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The batch included two virgins (lift your glass to that), real estate moguls, ski instructo
rs, lawyers, name it. And they were everything: good looking, muscled, witty, ambitious, funny and tall, but no thank you, according to Jen! It was a shattering experience for the ditched who saw Jen as the truly missing love in their lives. They pulled out all the stops: showered her with praise, bought flowers, serenaded her, Mark gave her a pendant and tempers flared as they fought to have time with her. They played basketball to see who makes more slam-dunks, raced to the towering Empire State Building and scribbled love notes detailing why they would make the best husband. And the lucky winners got a one-on-one date with her.
Fabrice, the self-proclaimed romantic from Paris, who denied rumours he was gay, won the basketball game and an unforgettable kiss that had him tearing while on a date with Jen. Ryan's letter enchanted her the most. The two then popped champagne and shared a rousing kiss in a jacuzzi surrounded by tingling bubbles while the Empire State Building race winner, Wendell, used his time to make Jen laugh herself silly.
Every week ended with an emotional rose ceremony in which Jen pinned a rose on the lapel of those with potential and the rest had to go. It hurt to watch Stu denied the rose. He so was smitten that he always seemed in a trance just in front of Jen. And David - dreading the prospect of stepping in Stu's shoes -fainted. Some said he wanted attention on national television but it was clear the pressure was unbearable. Then came tactless Jason. The 29-year-old had been saving his virginity for Jen and when he told her, she was unpleasantly shocked. And poor Jason didn't get the rose.
Jen was enjoying herself with a raised axe. She chopped the initial 25 to 15, then 10 and 6. With the stakes high, Fabrice walked out on her: "I don't want to marry you now," he shocked her at one of the rose ceremonies, and wished her the best in her continued quest for true love. Jen consoled herself claiming Fabrice knew he wasn't getting the rose that night. The previous week she had reluctantly presented him the remaining rose, and Fabrice liking to be at the top of things, had had his ego bruised.
His jealous counterparts may have called him "a jackass that says one thing and does another" but the unpredictable Fabrice was certainly smarter. He is the only one that was not forced out by Jen's rejection. The cameras loved him; he cried, he laughed and reminded one of Richard, the winner of the BBA II show.
Then Jen visited the homes of the four remaining bachelors. Ryan's mom was overwhelmed by her beauty, John Paul's asked her to choose her son saying she wouldn't regret while Wendell's mom had "the feeling Jen is not into Wendell the way Wendell is into Jen," and was proved right when her son was eventually booted.
"It's just too painful," cried Ryan just after he became the third last bachelor to be spurned. Interestingly, he had just been described by Jen as "adorable and too sweet!" He was still hurting when Jen toasted with the two finalists: John Paul and Jerry. "I came here to find a connection and I definitely found one. With Jerry, I felt the sparks from the beginning," she said, and went on spewing endearments about John Paul: "He has everything I want. He's truly amazing and has a great family."
The last chance had come for the two bachelors to seduce Jen's heart. John Paul didn't waste words: "I've developed unconditional love for you completely," he said with a quiver in his voice. "Everyday I look into your eyes, I see my woman" and on his knees, he popped the question.
"Oh God," he cried on being turned down. "It's crazy!" Jerry had earlier been interrogated by Jen's best friends but had refused to confess his love for her. Jen herself had reservations; said Jerry was all romance and no substance but was pleasantly surprised when Jerry uncased his love for her: "You make me feel weird, uncomfortable and then comfortable," he said. "I'm crazy about you, you amaze me." And seeing her melt like wax, he went for the kill: "My morals have been questioned [sigh]. What I feel about you has been questioned [sigh]." Then he promised to share everything in his soul with her and to "wear his heart on his sleeve."
A delighted Jen kissed him passionately and said how he says things "cute and sweet". But when the dimpled art gallery director asked her to marry him, she turned down his offer claiming she felt they were better off as friends!
Ironical, it was. Having laughed, cuddled, sensually kissed and even confessed to have developed feelings for the last six of her wooers, how then could she not pick her soul mate?
It's hard to understand what women really want. Meanwhile Jennifer Schefft should enter the Guinness World Book of Records for leaving behind a trail of innumerable heartbreaks!
--Daily Monitor, February 4, 2008
