A Match Made in Heaven

“We’ll have a few re-shoots tomorrow probably,” Janelle said trying to break the silence in the room. “Then on the next episode you can let me go. I know it’s a bit of a pain to have your options cut down by one, but it was the best we could do on such short notice.”

He nodded again. “That’s fine, of course,” he stood up. “So, were your answers made up or…”

Janelle smiled. “No, those were mine. I said the first thing that came to my mind for that history stuff. Although it is nice to meet someone else who’s as interested in history as I am.”

“I keep a copy of History of the World on my bedside table.”

“I do too!” Janelle said a little more loudly than she’d meant to. She laughed. “I mean, I have for a long time. I’ve read it so many times that it’s pretty much falling apart at this point.”

“I know exactly what you mean. I just had to replace my copy not too long ago,” he chuckled. “I hope this isn’t too forward, but do you think we could grab a cup of coffee? Talk history?”

“I think that would be great,” she said as she stood up. “How about tomorrow night?”

“I was thinking more along the lines of right now.”

Janelle grinned. “I have to review the tapes, but I could be out of here at say,” she glanced at her watch, “seven?”

“Deal. Meet me at Hifi?”

“Sounds good,” she said as she walked out of his dressing room, closing the door behind her.

On the other side of the door, Janelle shook her head and smiled. She hadn’t gone out in a while, besides the occasional dinner dates with Clark. The woman bit her lip. It would have been better if it were a date. Yeah right, he came on the show for a reason. Besides, she reasoned, there were four other women just waiting for him to choose them.

She walked into production where Mya was already in front of the screen going over the tape. The woman’s headset lay on the desk as she gazed at the feed. Janelle watched another monitor, one showing the contestants leaving for the day. They weren’t allowed to see each other before the finale and she didn’t want anyone trying to change that. Once they were clear, she settled into a chair.

“Can you run and tell Reece that he can leave now?”

“Sure,” Mya said, rising out of her chair slowly before she paused the feed. “I’ll be right back.”

Janelle thought back to Reece. He’d almost seemed disappointed when she’d told him to vote her off of the show. This time, she laughed at herself as she rolled through the footage. Stop being ridiculous. Still, it would have been nice for a guy like that to take a real interest in her she thought.

When Mya came back, they began to look through the footage together. She gazed up partway through their work to see Reece leaving the building. He walked out to a sleek, black car before pulling out of the parking lot. It gave her a little rush of excitement knowing that she would be meeting up with him soon.

Once the video was edited and the schedule for the next day emailed to the contestants, Janelle headed home. She and Mya walked to their cars together, before she slipped behind the wheel of her car. She started the car, loving the roar of the engine as it turned over. The ’64 candy apple red Mustang was her newest present to herself. She loved it. Once Mya pulled out, she followed after her until they parted ways.

Janelle made sure to move relatively close to the studio. Of course in Los Angeles that meant higher rent, but she thought it was worth it. It was a loft style apartment with down to earth furnishings and small on space, but it was home. She pulled into the garage before taking the elevator up to her floor.

As she stepped inside, she glanced at her watch. She had just enough time to shower, change into something comfy and meet Reece for coffee. As she walked through her place, her cat jumped off of her desk. The orange tabby round itself around her ankles almost making her trip as she made her way to the bathroom. Janelle picked him up.

“It was a very good day, Mulder,” she said cradling the cat, “The bachelor is really nice. Hot too,” she mumbled as she sat the cat back down.

Janelle shed her clothes before she turned on the shower. Stepping in, she sighed as the water hit her skin. It had been a long day, but tomorrow would be too. She didn’t take long, forgoing her usually long shower for a short one so she wouldn’t be late. When she stepped out, she wrapped a thick, blue towel around her body before padding to her bedroom.

Opening her closet, she looked around for something to wear. She traded in the work wear for a pair of comfortable blue jeans that hugged her hips nicely. A light blue top was pulled over her head before she looked at herself in the mirror. Reaching up, she pulled her hair down out of its bun. It had been a long time since she’d worn anything but the bun or ponytail. Quickly she brushed her hair out, the waves still in place from earlier. Janelle swiped on a little makeup.

“Not bad,” she mumbled.

Crouching down, she pet Mulder on the way out the door. She was both nervous and excited about seeing Reece. The woman had a way of stumbling over her words when she had to talk to new people out of her usual studio setting. The thought that she’d make a fool out of herself in front of him wasn’t comforting.

Janelle pulled into Hifi’s parking lot a little before seven. She tried to talk herself down. It wasn’t a date, it wasn’t important, it was just two people meeting for coffee to talk about history. Still, she couldn’t help the slight fluttering that she felt in her belly.

She forced herself out of the car. As she was pushing the door she heard a familiar voice. Janelle turned.