I took my first step onto the driveway.
It turned out it was dark and glistening because it was absolutely soaking wet. I looked down at my feet so I wouldn’t fall over, but, ‘Head up!’ said someone from behind one of the cameras.
I looked forward.Trust your feet, I imagined Jenifer saying,they know where the ground is. But Jenifer hadn’t been doing yoga on uneven wet cobblestones in four-inch heels.
‘Slow down,’ someone hissed at me from behind a different camera. ‘You’re making it look like we’re chasing you.’
I slowed down and immediately nearly went over on my ankle. I was fucking up walking. How the hell was I fucking up walking?
‘Hi,’ the Romeo called out to me. ‘Need a hand?’
I blinked.
The Romeo was talking to me.The Romeo was talking to me.
This was it. This was my big moment. This was where I wowed him with my sparkling personality and established myself firmly as one of the frontrunners of the season because I was so! damn! lovable!
Behind him, two cameras swivelled around to focus on me.
Golden ticket. This was my golden ticket. I couldn’t waste my golden ticket.
‘I, uh…’
‘Here,’ he said decisively. ‘Let me help you.’
He loped towards me like a gazelle. I opened my mouth to tell him it was okay, I was okay, that I was wonderful and funny and kind and that we had so much in common and thatI was well worth falling in love with, but he’d already taken my hands and started leading me back towards his camera mark, like I was a small child taking their first steps and he was my proud dad.
A few details about him managed to penetrate the fog in my brain. Strong hands. Good grip.
‘Sorry about that,’ he said. ‘That might have come across a bit patronising. I know you can walk. It’s just that your heels look so high and this driveway is so uneven.’
‘It’s, it’s okay,’ I stammered.
A few more details. Tall. Dark hair. Dark eyes. Dark skin. A Romeo who wasn’t white? They reallyhadpaid attention to all the online petitions?
He smiled at me. Great smile. Killer smile.
Say something. Say something.
‘Um… uh… Why do they wet the driveway?’ I managed.
‘Fuck knows,’ the Romeo replied.
‘Cut!’ someone called out. ‘Come on, mate, you know you’re not allowed to swear.’
‘Shit, sorry, Steve,’ the Romeo said. ‘I’ll try and get it under control.’
‘And you, Juliet, get it together!’ Steve the director said. ‘Use your words.’
I nodded. The world was going sparkly around the edges. Was it my brain or just the fairy lights?
Breathe in calm. Breathe out anxiety.Forget about the cameras. Forget about all the people looking at you. Golden ticket. Golden ticket. Your entire financial future depends on making this guy like you, James.
How many people tuned in to watch this show? Tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands? Millions?
‘Take it back a few seconds,’ Steve said. ‘Back it up to just off your mark and lead her back in again.’
‘You all right to take a few steps backwards?’ the Romeo asked. ‘I’ve got you, okay?’
