After ITMs, we set Romeo-Dylan and the five Juliets up on a picnic blanket beside the lake. Instead of the usual champagne, we gave them some six-packs of beer. We normally would have set out food too, but given they were still filthy, I opted not to suggest that they were eating. I wanted to communicate a relaxed, pleasantly tired vibe, not disgust the audience.
‘Belinda,’ Romeo-Dylan said, reaching over and taking her hand, ‘can I steal you for a second? Let’s go and have a chat.’
One by one, we had Romeo-Dylan lead the women to the second picnic blanket Tim and Tom had set up in a grove oftrees (which, I grudgingly had to admit, they’d done a good job on – it was giving off theMidsummer Night’s Dream-esque fairy bower ambiance that I wanted).
‘I wanted a few moments with you alone,’ Romeo-Dylan said. ‘Today was a tough one. How are you doing?’
He used the exact same opening line with all five of them, but it didn’t matter. It would make it easier to edit together.
At least one thing was going right. Romeo-Dylan had recovered from his disappearing act and was in peak Prince Charming mode, pitching his conversations beautifully. He comforted Belinda, reassured her that she was still beautiful, tooth or no tooth. He laughed with Jess K; redesigned the rules of Love Jockey Hockey with Naya; and even gave me some not-terrible business with Juliet-Dylan. ‘Chin up, all right?’ he said to her, gently hooking a finger under her chin and lifting her face to his, after she’d talked for several minutes about how powerless she felt not being able to help Belinda. ‘The situation we’re in right now is really weird and strange, but it’s not going to be like this forever.’
‘I hate feeling helpless,’ Juliet-Dylan whispered.
‘Dyl,’ he told her, looking into her eyes, ‘I’ve never met a person less helpless than you in my entire life.’
I had to clear my throat and hold my phone up, the wordKISSemblazoned across it, and then spend about twenty minutes coaching them through it, to get the money shot I wanted, and even then, it wasn’t exactly great – but it was something.
‘I wanted a few moments with you alone,’ Romeo-Dylan said. ‘Today was a tough one. How are you doing?’
‘Tough?’ Lily said. ‘Really? I didn’t think so.’
Romeo-Dylan opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.
‘Physically tough, at least, right?’ he said at last. ‘There are Olympic sports less hardcore than Love Jockey Hockey.’
‘Oh, I broke a sweat.’ That irritating Lily Fireball smirk crossed her face. ‘But I don’t mind working hard for the things I want.’
‘That’s a very admirable quality,’ Romeo-Dylan said, rallying valiantly. ‘I, uh, I really like that you’re a fighter, Lily.’
She reached out and traced a line from the crook of his elbow, down his arm, and then up and down his index finger, stroking gently back and forth across the length of his hand. ‘I know you don’t always like my methods,’ she said, modulating her tone down a notch. ‘You’re a nice person, Dylan. I’m not.’
‘I’m sure that’s not true.’
‘Oh, it is. I’m fierce, and protective, and tough as hell, but I’m not nice. That’s why…’
Lily let her eyes drift down. Her eyelashes fluttered. She stopped stroking his hand and instead let her fingers fall, curling gently around his thumb. You couldn’t have visually constructed ‘vulnerability’ more perfectly if you tried.
Romeo-Dylan fell directly into her trap. ‘That’s why what?’
‘That’s why I need someone like you,’ she whispered. ‘Someone nice.’
She raised her gaze to meet his. ‘I’m all hard edges. I need someone soft, to balance me out. I’m fiery, so I need someone calm. I’m—’
‘Cut,’ I bit out.
They both looked over at me. ‘Did I do something wrong?’ Romeo-Dylan asked.
‘You’re fine. You’re doing a great job. It’s—’
‘It’s what?’ Lily said icily.
I looked at her. She looked at me.
My stomach clenched. I could taste bile in the back of my throat.
‘It’s the lighting,’ I lied. ‘It’s too harsh. Indigo, can you bring it down a little?’
He kissed her.
