Chapter 4: Nightingale ♡
❝I need a voice to echo, I need a light to take me home. I kinda need a hero, is it you? I never see the forest for the trees. I could really use your melody. Baby, I'm a little blind, I think it's time for you to find me.❞ - Nightingale by Demi Lovato
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“You guys have made it to the next cut off!” The chirpy blonde sitting opposite of us told us. “Congratulations guys!” The interview was pretty straightforward. They just asked us how we were met, what we do for a living and all of that. We seemed so boring so I didn’t think we’d make it to the next cut.
I smiled, happily at Drew. “How many cut offs are there?” he asked.
“Well ten couples will make it into that cut off and then either one or two couples will become part of the Newlywed Game!”
I knew we wouldn’t make it to the next cut. “We should just go home, we’re not going to get in.”
“We’ve made in this far,” Drew told me. “I’m sure we’ll do fine.” We were shown to a smaller room that had around twenty chairs in a circle. There were already some other couples in there. Some keeping to themselves, others in heated make-out sessions and others just talking to the other couples. Drew and I took a seat. I felt awkward, as I usually did.
Drew and I didn’t really talk much to the other couples. We kept to ourselves. We spoke about anything except the game that we were auditioning for, I could tell he could tell that I was nervous; occasionally he would rub my back. The last couple entered the room and took their seats next to us. They were an older couple and looked like they were parents. After they sat down, a man and woman walked in but I could tell they weren’t a couple because they were holding a clipboard.
“Hi cuties! Congrats for making it so far! You’ve beat hundreds of other couples and now this is the easy bit. I’m Sara and basically, I’m just going to be watching how you interact with the other couples and maybe ask you some questions. Same with Roderick.” The lady pointed to the man next to her and he waved. Sara clapped, “Okay loves! Go ahead and socialize!”
A middle aged man and his wife approached us with huge smiles on their faces. “How cool is it that we’ve made it this far!”
“It’s pretty awesome,” Drew agreed. “I’m Drew and this is my beautiful wife, April.” I had the sudden urge to roll my eyes.
“She is very beautiful,” the man said, eyeing me down. His wife coughed, awkwardly and looked down at her shoes.
Drew wrapped his arm around me and smiled politely. “We’re just going to go get some water.” Once we were away from that couple I started laughing hysterically. Drew started laughing as well but I wasn’t sure what he was laughing at. I was laughing at how awkward that situation was, it helped laughing.
“What are you laughing at?” I asked, once I calmed myself down.
“Nothing,” he flashed me a charming grin. “I just didn’t want you to look stupid laughing all by yourself.” Well if that wasn’t absolutely adorable, I didn’t know what was.
The man, Roderick walked up to us. He looked at us and then down at his clipboard. “Ah, you’re Drew and April! I’m going to ask you a couple of questions, okay?”
“Go ahead,” Drew replied.
“How long have you been married?”
“A year,” we both replied together and started laughing.
“Drew, if you caught April cheating on you with another man, what would you do?” Oh shit. I had no idea what Drew was going to say, I was panicking just in case he asked me that question as well.
“April would never cheat on me,” he said, confidently.
“Oh, Baby, didn’t you know? I’m cheating on you.” I prayed that Drew would go along with it.
“With who, April?”
“Logan Lerman.”
“Does he know that you’re cheating on me with him? Or is this a one-sided relationship?” I smiled sheepishly. The conversation between Drew and I seemed to flow so easily.
Roderick then looked to me and I started getting worried. “If Drew lost everything for the two of you – your money, your house, would you stay with him?”
I didn’t understand whom these questions would benefit but I answered confidently anyway. “Of course I’d stay with him. We’d deal with it tomorrow and we’d get by.”
The man frowned, I wasn’t sure why. “Aren’t you two just the cutest.” He looked around. “Well I better go ask other couples some questions.”
Drew and I looked at each other weirdly after he left and I said, “I think we did pretty good… hopefully.”
Drew kissed my temple. “You did great.”
***
Drew and I socialized with all the other couples. I soon learnt that Drew loved talking to people he didn’t know, he was a social butterfly. I was the complete opposite, I hated talking to strangers. It made me feel awkward and uncomfortable. I just stood next to Drew, occasionally we would kiss my cheek and my forehead or play with my hair.
We still hadn’t spoken to the lady, Sara and I knew eventually she’d come to us and talk to us because that’s what she was doing with every couple. Hopefully she wouldn’t ask questions like Roderick did.
Drew and I were talking to a couple that was probably the nicest in the room. They had only been married for 2 months and kept holding on to each other and smiling at each other with adoration. I wondered if I would ever be like that, they seemed to scared to let go of each other just in case they’d disappear. To me, it seemed absolutely absurd but what did I know? I had never been in love or married.
“I think he really loves you,” the girl whispered to me loudly. Her husband and Drew could hear and they chuckled.
“I do,” Drew commented. “I love her more than anything in the world.” I needed to tell Drew that he should go into acting because even I believed that and I was in on the secret!
“I wish I could return the feelings but I love my other husbands more.” And of course, there I was saying something completely stupid and unromantic. I could’ve told him I loved him as well or something along those lines but I had to bring up my ‘husbands’ who didn’t know I existed. The man that we had been talking to, looked at me weirdly but the lady, who I was pretty sure was called Jenny smiled knowingly.
“I’m married to Channing Tatum,” she told me.
“April likes to think she’s married to Logan Lerman. I’m surprised she doesn’t sleep with a cut out of him or something.”
I laughed. “I just might start!”
Drew put his arms around my waist and kissed my neck, sending chills down my spine. “I don’t think so,” he said seductively in my ear. I think if it weren’t for Sara walking over to us, I would’ve grabbed Drew and kissed him. I was thankful that she decided it was time to talk to us because I had no idea what would happen if I kissed him and I didn’t want to know.
“Hey guys! I’m Sara, as you probably know. How are you both? This must be crazy for you. Have you ever auditioned for anything like this?”
“Never,” I answered.
“You two are a hot couple,” she laughed. “I bet you get told that all the time.”
“Well it’s mostly on my part,” Drew joked. I punched him on the shoulder and he laughed. “I’m just kidding, baby, you’re the sexy one.” I never thought it was possible for me to like one word coming out of someone’s mouth so much. I wanted to make him call me Baby all the time.
“How long have you been married for? Not long, right?”
“A year,” I answered, redirecting my attention back to Sara.
“I’ve always wanted to get married but all the guys I met are douchebags. Do you have any brothers, Drew?”
“As a matter of fact, I do but he’s married with 2 kids.” I actually had no idea that Drew’s brother had two kids. If we got into The Newlywed Game, I would have to meet his family but I didn’t think too much about that because the chances of us getting in were pretty slim.
“Tell me, April, how do I find a guy like Drew? He seems pretty amazing.”
“Well, you could try what I did. I spilt my coffee all over him.” I pretended to laugh at the memory.
“Her burning hot coffee. I was going to kill her after that and then she tried to clean it up, I think it was just an excuse for her to touch me.”
I smiled, cheekily. “It was.” Drew laughed and I did as well. I wasn’t laughing because of what I had said, I was laughing because this whole situation was fake it was funny.
“Are you planning on having kids?” Sara asked us, brusquely.
“I’d love to have mini April’s around,” Drew replied. “Someday we’ll have kids but that day’s not today. Lets just hope they look like their Mummy.” I could imagine Drew being a Dad. I could imagine him telling his daughter that she wasn’t allowed to get married until she was 40 and I could imagine him wrestling with his son.
“What about you, April?”
“Of course! I love kids.” That wasn’t a lie. I adored kids. When I was in High School, I used to babysit for the neighbors and usually the foster homes I stayed in were also fostering younger children.
“That’s cute,” Sara commented and I smiled. “Well, we better wrap this up!” Sara clapped her hands and walked off, telling all the couples that they should go sit down. I was beyond nervous at that point. I didn’t know what was going to happen. When all the couples were seated, Sara said, “I’m going to say the numbers of two couples. Those of you who aren’t called, you have not made it to The Newlywed Game and are required to leave.”
I turned to Drew and he squeezed my hand. “We can do it,” he told me.
“Couple number 82 and 381!” I looked at Drew and the number pinned to his shirt, which read 381. I grinned. I wanted to get up and jump around.
Drew grinned and said, “See, I told you.” The 8 other couples left and soon, Drew and I were left with a couple that we had briefly spoken to. I didn’t know if we had both gotten in or just one of us.
Sara looked between us excitedly. “Unfortunately, only one couple from Sydney can get through. Roderick and I have disagreed on who we want to be on The Newlywed Game. So, we had to get another man to decide for us based on what we wrote down about you. He picked… Drew and April!”
At that moment, it didn’t properly hit me that Drew and I had actually made it into the Newlywed Game. I didn’t want to see too excited in front of the other couple, so I just smiled politely. Drew had another plans and put his lips on mine, quickly. I almost pushed him away. I wasn’t used to his sudden kisses. I kissed him back, putting my hand on his cheek. We broke apart after a couple of moments and the other couple congratulated us before walking out.
“Congratulations guys!” Sara said. “You’ve made it into The Newlywed Game! How do you feel?”
“Shocked,” I answered, honestly. “Very, very shocked.”
“That’s always good to hear,” She smiled. “Well, before you leave, follow me so we can just do some paperwork.”
Drew and I followed Sara and Roderick hand-in-hand. I was excited but I was mainly nervous. I didn’t know how we were going to pull off this fake marriage.
~
Hey! Finally, I've uploaded! All my exams at school are done and from now I'm going to be uploading twice a week. Probably on Wednesday and Sunday. If I can upload more, I will but I don't think I'll be able to.
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Thanks for reading c: