‘Are you worried about it being awkward? They make it that way on purpose, because they want to start fights.’ She arched her eyebrow again. ‘You don’t want to get in a fight?’
‘Not especially, no,’ I said.
She smiled, a glint in her eye.Then you’re in the wrong place, little girl,I expected her to say.
But, ‘Smart,’ she said. ‘Wifey like you, you should stay clear of the drama.’
I blinked. ‘Wifey?’
‘A wife-type,’ she said. ‘Sweet, nice, good girl. Perfect for marrying.’
‘I know what a wifey is,’ I said. ‘I’ve watched this show before.’
‘Then why am I here giving you Interrupting 101?’ Lily said. ‘Go talk to him.’
There were so many things I wanted to ask her.Why are you being nice to me?for one.Are you some kind of plant?for another.
But most of all,You think I’m a wifey?
‘Go!’ she said. ‘Get out of here! He’s with Marija now. She’s a wifey too, she won’t start shit with you. Shoot your shot.’
I went. I was too scared of her to do anything else. Fear was a powerful motivator.
Romeo-Dylan was sitting with Marija in a little bower in the trees, near the start of the hedge maze. He was holding both her hands. She was saying something to him, although I wasn’t close enough to hear what. He was listening intently, his head cocked very slightly to one side.
It was one of the few times that I hadn’t seen him smiling. It wasn’t like he wasfrowning, exactly, but there was an intensity to him that I hadn’t seen before.
‘Go on!’ someone hissed.
I turned. Murray was behind me with a cameraman.
‘Go on!’ Murray repeated. ‘Talk to him!’
There was no wussing out now.
I took a deep breath and pretended I was Jac. I was at that wedding, and I’d spotted a hottie across the room. Maybe they were with someone right now, but not for long…
‘Hi,’ I said, smiling my brightest, widest, pearly-white smile. ‘Can I steal you for a second?’
‘Absolutely, Amanda,’ Romeo-Dylan said, smiling up at me. ‘Marija, it was lovely chatting to you, all right?’
He leaned in and kissed Marija on the cheek. ‘Thank you,’ he said to her.
‘Thank you for listening,’ she said.
It took a few minutes before I could actually sit down with Romeo-Dylan. They had to film Marija getting up and walking away a few times, and then me sitting down a few times. Considering the height of the heels I was wearing, it was a bit of a glute workout. If Lily was right – if I was a wifey, one of the contestants destined to go deep in the competition – my arse was going to look great by the time filming ended.
The serious look on Romeo-Dylan’s face hadn’t gone anywhere. ‘Hey,’ I said, ‘are you all right?’
‘Not yet!’ Murray barked. ‘We’re not ready for you to talk!’
We had to sit there in silence as they fiddled with more things around us. They were having some problem withthe sound equipment, and they were frantically trying to troubleshoot.
‘Seriously, though,’ I whispered, touching a finger gently to the back of Romeo-Dylan’s hand, ‘are you all right?’
‘Amanda!’ Murray snapped.
Romeo-Dylan didn’t say anything, but he met my eyes, gave me a flicker of a smile, turned his hand over so he could catch my fingers, and squeezed them gently.
