Skinnydipping (43 page)

Harris turned red and looked at the table. “No, actually, I … they were out of buns just when I arrived. But the hot dog was very good!” he added quickly.

“Hmm,” Sybil murmured, raising her eyebrows at me. Harris looked furious at himself, but at least he’d proved his point that he wasn’t a liar. “It’s unprofessional to keep getting caught unprepared like that. I think you could have done better,” Sybil said, directly to me. “Also, your truck wasn’t very appealing. It didn’t command attention. You would have drawn a much bigger crowd had you put more thought into the truck’s exterior.”

“But we had a line the whole four hours,” I said.

“If you would have had more customers, you would have raised more money for the charity,” Sybil said.

“We also polled some of the people on the street,” said Ruby, “and the consensus was that the Kobe beef hot dogs were excellent, but the other flavors were merely adequate,” she said. “I was also mildly offended by the team members you set out on the street to jump around and yell.”

“Yes, that was tawdry,” Sybil agreed. “I would have preferred to see all the team members working inside the truck. This kind of advertising, yelling and bouncing around with signs, is just crass. In the end, What Up, Dog? made $1,102 in four hours. And now …”

That sounded like a lot of money to me. I looked at Andy hopefully.
How could the taco truck have made any more than that? It was probably going to be neck and neck.

Shari and Katie both sat up very straight. I couldn’t read their faces, but Katie looked angry, and I could only assume that Shari had taken over. Controlling every situation was her MO. But I didn’t care about them. I was crushed. I’d thought we’d done so well, and now, here we were, getting reamed. When she visited our truck, Sybil had seemed so pleased, and so understanding. I should have known not to trust that.

“The other team’s taco truck business was simply called Taco Truck, which I found unimaginative,” Sybil continued, “but which the people we interviewed seemed to like, for its straightforward nature. And while Taco Truck had an interesting menu with many choices, many commented that a lot of the advertised choices weren’t actually available. Can you explain this?”

“That was Linda’s fault,” said Katie. “She was supposed to get everything and she totally dropped the ball.”

“Or she just didn’t feel like exerting herself,” muttered Shari.

Suddenly, the mouthy headhunter seemed to be the team’s target. I couldn’t believe they were taking her on. Had they decided she was a threat? Were they plotting? I looked at my team members. I wondered if any of them were plotting against me. I’d been too busy trying to get everything done to notice.

“That’s a lie,” Linda said. “The only things I couldn’t find were chipotle peppers and the salsa verde.”

“Chipotle peppers and salsa verde are available in any grocery store,” said Ruby.

“And it’s not my fault that we ran out of chicken,” Linda said in her brusque voice. “I killed myself to get everything done, which is more than I can say for Queen Nadine.”

“I took in all the money, and that was the most important part,” Nadine said.

“The tacos themselves were not authentic at all,” said Ruby. “They were Americanized versions of tacos, with premade shells and meat
seasoned with a mix. I couldn’t even finish mine. Harris, what did you think?”

Harris seemed more eager to offer his thoughts on the taco truck. “I didn’t like them at all,” he said. “The truck looked great, but the product itself was disappointing.”

“Taco Truck’s exterior was certainly impressive,” Sybil said. “This is important because it draws a crowd, and Taco Truck apparently drew a much bigger crowd than What Up, Dog? While I also agree that the tacos themselves were mediocre, Taco Truck did an excellent job of advertising their taco stand and pleasing their clientele. This is not a cooking show. The goal was to give the public what they wanted, and to earn the most money for the local food bank. Authentic or not, the people we interviewed said they loved your tacos. Taco Truck also had an efficient assembly line system that worked.”

“For the record,” said Ruby, “the hot dogs were better than the tacos.”

“And yet, Taco Truck brought in $2,205,” said Sybil. “Significantly more money than What Up, Dog?”

“How?” Andy mouthed to me. It did seem impossible.

“However,” said Sybil, “I heard there was some trouble with the team leader. Katie, can you explain?”

“Yes,” she said, putting on her typical scowl. “My alarm didn’t go off, and everybody left without waking me up.”

Shari looked down, but I swear she was smiling.

“And thank God,” said Nadine, “if Shari hadn’t handled everything, it wouldn’t have worked nearly as well.” Nadine and Shari seemed to be in league. That worried me.

“We did it for the team, honey,” Shari said, patting Katie’s shoulder condescendingly.

Katie just crossed her arms and shook her head.

“Katie got there just before we opened,” said Nadine. “Just in time to start taking the money.”

“Which is just the way you wanted it,” said Andy. “Pretty scheming, Shari. Devious even.”

“I had nothing to do with it,” said Shari, innocently. “But I saw a need for leadership, so I stepped up.”

“That doesn’t sound like good teamwork to me, but when the leader falls, it’s good to have someone who can step in. Good job, Shari. Katie, perhaps you need a better alarm clock.”

“Shari’s the one who probably turned off my alarm!” said Katie. “And you’re congratulating her?”

“I am,” said Sybil. “I’m congratulating all of you, because Taco Truck is the winner of this challenge.”

They all clapped. I wanted to be sick. Or murder someone. Sybil would do. But it was dollars and cents. It didn’t matter if Ruby liked our hot dogs better or Sybil thought we made the best of a bad situation. And now, somebody had to go home. My heart began to race, knowing that the judgment was coming. How would I go back to my life now? I didn’t even remember what it was. The show had consumed my entire consciousness. I didn’t know how to do anything else anymore.

“Every member of your team will be joining the network producers at Le Bernardin in one hour, and then you’ll be treated to a night on the town. Team Taco Truck, you may all go back to the Loft to get ready.”

“Now,” Sybil said, looking at our team, “even though you did a decent job on your product, and I thought your team name was clever, your team didn’t really pull together and I question some of the management decisions. Someone from your team must go home. Faith, you were the team leader. Who do you think was most responsible for any failures your team encountered?”

I paused. This was going to get sticky. I’d been dreading this question. If I played it wrong, I’d get sent home. If I played it right, maybe I could save myself. I definitely wasn’t going to take the blame for something that wasn’t my fault. I’d done everything I could. The whole idea was mine. “I think … I think every team member played a role in our success. But some worked harder than others,” I said hesitantly.

“Like whom?” Sybil asked.

“Well… Andy was my go-to guy. He worked very hard for the team. Mikki was determined and did a great job behind the counter, and she was right there getting everything ready. Monica was a real trooper out there on the street. Even if you didn’t like our advertising plan, I think Monica did a lot to get people into our line.”

“And Jodi Sue?” said Sybil.

“Jodi Sue… helped make the mustard, but she did break the toaster, and honestly, she slacked off. When Monica was out there getting customers, Jodi Sue was sitting on a bench doing nothing. She was the dead weight on this team. Whenever we gave her a job, she tried to get out of it. I don’t think she really wants to be here.” It was a fair assessment, but was it enough to save me?

“That’s not true,” Jodi Sue said, indignantly. “How dare you say that! I want to be here as much as anybody!
You’re
the one who put the buns under the steam trays.
You’re
the one who wouldn’t let Monica and I come in to help.
You’re
the one who had to take over and do everything and make the rest of us look bad. And I thought the street advertising was tacky, too—I totally agree with Sybil on that one.”

“Faith did her best,” said Monica, her voice almost gone from her What-Up-Dog yelling, “and you did nothing except jump around with your big boobs going everywhere. And I say it’s Andy who causes all the discord. He’s always trying to pit people against each other.”

“All right, I’ve heard enough,” said Sybil. “It seems to me that Faith failed to maintain team unity, although she exhibited creativity. Andy provided a lot of the drive and forward motion for the team.” She looked back and forth between Mikki, Jodi Sue, and Monica, and conferred quietly with Alice, Harris, and Ruby. Then she turned back to us. “Mikki, Jodi Sue, Monica, none of you have particularly distinguished yourselves yet, but some of you have been less motivated to fulfill the role of Domestic Goddess.” She paused. Was she really going to cut one of them? Was I saved? I was just waiting for her to swing back toward me and point a finger at me.

The cameras hovered. Finally, she delivered the verdict. “Jodi Sue,
I’m sorry, but you just aren’t necessary here at Sybil Hunter Enterprises.”

I couldn’t believe it! She’d agreed with my assessment over Jodi Sue’s! Was I really still here? Was I still part of the contest? I wanted to faint with relief.

Andy grinned at me and made a motion as if wiping sweat from his brow.

Jodi Sue looked thunderstruck, but didn’t say a word. She just smiled weakly, nodded, stood up, shook Sybil’s hand, then left the room. “What’s her rock-star husband gonna do about
that
?” Andy said under his breath, looking self-righteous. He was going to be even more impossible now that he was feeling totally vindicated about his claim that he could influence Sybil to drop Jodi Sue. At least I was still safe, against all odds. And I was even more determined never to lose another challenge.

But I did lose another challenge. Several more. And I won some, too. As the next few weeks rolled on, Sybil cut us off at the knees, one by one. The challenges got more and more brutal. We had to run a bed and breakfast for forty-eight hours, and Christophe, the concierge, was sent home, leaving poor heartbroken Mikki to weep alone in her bed for the next three nights until she was sent packing, after a challenge in which we had to decorate a condominium for a wealthy socialite. She hugged me before she left. “I’m rooting for you,” she said. Then she whispered, “Watch out for Shari. She knows you’re her biggest competition. She’s been trying to set the other people against you.”

“Really?” I whispered. I found it hard to believe. Shari was my friend, but on the other hand, I couldn’t help feeling suspicious.

After a corporate catering challenge, Linda, the mouthy headhunter, was given the axe. She was the only one to really freak out at Sybil, calling her “an egomaniac with a god complex.” I suspected that bit wouldn’t make it on to the show. And then, much to my relief, candy-crazy Katie and her astrology headbands, were let go after
a challenge where we had to design a clothing collection and put on a fashion show. I was grateful I wouldn’t have to see her scowling at me anymore. Boozy Monica left us after the Sweet Sixteen Party challenge, when she got too drunk and started dancing with the guests.

Nadine the Queen of Queens left in a huff after she refused to play the role of server during the Supper Club challenge. And finally, there were only three: Andy, Shari, and me.

Shari had stood by me all along, never selling me out, whether she was on my team or on the opposing team, so despite what Mikki had told me, I still believed in our friendship, and it was important to me. I knew Shari was ambitious and wanted to win, but at night, we always spent at least an hour talking about the other contestants, the challenges, who was doing well, who was a threat, who would be easy to beat. We also talked about her family, about mine, about our plans, and what would come next. She defended me against anyone who said anything unkind to my face, and when we talked about our personal lives, she was always on my side. I even told her about my parents, and she railed against their treatment of me. “How could anyone treat their beautiful daughter that way?” she said. It was exactly what I needed to hear.

She said she wanted me to come visit her at the Jersey Shore for the summer and promised me a place to stay. “We’ll sit around drinking coffee and reading the gossip pages,” she said. “And then we’ll lie in the sun all day and drink fruity drinks and watch the cute boys walk by.” In the midst of all the insanity, I was grateful to have her. She was my one comfort, although I knew at some point, one of us would have to go home.

Meanwhile, I was too thin, I was exhausted, and I felt disgusting. Nobody looked good—everyone who was still there looked like they’d lost at least ten pounds. I wondered how the eliminated contestants were doing, sequestered at their undisclosed location. They weren’t getting paid, but they were getting to sleep and eat and probably talk to one another, and they
weren’t
having to endure any more challenges, or any more of Sybil Hunter. But I was also riding high on my
success, so I didn’t envy them. I’d really hit my stride and my teams were winning challenge after challenge.