So I laced up my boots, buckled on my utility belt, slid my earpiece in, and sucked it up to supervise the other party. The show was so popular that the four women would probably bemobbed by fans. If I was careful, I’d barely have to interact with Lily at all.
The first thing I saw when I entered the venue was her. There were cardboard cut-outs of the four women hosting the event right near the doorway, and hers was first in line.
She was wearing the red dress. The one I’d taken off her with my teeth.
What would happen if I turned on my heel and just walked back out again?
My radio squawked. ‘Murray, Amanda and Dylan G have arrived, but there’s press at all the entrances,’ someone said in my earpiece. ‘How should we proceed?’
‘They came together?!’ I said, grateful for the distraction. ‘Fucking hell. We can’t let the paps get a shot of them before the finale airs. Make Amanda get out of the car and come in, then get the limo to head back to the depot. Get them to change cars before they bring Dylan G back.’
‘Copy that.’
I threw myself hard into keeping Amanda and Juliet-Dylan apart. If I focused on that, I didn’t have to think about anything else. ‘Wecannotlet the ending be spoiled before the episode airs,’ I growled at both of them, once they were safely inside the building and ensconced in the private VIP area. ‘You two will be on your best behaviour. Do I make myself clear?’
‘Yes,’ Amanda said.
‘Could you settle down about it, though?’ Juliet-Dylan said. ‘Not to rain on your parade, but I think the audience have figured out that we’re kind of into each other.’
‘Only kind of?’ Amanda said, playfully nudging Juliet-Dylan with her shoulder.
Juliet-Dylan grinned and pecked her on the lips. ‘Love you, babe.’
‘This is the kind of shit I’m talking about!’ I exploded. ‘You’ve been here two seconds and you’re already wearing each other’s lipstick! I want you on opposite sides of the room at all times until the episode is over.’
I managed to avoid Lily for the first two hours of the event, when the women were doing meet-and-greets with fans. ‘I’ll look after Amanda and Kumiko,’ I told the PAs. ‘Tim, you’re with Dylan G; Tom, you’re with Lily.’
I knew she was there. I could feel her. You could put me blindfolded into a crowd of a million people and I would be able to tell you where Lily Ong was.
But I didn’t speak to her until five minutes before the beginning of the finale.
The four women were going to introduce and then do a New Year’s-style countdown to the start of the episode. I’d got Tim and Tom to run point on getting them sorted, figuring that lining up a few intelligent women in front of some charity banners was not exactly a task that required my expertise.
I was wrong.
‘Tim, split Amanda and Dylan G up,’ I said into my headset, watching them from across the room. ‘Put them on opposite ends of the line. Their couple vibes are too strong.’
He didn’t reply.
‘Tim!’
Nothing.
‘Tom!’
Nothing again.
People were starting to filter from the meet-and-greet space into the viewing space. Shit.
I was in motion before my brain had really caught up with me. ‘For fuck’s sake,’ I barked, glaring at Amanda and Juliet-Dylan. ‘You two can’t stand together! It’ll give away the ending. Kumiko, Lily, you’re in the middle.’
‘So you’re speaking to me now?’
Involuntarily, I met Lily’s eyes.
She was wearing white tonight, a spangly, sparkly confection the colour of moonlight that it had been incredibly hard not to stare at from the other side of the room. It was backless, and her hair was loose, a long silky curtain slipping down her bare skin.
I wanted to wrap my hand in that hair and pull her to me and never let go.
