Not My Reality
Chapter Two
“Come on!” Willow said, as she rushed ahead and opened the door for her. “Hurry or you’ll be late.”
“Who’s more nervous here?” Buffy asked her friend. “We’ve got plenty of time.”
The butterflies in Buffy’s stomach were fluttering in overdrive and she was ready to turn back. They’d braved the horrible traffic and found the building even though Buffy hoped that they wouldn’t make it. She was only here because Willow had pushed her into it. Victoria had been no help at all when she’d agreed to give them both the day off. And she’d gone on to talk about a leave of absence if she got on the show and that her job would be waiting for her, no matter how long she lasted.
Willow rushed ahead again, read the directory and then called the elevator. Buffy was wound so tight that she couldn’t speak, and her friend had been so happy that Buffy had even gotten in the car to go that she didn’t even try to force conversation. Just as they stepped in to the small space, a couple of men entered too. One had platinum blond hair and sharp cheekbones. Buffy was too absorbed with her own worries to pay them much more attention.
The elevator music sounded loud in the silence, but faded in the background when one of the men spoke.
“This is bollocks, mate.” Buffy looked up then and got a good look at the man with the white hair and English accent. “I’m a bloody professional. I shouldn’t be on this job.”
The other man shrugged. “I’m with you on that, but that’s the joy of being union. Gotta do what we gotta do.”
“Yeah, well, if I have to put up with capturing bimbo moments in the house from hell all season, I’d better get an Oscar-caliber movie on my next gig.”
“Come on, Spike. It won’t be that bad. We get to look at beautiful women for a couple of months.”
“Sh—yeah. Desperate, attention-grabbing birds, all daft enough to fight over one fool of a man who was a desperate, attention-grabbing bloke last season. I’m sure it’ll be a blast.”
As the other guy laughed in agreement, Buffy and Willow exchanged glances. Willow raised an eyebrow and shrugged, but Buffy wanted to die from embarrassment. Even the cameramen thought it was silly. The guys got off the elevator, but Buffy stayed where she was.
“Come on,” Willow said as she too stepped out.
With a shake of her head, Buffy said, “Nope. Changed my mind. Let’s go home.”
She found herself being dragged down the hall by her determined friend. She stopped fighting it when they went into a room filled with women who stared at her with narrowed eyes. Already she hated it. But Willow gave her a nudge and they went forward to hand her information to the receptionist.
An hour later, she was bored to tears. The conversations of the other girls in the room were driving her crazy. They all seemed to be starlets and struggling actresses. She asked herself and then Willow what she was doing here, but Willow just gave her that determined face. All the women were dressed to the nines with hair and makeup overdone. She ran a hand through her simple straight blonde hair and wished that she’d worn a little more makeup or dressed in something better than a pair of jeans and a sweater.
Woman after woman was called away from the room. Buffy wrung her hands and tried to picture what was going on in there. How did one audition for a reality TV show? She’d never even been to a regular TV audition so she had no point of reference.
“Buffy Summers,” a man called out from the open door.
In a panic, she looked to Willow for help.
“Just be yourself.”
She followed the man down a dimly lit hallway and then into a small bare room with white walls. Two men and a lady sat at a long table. A black chair similar to the one she had in her office at Bloomingdale’s was set apart and in front of a very large and intimidating TV camera. She groaned when she noticed the man behind the camera. The blond guy from the elevator.
“Have a seat,” the woman said as she looked down at her folder, “Miss Summers.” The woman smiled and then showed the folder to her colleagues. “Is Buffy your real name, or just a stage name?”
They were all smiling at her, but Spike, the cameraman, was smirking and clearly trying not to laugh.
Buffy cleared her throat. “Yes. That is my real name.”
The man to the left picked up her color photo, stared at it and then stared at her. “Have you ever been on an audition before?” She shook her head. The guy on the right wrote something down. “Well, the way this works is different from most auditions. There’s no script reading involved, so we’re just going to film you as we ask you some questions, okay?”
She nodded and then felt stupid for not saying anything. “Okay.”
In a bored voice, Spike said, “And we’re rolling.”
“Tell us your name, where you’re from and a little about yourself.”
She looked into the camera lens, licked her lips and then began, “My name is Buffy Summers. I live in Sunnydale, California. I’m the assistant manager at the Bloomingdale’s department store in Stanford. Um…”
“Tell us why you decided to try out for the show,” the woman asked.
“I didn’t. My friend and I watched all of last season and we were rooting for Angel to win. My friend knew how much I liked Angel and sent in my photo and information when she saw that he was going to be the bachelor this year. I couldn’t believe that she did it.”
“You must have been thrilled to get the letter inviting you to come in today.”
Buffy giggled nervously and brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Actually, my friend had to drag me here.”
“So would you want to be on the show?” one of the men asked.
“I’d really like to meet Angel. I’m not here to get on TV or be famous. I don’t care about that stuff. But, I felt really bad for Angel and I’d like to get to know him.”
They asked her questions about hobbies and what she liked to do in her spare time and then they thanked her and told her she could go. There was no one to show her the way back, but she was so relieved to get off that chair that she didn’t care. She found her way out and barely paused to let Willow stand and catch up.
“So, how did it go?” Willow asked with a bright smile.
Buffy rolled her eyes. “I sounded so stupid. And if you ever put me through something like this again, you’ll have to find a new best friend.”
~ * ~ * ~
One week later, she was helping to put a new fragrance display up before the store opened when her phone rang. She was expecting a call from Victoria, so she just hit the button on her earpiece, said hello and continued with her work.
“May I speak with Buffy Summers, please?” a woman asked.
“This is she.”
“Good morning, Miss Summers. My name is Angelique Barton and I’m calling from ABC studios. The executives at The Bachelor are very interested in having you come back for another audition.”
Buffy stopped what she was doing and grabbed one of the stools near the makeup counter. She sat in it and the two employees with her stopped as well and stared at their boss.
“Um… You’re kidding me right? Because I was terrible in my audition.”
Angelique gave a short laugh. “I can tell you for sure that they aren’t looking for polished actresses. This is reality TV we’re talking about. They want real people.” There was silence and then she said, “So we have three days available for you to come in. Next Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Which day would work best for you?”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you all for the wonderful reviews for the first chapter! With amazing readers like you, I can't help but be inspired to keep writing. And it helps to have such great betas looking out for me. Thank you Mabel_Marsters and Tanit!