Even through the monitor screen, his smile made me smile.
‘I just want to see the Juliets all commit and cooperate,’ he said. ‘That’s what a relationship is, isn’t it? A commitment. Being a team of two.’
‘Teamwork makes the dream work,’ Z agreed.
Maybe Dylan should reconsider Lily as a potential girlfriend. Not only did she fit his whole strong/tough/loves-a-challenge/never-backs-down stipulation; if he wanted someone who could commit, she fit the bill. She’d obviously committed hard to being the villain.
Lily was in classic form as she and Amanda and Hero Nurse Dylan worked on their love machine. ‘Get out of the way,’ she said, snatching the instructions out of Amanda’s hand. ‘I’m going to take charge on this project. You two will only slow me down.’
‘Um, Amanda’s a mechanic,’ Hero Nurse Dylan said, snatching the instructions back. ‘If anyone’s going to take the lead, it’s going to be her.’
‘Are you a mechanic for love machines?’ Lily trilled, looking Amanda up and down.
‘No,’ Amanda replied. ‘Obviously not.’
‘Then give me that,’ Lily said, stealing the instructions again. ‘I’m amazing at IKEA flatpack furniture. I’m going to nail this.’
If teamwork was one of the criteria, they obviously weren’t going to win.
Saurav tapped on the table and made a gesture with one of his hands.Give me a reaction.
‘Oh dear,’ I said, mouth dry. ‘No teamwork here. Things aren’t looking good for this group.’
I switched my attention to Parisa, Kumiko and Jess D, flicking the channel on the soundboard the way Murray had shown me so their audio came through in my headphones. I hadn’t met any of them on the first night, but I knew enough about them through Dylan to have a sense of who they were.
They’d formed a tidy production line as they worked out how to put their love machine together. Kumiko had the instructions in one hand, and she and Jess D were laying out the pieces in the order they’d need to put them together as Parisa sorted out all the various screws. ‘How far do you think we can hurl one of these things?’ Jess D asked, nodding her head towards the basket of plush hearts. ‘You’re the scientist, Risa – what’s your guess?’
‘The aerodynamics aren’t great,’ Parisa replied, notlooking up from the screws. ‘We might need to weigh them down with something—Oh, hey!’
‘Hello, you three,’ Dylan said brightly. ‘How’s everything going?’
‘We’ve got a system,’ Kumiko replied. ‘We might not be the fastest at getting this together, but I can guarantee it won’t fall apart.’
‘That sounds like the ideal foundation for a relationship,’ Dylan said, smiling and blotting out the sun.
I moved quickly onto the third group, flicking my sound over again. ‘No point observing that group while Dylan’s there,’ I said for Saurav. ‘It seems like he has that one covered.’
Not to mention that observing Dylan with a bunch of beautiful accomplished women seemed like a good way to make myself into the most jealous bitch in the entire universe.
Group three were not as organised as the previous group, but they were definitely making more progress than Amanda, Hero Nurse Dylan and Lily (who were, I noted out of the corner of my eye, still arguing). ‘… that part goes here,’ Belinda was saying. I looked closely, but I couldn’t see her chipped tooth.
‘No, it’s here,’ a petite Black woman – Naya, I realised, recognising her from Love Jockey Hockey – said. She took the instructions from Belinda, turned them ninety degrees, and then tapped them with a perfectly manicured fingernail. ‘See, B matches up with C, and that makes the base—’
‘I think Bel’s right.’ I recognised this blonde woman as Heather from the limo. ‘I say we do it her way.’
‘Do you want us to win this or not?’
‘Don’t talk to me that way, Naya.’
‘I wouldn’t talk to you that way if you’d just listen to me! I’m an engineer. I know how to put shit together.’
‘Say that again, Naya,’ Suzette the producer said. ‘Same energy, no swearing.’
‘Oh dear,’ I said for Saurav. ‘Things aren’t going well for this group either.’
What fascinating commentary I was giving. Truly, the network execs weren’t going to know what hit them.
I flicked back over to Amanda, Hero Nurse Dylan and Lily. Hero Nurse Dylan and Lily were arguing, nose to nose, while Amanda was quietly working on assembling the love machine behind them.
