‘Welcome, Dylan!’ Z said to Romeo-Dylan. ‘What does it feel like to be the Romeo?’
‘It’s absolutely surreal,’ he replied. ‘I feel incredibly blessed and privileged to be here with all these wonderful women who’ve given up their time just for a chance at love.’
Dylan glanced back at me, smiling.
And I immediately felt like a massive idiot. Obviously, by ‘you’re adorable’ she just meant ‘you’re adorable’ not ‘I secretly think you are extremely childish’. When had she ever given me any evidence that she was trying to neg me?
I forced my attention back to Romeo-Dylan. He really was so handsome.
‘Tell us why you decided to come on this journey,’ Z was saying. ‘What are you looking for?’
‘Isn’t everyone looking for the same thing?’ Romeo-Dylan said. ‘Love?’
I imagined being on the press tour with him after the show.I’m so glad I met Mandie,he’d say,she’s adorable,and I’d look up at him and say,You’re pretty adorable yourself,and he’d flash those white teeth and smile and say,I adore you,and I’d say,I adore you too,and Jac would be watching despite herself and she’d be grinding her teeth so hard that she’d have to get a new mouthguard because there would benothing she could do about it.
‘What do you like, though?’ Lily said. ‘Blondes? Brunettes? Redheads? Fireballs?’
‘I think what Lily Fireball is very subtly trying to ask,’ Z said, ‘is: what’s your type, Dylan? What do you look for in a potential Juliet?’
‘Physically, I wouldn’t say I have a type,’ Romeo-Dylan replied.
Jac would watch every single TV appearance and listen to every single radio spot. She wouldn’t be able to help herself. I’d be happy, and she’d be miserable, and—
‘But I like strong women. Tough women. Women who like a challenge and who don’t back down.’
… well, shit.
Seriously. He might as well have taken a can of spray paint and graffitied ANYONE BUT AMANDA across the front of the Villa.
‘God, she’s quick,’ Dylan muttered beside me.
It took me a second to realise that she was talking about Lily Fireball, who was towing Romeo-Dylan away by the hand. ‘Yeah,’ I agreed half-heartedly.
‘How long do you think I should give them before I interrupt?’
I blinked. ‘You’re going to interrupt?’
‘Of course I am!’ she said. ‘You think I’m going to sit back and let her monopolise tall, dark and handsome over there? Not a chance.’
I forced myself to smile, even though ‘Why would he like me when he could have her?’ had started churning around in my stomach again.
This was ridiculous. Was I really going to do this? Was I actually going to be that person I always laughed at when I watched the show, who was all like, ‘OMG! I have such deep feelings!’ on the very first night?
I might be a bit of a head-in-the-clouds romantic sometimes, but even I didn’t think it was possible to fall in love that fast.
And I hadn’t! Of course not. But Romeo-Dylan seemed sonice, and he had kind eyes, and… God, there was something very compelling about the thought that I could rub him in Jac’s face.
‘I’m going to do it,’ Dylan said, grinning. ‘It’s been, what, three minutes? Plenty of time.’
‘Good luck,’ I managed.
‘Thanks, babe,’ she said, patting me on the hand in a pitch-perfect rendition of my Mum Manoeuvre before disappearing in a trail of sea-witch sequins.
I headed to the bar. Suddenly I very, very badly needed a drink.
Thank goodness for Cece, honestly. She was obviously having a terrible time, but going Full Mum was familiar ground for me, and trying to make her feel more comfortable was making me feel a whole lot more comfortable.
We got drinks at the bar and then I towed Cece out towards the pool, glimmering bright turquoise against the dark of the night sky. It took some effort – she really was struggling, poor thing – but I small-talked at her for longenough that she finally managed to get some words in of her own. ‘I, um, probably wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the pandemic,’ she said. ‘I lost my job, and…’
