Page 20 of The Baking Games

After I ran away from the bathroom, convinced Rhett was going to come out and squash me under his giant foot, I ended up in the foyer. I didn’t want to go back upstairs. I wanted to find the kitchen, but I wandered onto a side porch with cushy furniture instead.

My cameraman was hot on my trail the entire time. I don’t know how Rhett got away from him for so long, but I bet he won’t do it again. They’re watching him like a hawk now. The thought of the look on his face when I yelled that makes me laugh every time I think about it.

I walk over and sit down in one of the wicker rockers, with its ivory-colored cushions. The swing across from it is made of solid wood and has a colorful striped cushion on it. It’s got to be almost dinnertime now, but I don’t have my phone, and I never wear a watch, so I’m a bit disoriented about time. All I know is that I’m starving. Are they trying to kill us?

“Well, hello there.”

Ugh. I know that voice. I dated that voice for two years.

I turn in my chair to see Connor smoking a cigarette in a darkened corner. I always thought it was a nasty habit, and I warned him about the health implications over and over, but Connor is stubborn and stuck in his ways.

“Why are you sitting there?”

“Just taking a little smoke break,” he says, blowing smoke rings into the air like I’m going to be impressed with that. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“Yeah, totally coincidental,” I say, deadpan.

He stands up and walks closer, sitting down in the chair opposite me. I never thought I’d have to look at this man’s face again, and I have to say I was okay with that.

“So, were you surprised to see me?” He grins like he’s enjoying this immensely.

“Sure. Kind of like the way I’d be surprised if a bag of dog poo landed right here next to me.”

His smile fades. “I didn’t know you’d be here, either. Trust me.”

Connor used to be so nice. When we first met, he wooed me like nobody had been wooed before. That lasted about six months before I could see cracks. I could look past much of it except for how he interacted with Sadie.

He was often rude. Mean, even. We were constantly at odds over it. He didn’t want her around. He wanted more time with me alone. He wanted her to move out of my apartment. On and on it went until I couldn’t take it anymore.

Sadie offered to leave. She wanted to see me happy, but I explained to her right before I broke up with him that being with Connor was not the version of happiness I wanted.

So I dumped him. Connor is attractive, and I don’t think anyone had ever broken up with him before. He was not happy about it.

But now he looks like the cat that ate the canary, and I can’t figure it out.

“I have a hard time believing you didn’t know I’d be here,” I say. The camera guy behind Connor shakes his head. Apparently, I’m treading on thin ice again, talking about production stuff.

“Believe what you want, Red,” he says, standing up and putting his cigarette out on the ground. I guess he figures all the little people on set can clean up behind him.

“Don’t call me that, Connor. You know I hate that nickname.”

He smiles. “Yes, I know.”

RHETT

The news that Connor is Savannah’s ex was shocking. The guy really seems like a jerk, and I don’t care for jerks. Sure, I may sometimes come off as one myself, and maybe that’s why I recognize it in Connor. I don’t like him and plan to get him out of this competition as soon as possible.

I walk back to my room, pondering their relationship in my mind. What else do I have to do but think right now?

Why would Savannah even date a guy like that? She always seemed so “sunny” and bright. He seems annoying and irritating. I’ll never understand women and the choices they make sometimes.

I’m not a huge fan of overly happy people, but I can admire that trait in them. How they go through life with all its ups and downs and still come out smiling every day is beyond me.

Of course, Savannah annoyed me greatly in pastry chef school. She was always so positive. Seemed to want to be a teacher’s pet. Always answering questions before anyone else. Raising her hand like we were in grade school. I never raised my hand. I just answered the question like a grownup. She’d give me a glare when I answered before she could. I found it funny and made it a bit of a game to pass the time when I was bored.

If something fell apart, she shrugged her shoulders and said oh well. She started over and didn’t complain. I never saw her raise her voice or even get flustered. She just kept going with a smile on her face,

See? Annoying.