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Robin was standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with her arms crossed. Her blue eyes were sparkling with joy.

‘Well, I heard it,’ Robin drawled softly. ‘And personally, I think Sarah got great advice.’

Sienna stood. ‘GET OUT!’ Sienna yelled, pointing at the door.

Robin backed up, eyes wide. ‘Jesus, I’m going.’

‘Go quicker.’

Robin scuttled to the door and shut it behind her. But not before she’d muttered, unsuccessfully trying not to laugh, ‘Such unprofessional behaviour.’

The door closed, and Sienna could breathe again. ‘That bloody woman!’ she let out in one good cathartic scream, thanking God she was in a soundproof room.

After a few more deep breaths, she was herself again.

‘Pip? Can I speak to Sarah off air? I need to make that right,’ she said into her headphones.

Pip nodded. ‘I told her the soundboard overheated and scrambled your feed. She’s gonna call back later.’

Sienna slowly sat back down, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear with a hand that was still subtly trembling. In ten years of hosting, she had never snapped like that. And Robin hadn’t even had to say a single word. Just a few signs and a smirk.

‘Thirty seconds, Sienna,’ Pip’s flat voice came through her headphones, cutting through the silence. ‘Sponsor break is ending.’

Sienna reached for her glass of water, taking a drink to clear the dryness in her throat.

The red ‘ON AIR’ light above the glass door flicked back on.

‘Welcome back to Dating by Design,’ she said in a perfectly measured tone.

Ten

Robin sat on a swivel stool in the cramped equipment room, swinging her legs amid rows of shelf-stored cables while a technician threaded a thin lavalier microphone wire up under her mustard-yellow jacket and pinned it on her lapel.

Across the room, Sienna had just undergone the same procedure and now sat with her hands clasped tightly in her lap. She looked impeccable as ever—tailored charcoal trousers and a soft cream silk blouse—but there was a strain around her eyes. She looked like she was bracing herself for a migraine.

Robin watched her from across the room, feeling immensely pleased with herself. Knowing that her three scribbled signs had completely unravelled Sienna’s composure yesterday had been excellent. Breaking through that prim facade was fast becoming Robin’s absolute favourite pastime.

‘Remember, you two,’ Dora Jenks said, striding into the doorway without looking up from her phone. Her thumb was a blur as she aggressively banged out a work email, a lock of her short, messy black hair falling over her eyes. She carried the distinct aura of someone constantly managing five separate fires at once. ‘Head vs Heart is entirely unscripted. No producer in your ear. You have the lavs, the audio packs are recording to the disk on your belts, and from this moment, you’re entirely on your own for sixty minutes.’

Sienna swallowed hard, her fingers fidgeting with the cuff of her sleeve. ‘So we just... walk out the door and figure it out? No prompts?’

‘Do you usually get prompts for a date?’ Dora asked, tapping send with an authoritative flick.

‘This is not a date,’ Sienna said. ‘It’s a hostage situation.’

Robin chuckled. Sienna shot her a look.

Dora briefly glanced up. ‘You lead and the audio records. The only absolute rule is no dead air. Keep it moving, keep talking.’

The tech finished fiddling with Robin’s pack. ‘Both of them are recording.’

‘Right. Off you go. Try to have fun,’ Dora muttered, already typing a fresh email as she turned on her heel and hurried back down the hall.

I always do, Robin thought.

****

Having taken the lift down together in complete, stubborn silence—already breaking Dora’s ‘no dead air’ rule before even leaving the building—Robin and Sienna stepped out onto the street.