Authors: Sarah Gates
‘Yvette? Definitely not. People love to hate her.’
‘Well, I don’t. And isn’t this show about me falling in love?’
‘Just don’t let the camera see how you feel,’ Joe instructed. ‘She stays. Next photo.’
‘Anna.’
‘Send her home,’ Kate said.
Luke frowned. He wasn’t done with Anna yet. She was the only thing keeping him sane. The show would be hellish without her.
‘She’s still rating reasonably well,’ another producer said.
‘Her social media platform is better than any of the other contestants’. That friend of hers, Ben, has got audience engagement way up.’
‘I want her to stay,’ Luke said. Not that anyone was pretending he had a say any more.
‘Are you falling in love with her?’ Joe asked. At the question, the others all turned and stared at him. Kate’s head twisted fast enough to give her whiplash. She looked so much like her sister. What had Anna told her?
‘No. I’m not in love with her, or any of the others.’
‘She has to go sometime. Why not now?’ Joe snuck a look at the photo of Kate’s sister and Luke saw the appreciation there. Perhaps the viewers would get a better result if they turned the cameras on the crew?
‘No. Pick someone else.’
‘Are you saying you want Anna to be in the final two?’
For the first time since agreeing to do the show, Luke really thought about what would happen at the end. How was he supposed to go through with it? He didn’t think about proposing to any of the women when he was on a date with them. Outside of the show, he hadn’t dated in years—not that he hadn’t had his share of action. But that was the clincher: he wasn’t interested in casual affairs any more, nor in sleeping with fans or picking up women in any country with snow and a slope. He wanted one woman who made him laugh, whom he could talk to, whom he could have incredible sex with for more than one night.
It’s just that there wasn’t a single woman on the show that he wanted in the final two. Except Anna. And there was no way he could keep Anna in the finale. She would poison him with some sort of delicious cake.
The producers liked Hadie, but he didn’t want to put a single mother through that. It would’ve been a lot kinder to tell her that he wasn’t interested and send her back to her son, only she was Anna’s best friend. The director was also pushing for Jessica and Liu Kun. Perhaps he should just choose them?
‘Luke?’ Joe had to repeat the question. ‘Do you want Anna in the finale?’
She didn’t want to be in the final two. She’d told him over and over. Begged even. And she’d obviously been saying the same thing to her sister. But she was the only woman he wanted, he realised suddenly. Not just on
Love Elimination
, but afterwards. Filming was coming to an end and he didn’t want to let her go. He couldn’t.
‘Yes,’ he said.
‘What?’ Kate’s eyes widened.
‘Yes. I want Anna to be in the finale.’
‘Okay.’ The director rubbed his hands together. All the producers, apart from Kate, continued discussing the pros and cons of each woman like they were characters in a scripted drama.
‘We can regroup on this later,’ someone announced and, finally, they were all allowed to depart. Escaping into the open air couldn’t come soon enough. The air conditioning inside the mansion couldn’t compete with the smell of seawater.
It wasn’t until Luke passed the pool house that he noticed he was being followed. Joe was incredibly light on his feet.
‘You realise this means you’ll have to choose one?’ the director said. His voice echoed across the pool. ‘Jessica, Liu Kun or Anna. You’ll have to commit to one of them at the end of the show.’
No. Luke hadn’t considered that. Just like he hadn’t thought of there being a final two.
‘Come on, man. Let’s go get you a drink.’
The offer was probably a cleverly disguised interrogation plan, but the call of beer was too strong. All the alcohol supplied on set was either champagne or wine. If he’d known there was a pub nearby, he might’ve ventured from his cage much earlier. Maybe even have tried convincing Anna to sneak out with him. She’d already broken the rules to use her phone. Luke saw her hiding in the palm trees between his pool house and the contestants’ villa about every third day. He’d kept her secret.
‘Sure. Let’s go.’
* * *
Anna was turning the phone over in her hands when it buzzed. Startled by the vibration, she dropped it onto the bed and it was immediately swallowed by the covers.
‘Shit.’ Her hands fumbled through the material.
Hadie popped her head up from the book she was reading. ‘Is it for me?’ she called softly.
Anna scooped the device into her hands, swiped the screen and read the text that had come through.
‘No, it’s for me. Kate is outside,’ Anna said. ‘She wants me to go for a walk with her. Have a chat.’
‘You should go. I can cover for you. I’ll say you couldn’t sleep and went to do a workout.’
‘You don’t mind?’ Anna rolled out of bed and pulled on a pair of sandals. She was already dressed in shorts and a crop top.
‘Course not. Have fun! Get Kate to tell you when and what the next dates are. And the eliminations. Possibly who’s going home next …’
Anna hid her smile. There was no way Kate would divulge any behind-the-scenes information. Her sister refused to share that type of detail even when Anna wasn’t on the show in question. The suspense was Kate’s favourite part. In the few conversations they’d had, Kate would let her sentences trail off in the hope that Anna would beg her to continue.
Sneaking outside was easy. Everyone had retreated to their rooms, except for a group drinking in Yvette’s room. The night sky was bright with the moon and stars, providing enough light for Anna to spot Kate’s blonde hair.
‘There you are,’ Kate hissed from the shadows.
‘What’s going on?’ Anna said. ‘I thought you weren’t allowed to talk to me.’
‘I miss you—and you clearly need rescuing.’ Kate pulled Anna into a tight embrace. ‘It must be driving you insane, not having left the house for a week.’
‘It has. I’m very close to hitchhiking a ride to the airport.’
‘Thought so. Therefore, I am taking you to the pub.’
‘There’s a pub nearby?’
‘Absolutely. We can drink some cocktails, have a chat and still get you back in plenty of time for you to engage in some beauty sleep before tomorrow.’
‘Is something happening tomorrow?’
‘Yep. The big announcement.’
‘What is it?’
‘As if I’m going to tell you,’ Kate replied, tapping Anna on the nose like she used to when they were young.
As they emerged onto the street, Anna forgot about the show and let herself appreciate a night away from it all. With every step the smell of seaweed dissipated and the air felt cleaner and a tight constraint lifted from her chest.
Kate glanced across at her. ‘How are you doing with the show? Apart from the boredom.’
‘What else is there besides the boredom? It’s the worst. Can’t I go home now? You’re not using me in dates any more …’
‘Aw, I’m sorry!’ Kate’s sympathy was undercut slightly by the grin on her face. ‘Luke seems to really like you.’
‘Oh yeah? Then why am I sitting in the villa by myself?’ Anna raised an eyebrow. The gesture was lost in the darkness. It had been a week of dates for the other women, punctuated by a live show where Sandra went home. Anna had spent the entire next day practising her boxing. God, she was so pissed that she was still there. Even more so that it had been a week of missing out on Luke’s company. Not that she should care.
A full month had passed since filming started. That was a month away from her café. The days she was stuck in the villa blended together. The easiest way to keep track of the days was the live shows, every Sunday, getting her hopes up about going home. But she hadn’t been in the bottom three again. The experts just publicly humiliated her each week, instructing Anna to keep opening up and to tell Luke how she felt. Meanwhile, it was getting harder and harder to make decisions about her renovations via text messaging.
‘You’re not alone. There are still seven people left. The producers are making Luke spend time with other contestants. We need
some
suspense. The show doesn’t work if everyone thinks you’re going to win.’
Anna bit down on her lip. The longer she stayed on the show, the more she felt like a proper contestant. Every time Mason Lockier showed up, her hopes rose. She kept telling herself she was just bored—it was just the show, designed to make her think about Luke Westwood. And she
was
bored. But she also missed his company. Was this Stockholm Syndrome?
‘How can I still be the favourite? I haven’t been on a date in ages.’
‘Are you jealous?’
‘No!’ Anna cried. The conversation was getting entirely too serious. Every time Anna replied in a light tone, Kate kept pulling it back. ‘Do you remember the part where I came on this show as a favour to you? Or how I’m not interested in dating your famous athlete?’
‘You like him.’
‘You ripped me away from my life, cut me off from normal civilisation. How are you surprised that I enjoy spending time with him? There’s nothing else to do! You chose a man who is fun and interesting. Wasn’t that the point?’
‘So you
are
attracted to him!’
‘Kate! Are you listening to yourself? This is a
television show
. Your whole job is manipulating the contestants to fall for Luke Westwood.’
‘And it’s working.’
‘Fine, I have a crush. That doesn’t mean I’m going to marry him, or even make it to the finale!’
‘Why not? You haven’t been going on the dates because we haven’t needed to send you on the dates—Luke asks the other contestants about you. They all talk about you. The audience loves you. As hard as we try to promote one of the others, you are the favourite on this show. We show a full two minutes of footage from Sandra’s family—like what Ben did for you on the first live show—and she still goes home.’
Never, not once, had she imagined herself in the finale. But Anna was saved from replying by the appearance of a small wooden building with a wide veranda where three groups of people sipped on beers and cocktails. Top 40 music drifted from a radio in the corner of the bar.
‘So you’re filming them bitching behind my back?’ Anna asked, stepping into the pub.
‘It’s not as bad as it sounds.’
They headed for the bar. A blackboard covered in colourful chalk drawings hung over the counter. There was a sketch next to each special. Anna wasn’t usually a big drinker, but she desperately needed a night out with her sister.
With the chaos of the drink menu, Anna didn’t notice the patrons sitting at the counter. So she didn’t see it coming when Kate gasped and shoved her to the side so she was obscured by a heavy table.
‘Ow,’ Anna complained, rubbing her head where it had hit the corner of a chair.
‘Stay down,’ Kate hissed, her lips barely moving. She straightened and plastered a smile on her face, then approached the bar.
‘Kate!’ said a familiar voice, sounding delighted to see her. Obviously, whoever it was hadn’t witnessed Kate’s unprovoked violence.
‘Joe! What are you doing here?’ Kate moved further away, distracting him from where Anna was hiding. ‘I thought you were going to talk to Luke tonight.’
‘I have.’ The man paused. ‘Are you here alone?’
‘Y—yes.’ Kate stuttered her reply. A neon sign would have been less obvious, but Joe didn’t seem to notice.
‘Would you like to join me for a drink?’ Joe’s voice grew softer and more difficult to hear over the other pub patrons. Peeking around the table legs, Anna watched as Kate fought her instinct to look back to where she was hiding. Her knees were starting to hurt. They were pressed up against the hard floorboards. Her thighs weren’t that happy with their current situation either.
‘Oh, I’m good. Thanks.’
‘Didn’t you just walk in? You’re getting a drink anyway, aren’t you? Why not have it while sitting at the bar with me?’
The director was unusually inarticulate. Anna guessed it had less to do with the drinking and more to do with Kate.
‘Um … Sure.’
Joe guided Kate to the bar. He didn’t notice as she looked over her shoulder and mouthed a word at Anna. It wasn’t too hard to figure out what she wanted Anna to do. After the allure of a night away from her prison cell, going back to the villa was not going to be easy. Still, Anna couldn’t let herself get caught outside the
Love Elimination
bubble. Not with the money and Kate’s career hanging over her head.
As soon as the director turned to the barman and ordered, Anna dashed for the entrance. She kept her body at a crouch until she rounded the corner—and slammed into a hard surface.
‘Ouch!’ Anna forgot she was trying to be inconspicuous. Thankfully the din from other conversations drowned out the pain of being knocked down for the second time that night.
‘Are you okay?’
Anna looked up and saw Luke smiling down at her.
‘Shit. You never saw me here!’ She tried to slip past him, but he snaked an arm around her waist.
‘Too late. What are you doing?’
Her traitorous skin broke out into goose bumps at his touch. She closed her eyes and prayed he would blame the nip of cold in the night air. He didn’t take his arm back. His breath touched the side of her cheek and made her skin tingle. It wouldn’t take much for him to lean down and kiss her. His lips were close and hers ached at the idea of pressing against his.
‘Kate snuck me out for a drink.’
‘Ah. Did Joe see you?’
‘No. Kate’s in there distracting him.’
‘Wouldn’t take much. The poor man is head over heels.’
Anna gnawed her bottom lip. Her sister and the director? If she weren’t so wary of getting Kate in trouble, she’d crawl right back in and spy on her. Could there really be something going on between Kate and Joe? If there was, what did Anna think about it? Part of her felt betrayed. The man was the ultimate puppet master. Anna could never like him. She’d seen him play on the vulnerabilities of every single woman on the show.
‘Give me a sec to say goodbye and I’ll walk you back to the villa,’ Luke said. He slipped past her to the bar.