The Bachelor

Chapter 12

Zach was starting to get restless in the island. The days were just the same and the activities were getting boring. He thought he would have much fun living in an island surround by gorgeous women, but he was wrong.

He was wrong because he only wanted one woman but the problem was, she didn’t want him. If only she would open some tiny little window, he would be happy to play Tom Hanks for another Cast Away movie as long as Julianne would be his Wilson. Anything just to wash away the frown on her face every freaking time he came near would be great.

Yes, yes, the last time he wanted the old Julianne back. But he just couldn’t stand her frowns any longer. He wanted to literally stretch those edible lips of hers sideways and upwards to form a smile. He couldn’t understand even until now why he was acting so desperate. Honestly, he really believed the feeling would wear off, but it was not. In fact, it was getting worse. And the only things holding him back from making a fool of himself were the reminder of the bet and the camera following him wherever he went.

He needed to stress out, he decided, and went for a swim. Well, it was more like a hundred-meter laps, really.

Julianne was a constant subject running around his mind and he had to control it before he went crazy.

 *****

Julianne was outside the cabin, sitting at the bottom steps with her computer on her lap, when Jack Carter’s low baritone voice spoke above her, his shadow blocking the sun. “Hey,” he said with a smile.

“Hey,” she smiled back. “No work?” she asked.

“Na, nothing much. I just have so much work whenever there’s a date or during the official Rose Ceremony,” he sat down beside her and supported his weight by placing his hand behind him. “What are you doing?” he asked curiously.

“Nothing,” she said and closed her computer in haste. “Just some work…”

Jack frowned, “You don’t have a work yet,” he said. “Not until you get out of here, anyway.”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “I really wish you did not give me that damn contract.”

“Hey, I honestly did not think you would make it this far. No offense of course,” he quickly added.

“None taken,” she smiled lamely and looked ahead.

“But now that I was able to observe you from day one, I think I understand why Astor keeps giving you a rose,” he uttered after some awkward silence.

“Yeah, because he likes this game so much,” she huffed, thinking of the real meaning behind her words.

“No, because you’re actually interesting,” he answered too honestly.

“Interestingly weird?”

“Interestingly not like any other,” he phrased and Julianne noted something in the way he said it that alarmed her senses. Not the way Zach could, but in a different, normal way. It was like she was talking to a normal guy that she knew she could get to like in time and after being surrounded by Zach’s annoying presence for many days, it was refreshing to actually be in Jack Carter’s company.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“It was intended to be one,” he shrugged. “He spends a lot of time with you lately and almost everybody notices that,” he said after a while that she almost felt lost at the sudden change of subject.

“He likes annoying me, that’s all,” she answered with a frown.

“Don’t trust him,” Jack’s voice was serious and she snapped her head towards him.