Ben protested he was so sure Travis would have answered Brigitte as his least liked Housemate – a story Travis wasn’t buying. “I’m annoyed at you and Nobbi,” Travis retorted. “I’m annoyed at you because you would have known what Nobbi was aiming at.”
“What else can I say Trav?” Ben said helplessly. “I honestly believed you were going to say Brigitte, because you said you still feel close to Alice, even though she did say that stuff.”
Still furious and upset, Travis replied he felt backed into a corner of a lose-lose situation. “But the question was proposed so I could say Alice,” Travis pressed. “And if I didn’t say Alice and I would have went into the Kombi van and Nobbi would have said ‘All the boys are saying that you’re throwing our trust back in our face and we’re doing all this stuff for you and you’re just chucking it back in our face and it’s like you don’t want to be in the boys anymore’.”
As Nobbi was not allowed in the House, Ben spoke on his behalf. “Nobbi is still saying he did not intend for that to be directed at Alice,” Ben repeated. “Either he is lying through his teeth to me and other people, or he did not intend for you to bring up the Alice thing. He didn’t think you would do it.”
Travis remained firm in his belief the boys would have brought the issue up with him again at a later stage if he had not answered Alice – and it would have appeared as if he did not trust the information which Nobbi, Rory and Ben had passed on. “If I didn’t do it, it would have been ‘You sugarcoat stuff’,” Travis replied firmly. “We tell you stuff and we’ve all told you that Alice dislikes you and Alice said she hates you and now in front of the group you say Brigitte and take a cop out.”
Ben continued to profess his innocence. “It wouldn’t have bothered me because I would have been aware you still had the two people to defend,” he answered.
Travis stopped the conversation, stating he was too upset and too tired to continue to deal with it, and would resume their talk in the morning.
The next day, by the spa, Travis told Ben they were all good, and revealed the reason he was upset with Ben was because he had passed information onto Nobbi that Travis had specifically asked him not to.
“It’s good you guys came and talked to me last night otherwise I would have been more annoyed this morning,” Travis acknowledged. “But the fact that Nobbi said that, against what you said is really, really disappointing.”
Ben made clear he had not meant Travis any hurt by his actions, regretted “spilling the beans”, and that Travis never had any reason to think their friendship would be in jeopardy.
“I hope that, on behalf of the others and definitely from my point of view there will never be any pressure, our friendship will never be on the line for you to do anything,” Ben stated. “I would never ever bribe you with my friendship. There is never going to be… I’m not treating it as something trivial, it’s not that. The only way friendships end is if something happens or you drift apart from each other. It’s not like, ‘Travis, we’re friends, but if you don’t do this, we’re not’. That’s primary school crap.
“I just want you to understand that is a situation you will never be put in with me and for some reason, if it’s Nobbi saying something or if you get that impression from me, you need to realise you are never under any pressure to lose your friendship from me.”
Travis appreciated Ben’s words, and announced the events of the night before would change him for the better. “Don’t worry about it Ben, we’re all good today and that’s the main thing,” Travis began. “It’s probably a good thing last night did occur, because it’s going to make me a much stronger person and if Nobbi tells me again that I can’t talk to someone, I’ll be like, ‘Screw you, you can’t tell me who I can talk to’. I won’t be put in that situation again, because of last night.
“I know where I stand with you and where I stand with Rory, it’s more where I stand with Nobbi and where Nobbi stands with me. It doesn’t mean I’m never going to talk to him again, I’m just going to be more selective with the things I do tell him. At the end of the day, I felt that he used that against me last night for him to have a good time, and that’s not cool.”
Ben looked visibly relieved to be back in Travis’ good books. “Alright. Once again apologise for spilling the beans. I think I can speak on behalf of the boys when I say you are not a joke to us, we do not take you for granted and we do not have fun at your expense,” Ben reiterated. “You are a very important part of that group and we all feel very close to you. You’re not just a joke or a form of entertainment for us. You are one of the foundations of the boys group and it’s very important to all of us that we do not take you for granted.”
