“Ha! Good one.” I glance at the bedside clock, then immediately wish I hadn’t because it means I have to hang up. “Listen sweetheart, I have to run. I’m hoping today is the last day of filming, but Giorgio is such a perfectionist, I honestly don’t know if we can get it wrapped up.”
“Sounds awful,” she says, sounding less than sincere.
“I want you to know that if this wasn’t so important for my career, I would never want to be away from you for this long.”
“I know.”
“I feel terrible about it, but these types of opportunities don’t come along very often.”
“Don’t worry about it. I understand.”
“That’s why you’re the best.” I close my eyes for a second, hating like hell that I have to ring off. “Okay, I better get going. Love you.”
“You too.”
Bugger. She always saysI love you too, but that time she went with ‘you too’ which tells me I have to get my arse back to Avonia as soon as humanly possible.
15
If You’re Going to Jump, It Might as Well Be to Conclusions…
Arabella
Episode Two
“Good evening,I’m Dylan Sinclair, your host of ABN’s hit show,Princess in the Wild!” Dylan fans her arm out to point to a large screen behind her, displaying the show’s thumbnail shot. “Tonight, the ugliness continues as Will Banks and Princess Arabella show just how different they are. We’ll also hear some shocking revelations about royal life from the very lips of Princess Arabella herself, and see what happens on their first night together in the jungle. Will they or won’t they?” she asks, grinning into the camera.
“But first, a recap of last week’s show.”
“Oh, great,” I say to Dexter, who is lying beside me on Arthur and Tessa’s couch, his head resting on my leg. “Like I really need to see that again.”
Flashes of me in those short shorts start up, then Will calling me ‘useless’ and demanding that I be left behind, now me rappelling from the helicopter complete with bleeping. Now, I’m clomping behind him and holding my middle fingers in the air. And it all wraps up with him suggesting it wouldn’t be a tragedy if I break my neck.
Dylan comes back on and says, “And a quick preview of what’s in store for you tonight…”
Cut to me sobbing loudly and yelling, “I’ve had to use the loo for hours now and I’m afraid to ask how that even works because I hate you so much and I just know it’s going to be horrifyingly embarrassing and likely you’ll have to stand guard while I squat somewhere only to end up wiping my arse with some sort of plant that will cause a horrible rash!”
“Perfect. Just perfect,” I say, as the commercial break starts. I sigh, glancing at my phone, even though I know Will is busy filming his commercial and won’t likely be texting me for hours. I look down at my date, who is slobbering on my sweatpants. This is a new low, even for me. “You want some crisps, buddy?”
Dexter lifts his head and slides his huge grey body off the couch.
“You know what that means, don’t you?” I ask, getting up. “Almost makes me want to stop eating bacon.”
He follows me to the kitchen and parks himself directly in front of the cupboard where the junk food is kept. I open it, trying not to think about how pathetic I am, spending my last night before I go to Vienna alone, babysitting. Oh well, at least I’ll also be torturing myself with footage of me having a total meltdown. That should add some fun to the evening.
A couple of minutes later, Dexter and I are back in the living room munching on classic salt-flavoured crisps out of my brother’s best china.
The show starts up again and Dylan leads in with, “We’ll pick up where the unlikely pair left off last week. They were just about to set up camp for the night. As you’ll see, the first day of hiking proved to be too much for our royal co-host. She’s about to fall apart in a huge way…”
Footage of me gingerly rappelling down what I now see is a rather short cliff starts up. When I reach the bottom, Will says, “Hey, that was pretty good. You didn’t shout any curse words that time.”
I glare at him. “That’s because I’ve lost my will to live. At this point, between being faced with the prospect of spending another few days out here with you or just ending it all quickly, the second option sounds far more appealing to me.”
“Ooh, that was offside, wasn’t it, Dex? Now, I’m kind of glad Will isn’t here.”
“The first day is always the worst,” Will says.
“Oh, is it?” I quip.
