them.""She must have left behind a lot of things, huh?" the friend commented."Yeah... lots of jewelry, clothes, shoes, bags... fur coats, which weren't politically incorrect back in her time...""Table for two only?" asked the restaurant manager at the entrance of the restaurant they had reached."As always," Sharon laughed."But most of her belongings were left in her will to the social foundations she used to support when she was alive," Sophie continued the conversation as they were led to their table. "She specifi
"Sophie, I think you're mistaken about the show," Sharon commented when her friend finished working and the two went to the living room to choose a movie to watch. "Nicholas doesn't seem like the type of person who wants or needs to appear... not at all! He's one of the richest men in the United States right now, he's appeared on those lists of the country's sexiest men a few times, he's invited to practically every important event here in Los Angeles... and also in New York... and he politely declines most of them...""Fine. Maybe he doesn't need a show to get attention... and maybe he doesn't even like attention, which I find hard to believe, but okay," she handed a few new DVDs for her friend to choose from. "Still, I bet it's staged. Maybe he's dating some girl that nobody knows and wants to make her famous before the wedding, for example.""I told a friend who works in GHShow's journalism... just now on MSN... that I'm going to do some articles about the show," she handed one of
Pierce might have had terrible memories of Sophie and preferred that she had never stayed within his sight again, but he had to acknowledge that she was beautiful, she had always been beautiful, and the years had made her even more wonderful. She still had the same large eyes, the same full lips, the same shiny hair, the same petite stature that made her delicate as a woman should be, the same long legs for her height. Moreover, she was more tanned, her legs more toned, her body more curvaceous, her manner more mature.Nicholas had to greet a bunch of people along with John, but he didn't let slip the smile Sophie had at that moment, watching something Will showed her on his phone. It was the same pure and sincere smile of the thirteen-year-old girl he had met when he was sixteen, and that he hadn't seen at all after they reconnected.His smile wasn't forced like all the ones she had managed during the meeting where they had reencountered, but he soon realized that the only thing Will
On Thursday, Sophie's mood was really bad after she endured Nicholas' comment and disdainful look during the party the previous night. She decided not to go to her office at the publishing house and worked from home. After finally finishing the Friday magazine issue, she was relaxing in the bathtub, reading a book and sipping a glass of good red wine."Hello, Ryan," she said into the phone, after answering her boss's call, trying to disguise her mood as much as possible."Hello, my dear. How are you?" It was a rhetorical question that he didn't wait for his favorite employee to answer. "Is the TV on? The show starts in about fifteen minutes.""Um... no, not really... I was taking a bath," she took a deep breath."Well, turn it on, my dear. Turn it on so you don't miss anything. How's the coverage of the show going so far? You're giving it special attention as we asked, right?""Of course, Ryan. Full attention," she was indeed in touch with the team, giving a lot of attention to Sharon
"And so, ladies and gentlemen, are you eager to meet the fourteen lucky ones who will fight for Nicholas Pierce's heart?" the host, Tony Mythe, asked the viewers, and Sophie rolled her eyes. She still thought it was a farce and, therefore, a huge disrespect to the audience. "First, let's see together if this lucky bachelor, being able to choose from so many beautiful girls, was excited last night. Let's find out!"Sophie watched Nicholas enter the hall filled with girls and greet all of them, but most of the time, the images showed him mingling and talking with the girls, while some random music played. Whatever he was saying to them or hearing from them wasn't the focus of John's direction. Afterward, when he had greeted everyone and was choosing some to talk to, snippets of conversations were shown where the girls talked about their hometowns, professions, sports, music, movies, and other topics you discuss when you've just met someone.After another commercial break, the host appea
His arrival at the house was quite confusing. Some girls were at the edge of the pool and saw him even before the film crew, immediately getting up to greet him. Those in the water also rushed out and, hearing many people talking louder and at the same time, those inside the house, watching a movie, rushed to the patio. It was John and Tony who put the house in order, because Nicholas could only laugh, getting a little shy with so much attention from so many women at the same time. Not that he wasn't used to female harassment, but he had certainly never been the target of so many women together, which intimidated and confused him a little.Tony explained to the girls that during Friday, Saturday and Sunday they would all have half an hour alone with Nicholas, in an order decided by lot. Alone was the way to put it, of course, as there would be no company from the other girls, but there would be cameras following them wherever they went. So the presenter himself started the draw and a
"Nicholas, are you really not going to tell me what's going on?" John asked Nicholas, for the fourth or fifth time, only that day.Brener was genuinely worried about his friend and his strange behavior. Of course, Nicholas still remained the same kind and courteous person as always, but the good humor that usually accompanied him in work situations had vanished exactly a week ago. Since the day of Nicholas' first visit to the program's mansion, when he had individually talked to some of the girls, he hadn't been himself.One would expect him to be even more cheerful and excited than usual, considering he was in the role he loved as the station's administrator, and he had created the program to meet a girl and marry her, and everything seemed to be going as planned. However, in the following two days, he seemed distant while he should have been getting to know the other nine candidates better, and throughout that week, during the daily visits to the house, his best friend could tell he
"They all entered, casting smiles in Nicholas's direction, who, with much effort, smiled back at them. After a 'rolling' from the director, the host explained the game and Nicholas informed about the prizes: the third-place contestant would meet him the following night at an upscale restaurant in Los Angeles, the second-place contestant would go on a helicopter ride with him on Sunday, and the first-place contestant would spend the day with him on a luxurious boat on Monday. So, without further delay, the game was recorded with very few interruptions, giving Taylor, Nina, and Britney the opportunity they so desired to spend time with Pierce.Sophie paid attention and took notes, so she could later consult with management about which details of the game and prizes could and could not be disclosed by the magazine. She was trying to be professional, as always, even though her level of irritation was increasing.The girl had had a reasonable week, after all. Following her assignment to wr