‘Hey,’ I said, managing to corral Lily in the hallway the next morning, out of the range of the cameras. ‘You’re magic, right? Can you use your powers to summon Murray for me?’
‘Yessss,’ she said, drawing out the S, ‘but what’s in it for me?’
‘I want to hire you as my image consultant,’ I said. ‘I’ll pay.’
‘You’re going to regret you said that,’ she said, grinning and flicking my nose with a finger. ‘I charge a lot. Yes. I’ll make sure Murray finds you.’
She was as good as her word. ‘What?’ he asked gruffly, late in the afternoon, standing on the verandah. ‘I’m busy, Cece. I’ve got to set up a fantasy dinner sometime in the next hour and the PAs have managed to short out half the fairy lights.’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I’ve thought about it, and yes, I want to doWherefore Art Thou Romeo?’
‘Smart kid,’ he said, clapping me on the shoulder. ‘Let’s talk logistics later, okay? I should have time in the morning, maybe after ten.’
‘There’s one more thing,’ I said. ‘A favour.’
‘What?’
‘Can you…?’ I bit my lip.
‘Spit it out, Cece. I don’t have all day.’
‘Can you tell Dylan I’m sorry?’
Murray exhaled. He pinched the bridge of his nose and bent his head. ‘Cece…’
‘Please,’ I whispered.
‘Fine,’ he said. ‘Fine. I’ll tell him.’
15
Packing to leave the Convent was like packing to leave a group home. We hadn’t been allowed to bring much stuff with us, so it was quick and a bit depressing. My bag was tiny at the end of my bunk.
It really was my bunk again, after I’d offered to make Lily breakfast for the rest of our time there if she rescinded her bedroom ban on me.
‘Why?’ she’d asked. ‘Aren’t you still sneaking…?’
Then I guess she’d seen my face and decided to add it to my image-consultant tab instead of making me explain it to her.
But at the same time, it was nothing like leaving a group home, because I wasn’t really going anywhere. Once all the other women had left, and the Dylans had sailed off into the sunset (metaphorically, I assumed, although the lake was pretty big), I’d be moving up into the Juliet Villa. ‘We’re going to fit out the Convent as your new residence forWhereforeArt Thou Romeo?’ Murray explained to me. ‘We’ll put you up in the Villa while that’s happening. We’ll do all your styling and fitting and whatnot up there, as well as shooting some promos and putting you through some camera training. Then we’ll move you back down here when filming starts and all the boys move in.’
‘How long will it be?’ I asked. ‘Before filming starts?’
‘About a month. We’re finalising casting at the moment. Then we’ll have to put the boys through two weeks of hotel quarantine, same as you did. The restrictions are easing, but that one’s still in place.’
‘But they won’t have to stay here once they’re eliminated, right?’ I asked. ‘You won’t have to set up a… monastery?’
‘Doesn’t look like it, no,’ he said. ‘The virus numbers are down, so it looks like it’s only going to be Stage Three restrictions for the next little while. It might even be Stage Two by the time we start filming. Once your boys are eliminated, they’ll be gone.’
I nodded, driving my fingernails into the palm of one of my hands.
‘Don’t worry,’ Murray said. ‘You’re going to have your own house, Cece. We’re not going to make you live on a boat like we did with Dylan.’
I managed a weak smile. ‘Good.’
‘And don’t worry about being on your own for a month,’ he said, patting me awkwardly on the shoulder. ‘Tons of the crew and production staff are still going to be around. Including me, for what that’s worth. Plus, camera training is going to be pretty intense. You’ll barely have a spare second.’
‘Good,’ I said again.
