The Marriage Contest

Chapter 8: It's about more than conversation.

"I'm afraid it does Vanessa," Eden eventually answered. "We've gone ahead and made a special reservation for you and Jonah at the resort restaurant for tonight so the interviews need to be done now."

Vanessa glared at Eden, "Why are you planning our honeymoon?"

Eden smiled, seeming unperturbed by the vicious daggers being thrown at her by Vanessa. "Don't forget that you're on a show. We need to keep you both doing things so that our viewers don't get bored. They need to have something to watch and you need to be doing something together that shows our audience that their rooting for you isn't in vein."

"Urg, whatever, can we just get this over with. We're tired."

"Of course," Eden answered, finding a seat in front of the couple. Gina and Bill followed Eden's actions and too found a seat. "We'll have a short interview with both of you together and then we'll split you. Each of you will meet with a specialist. Vanessa, you'll stay here with Gina and Jonah, you'll go to the other room with Bill. Each of you will be presented with a challenge by your specialist that you will have to try and complete."

"What if we don't?" Jonah asked quietly.

"So long as you try, we can't fault you but, if you refuse then you'll be breaching your contract."

"Dammit," Vanessa mumbled under her breath. She had planned to ignore whatever Gina told her to do but knowing now that it would only put her into some serious trouble; she could only hope that Gina's challenge was an easy one.

"Are you ready?" Eden asked. Jonah and Vanessa nodded and soon Eden was counting them in. When the camera was on and recording, Eden went straight into asking them questions. "What have you enjoyed most about your honeymoon so far?"

Jonah looked to Vanessa and she shrugged, assuming he was letting her answer first. "I've enjoyed everything. I didn't have high hopes for being her but not only am I enjoying the company but the island is beautiful. It's just been one amazing adventure after another." When she was done, Vanessa looked to Jonah to let him know it was his turn to answer but, what she saw surprised her. Jonah was staring at her, wide eyed and grinning. "What?" She asked him, genuinely confused by his reaction. Had she said something wrong?

He shook his head, a small chuckle leaving his lips. "Nothing," he answered her and then turned towards Eden, still smiling. "I've enjoyed the island, it's impossible not to but what I've enjoyed most was the time I got to spend with Vanessa. We've got to know each other a bit more now and we're getting more familiar around one another which is helping making things less awkward and weird between us."

Eden smiled, "What has surprised you most about your partner so far?"

This time, Jonah spoke first, laughing so much that he was crying and his words came out like a stutter. "S-she's sc-scared of jelly f-fish."

Vanessa glared and crossed her arms angrily. "It isn't that funny Jonah!"

He wiped his tears and looked at her, still smiling. "You're right it isn't. It's just surprising. Your reaction when you saw them was what was funny. You looked like someone killed your cat and you actually screamed when you turned around to find a large one right there in front of you."

"It caught me off guard," Vanessa argued, hoping to stop Jonah from finding her fear to be immature. She couldn't understand her fear; all she knew was that there was something about their appearance that just freaked her out.

"What has surprised you about Jonah?" Eden asked Vanessa.

She shrugged, "I guess I'd have to say his playfulness. Yesterday and today there were moments where we would just joke around and tease each other and it was nice. I always thought that a playful man would irritate me but with Jonah it isn't a sign that he's immature but rather it shows that he's emotions are versatile, that he isn't a robot with only one function. He can be serious, funny, cheery, playful, all of these things in one and he knows when to be which one."