Part two: Let the games begin.
Three months after me and Arden broke up, I was chosen to be a part of the reality show, “Love and Success.” I was surprised when I received the phone call, because I’d applied on the final casting date, which was two weeks ago.
Filming began on Good Friday. We arrived in Maui Hawaii- 24 single men, and 24 single women, all different races and walks of life.
The first activity we did was speed dating. At the end, we voted for the people we liked most. The people who got the most votes stayed, but the people who didn’t, were sent back home the following Monday.
By episode 3, it was game time- so let the games begin! We were down to both a dozen men and women. Things were already beginning to get intense, and my anxiety was high. I’ve always been a competitor, so I wasn’t worried about the competition, I was more concerned about the game.
When it comes to matters of the heart, it’s not a game, but that’s exactly what this reality show is about- playing games to win people’s heart for money. Hey, it’s not that bad, considering people play games with other people hearts everyday, for the hell of it.
No matter how much some of these women try to play the angle of, it’s more about love than money, I know the truth. The one million dollar incentive definitely makes it more about winning the money than love. They’re just trying to win the audience, and I can’t do anything but respect it, because so am I.
All I have to do is find a man who is as ambitious as I am, and who’s willing to be on my team until the end. If I can find a true teammate, we can convince the world of anything. It can be us against the world, as long as we win that million dollars.
If love comes out of this, great, we could be lovers, team mates, and build an empire, but my focus isn’t on finding love. This gives me the advantage over most of these women who believes their Prince Charming and Happily ever after begins on this island. There is no guarantee that any of us on the island will find our true love, but there is a guarantee that two of us could walk away with $500,000 each. We don’t need to be in love, we just need to convince the world that we are.
The next event was a ball. We got to mingle, and find out even more about each other. There were two men that all the ladies were crushing on, including me. Four women had claimed these two men as their own, and to cut down on competition, I turned my focus to the other ten men. I began to weigh my options, but sadly, after the ball, we voted again, and six more men and six more women were removed.
And then there were six. Tensions were high and competition began to get fierce. The same four women were still fighting over the two beefcakes, and I found myself spending a lot of time with Joseph.
Joseph is a fairly attractive guy from Massachusetts. He’s nerdy, genuine but shy. The right woman could turn him into a hot commodity, and that woman was me. Joseph isn’t necessarily my type, but I could upgrade him. He is funny, in a nerdy way. He’s super smart when it comes to technology, and he has a heart of gold, so potential for both a business partner and a life partner is there.
The fact that Joseph is still here, means I’m not the only woman who sees his potential so, I have to go hard on deepening our friendship, because if I don’t go hard, I’m going home, and I refuse to leave without that million. I can get another man, but this is a once in a lifetime chance for the million.
There wasn’t a rule that said a man and woman had to be in love. The rule was to successfully convince the world that the love is genuine, even if it’s not, and during the final episode, people would send in their votes, and if 75% or more people believed that both the last man and woman standing are in love- then they’d win the million dollars. The couple would then reveal on separate pieces of paper if their relationship is more about love, or if it’s more about success.
During episode five, Joseph and I had developed a solid friendship. It’s been four weeks, but we bond like we’ve known each other for years. Joseph had gotten a little too comfortable with me, because he told me plainly that his eyes were on two other women. I told him that I could up his swag and game to help his chances of being with one of those women, if he agreed to stick with me as a teammate, so that we could win the million dollars in the end.
Joseph agreed, because he didn’t think he stood a chance with those women, and he came to the island believing that he had a better chance of winning the million dollars, than he did finding love. He saw the reality show as an opportunity to begin his tech company, and I saw it as an opportunity to move from Virginia to California, and open my own law firm.
I think that Joseph and I have the potential to go all the way!
Cha Ching!
Shubricca L Bell 