I appreciate his trepidation, because in the two hours we’ve spent together this morning, I still haven’t brought up going back to the ship with Molly.
“I know you came to get me,” Molly says, her mouth half-full of croissant. “But I don’t know if I want to go back.”
“Why not?” It’s Nolan who asks instead of me, and I’m grateful. I need to look out for my job, but I’m not going to push Molly to go back if she doesn’t want to. I already wasn’t there for her when she needed me most. I won’t make that mistake again.
“I’m not stupid—I know what Demi is trying to do,” Molly says, rolling her eyes and taking a long sip of her coffee. “I didn’t really care at first. I get how this business works, so I gave her what she wanted because I’m hoping that whatever goes on with this season will help me score some brand deals.”
“You’re an influencer?” I ask, surprised.
“Not yet,” she smirks, but it fades quickly. “I played up the villain role for Demi. I acted out when she wanted me to, I gave her good sound bites and reactions, things that Iknowwill make it into the show. But the more I give her, the more…aggressive…she’s getting with her demands.”
“What do you mean?” I hiss, my temper starting to flare. I already hated Demi, but if she had done anything cruel to Molly…I don’t know that I can let it go.
“Every time we’ve shot a confessional recently, she’s asked questions she knows will trigger me,” Molly explains.
“Like what?” Nolan asks as Molly stands, the chaise creaking mercilessly as she shifts her weight—what are these things made of, birch bark?
“Well, yesterday, before that stupid excursion, she decided to do a last-minute confessional. I don’t even know how she found out about Morgan—I never toldanyoneabout her. And she’s been staying with her friend’s family for the last three weeks—they think I’m working overseas. So, when she brought up my daughter, I was confused. It caught me off guard. Shestarted making comments about my ‘priorities,’ insinuating that I’m a bad mother who abandoned my daughter for clout.”
There are tears in Molly’s eyes as she recounts what happened. I, on the other hand, amseething. Demi isn’t just being manipulative now. She sees someone who is willing to do what she asks and is taking advantage of that, demanding far more than she needs to. She’s greedy for emotional turmoil.
“I think she wants to break you,” I grit out through clenched teeth. “She wants a meltdown.”
“That’s how it feels,” Molly agrees, nodding. “She’s not just turning me into a villain anymore, Chloe. She’s going to make me look like an irresponsible mother. And she’s going to drag Morgan into all of this.”
“No, she won’t,” I say, wringing my hands distractedly. “Demi wanted to turn you into a villain, Molly. But like she told me, a villain without emotion is just evil. It’s not earned.”
It’s the same way that reality TV isn’t really about what happens on the show, on the ship, withthosepeople. It’s about the audience—the narratives they want to see played out for them so they can live out their fantasy, or see someone acting worse than they do to feel better about themselves. To feel justified. That’s why it works, that’s why reality TV is such a sensation—becauseit’s sensational. It speaks to a part of ourselves that we never really give voice to.
“The problem is that your villain arc isn’t believable,” I continue.
“Why?” Molly and Nolan ask at the same time.
“Because… You’renota villain, not yet. A bitch? Sure. Catty? Maybe.” Molly smirks, and Nolan chuckles. “But nothing you’ve done so far has made you villainousenough. It’s why Demi wouldn’t stop hounding me for information that might trigger you once she realized we knew each other.”
“Shedid?” Molly asks, genuine shock flashing in her eyes.
“Yeah. I couldn’t figure out why she was so insistent…”
I had guessed it was because Demi surmised that I already thought of Molly as a villain myself. But I realize now it was because she needed more information. She needed ammo that would help make Molly act the part. Molly didn’t sound like a villain; she just sounded like a flawed human being. Demi knew this, and she was desperate.
“Demi didn’t think that I was interested enough in Duncan—or at least, that’s what she said to me, anyway.”
“Yeah, and it was strange that Duncan’s choice for the wine tour was made the night before… Obviously, that was a producer move. What did you say when Demi brought up Morgan?” I ask thoughtfully.
A flicker of an idea, like kindling sparking into flame, begins to build in my mind.
“I told her to fuck off.” Nolan snorts mid-sip of coffee, and I have to beat on his back until he stops coughing.
When he can breathe again, he croaks out, “’Atta girl,” and I smile.
“I think Demi and Greta have been working together to get you voted off tonight. Whatever you said to Demi pissed her off—she knew she wasn’t going to get what she wanted from you, so she figured if they could get Duncan interested in Carly, you’ll get voted off tonight.”
“So, I’m done, then,” Molly says solemnly. “I can go home. I don’t need to go back to the ship.” Relief seems to wash over her face, and I wince.
“But…you do,” I say hesitantly.
“Why?”
