Page 41 of Fan Favorite

W hen Edie Pepper imagined herself on The Key , she was always bathed in a gorgeous, diffused light, sliding a Tiffany rock onto a perfectly manicured finger.

Not sitting around all day at some theater in Scotland with her sister wives, not only still single but also unbelievably bored, her nails chewed to bits.

“My feet hurt,” Edie proclaimed into the ether, just to say something , do something .

“That’s because for once your shoes don’t look like they were made for a gnome,” Zo said, rising from a downward dog. “Those Birkenstocks make me ill.”

“This is where I get confused.” Edie struggled to sit up on the gear cart she’d been sprawled across for the last hour. “I thought Birkenstocks were in? Don’t the cool kids wear them?”

“You’re not a cool kid.”

“Point taken. But just wait till you’re thirty-five. Plantar fasciitis sneaks up on a bitch.”

“News flash: I’m a ballerina.” Zo pirouetted across the floor to prove it. She landed near the craft services table. “I know about feet.”

“Then why are you always wearing stilettos!” Edie demanded. “They’re bad for you!”

“Because I’m five-two, and unlike you, I care if I look like a troll on TV.” Zo picked at the food trays. “What do you do anyway?”

“Like, my job?”

“Yes, like your job.”

“I’m a copywriter.”

Zo curled her lip. “Gross.”

Edie laughed. “Yeah, I guess it is sort of gross. Not the sort of thing dreams are made of.”

“Too bad, so sad.”

Edie let out a dramatic sigh. “Seriously, when are they going to be done?”

They turned to stare at Bennett and Bailey, who were learning a traditional Scottish fling on the other side of the theater.

Bennett had the hem of his kilt tucked into his waistband, and his bare butt had been on display for at least ten minutes.

The first time he’d pulled this trick—literally this morning, walking down Victoria Street with his string of girlfriends on the Edinburgh group date—it had been sort of funny.

But now that they’d been filming for hours , it seemed decidedly not funny at all.

The day felt interminable because they were constantly stopping for little one-on-one scenes.

The Scottish fling with Bailey. Bennett feeding Max a hog roll.

Watching Bennett and Zo get sorted into Hogwarts houses at a coffee shop where J.

K. Rowling wrote parts of Harry Potter .

(Zo was a Slytherin, obviously.) And now, with nothing to read, nothing to do, and no way to leave, Edie was so bored she could scream.

“Jealous?” Zo asked, nodding at the happy couple.

Edie considered. “Not really? Maybe. I don’t know.” She looked at Zo. “You?”

“I don’t get jealous.” Zo popped a cherry tomato into her mouth. “Bennett can get on this train or not. Either way I’m going.”

“Going where?”

“To the top.”

“The top of where?”

“Oh my god, Edie, are you brain damaged?” Zo dropped a carrot back on the tray in disgust. “I didn’t spend twenty years of my life dancing twelve hours a day, living off string cheese and almonds, not to be someone . Maybe I can’t dance professionally, but I’m still a star.”

“I love that.”

“Don’t make fun of me.”

“I’m not making fun of you!” Edie joined Zo at the table. If anyone had what it took, it was Zo. “I’m serious—I think you’re fierce. How old are you anyway? Twenty-five?”

“Twenty-four.”

“Exactly. When I was twenty-four, I was wasting my time at dead-end jobs and having way too many Samantha Jones–inspired one-night stands that never— ever —turned out like Sam promised.” Edie shuddered at the memory.

“I admire the way you know what you want. And that you’re not afraid to go get it. ”

“Who’s Samantha Jones?”

Edie’s entire life flashed before her eyes.

“I’m kidding. We had Sex and the City in preschool, Grandma. But just so we’re clear”—Zo pointed a celery stick at Edie—“I don’t need you to admire me.”

“Of course you don’t.” But for the first time Edie wondered if Zo did care about her opinion. “Don’t be so defensive. It’s not always a competition.”

“Wrong. The Key , Hollywood, ballet—it’s all the same. There’s only one spot at the top, and everyone wants it. And the people with heart will do anything to get it.”

Maybe at the beginning Edie believed that, but now?

Edie spent more time hanging out and laughing with the other contestants than she ever did with Charlie.

“That sounds like some real ‘clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose’ bullshit to me,” Edie said.

“Don’t you think it’s more complicated than that? ”

“Maybe you need more ambition.” Zo crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Edie thoughtfully. “You could do more, you know. I’ve seen you on the monitors. You’re good on camera. There’s something charming about you. Not hot, but charming.”

“Zo,” Edie paused dramatically. “Are we becoming friends ?”

“No.”

“We’re definitely friends.” Edie slung an arm around Zo’s tiny shoulders. “And since we’re besties now, I think I should tell you that there are a lot of rumors about just how far you’d go to get engaged to Bennett.”

Zo shrugged her off. “I’ve never lied about why I’m here.”

“So it’s true?”

“What?”

“You know what I mean…”

“Actually, I don’t.”

“God,” Edie said, exasperated. “I heard that you”—she made a circle out of one hand and stabbed it with a finger as she stage-whispered—“ fucked him .”

“Oh, you did, did you?” Zo threw her head back and laughed. “Well, I’ll tell you a secret. We didn’t fuck because he came, like, the second I touched his dick.”

Edie gasped. “Shut. Up.”

Zo smirked. “It’s true.”

But before Edie could process this revelation against her own sexual knowledge of Charlie Bennett, Aspen and Max scuttled around the lighting equipment and joined them.

“You guys,” Aspen whispered, “check this out!” Max pulled a bottle of Scotch from behind her back. “I got that hot camera guy, Derek, to buy it for us!”

The production rules were clear: no day drinking.

But from the moment they’d landed in Scotland, Peter had been MIA, and now what they’d all suspected had been confirmed: Bennett Charles was getting frisky with contestants.

While this information wasn’t exactly shocking, it definitely exacerbated all the uncomfortable feelings Edie had been trying her hardest to keep at bay.

She’d come to The Key to fall in love and get engaged.

But as the days went on, picturing herself on that mountaintop was becoming more and more difficult.

It was uncomfortable to admit, but Edie wanted to be engaged to Bennett the most when Charlie was still alive and well in her imagination.

Not charging around a historic city with his ass out.

Edie grabbed the bottle of Scotch. Sometimes shit was just so complex, there was no other choice but to drink.

By the time the girls arrived at their final shooting location, a twilight cruise down the River Forth, they were lit.

Especially Edie, who’d drank enough Scotch to kill a small child.

Still, she valiantly clutched the gangplank and struggled toward the boat in her cocktail attire, only catching her heel in the metal ramp and nearly pitching into the icy water one time.

“Let’s keep it together, Peps,” Jessa said, dragging Edie onto the deck.

“I love you, Jessa.” Edie took Jessa’s face in her hands and peppered her cheek with kisses.

“You’re like a real friend, you know? But where’s Peter?

Why isn’t he here? I miss him. He’s never around, and that’s stupid.

” Edie noticed the lipstick smeared on Jessa’s cheek and rubbed it with her thumb before noticing the stars and the moonlit water.

“Look at this!” She swept her arms at the vista and twirled. “I’m the king of the world!”

Jessa grabbed Edie by the arm before she twirled right off the boat.

“Water. You need water.”

For most of the cocktail party, Edie was relegated to the back of the cabin, being forced to hydrate by a rotating cast of PA babysitters. She was feeling very philosophical by the time Jessa’s number two, Dan, came to visit.

“What is love?” Edie asked him. She had her high heel hanging off one toe. She swung it in arcs through the air until it fell off. “Baby, don’t hurt me.” She fell against Dan, laughing uncontrollably. “No more.”

“Big Night at the Roxbury fan?” Dan asked, propping her back up.

“Is that where that’s from?” she asked, amazed.

“That shit is fucking profound .” She got serious and pulled Dan by his shirt so they could speak with their faces inches apart.

“But, seriously, Dan. What is love? Do you think Bennett Charles loves me?” She let go of Dan and jabbed her straw into the side of her mouth to gulp some water. “’Cause I think he loves Bailey.”

“How does that make you feel?” Dan asked, smoothing his shirt.

Edie narrowed her eyes. “Don’t psychologize me, Dan. What are you, twenty-five? You haven’t even seen what the world has in store for you. The hellscape.” Something occurred to her. “Aw, Dan, the hellscape of human experience. You know who said that to me once? Peter. He’s funny, right?”

But before Dan could answer, Jessa arrived to take Edie for her one-on-one time with Bennett.

Jessa brushed the hair off her face, wiped the mascara from under her eyes, and hoisted Edie from the couch.

Hand in hand, Jessa led Edie to the deck, and there was Bennett, magnificent in his red plaid kilt, dark suit jacket and tie, bare legs, and shoes with no socks.

All at once Edie knew this was the moment to attempt the patented Key move she’d seen the other girls execute flawlessly.

She ran at him full speed and jumped into his arms, almost knocking both of them overboard.

“Are you having fun in Scotland?” he asked once they were settled on a bench at the edge of the boat. He rested his handsome face on his knuckles and fixed her with a loving gaze.