Reality Hero (10 page)

With practiced skill, he had his suit back on in less than five minutes. Then he slung his damp coat over his arm and walked away as if nothing had happened. He watched the ambulance arrive and hoped the shopkeeper would live to bake another loaf of bread. He knew what it was like to be alone, and he hoped the young woman didn’t have to endure that pain.

* * * *

Dina walked to the coffee machine. The nasty brew tasted like sludge, but it was full of caffeine—something she needed desperately.

“Hey there, girl,” Emily Montgomery called out to her. Dina stopped and gave the friendly reporter a big smile. “Did you hear about the robbery? Your star saved a woman’s life.”

Dina felt cold.
Just like the old days. I’m standing here wondering if he’s alive.
“No,” Dina replied quietly. She was cautious to keep her face blank.

Emily chuckled. “No worries, your show will go on. Mind Man saved the day and from all reports, he left when the police had the suspect in custody. You aren’t going to have to cancel the show.”

I guess I’m wearing more of an expression than I thought.
“Um, thanks, Emily.”

“Don’t mention it,” she said cheerfully and walked past Dina to the elevators.

When Dina put her money into the machine she noticed her hand shaking. Her heart was racing. This was why she didn’t watch the news, she couldn’t face him dying.
Just like Aaron.
She pushed the dark thought away and managed to get her coffee with only a little spillage from her tremors. Taking a deep breath, she took a sip and closed her eyes.
Zane…

Chapter 6

A bird sang, with annoying cheerfulness, in the gray dawn light. The hour was very early. Worry had kept Dina from sleeping most of the night. She missed Honey, her cat. She’d taken him for boarding at a very well rated kennel. She knew he would be mad at her when she picked him up again. Honey loved to sleep on her stomach. Guilt over the creature’s probable discomfort didn’t help her relax. She got up and turned on the laptop. Dina worked past midnight before the sandman called and she lay down and fell into a fitful sleep.

Zane would be poofing in later. She hoped he remembered to wear the costume he hated so much. Rebellious thoughts about how the midnight blue spandex clung to every inch of him suddenly tormented her. The mask covering his eyes added to his sex appeal. She didn’t think of masks as particularly erotic, but on Zane the thing was crazy sexy. She knew how her hand would feel sliding effortlessly over all that silky spandex encasing the hard body underneath. Closing her eyes, Dina imagined she could even smell his cologne. Today was going to be a very long day. She bit her lip.
I hope I can get through this without ripping off his clothes or ripping out a contestant’s hair.
The last thing she needed was to become some kind of crazy, jealous ex-girlfriend for the camera.

She arrived where the bus waited in the early morning light. There was still a cool chill in the air and it was relatively smog free at this hour in the day. The girls started converging on the quiet parking lot of the abandon gas station. Dina stared out into the distance, remembering when the station had been open. She and Zane came there for cheap hotdogs and slushies. Those had been the only dates they could afford.

“Ms. Dell, can we get on and go? I just want to get on the bus and go back to sleep.”

Amber’s whining broke Dina’s daydream, and she quickly covered her spaced out look by looking down at her planner.

“We’re waiting for Purity to arrive, then we can go. Everyone is tired, but we need to be incognito and leave early. If you want to go home instead of doing the show, you still can.”

“No, I don’t want to leave, but I just want to get going.” Her whiny voice went up an octave, grating on Dina’s last nerve.

“Just go find a place on the bus if you want and go to sleep. I promise you won’t miss anything. I’m not going to tell you where we’re going until we get there.” She noticed that all the girls piled onto the coach bus after Amber got on. She saw some shoving and arguing as they picked seats. She wasn’t getting on before she had to. Her head already ached. If the fighting kept up, it was going to be an unbearable day. Rolling her eyes, she couldn’t stop her dark thoughts.
Great, let the competition begin.
To her relief, she saw Purity.

“Get on the bus, Purity, the ladies are waiting, and we need to be going before we get noticed.”

Purity grabbed her small bag and hopped on the bus. At least one of them had packed lightly. Dina couldn’t believe the amount of baggage the other contestants had brought. It was only a few weeks, not years. She picked up her briefcase and climbed onto the bus, feeling the trepidation of impending trials. Bickering was the first sound she heard.

She stood and cleared her throat until the others fell silent. “Thank you all for coming. We will be in complete seclusion for the next six weeks. I must request you relinquish all phones, laptops, and tablets to me. Mind Man’s security is essential.”

They gawked at her as if she’d just requested they give her a limb.

“No Facebook or texting?” Lacy asked.

“No Facebook or texting,” Dina replied. “I’m sorry. Before we leave please turn over your technology, or you can get off the bus.”

She heard some muttered “bullshits”, but soon she had a seat full of communication devices.

When they’d returned to their seats, she tapped the driver on the shoulder, letting him know he could go. A three-hour drive would feel like three days if the attitude of the contestants didn’t improve.

They’d be going into the mountains to a small campground the studio had rented in its entirety for the duration of the filming. Each cabin would house two girls, a way to increase the drama. The staff had been provided with top-of-the-line, rented RVs. She had a camera crew waiting to catch the women’s arrival and reaction to the rustic local.

Over the next three hours, she learned a lot about the show’s contestants as she tried not to give away the destination. Spas, mansions, expensive hotels, and even a yacht were just a few of the theories the group speculation suggested. They never came close to the truth, and Dina knew it’d be some good television to see their reaction.

Purity barely spoke to the others. She was definitely studying them, and it made Dina uncomfortable. She knew it was more than her potential jealousy that was making her feel mistrustful of the other woman. She couldn’t put her finger on what was actually bothering her about Purity. Her sweet, caring demeanor seemed too good to be true. Sure, Dina knew she could be jaded from working in the entertainment industry for so long, she’d seen plenty of two-faced, ladder-climbers, but there was something about this girl that gave her pause.

“Why won’t you tell us how you know Mind Man?” Alexi asked as she sat down next to Dina at the front of the bus. “It was in the paper.” There was no censor or whining in her voice, only curiosity.

“It’s not important how I know him, and it’s no one’s business. He’s agreed to do this show, and now you have the chance to know him too.”

The woman cocked a slender, red-blonde eyebrow. The pretty girl looked skeptical. Her mouth quirked up at a corner. “So the paper didn’t print the real story?” Alexi concluded.

“It doesn’t matter if they did or didn’t. I won’t confirm or deny what the paper printed. Why is this so important to you?”

She flushed a brilliant scarlet that was made all the more vibrant because of her hair. The effect was charming. Dina tried not to scowl, but she knew she was doing it. She just hoped Alexi didn’t have a reason to flush when Zane was around because the girl looked sexy yet vulnerable. Zane wasn’t just a hero; he had a hero complex when it came to women. This girl could easily get his attention with a single blush.

“I just want to know why he agreed to do this show. Was he really lonely? I…I’ve had a crush on him since the first time I read about him in the paper. He seems so—sad, but brave. I’m afraid of falling for him if he’s only looking for some kind of publicity. I’ve never heard of Mind Man taking money for what he does. It makes me wonder how he lives. Is this about money?”

“His reasons are his own. If you get to know him well enough, he might tell you. I’ve promised him I would guard his privacy as much as possible. I can tell you he’s not getting paid to do this and he’s never taken money for saving anyone.”

Alexi’s eyes widened. “You must know him well. Was he born with those powers? Is he an alien?”

Dina began to laugh, unable to help herself, but hid the sound behind a delicate cough. That wasn’t the first time she’d heard someone suggest other-worldly origins for her friends, but it never stopped being amusing. “I haven’t taken a DNA sample, but I’m almost positive he’s human with a little kick, that’s all.”

“What makes you so certain?”

“I read the papers. You’d have to be human to have that much compassion for others, right?”

Alexi shrugged. “I guess.” She didn’t sound very happy.

“What’s bothering you?”

“I—I know most of us are here for the TV face time, and the bragging rights that we dated Mind Man, but you actually know him. Why isn’t he dating someone like you?”

Dina felt heat rising into her cheeks. “I guess I’m not his type.”

The girl’s eyes widened. “Will I be able to get my hair dyed before I meet him?”

Dina hid a smile behind a gentle cough. “I don’t think it has anything to do with the hair. I have a feeling someone like Mind Man isn’t so shallow that he’d dismiss you because you’re blonde.”

Alexi frowned. “He’s male. Aren’t they all a little shallow when it comes to sex?”

Dina felt the air leave her body in a great gust, as if the wind had been knocked right out of her. Sex. She’d never thought about Zane having sex with any of these girls. Kissing. There was a very real chance he might kiss one or all of these women. The idea of him kissing that many women in front of her made her slightly light-headed.
Is it too late to add a no kissing clause to the contracts?

Alexi returned to her seat next to Virginia. Dina sat quietly, feeling like the queen of fools. She’d been so focused on the viewers’ reactions to Zane she’d forgotten to worry about the contestants.
What if he really falls in love with someone?
Then she remembered her sister. She wanted him to fall in love and for her sister to be happy, yet the idea of them finding happily-ever-after left her cold. Numbness settled over her heart. If she could just hold onto that emptiness, maybe she could endure what the next weeks had in store for her. Being around him so much recently had brought her long suppressed feelings back to the surface. She’d done so much to ignore her love that she’d thought she’d killed it. Unfortunately, her youthful passion had only been in a coma, because it was back with a vengeance.

Why didn’t I just go with the idea of having a camera following him around and filming the daily life of a superhero?
She hadn’t wanted to risk outing him. This idea had seemed safer and less invasive. She’d even convinced herself that he deserved to be happy, and the only way he’d really be happy is by finding love and forgetting about the past—their past.

When the bus neared the destination, Dina stood and looked at the group. It took a moment for them to quiet down enough for her to speak. “We’ll be getting off the bus shortly, so please get your things ready to bring with you. My staff will get the rest of your luggage from the back. We’ll not be getting back on the bus, so make sure you collect all the things you brought.”

Dina could see they were nervous. Some giggled and gawked out the windows, but some of them were quiet. She watched the realization that there wasn’t a spa or yacht in sight come over the contestants.

The bus stopped, and Dina was the first one out. She quickly got out of the shot. Each of the girls wore a different expression. Most of them looked surprised and disappointed. Some of them even seemed angry. Purity and Susan both just wore curious expressions. Dina couldn’t have scripted better reactions from them. Elation filled her.

Zane insisted she host the show, so she begrudgingly took on the role she’d have preferred to hire out. Dina prepared to reveal the carefully planned sleeping arrangements designed to bring about the greatest drama.

“Amber and Susan will be sleeping in Cabin One, over there by the lake.” Dina pointed, and the group followed her to where she’d placed the two women. Amber caught sight of a spider web and went crazy. Dina tried to hide her smile. It was all on film.

“I can’t believe your lousy show brought us to such terrible living conditions. I hate bugs, spiders, snakes, and nature. I want to go home,” the distraught woman shrieked.

“Please calm down. It’s nice and clean inside, and this little spider web is just on the outside of the door.” Dina took her planner and swiped the web away, but it only exacerbated the situation because it upset the very large brown spider who’d made the web. The creepy-crawly ran across the door in a panic. Amber and several other girls screamed. Dina squashed the spider with her planner, thinking belatedly about the hate mail she’d get from all the spider lovers of the world.

“I’m not sleeping in there,” Amber declared.

“All right. Candy, would you please take Amber’s place?”

Candy nodded and picked up her large bag. The women entered their home for the next six weeks. Dina led the remaining contestants up the hill to the next cabin.

“Amber and Purity will be sharing this cabin. Any objections?”

Amber looked at the doorframe and window frames before replying. “I guess this will do,” she said grumpily.

Dina wasn’t sad to leave the drama queen behind when they continued toward the rest of the cabins.

Cabin Three stood just across the trail, and she dropped off the Wright twins there. The rest of the women and crew walked down the hill until they reached Cabin Four. The remaining group left Alexi and Regina there. Farther up the trail and closer to the large shelter they’d be using as the meeting place before and after eliminations was the fifth cabin. The last two, Lacy and Sally, stayed there. Dina turned to the cameraman and spoke quietly.