Three
Becca
When I arrive at “the castle” for the first night of filming, my phone is immediately confiscated. I have three suitcases filled with ball gowns, cocktail dresses, and loungewear. I was allowed a picture of my kids and a makeup case full of toiletries.
That’s it. No contact with the outside world. No electronics, no entertainment. Not even a book.
Just me and a house full of women who will also be dating Prince Charming, each hoping he’ll plant a tiara on their heads so they can stick around one more week.
I’m terrified, and I have no idea what I was thinking.
The staff takes my suitcases, which I’m told I can have back when the night is over.The castle is an enormous manor house in Sunset Beach, rented by the show for the first weeks of filming. It’s set back from the road and has a gorgeous cobblestone driveway running up to a stone facade with honest-to-god turrets. I’m not even at that driveway yet, though. My dark blue ball gown and I are loaded into a horse-drawn carriage and parked near the back of a long line of carriages that runs down the driveway and out to the road.They shut down the whole street so they could load thirty princesses into individual carriages and leave us to wait.
And wait. And wait.
I lean back and sigh. I’m already wearing a mic pack, so if I started talking, someone might hear me. If I got out of the carriage, one of the production staff would no doubt swoop over to find out what I need and then stuff me back inside. It’s a good thing they aren’t trying to put more than one of us in a carriage, because the ruffles of my poofy skirt flow out to cover nearly the entire floor.
But I still wouldn’t mind having someone to talk to.
I’m desperately wishing that someone was Nate.
Over the last two weeks, I’ve been getting more and more anxious to begin this whole process, and of course I’m looking forward to meeting Prince Charming. I don’t know anything about the guy, though, so most of my daydreaming has centered around what I’m going to say to Nate when I see him again. He was so kind and understanding about my worries, and seems like such a laid-back, sweet guy. And, yeah, he’s smoking hot and has featured in more than one of my fantasies.
But he’s a producer and was only talking to me for his job. He said he would try to be the one who interviews me, but he probably said that to everyone he interviewed. Maybe he even met someone he likes better and has forgotten about me.
I sigh again, craning my neck, trying to get a look at the girl in the carriage in front of me.The carriages are mostly enclosed, with small windows, so I can’t see inside it.Through the rear window of my own carriage I can get a better look at the carriage behind me, but all I can see there is a large brown horse wearing those side-blinders on its eyes.There are a couple of production members off to the side, probably keeping an eye on the horses and the contestants to make sure neither runs off.
“Hey,” a voice says, and I spin back around in my seat.
There’s Nate, leaning in the now-open carriage door.
“Hey!” I say, but I sound surprised, and Nate smiles at me.
That smile. It’s even more arresting than I remembered.
“Sorry to startle you,” he says. “How are you doing?”
“I’m okay.” But my voice sounds shaky. I think I’m even more nervous than I thought I was. Or maybe I’m just nervous to see Nate again.
Nate’s eyes travel down my dress in an appreciative way. “You look amazing. I love the gown.”
I play with the ends of my hair, which I’m wearing half-down so it brushes my arms. I had it done earlier today, and this is the last time I’m going to have a hairdresser to make me look good on camera. After this, I’m on my own, unless I make it into the top six or so, when they’ll be down to few enough girls to offer us help.
“Thank you,” I say.
“You seem nervous. Mind if I join you?”
He gestures toward the inside of the carriage, and I rush to gather my skirts.
“Of course,” I say. “Did you get stuck babysitting me?”
“Are you kidding? I requested to be here.”
My heart skips several beats. Which is silly. He told me he’d try to interview me—not that there are any cameras right now, but my mic pack is on, and I imagine if he’s here talking to me, they’re recording audio they can layer over other shots later.
But it’s still so good to see a friendly face. Especially one as handsome as his.
Nate sits on the bench across from me, and his feet are only mostly buried in my skirts when I release them. He’s wearing a pair of dark jeans and a light blue polo shirt. Damn, this is also a good color on him. “So, are you ready for this?” he asks. “You could be meeting your future husband tonight.”
