Free For the Right Reasons by Sean Lowe

on with my life and only occasionally daydreamed about what it would be like to be on the show. Most of the time I trudged through my work. I was thankful to have a job—one that wasn’t putting people’s personal finances at risk but was actually protecting them. However, I was bored. Now, I know that lots of folks build businesses and do great things in the insurance industry. My dad put food on our table our entire lives this way, and Andrew was a third-generation insurance man. The problem, honestly, wasn’t the job. The problem was me.
    “Your policy covers theft, lightning, and windstorm,” I was saying into the phone to one of my clients. Just then, Andrew popped into the doorway. “But I’m sorry to say it doesn’t cover your watercraft.”
    I continued with my conversation, wondering why Andrew was grinning as though he knew a secret.
    “Thanks, Mr. Elias,” I said. “Call me if you have any other questions.”
    I hadn’t even said good-bye before Andrew started talking.
    “You have a call,” he said. “On line three.”
    “Who is it?” I asked.
    “Do I look like your secretary?” He smiled.
    “Hey, Sean,” the person on the other end of the line said. “This is Tabby from casting at The Bachelorette . How are you?”
    My heart jumped into my throat. Andrew stood awkwardly in the doorway, waiting to get a signal from me about whether it was good news. He wastexting Shay everything I said. It was pretty obvious this was more exciting for them than it was for me. Some couples grow a garden; others get an aquarium. Andrew and Shay’s hobby was getting me on The Bachelorette .
    The call was brief, friendly, and inconclusive.
    “So?” Andrew looked at me expectantly.
    “They were just calling to check in on me.”
    “Doesn’t it seem like that’s a good sign?” he asked.
    “Well, they didn’t say they wanted me,” I said, shrugging. “I gotta get back to work.”
    “Hey,” Andrew said. “I’m your boss. Shouldn’t that be my line?”

    A week later, I discovered a very strange coincidence. I was taking a road trip to Baton Rouge with my good friend Austin to catch an LSU game, which meant we had about four hundred miles of music and conversation. I was somewhat embarrassed to tell him about the possibility of being on The Bachelorette , but it felt weird to keep it from him.
    “You’re never going to believe what Stephanie and Laura got me to do,” I said, bracing myself for a few jokes. When I told him we made a Bachelorette audition video, his eyes got big, and then he broke into laughter.
    “Well, I’ve got some bad news for you,” he said. “I’m working on the same video.”
    “You applied to be on the show?” I asked, stunned. Not only was it a weird coincidence, he just didn’t seem like the type of guy who would want to be on that show. I guess I didn’t either.
    “My friends submitted an application without telling me.”
    “Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could go together?” I asked.
    “Yeah, you think that now,” he said. “But you’ll be heartbroken when I end up with the girl.”
    “Have you heard anything from casting?” I asked.
    “Not yet.”
    Suddenly, it hit me. If Austin hadn’t gotten a call—and I had—theshow might actually be interested in me. I played it off in the conversation, but that night my mind reeled with the possibility.
    How strange would it be if they were truly interested?

    Christmas and New Year’s came and went, and I caught myself thinking more about the show than I admitted to Shay and Andrew. But one January morning, my phone rang again.
    “Hello, Sean,” said Tabby. “I’m calling to invite you to be a part of a casting call in Los Angeles over the weekend.”
    Casting call was not in my normal vocabulary. I spent my time using terms such as accelerated death benefits , annuitization , and insurance premium . So when I rushed into Andrew’s office to tell him the news, it felt nice to hear the words roll off my