"That sounds about right." I looked down as if confessing to a guilty pleasure and enjoyed the silence that Nick left all around us.
He certainly knows me well, I'll give him that. But even so, why did he think I'd agree to that?
What made him think that I could go through such a process, especially considering the professional image I needed to maintain?
"Didn’t we say that the publicity in that format was the source of its defects?" I tried to remind him that I was a public figure.
"It is, but since we recognize that problem in the process, we can fix it." He nodded, rolling his eyes.
"How? Every TV channel would want to cover this thing inside and out. Come on… A super-model desperately searching for love? They'll eat it up and spit me out?" I grimaced.
"Since when does the press eat you up? Since when can anybody do anything that you don’t agree to? Huh? I know you, freak. You control everything in your life, so why stop now?" He was so clever that I didn’t answer his question, as I clearly knew its frightening answer.
"Nick, this isn’t some gossip about a new campaign I take on. This will be the hottest gossip in the country. They won't let it go. They won't. I'm telling you!" I shuddered at the possible newspaper headlines I imagined.
"Well, then that will be a crisis to be handled by the project manager."
"And who might that be?"
"Me!" A hearty smile of pleasure lit his content facial expression.
"And please, just so we're clear, explain to me again, what's this project you're wanting to manage?" I inhaled deeply and breathed out slowly.
"The biggest project of your life. No, no. The actual project of your actual life, Naomi. Project 'Naomi, The Bachelorette.' It will be a hit, I promise!"
Could it be possible? Was there a chance that the key to finding my true love was in the hands of Nick? It couldn’t be, could it?
Oh, why was I even talking to him about it?
I couldn’t go through with it. It was all such bullshit!
Chapter 4
The "Naomi the Bachelorette" Project.
It wasn’t such a bad idea if I put aside the fact that it was the worst idea I'd ever heard, yet I played along and let Nick show me everything that kept him up at night.
I must admit, he designed a glorious landing page. He used one of my favorite pictures, one in which I was lying on a bar with a glass of champagne in my hand. I wore a black dress woven with silver thread, and my gaze was turned to the left.
I liked the fact that my eyes weren’t aimed at the camera lens in that picture. It indicated that it wasn’t me addressing the eligible men but him, the project manager.
I pulled the screen closer to me and read in great detail everything Nick had written.
"Are you tired of everyone asking you how is it that you're still single? Do you agree with them that it's a mystery how a good man like you hasn’t yet met the love of his life?
Congratulations! You just found the first thing you have in common with international supermodel Naomi Sloan!
If you're interested in finding out if there are other areas of interest that you share and having a chance of spending the rest of your life with the most special woman in the country, man-up and fill in the attached questionnaire.
The production team wishes you success and raises a glass in honor of true love!"
I sat, leaned back, and smiled contentedly to myself.
Just like in that picture, the wording Nick chose also excluded me from being responsible for that project taking place.
"I know that look of yours..." Nick continued to drive me crazy.
"Okay, let's see how well you really know me, Nick. What does this look of mine mean?" I tilted my head toward him.
"It says that you're positively thinking about this, that deep down, you really want to do it, but you're afraid."
"Ugh! You're an ass, you know that?"
"I was right, wasn’t I?"
"If you know me as well as you claim you do, you probably don’t need my answer for that." I laughed lightly. "Yes, you were right. You do know me, but as you said, I'm terrified since…" I scratched my cheek and rolled my eyes, trying not to imagine the worst-case scenario.
I turned to look at the landing page he designed again. The questions he chose for the applicants were very impressive and thorough. I thought maybe the fact that he was gay helped him ask the right questions since they were questions a woman would have asked in search of the perfect life partner.
"No chance in hell!" I declared in vain.
"Oh, lighten up. What do you have to lose?"
"Um... A lot!"
"Okay, that was a stupid question," he said with a huff. "So, instead, think about what you have to gain."
"If this project of yours succeeds? I guess a lot."
"Exactly!" He rushed to stand in front of me, placed his hands on my cheeks, and switched his convincing attempts to straight out begging. "Please, Naomi. Let's just see who the candidates are and only then decide what to do with them."
"Why are you so sure there will even be any candidates?" Shivers of loneliness passed through my body, yet I tried to hide it with a fake, intrigued smile.
"Really? Insecurity? That's a first for you. And if I may say so, it doesn't suit you."
"I didn’t mean to say that no one would want me." I let my hair out of its tense ponytail and shook my head from side to side as if I were on a set of a photo shoot.
"My point exactly." Nick laughed.
"Of course there will be a lot of men interested. I'm Naomi, fucking, Sloan."
"Damn right, you are! A superstar!"
"That being said..."
"What? What's your biggest fear?"
"I know men will be interested, but will they dare to submit themselves as candidates?"
"I'm going to ask again: What? What exactly are you saying?"
"Look, Nick, I don't think I'm still single because of a lack of interest men show in me. I actually think that it's because they're not daring to approach me. I'm still a bachelorette because no potential bachelor has come forth."
"And I believe this project will make a difference in that regard."
"What makes you so sure of that?"
"Because Judy is an unbearable human being, but damn her, she's right. That's human nature!" Nick said, enthusiastically raising his voice. "Don’t you understand? The candidates? They're not applying to be with you, they're applying to fight other men for your heart. You know I hate Judy with all my heart, but I agree with her claim. Man can't ignore their desire to defeat others. It's in their nature, and it's what will make them fill out the application."
"Nick, honey, I'm sorry to disappoint you," I said, closing his computer screen. "I really don’t believe that they will."
"And I'm sorry to say that you're wrong because I know that they will."
"Well, I guess one of us is right, and the other is wrong." I smiled mischievously.
"And there is only one way to find out which is which." He opened his computer screen again and sent me the naughtiest smile.