by Diana Orgain | May 17, 2021 | Love or Money, Sneak Peek, Uncategorized
Did you miss Chapter One? Did you miss Chapter Two? Did you miss Part One of Chapter Three? From A First Date with Death Chapter Three Continued… The same makeup artist from the day before materialized. She tilted my chin upward and began to apply foundation. The gal doing my hair gave a garbled command through a mouthful of bobby pins. I figured it had something to do again with my posture, so I pressed my shoulders back and tried to study the woman doing my makeup. Unfortunately, I only got a flash of her face as she immediately went to work on applying my eye shadow. Who did she remind me of? They whipped me into readiness in short order and then I was ushered over to the men’s house for the announcement. I entered the mansion and was positioned near the fireplace mantel. The men were all seated and watching me. Had it not been for the unsettling feeling that was already descending upon me, it would have been nerve-wracking to have the nine of them gaping at me. As it was, I felt myself tense, gearing up for a fight. Like answering a call during those few short years I’d been on the beat. You know the news is never going to be good. It may not be fatal, but it’s never good. The guys who’d been on the date the day before—Ty, Pietro, Scott, and Edward—were all a bit ashen faced. The others were smiling and goofing around with each other. They seemed completely unaware of the disaster. Hadn’t anyone told them? Cheryl entered,...
by Diana Orgain | May 17, 2021 | Love or Money, Sneak Peek, Uncategorized
Did you miss Chapter One? Did you miss Chapter Two? From A First Date with Death Chapter Three Int. Library – Day Aaron is looking directly at the camera, He’s in his late twenties and dressed in a windowpane shirt and has boyish good looks. His foot is repeatedly tapping and his eyes shift back and forth. CHERYL (O.S.) So, Aaron, are you looking for love or money? AARON Love? Yeah, yeah, love . . . Um, I suppose everyone is looking for love, but if you mean right now, like, here on the show . . . uh, I don’t think a reality TV show is the right place to find love. CHERYL (O.S.) What if after you meet our contestant you fall madly in love with her? AARON Oh. I’m sure she’s a wonderful girl. I mean, sure, she’s probably great. Nothing against her. It’s just that I’m at a point in my life where I really need the money. I mean, I really need it, okay? I awoke in the RV and peered out the door, we were back in Los Angeles, parked outside the mansion that the men lived in during the shoot. I was only allowed to have dates there, I couldn’t move in any of my things. I couldn’t cook or shower there and I certainly wasn’t allowed to sleep in the incredible master suite. How cruel was that? So close, and yet so far away. At least there were no cameras in the bus. I could actually have a moment of privacy. But only a moment, as it seemed that every...
by Diana Orgain | May 17, 2021 | Love or Money, Sneak Peek, Uncategorized
Did you miss Chapter One? Did you miss Part One of Chapter Two? From A First Date with Death Chapter Two Continued… Scott didn’t take the hint. “I gotta see the footage the camera crew took. Unbelievable!” My disgust overtook me and I said, “How ghoulish.” Scott looked over at me, seemingly surprised that I’d overheard him. A lopsided smile filled his face. “You think that’s ghoulish? Hell, nobody gets out alive.” I made a mental note: Scott would be the first to get the boot. The fireman concluded that I had not suffered any physical trauma. Any trauma I felt was purely psychological. What else was new? When he left, Edward searched inside my refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water. Scott peered over Edward’s shoulder into the fridge. “What? No beer?” Edward ignored him and passed me the water along with a small white pill. “What’s this?” I asked, fingering the tiny tablet. “My personal stash,” he replied. “Consider it a fast prescription fill.” Scott oohed. “Give me some of that, man. I’ve been traumatized, too.” “Undoubtedly, but your trauma was too long ago to fix now,” Edward said. He turned to me. “Don’t worry it’s only a valium.” “No,” I said. Why this guy was a walking drugstore? Ordinarily, I’d have grilled him about it, but since we’d just witnessed a man plummet to his death… Oh, God. What if it had been foul play? The thought made my head ache. No, it had been a dreadful accident. I kicked off my shoes and climbed under the covers. The door to the RV popped open...
by Diana Orgain | May 17, 2021 | Love or Money, Sneak Peek, Uncategorized
Did you miss Chapter One? From A First Date with Death Chapter Two The journey back to the bridge felt endless. My eyes were glued to Aaron, dangling beside me, and I couldn’t stop myself from shouting repeatedly, “Aaron! Aaron! Answer me. Aaron! Respond, damn it!” Then suddenly I was moving up and he seemed to be at a stand-still, maybe even descending. What was going on? Oh, God, was there another malfunction? Would they drop me, too? I stopped flailing and gripped the harness, as if gripping it would make me more secure somehow. Aaron’s body made its descent, the Coast Guard boat motoring directly underneath him. They must have determined that the Coast Guard would have the fastest emergency response. Taking a deep breath, I realized that I hadn’t stopped screaming long enough to inhale. The water was now a great distance away, but I continued to shout in vain, and by this point, I don’t think I was saying anything intelligible. The vague thought that I was in hysterics floated across my mind, as if someone else had put it there, as if I were someone else and not this shrieking woman. My body was hoisted over the railing of the bridge and, despite the hands gripping at me, I immediately collapsed onto the deck. Pressing my cheek to the cold metal, I could feel the hum of the traffic reverberate through my body. My screams subsided and I found my voice matching the hum of the bridge in an odd, regressive, self-soothing manner. I was shaking uncontrollably and because I was splayed out on...
by Diana Orgain | May 10, 2021 | Love or Money, Sneak Peek, Uncategorized
Did you miss Part One? From A First Date with Death Chapter One Continued… The crew was urging us toward the edge of the bridge. We didn’t have time to dillydally, as the show had been granted special access for the shoot. Bungee jumping was not ordinarily allowed off the Golden Gate Bridge due to boat traffic, but the producers had been able to close down the shipping lanes for one hour. Everything is for sale in San Francisco. Car traffic, on the other hand, was still open on the bridge. Every‐ thing may be for sale, but even Hollywood has a budget. It was nerve-wracking and noisy to have the cars whizzing by. “If you’re nervous, maybe someone else can go first,” Ty offered. Cheryl said, “Someone needs to go, for God’s sake. We need to get the show on the road. Aaron, want to go?” Aaron looked surprised and Ty seemed relieved. “Uh, yeah, certainly. Love to,” Aaron said, although he looked unsure. Cheryl turned to me and shouted, “You, get over here and watch him jump. We need the shot.” I don’t know what I’d imagined when I thought about possibly finding love on this show, but it certainly hadn’t included this six-foot-tall blond woman yelling at me constantly. In fact, she’d never even entered my mind and now she seemed never to leave. Aaron took his place near the edge of the bridge and I stood next to him. The crew maneuvered around us, although one camera remained trained on my face, my every expression being recorded for posterity. I hoped I didn’t look...
by Diana Orgain | May 10, 2021 | Love or Money, Sneak Peek, Uncategorized
From A First Date with Death Chapter One The bungee-jumping harness bit into my shoulders and legs as I looked over the railing of the Golden Gate Bridge. To say the water looked frigid was an understatement. The whitecaps of the bay screamed out glacier and hypothermia. “You’re not in position,” Cheryl, the producer, yelled. I felt the camera zoom in on me. They needed an extreme close-up of my every facial expression so they could broadcast my terror to the world. Magnify my embarrassment and mortification. One of the techs said something to Cheryl and she shouted, “Cut!” The cameraman lost interest in me. “Why am I doing this?” I asked Becca, my best friend and the assistant producer on this godawful reality TV show, Love or Money. “To find your dream man,” Becca answered. “I found him already, remember? Then he left me at the altar.” A makeup artist appeared at my elbow and applied powder to my nose. “Dream men do not leave their brides at the altar,” Becca said. “Clearly, he was not the one.” I studied the woman brushing powder on my face. She had beautiful chocolate-colored skin, a straight nose, and eyes so dark and intense they looked like pools of india ink. She looked familiar, but before I could place her, she turned and walked away. “I thought you always liked Paul,” I said to Becca. “I did until he left me at the altar,” Becca replied. “He left me.” “Me, too. I was standing right next to you in a stupid tulle and taffeta dress. Anyway, enough about your horrible...
