‘Simon was going to fire me?’
‘You know what Simon’s like,’ he says softly.
Unfortunately I do.
‘I should have just been honest with you,’ he continues. ‘About everything.’
‘I get that you were looking out for me, and that you were just doing your job,’ I tell him, because I do. ‘But it felt like a betrayal. And the worst part? I didn’t know what was real and what was scripted.’
‘What was between us was real,’ he says quickly. ‘Everything I did with you was because I wanted to. And everything I didn’t do. I’m sorry if it felt like I was trying to fix you. The truth is, you’ve fixed me. I’ve been too into work, too obsessed with ratings. But that stops now. I want to live my life, not manage other people’s.’
‘I just…’ My voice trails off.
‘Things were going so well until the masquerade party, when something changed, but I didn’t know what,’ he says.
I know what to say to that.
‘What changed was I overheard Elle Shaw bragging that sleeping with you got her a spot on the show. I was disgusted,’ I tell him.
He looks baffled.
‘That’s not what happened at all, I don’t know why she would say that,’ he insists. ‘I thought you were just pissed off that she’d weaselled her way in, and that I hadn’t taken a stand against it.’
‘Then what was she talking about?’ I reply.
‘I don’t know. Simon asked me for a card, he said he wanted her back, she was one of the best contestants…’ He trails off.
‘So it was Simon she slept with,’ I say flatly.
‘It was just a misunderstanding, Cleo, I promise.’
‘Except it wasn’t a misunderstanding, not really,’ I say with a sigh. ‘I wilfully misunderstood the situation to protect myself. It was obvious it was Simon, thinking about it. He’s done it before. But I let myself believe the worst of you, because I was scared. I was falling for you and it was easier to push you away.’
‘It’s all gotten messy,’ he admits, stepping closer. ‘But I’ve fallen for you too. In fact, I’ve already fallen. Can’t we just start again?’
‘How?’ I reply.
I’d love to, I really would, but how do we just hit the reset button? It’s not like we can just call out ‘take two’, is it?
He pulls out a chair at the table next to us and gestures for me to sit down.
‘Ding!’ he says as he sits down next to me. ‘Hi, my name is Lockie, and I’ve never been speed dating before, so I’m pretty nervous. And you are?’
‘I’m Cleo,’ I reply with a smile. ‘First time too.’
‘There you are,’ Simon’s voice snaps, ruining our moment.
We get up to talk to him.
‘So the show was a big hit,’ he says. ‘So were you guys. We need to figure out how to go harder next year – and obviously you’re not keeping the prize money.’
I just knew that part was too good to be true.
‘Actually, we were real contestants,’ Lockie points out. ‘We had a contract. We won so the money is legally ours if we want it.’
‘And we do want it,’ I add. ‘And I quit.’
‘Yeah, unfortunately, I quit too,’ Lockie says.
