Fifteen Minutes by Karen Kingsbury

Author:Karen Kingsbury
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781451647051
Publisher: Howard Books
Published: 2013-10-29T04:00:00+00:00

CHANDRA OLSON PRIDED herself on watching, studying people. Even trapped by fame, she remained a student of life and love. She saw things other people missed. So when Zack and Zoey slipped into the hallway a few minutes after the season premiere ended, Chandra noticed.

She saw them leave and she saw something else—something neither Zoey nor Zack could have noticed. The cameraman who followed them through a distant door at the back of the room.

When Zoey came back alone and angry, Chandra had an idea of what might’ve gone down. She waited until the cameraman slipped back into the room before she made her exit. By then everyone was in full party mode.

Spirits were sky-high. Music blared and rays of neon light added to what had become a dance floor in front of the big-screen TV. The room was dark and more than a few of the contestants seemed to be coupling up. Not that any of them mattered to Chandra the way Zoey and Zack mattered.

The producers had already told the judges. They had made their decision. They loved the Romeo and Juliet story, and if they had it their way, Zoey and Zack would be the last two contestants standing. By then they intended to have plenty of footage showing the reality of the denied romance, the heartache of the forgotten girlfriend back home. At a meeting last week Samuel Meier had put it simply. “America’s going to fall in love with Zack and Zoey. It’ll be the biggest finale ever.”

With everyone caught up in the moment and the cameraman getting a drink at the bar, Chandra slipped into the hallway. Sure enough, Zack was ten yards down sitting on the floor, his back to the wall, one knee pulled up. Head in his hands. Whatever had happened, he looked crushed.

Chandra made her way quietly to him and when she reached the spot where he sat, she dropped down cross-legged and faced him. Only then did he notice her. He looked alarmed at first, but then his face fell and he brought his fists to his eyes again. Whatever had happened, he was struggling.

Chandra remembered the moment in her trailer before the season began, after Zack had made it through the tent round. She wondered then if he was the reason she was here. Maybe she could offer insight to this young man and in the process find a meaning that had evaded her since the death of her parents.

“Hey.” She realized it probably seemed strange to Zack, one of the celebrity judges sitting on the floor of a dark hallway across from him. Especially this early in the show run, when the contestants felt a chasm between themselves and the judges. But that didn’t change the fact that Zack clearly needed help. Chandra kept her voice gentle. “You wanna talk?”

“It’s okay.” He lowered his hands and stared down the hallway toward the door. “I need to think.”

Chandra searched his face, saw the muscles in his shoulders. He was one of the best-looking contestants the show had ever seen.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.