The Bachelor - David Dower (freenovel24 .txt) 📗

First of all, since you are reading this part, I would like to thank you for reading this story!

I would like to say (type) a few things:

1. This story was not inspired by One Night with the Prince, The Selection and One Direction. I haven't even heard of them when I started with the story. As I've said before, this was inspired by the show of the same name, The Bachelor. Another thing: Julianne's pen name was not based on John Green. "J" is the initial of my name and as Julianne's. And I am GREENWRITER and I love GREEN, thus the pen name. I have not heard of John Green even before I came up with this story in 2011.

2. Yes, this story is already published under Pop Fiction, an imprint of Summit Media. It is available nationwide in the Philippines, but not internationally. To those who would like an ebook, you can buy it through Buqo, Summit's online ebook store. Just download the Buqo app.

3. The version you have read, or are about to read, is not the edited one. It will stay here on Wattpad, unedited and untouched as I uploaded them and I am sorry for that. I don't have the time to edit or proofread my works--all of them.

4. This is actually the third of a series of spin-offs. The proper order are as follows: The Transient Wife, His Lovely Ward, The Bachelor and The Perfect Lie. All are finished works and all can be read without reading the others if you are not interested.

5. Though I am a Filipino, I cannot write in formal Filipino/Tagalog since I grew up using Hiligaynon/Ilonggo (Bacolod City), a local dialect in the Philippines and I don't know a lot of Filipino/Tagalog words that would make my stories equally effective. Believe me, I tried numerous times and failed miserably. I will continue to write my stories in English and I hope everyone will respect that.

6. For some reasons, I cannot give away my stories for editing/proofreading by other Wattpad users who are kind enough to offer me their free services. I would love to work with you, but I just can't do that right now. I hope you would understand.

7. For a complete list of all my works, please visit my WORKS page! I hope you continue to support my stories! You are all an inspiration!

Copyright © 2016 by David Dower

It all started with a bet.

“I’m serious man, if you ditch twenty-five women, I will believe everything you said,” Liam uttered, looking Zach in the eyes. “You’re telling me love is trash, right? What do you call it…a passing moment?”

“Exactly that--a passing moment,” Zach nodded, tipping his bottle of beer towards his friend. “That’s why I’m going to take your bet seriously.”

Liam raised his eyebrows, “You are?”

“You bet I will,” he said proudly. “Okay, you don’t believe me?” he straightened on his chair, but before he turned his full attention back on the topic he winked at the blonde lady sitting just three stools away from them. “Okay, you don’t believe me?” he repeated, turning his head back towards his friend.

“Sort of,” Liam answered, more to provoke him than doubting his words.

He leaned closer, his head bent. “I’m going to prove to you that I can ditch women without glancing back at any of them. And I’m going to do that on national television,” he grinned at his friend’s appalled look.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m going to be the next Bachelor,” he pointed at the television screen hanging by the rack of liquors at the bar. “Hell, I’ll make a fool of myself—and probably lose a few gals for it—just to prove to you that I, Zachary Astor, can ditch twenty-five women.”

“You’re not really kidding, are you?” Liam seemed to have finally realized that he was not fooling around.

“Of course I’m not. In fact, I will set the rules myself,” he grinned wickedly and counted with his fingers. “There will be twenty-five women in that damn competition, right?” his friend nodded and he continued, “I will not choose anyone by the end of the season—not one—and I will not go after any of the girls after the show ends.” He looked at his friend straight in the eyes to show how serious he was. “You hear me? I’m going to ditch those women and I will not meet one of them after I’m done. And you know how hot the women who join,” he finished with a meaningful look.

“I don’t know man, I think you’re going to lose this one,” Liam said after a while.

“Why?”

“Because you might just meet The One?”

Zach almost fell off his chair. He usually did whenever Liam talked about fate, meeting the one and all fairytale nonsense. “Oh, come on, that’s why I’m doing this, right? To prove to you that there is no The One,” he smiled and gulped down his beer. When he saw his friend’s doubtful look, he sighed and took his phone from the back of his jeans pocket. “See this? I’m going to call some people.”

“Okay, we had a few drinks and we are practically thinking from the bottle. You don’t have to be serious—”

He held up one finger to silence his friend, placing his phone against his ear. “Yes, Jeffrey, this is Zach Astor, yes, yes, I’m fine. So, I’m wondering if you have any idea about who the next Bachelor is. Yes, I’m talking about the show…” he winked at his gaping friend as the man on the other end answered his questions. For suspense, he stood up and walked away for a few moments, talking with Jeffrey.

He was grinning from ear to ear when he came back to sit back on his stool. He held his beer to his mouth as Liam asked, “Well?”

“My friend, I will be the next Bachelor. And I’m going to ditch twenty-five women.”

***If you are reading this using the app on your phone, you might encounter some problems such as with the page breaks. Double-spaces don't appear on the app. But you will have a fine experience if you are reading with your browser. Let's hope that the technical team on Wattpad will be able to resolve the issues regarding the page breaks on the phone apps! :D

***Just to make things clear, this story was not inspired by ONE NIGHT WITH THE PRINCE though I heard it's amazing despite the fact that I haven't read it yet.

***And yes, this was inspired by the real show with the same title, but only the concept, okay? Other things are purely from my own imagination, so please don't expect things to be exactly the way the show should be. (AND, no, I am not a fan of the show. So, peace to those who love watching it!) :))

 ***Someone already tried to copy this work and posted it on another site as their own. I don't want it to happen again so please, know more about plagiarism! :)

***I haven't edited a chapter of this story so forgive the errors!

Julianne walked along the corridor, the sound of her plain black shoes muffled by the carpeted floors. She held tighter the folder in her hand and halted her steps outside the door that held the sign, Director.

Lifting her fist, she knocked twice.

“Come in,” came the reply.

She pushed the door open and wore her pleasant smile. “Good morning, Mr. Carter,” she greeted.

“Yes, yes, come closer.” The spectacled man did not glance up from the paper he held in his hands. “Sit,” he motioned his head towards the only chair standing across his messy table.

Julianne did as she was told and sat down.

“You applied to be a script writer?” came the question.

“Yes, sir.”

“For one of our TV series,” he stated without question, still examining the papers before him.

“Yes.”

“I see you haven’t worked as one before.”

“No, sir, I haven’t.” She left out the part that she was a published author in her resume and that her book had done quite well for a beginner. But she couldn’t brag about that. She never planned to anyway.

“And why do you think I should hire you?”

“Because apart from having a degree in English and Literature, I believe I also have the knack for it.”

For the first time, Jack Carter looked up and studied her. He didn’t look bad or old as she had expected. As a matter of fact, to give the man credit, he looked rather handsome with his messy brown hair and black eyes. And right that moment those eyes were looking at her and she didn’t know if what he found in her was pleasing him or not.

Julianne mentally racked her memory, trying to remember if she had combed her brown hair neatly enough or if she made sure that the only thing she had put on her face, which was her light pink lipstick, was not smudged or if her glasses were crystal clear. She also tried to think if her black dress was not at all askew. And by the time she was done with her mental wanderings, she was pretty sure she looked clean and presentable enough to pass the director’s eyeful judgment. After all, the job she was aiming for did not require having to appear in front of the camera.

She was starting to feel uncomfortable under his intense gaze when he spoke, “I’m sorry, Ms. Grey, but all slots have been filled since yesterday.”

Julianne was not the type to drop her shoulders and leave defeated, but she was the type who would want an explanation first—and then take her leave. “Then why did you call me in?”

“Because,” he leaned closer, resting his arms on his desk. “We want you to fill another spot.”

She frowned, “What spot?”

Jack Carter did not hear her answer—or rather chose to ignore it—because once again, he looked down at his paper and then back at her. “How old are you exactly?” he asked.

“Twenty-five.”

“You don’t look twenty-five,” he said more to himself than to her.

“A lot of people say that,” she replied. “What spot are you talking about, Mr. Carter?”

“Ms. Grey,” he stood up and started to pace behind his chair. “Do you watch the show The Bachelor?”

Julianne’s frown grew deeper. “The game show?”

“It’s not exactly a game show,” he corrected. “It’s reality TV.”

It’s still a