"And then she said he was cheating on her with another girl. He told her she was safe, that she'd stay with him no matter what."

"So she's angry at the world," Ryan's voice came over the line.

"Pretty much. We talked it over...stayed up half the night," Jaymee said, resting the phone on her shoulder as she scrubbed her breakfast dishes. "She's completely heartbroken...but I don't even think I got to the real problem."

"You're good with people. She'll relent soon enough. Just be a friend."

Jaymee sighed. "She also said Colin insulted her."

"I'm sure he didn't mean it...Colin's so easygoing. You know that, J."

"I know. But now he's on her list."

"That's too bad...but Colin is pretty angry himself. Never seen him get so worked up over a girl before."

"Hey," Gayle said softly, entering the kitchen.

"Ryan, I've gotta go. See you later?"

"At the interview. Bye."

"Hi, sleepyhead," Jaymee teased, putting the cordless on the counter. "Feeling better?"

"Just ready to go to work."

"Well, I've gotta go to the studio today. TV Guide is doing a photo shoot and interview, and the rest of the week is walkthroughs and warmup games."

"I guess I'll hang here then."

"Come along! You need to get aquainted with the equipment anyway. We can go to dinner afterwards. Come on."

Gayle sighed. "Okay...I guess."

-----------------------------------

"We're very privileged to have such a great cast and crew. Improv is something that takes communication and timing. Anyone who tunes in will see that," Jaymee said to the interviewer.

"Thanks for the comment, Ms. Lyberrt."

"No problem."

Jaymee walked over to her director's chair and sat beside Gayle. "Great comment. Did you practice that?" Gayle asked with a smile.

"No....just made it up on the spot." The two looked at each other and laughed.

On the set, Drew was busy talking to the interviewer after the interview. Colin was watching as Ryan got finishing touches to his makeup for the photo shoot.

"Look at them," Colin said. Ryan's eyes wandered over to see Gayle and Jaymee, talking animatedly.

"She looks beautiful, doesn't she?" Ryan asked.

"She sure does," Colin murmured.

"Okay, guys...photo shoot time!" Drew called.

-------------------------

"How about you two come over and we'll help you prepare for tomorrow?" Jaymee asked after the shoot.

"Prepare?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, we'll do some improv...have some fun...chat..."

"I don't think so, Jaymee," Colin said politely.

"Me either," Gayle said.

"Colin, I can't improv without you," Ryan said.

"And, Gayle, you kinda live with me," Jaymee pointed out.

Colin looked at Gayle. "Just for a little while," Colin quietly agreed.

------------------------------

"All right, all right," Jaymee said, putting her hand on Ryan's arm. "Listen, we've got them both here. We've gotta at least get them on friendly terms!"

"I agree, honey, but I just don't see how..." Ryan whispered.

"Just follow my lead, okay?" Ryan nodded and the two went back into the living room with the cans of soda. The room had been silent since the two had left.

"Okay, let's play a little warmup game. It's one from one of the British versions I saw. It's called News Report. Okay? Now, Ryan, you're the newsanchor on the show. Gayle, you're his guest. I'm out in the field with Colin. Let's pick a fairy tale...Sleeping Beauty. Okay?"

"Sounds good. You ever done this, Gayle?"

"Maybe a couple of times with Jaymee, but just for fun. Now I feel the pressure."

"No pressure. Just fun," Jaymee said. "Let's go."

"Hello, I'm Crusty Underwear..." Gayle burst into laughter. "And I'm here with our guest of the hour, Soggy Cucumber, to discuss Sleeping Beauty. What a fairy tale, right, Soggy?"

"Oh, most definitely. I feel it's a bit too overrated for kids, if you know what I mean."

"No, actually, I don't. You want to explain?"

"Well, I think it's a little X-rated for kids. There's kissing!"

Jaymee couldn't help notice Colin's lips crack a smile. She gave Ryan a thumbs-up behind his back.

"Oh, I've got someone out in the field...Zesty Crouton is coming in. Throwing it to you, Zesty!"

"Thanks, Crusty. Here I've got the Prince himself with me today." Jaymee took a deep breath. What she was about to do could throw the whole room into chaos if Colin reacted the way she hoped he would. "Now, Mr. Prince, can you tell me how you kiss a girl who's asleep?"

Colin looked momentarily distracted by Jaymee's question. He glanced over at Gayle, who was watching him from the couch beside Ryan, and then at Ryan, who was watching him amusedly. "Well, uh...I think there's only one way to describe it...."

Colin leaned over and pulled Jaymee's face to his, giving her a gentle kiss. After a few seconds, Colin pulled away. Yes! Jaymee thought.

"Colin, what the hell was that?" Ryan asked, standing up and going over to him.

"I...I'm sorry, I just was acting..." Colin said.

"Like hell you were! That's my girlfriend! I know your history...I know your past. I'm not stupid!" Ryan yelled.

"Ryan, please..." Jaymee interjected.

"No, I think that's drawing the line! Kiss me if you want to. Just hands off my girl. You remember what happened last time we played this game!!!"

"I'm sorry..."

Jaymee glanced over to Gayle as the two men erupted into angry words. Gayle's face had turned completely white, and she looked as though she was fighting back tears.

"Don't ever touch her like that again!" Ryan yelled.

"Stop it!" Gayle suddenly screamed, standing up and putting her hands over her ears. "Stop yelling at each other! We were just playing...no one meant any harm...please, just stop it!" Gayle rushed past the three and into the kitchen.

Colin and Ryan were quieted by Gayle's outburst. Jaymee went over and sat down on the couch. "This was a mistake," she murmured.

"No, no...Jaymee, it's okay," Ryan said, going over and sitting beside her. "Right, Colin?"

"Yeah...Ryan knows I would never do that unless we were playing a game."

"Can't you guys see it? It's written all over her face!"

"See what?" Colin asked.

"Colin...Ryan and I set you up. I purposely picked that game. I knew you'd kiss me. I wanted to see if my theory was right."

"I'm sorry I yelled at you....I just had to do it for the theory," Ryan said.

"What's the theory?"

Jaymee looked up at Colin. "Colin, I think you're the one who can help her the best."

---------------------------

Gayle lowered herself into a chair, still shaking from the scene still playing through her mind. But she was no longer seeing Jaymee being kissed by Colin...she was feeling his fear again.

"Gayle?" Jaymee asked quietly, entering the kitchen followed by Colin and Ryan. "Will you tell us what's going on?"

"You know when I told you Shawn and I went our separate ways because we were drifting?" Gayle said softly, still replaying images in her head and unaware of what she was saying. "Our breakup was pretty bad. He actually started it...I didn't want to break up, but he did. He practically forced it on me. I was pretty scared there was going to be violence. Luckily, there wasn't."

Jaymee looked at Colin meaningfully. "You're safe here, Gayle...and we'll help you start over, we promise."

Gayle seemed to come out of it and looked up at the three. "I'm already starting over. I appreciate what you guys were doing, but I just don't think it's going to work. Colin and I just don't get along..."

"What do you mean by that?" Colin said angrily. "They weren't trying to set us up. You're so selfish...all you can think about is yourself!"

"That's not true! You're totally twisting my words around! Let me just make it clear to you, Mr. Mochrie...this is strictly a business relationship. I couldn't stand being alone in the same room with you for five minutes. At least you have nothing to do with editing."

"Fine, then." Colin looked at Ryan and Jaymee. "No dinners, no activities unless she's not here. I'm out of here."

"Colin, wait!" Ryan called. "I'll call you later, Jaymee."

"Okay, see you." Jaymee looked at Gayle. "Are you all right?"

"It's just hard for me to see you and Ryan together, so happy...just like Shawn and I were. It's just gonna take me a little while to get used to it, that's all," Gayle said helplessly.

"Come on, let's go catch a movie."

"A funny one, right?"

Jaymee smiled. "Wouldn't have it any other way!"

Part Four (Discoveries)