‘What if I leave quietly? Tonight? I don’t see Cam ever again. He keeps his job, and nobody’s careers get damaged?’ I plead.
‘Don’t try to haggle with me, and stop telling me how to do my job. We’ve had double the viewing figures since you appeared on-screen with your ridiculous and pathetic carrying on. For some reason, the public seem to like your car-crash approach to life.’
Oh God. Has the whole world been laughing at me?
Porscha flicks her shiny mane of red hair over her shoulder and leans towards me. ‘I’ll spell it out for you. More viewers means more sponsorship. More sponsorship means more money. More money means another season. Simple. Now answer the fucking question. In or out?’
I lower my head. Every instinct inside me is to fight back but this seems like an impossible situation. The gamble that I leave, and she ruins our careers, is too high a risk. I need more time to assess the situation to find a proper solution.
‘I’m in,’ I say, looking her square in the eye. ‘But you have to promise not to sack Cam. None of this is his fault. He hasn’t done anything wrong. You’re right. I tried to approach him… but he never… He’s very professional. There’s nothing going on between us.’
Porscha tries to weigh up whether I’m telling the truth. It will suit her to imagine that I came on to Cam, and that he is not interested in me.
‘Done. I don’t want to see you two within a mile of each other from now on. Is that clear? Now, slap a smile on it because you have a hunky Frenchman to drool over. I expect you to make Carlton and Giovanni jealous but not a word to Amber or Mimi. Not that they’d figure it out, the empty-headed bimbos.’
I feel sick.
‘And by the way, you will be sleeping in the communal bedroom with the others from now on. No more being a hermit. It’s time to be a team player.’
24
As soon as Porscha hands me back the microphone pack and leaves, I burst into tears. I smother the microphone to disguise my noisy sobs.
I feel powerless.
My tears are barely dry when I hear an almighty commotion outside. Everyone seems to be arguing with everyone else.
I wipe my face with a nearby tea towel and step cautiously outside. All the Islanders are shouting while the two girls and two boys in the throes of being dumped on national TV drag their cases to the giant heart archway. They are being forced to go back the way they came, minus the huge hopeful smiles they arrived with.
Amber looks distraught. Mimi looks bewildered, while Kassy and Binky are forcing smiles onto their tear-streaked faces as though they have clearly been ordered to battle through it.
‘Everyone calm the fuck down,’ bellows Porscha. ‘I think you’re all forgetting this is a game. Afungame to win one hundred thousand dollars. ONE. HUNDRED. THOUSAND. FREAKING. DOLLARS. Can we all remember that, please?’
There’s a fresh burst of tears from Kassy. ‘I wanted to win so much.’
‘And you still might,’ Porscha says, an evil tilt at the corner of her lips threatening to lift that tight smile of hers. Binky and Kassy brighten almost immediately, throwing her an optimistic look. ‘It’s a game,’ Porscha repeats. ‘Anything could happen.’
We all take a moment to digest this new information.
‘Is she saying they will all come back to the villa?’ whispers Amber to me.
‘I hope so,’ I whisper back. ‘I really hope so.’
The mood instantly lifts. The boys start high-fiving and ‘bro-ing’ like mad. Suddenly we are air-kissing, and we are lifelong survivors, in it together likeSquid Gameor World War Two.
‘We’ll never forget you. Hope to see you very soon!’ Binky is yelling forcefully over her shoulder. ‘I’ve had the best time ever. Let’s keep in touch. Best friends for life.’
‘Me too,’ croaks Kassy. She’s done so much angry yelling and screaming that her voice is knackered. ‘It’s been the greatest time of my entire life. I’m so sad to leave you all but at the same time I’m so happy. I miss my…’
We wait for her to think of something.
‘I really miss my dog.’
This provides a much-needed excuse for us to ooh and aah and console her and request that she gives her pooch big hugs from us, because even though we all know she doesn’t own a pet, we would want it to know we care if she did. She gives me a hard look on the way out, which pinches at my conscience.
‘See you soon,’ she says almost under her breath. ‘I know what I saw.’
Another stab to my conscience.
