Sugar McKenzie and August Wakefield couldn't be more different - Sugar, a meticulous, caring, but lonely paramedic and August, a charming former reality star still chasing his dream. But they've both closed themselves off emotionally from others...t...
"I like to use the hard times in the past to motivate me today."
- Dwayne Johnson
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"Tell us about yourself," the voice said off camera.
The clear blue light that resembles sunlight cast on my entire face. In the frame, I was positioned in the center. The plain white walls gave a neutral background, where the camera zoomed in on my headshot. An interview sensation where the camera stood in as the interviewer.
Make-up covered my dark circles caused by lack of sleep. The stylist blow dried my curls and added "sea-breeze" hairspray to emphasize the wave. I blinked to try and keep my eyes hydrated. That dang bright light made me see circles.
I brushed my thumb over my lip.
Here we go.
"You already know my name. I have many pseudonyms. You probably recognize my name for being the fourth-place winner of Champion," I flinched, "Wait – no one really remembers fourth place winners. Those are the ones who almost made it to the final round. But not quite. It's been five years since that season."
"What was your motivation for Champion?"
"It's difficult to remember. At the time, I knew for sure what I did not want to do. I had nonexistent dreams about attending college. And customer service occupations burned me out. I was watching The Price is Right one morning, and a commercial for an open audition appeared which included all the locations the company would be stopping at. Cincinnati was one of the spots. I thought, 'I'll try that.' "
"Were there any difficulties with the transition to real life and 'reality' television?" the woman said, her legs crossed. A clipboard had a piece of paper filled out with all the questions.
I nodded. "Of course. Just like any other occupation. People teach you the ins and outs of the job. You know, expectations and that sort of stuff." I chuckled, "Plus, I had a physical change."
"Really?"
Why am I saying this?
"I'll admit my weakness was my looks. Crooked teeth and oiliest skin in the whole state. Oh, I forgot to mention, the ladies. Goodness I was bad at everything: flirting, talking, and being close to one was out of the question."
"How did you overcome it?"
Penelope.
I remembered we drove in the middle of the night around Cincinnati, under the street lamps, golden hues seeped through the window. Chocolate chip cookies. Freshly baked at the insomnia cookie shop, she had her legs up on the console. She would blast 90s music all the way up to twenty volume, rolling down the windows. Her soprano voice would add "the," "a," and another other word . . . making up her own lyrics.
