Queen of His Heart (23 page)

The Finale

T
he
Queen of Hearts
finale was being taped at the beautiful Hotel Oceana in Santa Barbara. The hotel, Jalila was told, had been selected for its lush romantic setting right off Butterfly Beach. The network was pulling out all the stops to make sure this was a memorable minivacation for Jalila, Martina and Fantasia.

Once Martina found out that everything was comped, she started packing up hotel robes, towel, shampoos—everything that wasn't nailed down. “What? It's free, ain't it?”

Jalila couldn't help but laugh while Fantasia pretended to be embarrassed.

“So, you're not going to give us even a little hint as
to who you're going to choose today?” Fantasia asked, giddy and excited.

“If I do, it'll ruin the surprise,” Jalila said, lying under the sun in a cloud-white bikini while a three-man camera crew moved around them. “Besides, you know Martina can't hold water.”

“Oh, that's cold,” Martina said and returned to chugging down a super-size piña colada with a huge chunk of pineapple hanging on the side of the glass. “True. But cold.”

 

Sidebar:

Jalila returned to her hotel room to see that the hair-and-makeup team had arrived to work their magic. It was getting close to that time and Jalila was actually starting to get nervous.

“All I have to say is, whoever you pick, when you get married and have babies, I want to be the godmother,” Martina crowed.

Fantasia jabbed a hand onto her hip. “Well, I like your nerve.”

Unfazed, Martina laughed. “Well, like the good preacher said, you gotta speak it and claim it.”

Jalila choked on her appletini. “Since when did you start going to church?”

“Please, all the hell I raise six days a week, I gotta check in with the Lord and get a sprinkle of some of that holy water.”

“I don't believe what I'm hearing,” Fantasia deadpanned.

“Well, believe it. I'm covering all bets.”

There was a knock at their door and Nitara stuck her head into the room. “Ladies? How's it going in here?”

“Fiiiinnnnneeee,” they chorused back and then watched as the coproducer entered the room.

“I just wanted to tell you that everything is all set. We're going to beginning taping the ceremony at precisely six o'clock.” She flashed a smile at Jalila sitting in the makeup chair. “Are you nervous?”

Jalila smiled. “A little.”

“Well, don't be. Everything is going to be great.
You're
going to be great.”

Jalila appreciated the encouragement but sipped down some more liquid courage nonetheless.

“Ladies,” Nitara addressed Fantasia and Martina. “I need you two to come down with me to tape your predictions as to who Jalila will select and give your reasons why she should pick your choice.”

“Humph! I know she better pick Mr. Muscle Man,” Martina said. She was probably just a bit tipsy. “My girl needs a man who can give her a good workout on the regular.” She released a loud cackle and held up one hand for a high five.

Fantasia and Jalila left her hanging.

“Oh, y'all gonna play me?”

“Looks like you're doing a pretty good job playing yourself,” Fantasia mumbled.

Nitara laughed. “All right. C'mon, ladies.”

Grumbling, Martina and Fantasia stood to leave. Each of them took a moment to give Jalila a hug.

“If you want, you can just whisper in my ear who you're going to choose. That way I don't look like an idiot downstairs,” Martina whispered.

Jalila shook her head. “Nice try.”

“Can't blame a girl for trying.” Martina laughed, and then she followed Fantasia and Nitara out the door.

Once they were gone, Jalila's gaze shifted back to the large vanity mirror, and she stared at her reflection while the hairstylist buzzed around her head.
What the hell am I doing? Am I really ready to go through with this?

 

Sidebar:

Jalila needed another drink, but held back because she didn't want to risk making a fool of herself if she got too tipsy. The hairstylist was now replaced by the makeup artist, and she, of course, was doing an incredible job in transforming her into someone ready for the small screen.

There was another knock at the door and Jalila
tempered her irritation at so many people drifting and out the room. “Come in,” she shouted.

The door pushed open, and Jalila's eyes grew wide with surprise. “You,” she whispered, dismayed.

Tenetria smiled. “Hello, I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time.”

“You know what?” the makeup artist said. “I need to run and get my other makeup box from downstairs so I can work on your eyelashes.”

Before Jalila could stop her, the woman raced out of the room.

Tenetria's and Jalila's eyes locked in the mirror.

“What do you want? Why are you here?”

“Actually,” Tenetria began. “For the first time in my life I'm about to do something for someone other than myself.”

Jalila was torn between bolting and wanting to scratch out the other woman's eyes. “I have nothing to say to you.”

“No. I didn't think so. But I think in this case maybe I should do all the talking.”

 

Sidebar:

At precisely six o'clock, Jalila left her hotel room and was led downstairs by an intern to the taping of the
grand finale. She walked like a zombie, her mind churning over Tenetria's confession.

Nothing happened.

Jalila felt sick to her stomach. Not only had the woman backed up Keenan's story about him not even being there that night, but she'd also confessed that when Jalila had caught them in Keenan's office, that was the first time they had seen each other since their divorce. And even then Keenan had spurned her advances.

Nothing happened.

“Oh, Lord, what have I done?” What did it say about her that she was so willing to think the worst of Keenan—that she didn't even give him a chance to explain?

And that day in his office!
Jalila's legs wobbled.

“Ms. Goodwyn, are you all right?” the intern asked.

Jalila nodded, though it was clearly not the truth.

“Do you want to sit down?” The young woman looked concerned.

“I'm going to be all right.” Jalila drew in a few deep breaths and tried her damnedest not to ruin her three-hour makeup job.

Just pull yourself together
, she said to herself. She looked deceptively low-maintenance, dressed in a delicate peach summer dress that was both loose and formfitting while a pair of teardrop earring hung from each earlobe.

Nitara raced up to her. “Okay. This is how this is gonna work. We have three different alcove areas where each bachelor is waiting with a ring. Now remember, we've been through this, the ring is just symbolic. Focus groups suggest that the target audi
ence prefers to believe that you're getting ready to ride off into the sunset.

“We'll take you to the first alcove, then the second—you get the picture. You all right?”

“Yeah, sure.” Jalila was on the verge of crying. She had lost the best thing that had ever happened to her because of pride.

“All right. We're ready to roll.”

“Places everyone!”
the director yelled.

Jon Krammer stood at his mark before camera number one.

“Aaaaaaannnddd
action!
”

“Good evening, America. Welcome to the grand finale of
Queen of Hearts
. As you know I am your host, Jon Krammer…”

 

Jalila tuned out while Krammer recapped the past couple of weeks. Her mind continued to whirl as if she wasn't about to make a fool out of herself on national television.

Minutes later, she was directed to walk out to the first alcove where bachelor number one awaited his fate. Again, she found herself sort of sleepwalking, trying to form the words she would have to say to this kind man who'd spent the past few weeks trying in vain to woo her heart.

The honor went to a man who probably despised her.

Jalila walked around the bend, passing one camera and then coming toward another. Bachelor number one was waiting with his back toward her.

Jalila's heart pounded with the force of a jackham
mer. She worried that when she opened her mouth that she would just begin sobbing.

However, when the bachelor turned, she stopped, confused and frozen in place. “Keenan.”

He smiled. “Hello, Jalila.”

There was no holding back. Tears leaped from her eyes and rolled down her face, undoubtedly ruining her makeup.

Keenan walked toward her with a smooth, confident gait, his eyes locked on her face. “I know that this may come as a surprise, but…” he knelt down on one knee “…we've been through a lot recently, but I want to put that all behind us now. I want us to move forward. I want us to have a real chance at love.”

Jalila's hand flew to her mouth. She was trembling so badly, she thought she would fall down at any minute.

“I didn't follow the rules of this game. And maybe a lot of people watching this will wonder just how the producer of the show ended up asking for your hand, but…I just know that I can't live one more day without you in my life. You've taught me how to feel again. How to love.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box. “This isn't just a symbolic ring for the sake of the show,” Keenan said. “I'm truly asking you, will you marry me?”

Jalila choked on sobs as she nodded and then threw her arms around his neck. “Yes…yes…yes.”

Keenan whooped with joy, jumping up and swinging her around. “She said
yes!
”

The entire crew erupted with applause. From the
corner of Jalila's eyes, she even saw her girlfriends and parents cheering them on. It was absolutely the best day of her life.

The Reunion Show

S
ix months later, a grinning Jon Krammer sat in the center of a studio stage arranged with a ring of empty chairs around him. The audience was crammed into tight rows, excited and anxious to see the cast of the hit reality show
Queen of Hearts
. Unbeknownst to them, during the past six weeks the final edited version that made it to air had ended up being more about what happened behind the scenes than scripted reality.

A lot of the hidden-video footage that Nitara shot of Keenan and Jalila secretly dating, plus Keenan's vow to never fall in love, was edited into the show's episodes. It was all very risky, but the series that aired was more like a mini-soap opera than the typical reality
show, and the results made
Queen of Hearts
the top-rated series for the network.

“Quiet on the set,” the director, Bill Wolfe, yelled and the loud clamoring immediately stopped. “Places, everyone.”

Jon Krammer flashed camera number one his blindingly white smile.

“Aaaannnnddd action!”

“Good evening, America. And welcome to ‘Queen of Hearts: The Reunion Show.' I am your host, Jon Krammer.”

The studio audience was cued to applaud while camera number two scanned the clapping, cheering crowd.

“This evening,” Krammer continued, “we will be checking in with America's number one couple, Keenan and Jalila
Armstrong.
”

This time the applause was a thunderous reaction that needed no cueing from the assistant director.

“But first we need to bring out a few familiar faces. Our first guests were show favorites. One woman who had no problems speaking her mind and kept the viewers guessing what color her hair would be from week to week. Our other guest is a woman who encouraged our bachelorette to follow her heart every step of the way. Everyone, please welcome Martina Hudson and Fantasia Silver.”

The two friends strolled out onto the stage, beaming at the warm reception. Martina was dressed in a tight, loud yellow dress. She had magenta-colored hair. Fantasia kept it simple, wearing a black A-line dress.

“Welcome, ladies,” Krammer greeted them, and gestured for them to take seats. When the women were settled, he started right in. “First, ladies, as you know, the ratings for the series were through the roof. What everyone wants to know is how you feel about your girlfriend's choice?”

“I think it's great,” Fantasia answered first. “I know during filming we didn't really get to know Keenan personally, but clearly he swept Jalila off her feet and won her heart. She's happy, and I, for one, am happy for her.”

Krammer turned his bleached-white smile toward Martina. “And what about you? You'd made it clear that you preferred Dontrell Smith—even used some colorful language about how well his muscles worked.”

Martina smacked her glossy lips. “All I can say is, my girl's loss is my gain.”

“Wooooooo!” the crowd responded and then laughed at Martina's answer.

Krammer bobbed his head. “Yes, we found out that the show is responsible for another love match. Can you tell us about it?”

Martina beamed and then flashed the camera and audience her modest one-carat diamond ring. “Bam! How do you like me now?”

The studio cheered and Krammer climbed to his feet. “Everyone, please welcome Martina's fiancé, Dontrell Smith.”

Dontrell strolled onto the stage, waving. When he approached Martina, he opened his arms and greeted her with a kiss that thrilled everyone. As he took a
seat, Martina assured the audience, “Trust me, I found out that boo knows how to work all the right muscles.”

The crowd laughed.

Krammer held up his hands. “Calm down. Remember this isn't cable.” He turned his attention to the camera. “Next, we have via satellite another losing bachelor, Evander Taylor.”

Directly behind the circle of chairs, Evander's image suddenly appeared on a large flat-screen monitor. Apparently, there was an Evander fan club in the audience that went wild when he appeared.

“Welcome, Evander. Sorry you couldn't join us in person this evening.”

“Yeah, well. It's all good,” Evander said, clearly a little miffed at the situation.

“The producers tell me that you were a little angry about the finale. Tell us about it.”

“Would this be the same producer who married the woman we were all trying to date?” he asked sarcastically. He quickly realized how bitter and angry he sounded and tried to backtrack, putting a more positive spin on it. “It's cool, man…whatever. I've moved on. I wish Jalila the best. But as far as the producers of the show…” He shook his head. “I just don't appreciate them wasting my time like that.”

Krammer grimaced, but he clearly enjoyed the drama and hammed it up for the cameras. Tion Johnson was much more good-natured when he walked onto the stage and was greeted with only mild applause.

“We have two bachelors who found their happy endings and one who's not too thrilled with the produc
ers of the show,” Krammer said to Tion. “How do you feel about the show's finale?”

Tion shrugged good-naturedly. “It was cool, I guess. After seeing the show and everything, clearly there wasn't a love connection between me and Jalila.”

“Do you have any regrets?” Krammer grilled.

“Well…” He smiled sheepishly. “Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to take Jalila to the golf course on a first date.”

The audience laughed.

Tion quickly filled everyone in on what was going on in his political career and ignored the fact that he was boring the heck out of the host.

“So are you seeing anyone?” Krammer asked when there was a break in Tion's lengthy monologue.

“I'm still out there dating, checking out my options. I don't have any regrets about being on the show. I genuinely wish Jalila and Keenan the best.”

“That's very gracious of you.” Krammer held out his hand and thanked Tion for coming on the show before cutting to commercial break. During the break, Martina, Fantasia and Dontrell moved to different chairs in anticipation of the stars of the show.

“And welcome back to the reunion show for
Queen of Hearts
,” Krammer announced. “Our next guests are the ones you all have been waiting for. They led America on a surprising journey, and displayed cunning in playing cat-and-mouse off-camera with their secret love affair. They have been married now for three months. Everyone please welcome Keenan and Jalila Armstrong.”

The audience jumped to their feet with long, roaring applause. When Jalila and Keenan strolled onto the set arm in arm, a few whistles and shouts of their name could be heard from the audience. Behind camera number three, they saw Nitara giving them the thumbs up.

A nervous Jalila was overwhelmed by the response. She squeezed her husband's arm tight and was rewarded with a brief kiss on her temple. That only turned the crowd's applause into a near-frenzy.

Krammer directed the couple to their seats as the cast waited for the crowd to quiet down. It took a few minutes, but finally everyone returned to their seats.

“Wow,” Krammer said. “That was quite a greeting.”

“Yes, it was.” Jalila beamed out at the crowd.

“Are you surprised by the response to the show?” Krammer asked.

“Absolutely,” she answered. “In fact, I was surprised that Nitara, the other producer, even bothered to save the show. I thought once I'd accepted Keenan's proposal that everything would be scrapped and we would just go on with our lives.” She glanced over at Keenan. “After all, I've found the one that I've been looking for all my life.”

Keenan smiled. “That makes two of us.” He leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. The love radiating between them couldn't be denied, and the audience was swept away by what they saw.

Krammer looked reluctant to cut in. “We have a clip of you, Keenan, right after the famous proposal. Let's have a look.”

On the screen behind them, a smiling Keenan stood before a camera with Butterfly Beach in the background.

“This is the happiest day of my life!” Keenan declared, glowing. “I can't tell you how hard I fought against falling in love with this amazing woman, but now that I've given in, I can't help but wonder why I bothered fighting in the first place.” He shook his head as if privately admonishing himself. “I love her. I can't remember exactly when it happened but…I'm sure glad that it did. I'd like to say that I'm sorry to the other bachelors, but the truth is…I'm not. I'm walking away from here with a beautiful woman who has agreed to be my wife. I can proudly say that she is the queen of my heart.”

Two months later…

In the middle of Grant Park, Jalila raced around Keenan, Cujo and Chips with her minicamcorder, getting absolutely no cooperation from any of them. “C'mon, guys. I want to post this on my YouTube channel.”

Keenan laughed and then tossed the Frisbee that sent the dogs scrambling. “Don't you think your subscribers are a bit sick of us by now? I'm starting to feel as if we're still starring in our own reality show.”

Jalila lowered the camera. “Please, you got off lucky.”

“Lucky?” Keenan jabbed his hands onto his hips. “Did you forget about all that footage Nitara filmed of me creeping out of your window, flashing all my business to the world?”

Jalila lowered the camera and laughed so hard that she had tears running down her face. “Oh, please, she blurred that out.”

“I'm so glad that I amuse you,” Keenan said, rolling his eyes.

“Aww…” Jalila rushed over to him, wrapped her arms around him and planted a wet kiss on his cheek. “I didn't know that my baby's feelings were still hurt.”

Keenan saw an opportunity to milk the situation and poked out his bottom lip. “Well, I didn't want to say anything.”

Jalila tried to soothe his ego with a tender kiss. “How's that, Mr. Armstrong?”

“I don't know. I think I might need some physical healing,
Mrs
. Armstrong.”

Cujo and Chips barked, demanding some attention of their own.

“Hey!” Keenan said. “Can't you see that I'm trying to make my move here?”

Jalila laughed. “Maybe they know a poser when they see one.”

“Who, me?”

Jalila lifted her camcorder again and put her husband in the shot.

He rolled his eyes. “What are you trying to film now?”

“I just want to post on my channel your expression when you learn that you're going to be a father.”

Keenan started to complain again—until he finally understood what Jalila was saying. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened. “I'm gonna be a what?”

A smile exploded across Jalila's face as she continued to record his reaction. “You're going to be a daddy.”

Keenan let out a shout, swept Jalila off her feet and swung her around.

The dogs went into a barking frenzy.

Jalila's heart swelled with love as she enjoyed the second happiest day of her life. Finally she had achieved everything she'd ever wanted. Her Prince Charming, and soon a little prince or princess would enter the picture to fill the rest of their lives with more love. And as long as she had her camera, she was going to continue to share her newfound happiness with the world.