I smile at her, not certain I want to hear what’s coming next.
She shifts a little towards me on our corner banquette. ‘Jake. Gorgeous, no?’
‘I mean, yes, if that’s your type?’
‘Is heyourtype is the question?’
I stare at her. Was she not paying any attention at all when we met? ‘No? He definitely isn’t?’
‘I thought there was a lot of tension between you. Sexual tension.’
What? First Petra, now Sonja.Sobizarre.
I shake my head. ‘Definitely not.’
Sonja tilts her head to one side and looks into the distance as though she’s forgotten I’m there. ‘Heisvery, very attractive. I mean, if there’s genuinely nothing between you…’ She arches an eyebrow.
What? Does this happen to Jake all the time?
‘You are incredibly welcome to go ahead,’ I say.
Sonja smiles. (It’s quite scary, actually.) ‘Thank you. First, though, I think you and Jake need to explore whatmightbe between you.’
I frown and wait. I don’t feel as though I want to give Sonja any kind of ammunition, and I’m not even sure what that ammunition would be for, so I’m not going to be venturing any new thoughts whatsoever.
‘So as I said we’re not going to do any more of the dates,’ she continues, ‘but because viewers have responded so incredibly well to the two of you together – arguably as a couple – we’re going to send you as soon as possible on your weekend away, accompanied by cameras, and we’ll then continue for a few weeks with the montages, longer ones than we’ve been doing so far, before having you back on to explain how you both feel at the end of the challenge.’
I smile while I consider for a second what she’s just said. I think it’s good, actually. We were always going to end up on the team-building weekend together – clearly neither of us can win the challenge – and this way it’s just going to be sooner, which is a good thing, because then it won’t be hanging over us.
‘Great,’ I say.
‘Wonderful.’ Sonja looks up at the approaching server and gives her a big smile, before consenting to have a selfie. ‘Occupational hazard,’ she says when they’ve finished. ‘Now. What are your preferences for what types of bonding weekend you go on? What types of activities do you like and not like?’
‘Um.’ That’s a tricky one to answer off the top of my head. There’s no type of bonding weekend I want to go on.
‘Okay. Let’s begin with what youdon’tlike. Do you have any phobias?’
‘Just heights. And snakes.’ I hate that word. ‘And being stampeded by a herd of cows, obviously. And cheese fondue. I really, really can’t stand it. All that stringiness.’
‘You have quite a lot of phobias.’ Sonja sounds impressed.
‘Well, yes and no. They really don’t impact on my life at all. I don’t have anextremefear of heights, more just your usual, the kind that quite a lot of people have. The… reptile one and the cow one and, actually, the cheese fondue one, are stronger, but living in London it’s really easy to avoid reptiles, herds of cows and Alpine après-ski food.’
Sonja laughs. ‘I’m glad for you that they aren’t too much of an issue. What kind of activities do you like? Nights out, daytime hobbies? Or things you hate?’
‘Um. I’m pretty easy recently.’
Sonja persists until she has discovered that when it comes to physical activity I hate running but like tennis and the sport I would least like to play is rugby because of all the mud. She then moves on to evening activities, best and worst holidays, favourite and least favourite clothes.
‘Maybe,’ I say eventually for the umpteenth time. I really do not enjoy being interrogated and she isthorough. It’s horrible, actually. Like I’m being interviewed for MI6 or something.
‘Well, that was delicious,’ she says abruptly, when she’s finally dragged my all-time favourite and most hated drinks out of me, and signals for the bill, and within under two minutes we’re outside the restaurant (even though I hadn’t actually finished eating) and she’s mwah-mwahing me goodbye and saying she’ll be in touch about a weekend that I’lllove.
Hmm. It might be lots of activities that I enjoy, but it’s still going to involve Jake.
12
JAKE
