Fresh start

“Mona… the audience at home has voted and decided that you and Matt should go on a date together.” Mona says and jumps up and down in glee and continues to read. “You and Matt will be heading into the village to buy groceries and will prepare a dinner party for the other islanders.”

A text message note rings in your pocket and you pick it up as well as the rest of the islanders gathering around Mona stare at you as you take it out and read.

“Matt…. The audience at home has voted and decided that you and Mona should go on a date together. You and Mona will be heading into the village to buy groceries and will prepare a dinner party for the other islanders,” You announce to the group watching.

Discussion and gossip go throughout the group. Some gripe about you being picked yet again for a date. Mona looks up at you, staring at her nonplussed and raises a challenging eyebrow, “You ready, Matty?”

Shrugging, you try not to look like you give a shit about the date. You had to go. Paige was talking to Jenna, and you can overhear rather her say rather not so quietly, “Cool! A dinner party. I can’t wait to show off my evening wear to Tom.”

Sighing, you head to the main building to get changed. You wear a simple polo and khaki pants and greet Mona, who was wearing a white blouse, high rise shorts, and a wide-brim straw hat, at the bottom of the stairs. Mona smiles and takes your arm, and you pull away. The crew of assistants and camera people brought along evening wear which you would change later after making dinner for the party.

“Let’s not get carried away, okay?” You say trying to repel Mona.

“Oh come on, Matty. We’re on a date, let’s act like a married couple for the fans at home who obviously think we are a great match.” Mona latches onto your arms like a leech.

“Fuck the fans and fuck the producers for setting this up,” You stare directly at the camera pointed at you as you say this. “We don’t have to pretend we like each other.”

“But I like you,” Mona says, bringing you in closer and squeezing your body.

From your AMA results, you could tell she wasn’t lying to you like before, but at the same time, you had serious trust issues with Mona that didn’t go away in a day.

“You just like the attention,” You say.

“You know me so well, dear,” Mona says, grabbing your arm again. You sigh loudly to her like a boy being dragged along with his dotting mother to the mall to get new clothes, and the two of you head out and see a car waiting for you.

The car drives you both to a picturesque village near the villa. You get out and wander the quaint yet beautiful tiled streets of the small Spanish village. It looked like a tourist spot with signs written both in Spanish and English. There was a feeling of being transported to a Renaissance-era European hamlet in the ways where you stroll alongside Mona and the other tourists, all looking, some taking pictures, with the same wonder at the fairytale setting.

Mona points out a small grocer, and you and Mona make your way to it to purchase supplies for the dinner party you were supposed to throw. You both grab baskets and you pet the ginger cat lying on the cashier’s table and greet the old cashier (¡Hola!), wearing an FC Barcelona t-shirt, who was reading a newspaper and sitting on a stool. Mona goes to the produce section and starts looking and examing artichokes and some green beans.

“So, what are we going to make honey?” Mona asks, pretending to be your wife.

“Please don’t call me that. It’s creepy,” You say picking up a peach and sniffing it.

“Honey… don’t worry the locals are very easy-going when it comes to newlyweds showing affection to each other,” Mona smiles.

“So, this is how you are going to **** me now?” You say and grab a potato and examine it. “We could make tacos? I mean… it’s easy and fits the mood.”

“Oh, honey… tacos are Mexican, not Spanish. Let’s make a Spanish dish,” Mona says.

“How about paella?”

Mona mulls it over, tossing her head side to side and nods. “That’s a wonderful idea. These artichokes and green beans look really good and will go great in it.”

“I’ll go get the meat,” You say carelessly.

“No meat!” Mona says.

“No meat? In paella? Are you out of your mind?”

“I’m a vegan, remember?”

“Yeah, but the rest of them aren’t. They’ll want meat. We can just make you a side salad.”

“No!” Mona snaps and crosses her arms.

“How about I just get some chicken and chorizo, and we can add it on the side,” You say.

Mona crosses her arms. “Honey, this our first dinner party together. We need to show the other couples that we are a conscientious couple. That we care about animals and the environment.”

“Mona, just stop it. I know what the guys will say if they go to dinner and there isn’t any meat. Relationships are about compromises, isn’t that what they say… honey?” You say, the last word coming off with extra sarcasm.

“They also say, 'Happy Wife, Happy Life.',” Mona glares and grips an artichoke tightly in her palms.

“Alright, alright. Whatever you say… dear. Just don’t blame me if our dinner party is a huge flunker. You don’t win friends with salad and all that,” You say.

Mona smiles. “Good. How about you think of what we can make for dessert.”

“How about just serving ice cream.”

“Ice cream has milk in it, dear. You know that’s not vegan,” Mona says, smiling and picking some artichokes and green beans and putting them in her basket.

Sighing, you say, “How about we just serve them dirt pies. Is that vegan?”

“Don’t get snippy with me, honey. You chose this life when you married me, remember?“ Mona says and twinkles her eyes.

“Yeah, well, I want a divorce,” You roll your eyes.

“Oh, no!” Mona feigns, “Fine, if you are so set on ice-cream, go check if there is some almond milk or coconut milk ice cream.”

After picking up some vanilla almond milk ice cream and some Mascherano cherries and crushed nuts, you and Mona proceeded to buy the rest of the ingredients for the paella, a bag of saffron, some fennel for a side salad, olive oil, crusty bread, bomba rice and cans of vegetable stock, and some wine. The crew gives you some money to pay the cashier, who is not fluent in English. You say "gracias" as you take your change and hand it back to the production assistant that gave you the money while Mona strokes the lying cat on the counter who purrs in response. Both of you leave the shop holding paper bags of ingredients stacked in a cliché way, with the loaf of crusty bread sticking out of the bag surrounded by leafy greens.

You help Mona get the bags of produce into the trunk of the vehicle that drove you to the village and you get into the backseat with her. She leans over your lap to view through your window, despite having her own window to look through, her body hangs over you and stares at the village side that started to shrink as your car drives away. You and Mona were then driven by the team to a rented manor near the villa and start preparations for dinner in your temporary kitchen. The camera crew adjust lights and change tapes, figuring your prepping ingredients was too dull and tedious to waste footage on. While you prepare the artichokes, Mona starts cutting up the sweet peppers into thin slices. A silence comes over the kitchen while you prep the mise en place and focus on not cutting your extremities.

“Thank you,” Mona says in a subdued voice, one of the few times she sounds like she wasn’t talking for the cameras theatrically.

“For what?”

“The other day. Looking back… I think I forgot to thank you.” Mona laments, her natural voice sounding much more breathy and baritone than her usual tenor.

“Don’t mention it.”

“Also, I’m sorry,” Mona adds while she sweeps with her knife some sliced peppers to a bowl.

“For what?”

“Coming on strong when I first came in. You were right the other day. You’re a human being, Matt. I didn’t treat you like one. I just thought about playing the game… that’s all,” Mona says. A long stare was held between you, and you look hard into her eyes for any acting.

“Was that necklace really that important to you?” You ask her, giving her a quick examination once more and then focusing on your cutting.

She wipes her hands with her kitchen towel and rubs the pendant, “It belonged to my mother. I was supposed to get it after she died, but somehow my father sold it to the pawnshop.”

This lined up with the video you watched. It looks like Mona was being honest with you for now. “Your mother is… gone, I presume?”

Mona nods and smiles mournfully. She then looked hard like she didn't want any pity.

“We all do things we regret,” You put your artichoke hearts into a bowl and clean your hands with a kitchen towel and hold your hand out to Mona as an offering.

“Let’s just forget everything that happened to us, Mona, and start fresh. No more acting or pretending or playing the game. I’m Matt. Nice to meet you.”

Mona stares at her hand and blushes. Looking up at you, she smiles and reaches for your hand and shakes it.

“I’m Mona. I look forward to getting to know you.”

17:34 – Mona’s affection and love has increased by 10 – Mona’s heart is warmed by your gesture

Mona snickers and then says, “Even though we said that I won’t forget you spanking me, Matt.”

“I bet you won’t. I never saw you so flustered before.” You say, twisting your lip into a grin.

“What was that Clint Eastwood voice you were doing?” Mona laughs and then imitate poorly in a raspy voice that sounded more like the Batman in The Dark Knight. “DON’T EVER TALK TO ME AGAIN. YOU’RE A NAUGHTY GIRL!”

Mona erupts into laughter, and you turn crimson and nearly cut yourself on a new artichoke. Why were you being embarrassed? She was the one that nearly wet herself on your lap.

An easiness forms between you and Mona as you bicker over how best to cook the paella soon after. The wall of ice between you two was beginning to melt as if the signs of spring were approaching and warmth was coming through on both sides, and now you were no longer people on different sides but riding in the same boat.

Later.

“Just let me check on it!” Mona chirps.

“Don’t fucking touch it. Just leave it alone, or it won’t form a crust,” You say, barring Mona from the stove while the paella simmers.

Mona and you were practically wrestling before the stove, she trying to contort her body to reach the pan where the paella simmers and stir it or overwork the rice.

“I’m just going to taste it, to see if it’s right,” Mona pleads.

“It’s fine, get the fuck away from my stove!”

Mona grabs a spoon near the stove and weasels her body under your arms and dips it into the bubbling stock and taste.

“It needs more salt, Matt. Also, you are going to burn it. Let’s just stir it a bit,” Mona cries.

“I’ll add more salt, but don’t mix it,” You say, pulling her off. You lift her small body over your shoulder and held her in place.

Mona starts beating your back with her palm and crying, “Let me down. You are ruining my beautiful creation!”

When you finally felt it was done, you let her down, and the two of you share a look. Her face of frustration stares into yours, and she leans forward spontaneously. As if she was testing the cold waters, her lips grasp yours and dive in. The two of you engage in a tender kiss over the stove. Her fingers run across your cheeks and beckoning your mouth to hers and your mouth wants to swallow her whole. Each of you let the other catch your breath and just stare deeply into each other's eyes; your noses nuzzle each other and you both share a look of longing between each other.

Sniffing out smoke, you back away from Mona and take the pan off the burner. Now regaining your senses, you just realize how badly you fucked up again.

18:04 – Mona’s affection and love has increased by 10 – You kissed Mona with Addictive Kisser perk active

18:04 – You have leveled up your relationship with Mona to Romantic Interest

Mona looks blankly at you and then smiles and says, “I told you you would burn it.”