Page 50 of The Baking Games
I can’t believe no one came inside when they heard us yelling. They’re all too focused on hanging out, so we’re on our own.
Rhett slowly pushes off with one hand and knee until he’s almost standing, but then the soapy water on the floor takes him down again. This time, he manages to land beside me, both of us on our backs staring at each other. Within seconds, I’m in hysterics laughing.
He eyes me closely for a few moments before I see it. A smile. An actual smile. The smile turns into a chuckle. Then, a full-blown laugh. Before we know it, we’re both laughing so hard that we’re sobbing. Just me and Rhett, lying on the floor laughing our heads off.
I finally catch my breath enough to speak. “I’m soaked from head to toe!”
“You look like a wet dog!” he says, cackling. I’ve never seen this side of him before. He has little laugh lines at the corners of his eyes. He has an actual dimple. If I had a dimple, I’d smile all the time just to show it off.
“Oh yeah? Well, you look like a…”
“What on earth is going on here?”
We turn our heads and see Maggie standing by the stove, staring at us with her mouth hanging open. I feel like I just got caught by the principal.
“We had a little… incident,” Rhett says. His nonchalant explanation sends us both into hysterics again. By the time we finally calm down, Maggie has gone to get help. Nate and Hank help both of us up to our feet and away from the water while Zara and Tanya start wiping the floor.
“I’m so sorry, y’all. Thanks for helping us,” I say, feeling embarrassed by what they just witnessed. They have to wonder how I got on this show. So far, my reputation as a professional pastry chef hasn’t been great. And now I look like I can’t even wash dishes without creating an international incident.
“We’re going to go get changed, and then we’ll do the dishes,” Rhett says to the group that has now formed in the kitchen.
Maggie waves her hand. “We’ll take care of the dishes. Just go get dried up.” She rolls her eyes like a scolding mother as we slink away up the stairs, still laughing.
CHAPTER 14
RHETT
After our little incident of slip-and-slide in the kitchen, Savannah and I went upstairs to get changed since we were both soaked all the way to the bone. Thankfully, they unchained us for a few minutes so that we could change our clothes and get a moment to ourselves. I don't know about her, but that was not only an embarrassing, but highly funny episode in the kitchen. Nothing like that has ever happened to me in my life.
I don't tend to live a very humorous life. I'm a pretty serious guy. I think most people would agree, but I just couldn’t stop laughing for some reason. I don't remember laughing that hard in my entire life. And then there was the falling on top of the beautiful woman who's supposed to be my archrival. That was unexpected. I want to say that I didn't enjoy it immensely, but I can't.
Thankfully, I got off her as quickly as I landed there, just so there was no miscommunication. Although I'm sure the viewers at home had a good time with it. I still hold to the fact that if we pretend to be in a relationship, we'll get further in this game, but I'm not going to press the issue with Savannah.
Maybe it was a crazy idea. Maybe I secretly have some feelings I don't want to admit. Either way, she hasn't said anything else about it, and I’m sure falling on top of her on the kitchen floor probably did not endear her to me enough to want to pretend to be in a fake relationship. Oh, well, it's a good memory anyway.
We have to get ready and go to the reward challenge now. So the producers chain us back together like a couple of prisoners as we head off to the industrial kitchen. Everybody is chatting away. I can tell they are making friendships that I'm not. Of course, I have to be friendly with Savannah since I’m chained to her, but I’m sure that after she gets disconnected from me, it will go right back to what it was before—her hanging out with Maggie and me hanging out by myself looking sullen, as usual.
There have been times in my life when I've wanted to be more interactive and social, but I'm always in my head. I can't seem to get out of there. I don't know if I ever will, but it is useful when we're doing challenges like this.
Today, Savannah and I have to work together in the same kitchen area. So far, that hasn't gone well, but we'll see how it pans out. As long as I don't turn on the faucet, we should be fine. Only a few nights sleeping next to each other, and this will be over. Of course, there could be some crazy twist where we’re chained together for life.
We walk into the kitchen, and everybody goes to their stations, waiting for Dan to come out and give us instructions. The three judges file in and sit behind their little table at the head of the room. The cameras and lights get ready, and taping begins. Today, Dan is wearing one of the tackiest suits I've seen so far. It's pink, which isn't a problem in and of itself, but on him, he looks like a giant bottle of Pepto Bismol.
"Welcome to this week's reward challenge," he says so excitedly that I can barely listen to him without covering my ears. "Today's challenge is that you're going to create a dessert that looks like a breakfast item. When we look at it, it should look like something we're about to eat for breakfast, but when we bite into it, it should be a sweet and tasty dessert. You will have just two hours to complete this task. Ready, set, go!”
He throws his arm up in the air like we're about to take off in a foot race, and everybody starts running around the kitchen. But we can't run around the kitchen because we're chained together, so we just stand there like two animals with their legs caught in a trap.
"So what should we do?" Savannah says, looking at me with those big doe eyes of hers. Why do they make me feel tingly?
"Where's my sketchbook?" I say, looking around.
"I don't know where your sketchbook is," she says.
Oh, no. I've left it in the room. I wasn't even thinking straight after the whole kitchen floor incident. I can't do this without my sketchbook.
"Are you okay?" she asks, looking at me concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I say quietly. "I just didn't know I didn't have my sketchbook, and it's too late to get it now."