Page 13 of Sweet Surrender
But then Connie’s voice cut through the last of her sentence as she called, “WE’VE GOT A REWARD CHALLENGE, LADIES!”
ONE THING BARRA HADN’Tconsidered about coming back for another season was that she’d have to participate in the grueling reward challenges. Although in hindsight, there were many glaring oversights, like potentially losing her job at Hargrove & Linton Architecture after taking weeks off to film yet another season ofOutlast Her.
Her body had barely recovered from Season Five. There were kinks in her neck that would never smooth out and a few scars on her shins that would forever blemish her previously smooth legs. Then there was all the emotional baggage, too.
“Ladies,” Vivian said, as sprightly as ever. The ocean behind her glittered under the sun, and the wind, which could be considered gentle, ruffled her hair. “How was your first night?”
Sutton cleared her throat.
But nope. Valerie beat her to it. “Apparently we had a stalker in our camp last night,” she announced, looking oddly proud of herself. By the time Connie had finished reading the reward challenge mail, the news about Barra’s mysteriously soiled pants had spread like wildfire. Everyone had an opinion on what could have happened. Only Hazel seemed suspicious. She’d taken Barra aside and asked, “Did that really happen?”
To which Barra had lied and said, “It did.”
Hazel had watched her for a few more seconds before she smiled. “Well, you’re my partner, so whatever you say, I believe. Trust is super important in this game,” she’d added.
Then Barra had spent the rest of the morning feeling sick with guilt. It was true; Hazel was her partner. She should’ve told her the truth.
“A stalker?” Vivian asked, lifting one perfectly groomed eyebrow skyward.
Valerie nodded gravely. “Barra woke up to her pants covered in mud. They were lying outside her backpack this morning. Don’t think an animal can manage that.”
Vivian met Barra’s gaze and smiled in a way that told her exactly what Barra predicted. Vivian had watched the footage and knew what had really happened.
“Well, isn’t that something,” Vivian said, pressing her hands together in front of her lap.
The sun caught her ring, and Barra was immediately yanked to Big Sur, to Kiara slipping the ring on Dominique’s finger, to the sudden break in the clouds, and the blade of light striking the diamond so magnificently that it had glowed.
Barra shuddered and shut down that memory just as Vivian said, “In a place like this, anything is possible.” Then Vivian gestured toward three tall wooden frames that had been sunk deep into the sand. Next to each one lay a long flagpole, stretched out flat on the ground. At the base of the frame sat a huge, square wooden tank. Thick ropes ran from the tank up through a pulley at the top of the frame and then down to the flagpole.
It took Barra a mere two seconds to figure out. The heavier the tank, the more the rope would pull and the higher the flagpole would rise.
“For this reward challenge, you’ll be competing in teams of four,” Vivian said before she pointed toward heavy clay urns lying beside each of the wooden platforms. There were different sizes, and Barra assumed different weights too. The smaller, the lighter, but also the less water you could carry at a time. “Here’swhat you need to do: you’ll each carry an urn down to the shoreline, fill it with water, then carry it back up to your platform to pour into the tank. Keep going until the tank is full enough to raise your flag. The first team to raise its flag wins a reward. Sounds easy, right?”
No one nodded. They all knew better than to assume anything was easy onOutlast Her.
Vivian laughed, then clapped her hands ceremoniously together. “Now, do you want to know what you’re playing for?”
Of course, they wanted to know. They always wanted to know.
“Since you’ve gone only a day without food, we thought maybe you’d like a few essentials for camp: pillows, blankets, and towels. But then we thought it wouldn’t be fair if we made you run up and down the beach without offering you a feast.”
Barra nearly sighed. She didn’t care about luxury items; she wanted food. Yesterday’s breakfast of spicy chicken livers on brown toast felt like years ago.
There were cheers and claps. The thought of a feast made Barra’s mouth water. She risked a quick glance in Allie’s direction. But it seemed Allie wasn’t that excited. She was frowning deeply. No, actually it was a scowl. She was scowling.
But Barra didn’t have time to wonder why Allie would be upset because then a production assistant came running across the sand. He dropped a charcoal-colored bag into Vivian’s outstretched hand before sprinting off.
“Now, one from each pair will pick a rock to determine their teams. Sutton and Allie, you’re up first,” Vivian said as the cameras panned toward her again.
Sutton skipped forward, not once glancing at Allie. She then plunged her hand into the bag before she drew out a smooth orange stone.
“Orange,” Vivian said, stating the obvious as Sutton held up the stone. Then, with a flick of her blonde hair, she skipped back to Allie.
Barra heard her whisper to Allie, “Hope you don’t mind I went ahead and chose. Didn’t think we really needed to discuss who did what.”
Allie smiled softly, and for some reason, Barra felt a pang of protectiveness in her stomach. But then Vivian called her name. “Barra and Hazel, you’re up next.”
“You go,” Barra said quickly. She leaned closer to Hazel, who had her blonde hair in a plait behind her back and was wearing a snug grey Lululemon sports bra and matching bicycle shorts. Dominique had a pair just like them. Her last Instagram post involved her and Kiara walking along the wide sands of Will Rogers State Beach, sipping on iced lattes, wearing matching Lululemon attire like they were brand ambassadors... like they were newlyweds in their honeymoon phase... like they were intent on making Barra miserable.
