“ ‘Olivia and Chuck, your next challenge is a test of knowledge. You may be broken up, but every couple has history. We want to see how well you still know each other. Answer enough questions correctly, and you’ll gain access to the dishwasher. Continue to answer questions correctly, and you’ll gain access to the guest bathroom. Good luck.’ ”
“Well, that’s some decent incentive,” Chuck said.
“Yes. We take, we give. That’s how this works,” TJ said, and clapped his hands.
The Newlywed Game, Olivia thought. As far as game show challenges went, this didn’t seem too bad. Her spirits took flight at the thought of what would be an easy challenge. She knew all sorts of things about Chuck, like his favorite color, food, movie. She only hoped he remembered the same about her. Before she could turn around to confirm, TJ grabbed both of them by the arm and started marching them toward the back of the house.
“Olivia, you wait in the kitchen. Chuck, go put on a shirt—actually…” He cut himself off and pinched his face in thought, eyeing Chuck’s bare chest and abs like he might ask him to stay half naked for the cameras. “Yeah, go put on a shirt for this. And stay in the bedroom until we come get you.”
“Wait, we’re doing thisnow?” Olivia asked, and almost tripped when TJ pushed her back toward the kitchen.
“Yep. And you’re staying separated until we’re set up in the backyard. No chance to coach each other.Go.” He pushed them in opposite directions and looked all too pleased with himself. Chuck stumbled off toward the hall, throwing a desperate look back at Olivia as she tumbled through the kitchen entryway.
“Chuck! You should put on ayellowshirt while I finish mybanana pancakes!” she called.
“Hey! None of that!” TJ protested. “You stay here and stay quiet. Tyler, keep an eye on her.”
“Sure thing, Mr. Price,” Tyler said, and hurried over to stand guard at the entryway.
Olivia glared at TJ but gave Tyler a friendly smile. TJ smirked back and then swept out the back doors with the crew to set up.
“I’ll behave,” she told Tyler with a little bow.
She returned to her stool and dove back into her pancakes. She wanted that dishwasher, and she wanted it bad—even more, she wanted her own bathroom. As if telekinesis were a real thing, she thought as hard as she could about the answer to everything that she thought they might ask, hoping Chuck could somehow read her mind from the other end of the house.Please remember, she thought equally as hard asPlease have paid attention during our relationship and know this stuff in the first place.
Chuck had left his phone on the island amid the mess, and Olivia saw it light up with a text from someone named Maddy. She could not think of anyone Chuck knew named Maddy and was too distracted by mentally running through a list of everything she knew about him to think about it anyway.
Eventually, TJ returned and summoned her with Chuck already in tow. She was still wearing yoga pants and a tank and was thankful to see that Chuck had only put on a tee shirt and hadn’t fully dressed for the cameras. He’d at least put in his contacts and smoothed his hair, but he was still rumpled and looking fresh from bed. Given that they didn’t bring in hair and makeup, this obviously wasn’t as formal as an interview, and likely because they’d wanted to catch them off guard with no time to prepare.
The crew had set up in the usual spot, except this time, they’d faced Olivia’s and Chuck’s chairs toward each other, and each had a little whiteboard and dry-erase marker sitting on it waiting.
“Contestants, please take your seats,” TJ announced, and bowed with a stack of cards in his hands. His chair sat opposite theirs.
Olivia sat and looked dead ahead at Chuck. “We can do this,” she said with a nod.
He nodded back, looking less confident than she’d hoped.
The mic tech swarmed them and wired everyone up. Soon the cameras were rolling, and everyone was on point.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Chuck and Olivia Quiz Bowl! I’m your host, TJ Price. Today our contestants will test their knowledge of each other in an attempt to win a Shiny! New!Dishwasher!” he said in a booming voice as if there were a real audience in the yard and not just three cameramen, a sound tech, and a PA. “And a bathroom, if we get that far,” he added with less enthusiasm.
“Oh, we’re going to get that far,” Olivia said. Her competitive streak was alive and well. They were going towin.
“I like the spirit, Olivia! Okay, so the way this works: I will pose a question tooneof you about the other person, you willbothhave ten seconds to write the answer on your board, and every time your answers match, you get a point. Ten points gets you the dishwasher, twenty gets you the bathroom. You’ll have twenty-five questions total. Make sense?”
“Got it,” Chuck said, sounding more determined.
“Let’s do it,” Olivia said.
“Okay! Here! We! Go! Tyler, the clock, if you please.”
Tyler came over with the same iPad from the furniture challenge, this time with0:10glaring in red, and propped it on the table.
“Olivia, the first question is for you,” TJ opened. “What was Chuck’s first childhood pet’s name?”
Easy.She uncapped her pen and instantly scribbled.A golden retriever named Biscuit.He’d told her stories of growing up hiking and swimming with his beloved dog. Endless hours of fetch. She’d even seen pictures of the good old boy. Her heart trilled as she waited for the ten seconds to count down.
“Time!” TJ called, and they both flipped their boards around.