The Charm Offensive(81)
Charlie: I’d happily burn it along with the memory of this entire day.
Producer: Now let’s not do anything too hasty.…
WEEK EIGHT
San Francisco—Sunday, July 25, 2021
3 Contestants and 14 Days Remaining
Charlie
Coming home doesn’t feel like the right way to describe it.
For Charlie, it feels like the past and present collide inside his chest when their connecting flight from Taipei arrives at the San Francisco airport. This is where his journey started eight weeks ago, when Parisa put him on a plane to Los Angeles to become the Ever After prince. This is where he used to fly in and out of when he worked at WinHan, he and Josh in adjacent business-class seats to London, Singapore, Tel Aviv, Mumbai. And now this is where he lands for Angie’s Home Kingdom date, Dev’s carry-on duffle over his shoulder, Jules drooping against him while they wait for the equipment on the baggage carousel. He watches Skylar and Ryan pound espresso shots from Peet’s Coffee so they can meet with the travel team to debrief the plans for tomorrow. He watches Dev play some stupid game on his phone. And he thinks about who he was when he left San Francisco and who he’s going to be in two weeks when this is over.
A fleet of vans carry the exhausted crew to a hotel in downtown San Francisco, driving past Charlie’s apartment building on the way, the one he’s lived in for almost three years now, the one that’s been empty for two months. He looks up and searches for the window on the twentieth floor, south corner—his window—and realizes he misses it. Not so much the apartment itself, which was cold and sterile, but what it represented. About him, about his life, about how far he’d come from the bullies at school and the bullies at home. On the twentieth floor, it always felt like the past could never reach him.
He could have that again. In two weeks, he’ll propose to Daphne. She’s already promised to say yes when he asks. The show will air, and they will pretend to be in love on the live finale special, and thanks to Dev, he’ll come across like the perfect prince. He’ll be famous again; he’ll get a job again; he’ll be allowed to sit at a desk and do work befitting his brain again. He’ll be allowed to contribute something again. It’s the whole reason he came on this show.
He could have everything he’s ever wanted. So why can’t he stop thinking about a little house in Venice Beach that smells like oatmeal and bleach? Why can’t he get this lump out of his throat?
* * *
“I truly did not think it was possible, but I stand corrected.”
“You didn’t think what was possible?”
“For you to be unattractive. But behold”—Dev flourishes his hands—“the power of the hat.”
Charlie rips the beanie off his head and is immediately assaulted by the icy breeze coming off the water. They’re at Golden Gate park to film his reunion with Angie, and there’s still a morning fog hanging over the bay. It’s late July, and Charlie has to put the hat back on despite Dev’s mockery.
“You look bald,” Dev observes. “Like, I knew your hair was one of your best features, but I’m not sure I realized just how much it was doing for your face.”
“You are aware of the fact that you’re also wearing a hat, right?”
Dev cocks his head to the side. “Yes, but I happen to look incredible in a hat.”
Charlie takes a risk and discreetly reaches out for Dev’s hand. “You look incredible all the time.”
“I thought I could say the same about you before today.” Dev doesn’t pull his hand away, and Charlie marvels at this moment, holding Dev’s hand in a park, in public, almost like normal people (if you ignore the cameras, lights, and production crew). The lump in his throat is golf-ball size.
“You boys seem like you’ve really bonded.”
Charlie turns and sees Maureen Scott wading across the park in her heeled boots, her silver bob completely unrumpled by the wind. Dev takes a giant step back until Charlie’s hand is only holding empty air. Charlie knew the showrunner was scheduled to rejoin them again at Home Kingdom dates for the final two weeks of filming. He also conveniently tried to block this fact from his mind. Set is immediately different under her watchful gaze; Skylar is back to popping antacids while she screams at PAs; Ryan’s decisions seem a little more calculated; Jules’s movements seem a little more nervous, her eyes constantly darting between Dev and Charlie, then flickering to Maureen.
Dev’s change is the worst. He’s stiff and formal and always so eager to please her. “Charlie’s ready for the intro shot whenever Angie is, Maureen.”
Maureen cuts her eyes between the two of them and flashes a smile. “Wonderful.”
When Angie appears on the other side of the park, Charlie does exactly as Dev instructs: he runs toward Angie, scoops her up, and twirls her around in delight. “Good to see you, too,” she says in his ear, surprised and confused.
Charlie cuts his gaze over to Maureen Scott, hovering behind Skylar’s shoulder. Angie follows his gaze. “Ah. Got it,” she says. Then she grabs the back of his neck to pull him into a kiss. “Then let’s sell it, boo.”
Angie certainly sells it. She hangs all over him as they eat lunch at her favorite burrito place in the Mission. She holds his hand as they tour the UCSF School of Medicine, where she’ll be starting in the fall. She kisses him at the top of Lombard Street and, in a heartfelt moment, confesses she’s in love with him. At first he feels guilty, but when the cameras are off, Angie winks and presses a friendly kiss into his palm.