Simon reddens with anger.
‘You’re making a mistake,’ he tells us. ‘You’ll never get another job in TV. You’ll see.’
He storms off before we can say anything else. Perhaps he thinks we’ll come around.
‘Is he insane?’ Lockie says as he walks off. ‘We just won the biggest series ofWelcome to Singledomyet. We can get any job we want.’
I laugh, a real one this time.
‘So,’ I say, ‘we’re starting again?’
‘Yeah,’ he replies, stepping closer. ‘But I can’t wait as long to kiss you this time.’
And then he does. And for the first time in what feels like forever, I don’t feel watched or manipulated or in danger. I just feel happy. Like everything might be okay.
I guess sometimes it takes a shitload of rain to wash over everything and make it like new again.
It might have been unorthodox and low-key traumatic, and we’ve had a lot to figure out, but it’s led us to where we are now. It’s opened new doors for us, and this time, I’m not afraid to see where the doors lead.
36
ONE YEAR LATER
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man looking so terrified – and I’ve seen a man rolling around on the sand in agony while he watches women argue over which one of them is going to pee on him.
‘Relax,’ I tell him with a smile.
‘It’s my first time,’ he says, his voice wobbling. ‘Doing anything like… this.’
‘I was terrified, when I did it for the first time,’ I reassure him. ‘But you would be amazed how quickly you get used to it.’
‘Yeah, yeah…’ he says, each of his words coming out when he exhales. ‘It’s just speed dating, right? I’ve done that before.’
‘How did it go?’ I ask curiously.
‘I’m here, aren’t I?’ he manages to joke.
I laugh. That’s fair enough.
I still have mixed feelings about speed dating. There’s something so weird about it, it’s like an odd form of human interaction, like, if this were a nature documentary, we’d all just be standing by, watching the hyenas picking off and eating the baby antelope, letting it happen, because it’s just a fact of life, one that we’re here to observe, not intervene in.
But people aren’t like animals – not entirely, at least – sometimes we need a little intervention, and push to go for what we want, and a helping hand to get it.
‘Do you think you’ll be giving him a tick?’ a voice says from behind me.
‘I don’t think I’ll be giving anyone a tick ever again,’ I reply, turning round to face him.
Lockie takes me in his arms and peppers my lips with kisses.
‘So you don’t fancy sitting down and doing a few rounds, seeing if you can find someone better?’ he jokes playfully.
‘Do you?’ I reply.
‘I’m not going to find better,’ he says with a smile. ‘But… I am going to help this lot find love.’
‘You’re not going to script it for them, like old times?’ I tease.
‘We’re on-air in less than a minute, so I’m going to leave that one hanging in the air,’ he replies.
