Page 22 of Unscripted

Maybe it could be as simple as Harry said.

Shoulders back, tits out.

***

Forty-five minutes later I’d been mic’d up by sound, re-bronzed and glossed and shimmered by makeup, and, to my surprise, had my boobs re-lifted by wardrobe. If I had been a more modest gal I would have died on the spot when Tina, the tall, bleached blonde, head of the wardrobe department, walked into the tent, made a beeline for me and pushed my boobs up farther than I thought was physically possible.

“You’ll thank me later,” she said before swiftly turning back around and exiting the tent.

Nice to meet you too.

As I was about to live my life on camera, I supposed it was as good a time as any to let go of any delusions of privacy I was currently harboring.

And anyway, my boobs did look great, so I’d give Tina that.

When I was finally alone in the tent, all the people who had been buzzing around me for the better part of the last hour having filtered out, I tried to sit but found my knees bouncing so much that I was beginning to annoy myself. So, I stood and paced. I would probably regret standing in my heels for longer than necessary later, but for the moment, I couldn’t stop moving.

It felt like the world around me had slowed down, and yet I was in fast forward. Like I was strapped to the front of a train that was barreling down the tracks, and I had no control over where it went or how fast it did so.

Finally, after what could have been either five minutes or five hours, the tent flap was pulled open, and I was ushered out. There, idling in the driveway, was a bright red convertible.

The car was beautiful: an old 1970s Mercedes with buttery, light tan leather interior and glossy red paint. It screamed “coastal Italian summer,” which I suppose was the whole point.

The PA standing next to the car instructed me to climb into the backseat. I did so, careful not to get the body makeup I was caked in anywhere that would stain. As I went to take a seat, they interrupted.

“Oh, no. You’ll need to be sitting on the top of the car, please,” they informed me.

“Safety not much of a priority then, is it?” I said, only to be ignored.

Carefully, this time so as not to let my heel puncture a hole in what I assumed to be very expensive leather detailing, I pulled myself up and onto the edge of the back row of seats. With nothing to hold on to, it was quite an unnerving position.

I looked around to make sure I was where they wanted me, but the PA was listening to something on their headset and walking away.

The burly man sitting in the driver’s seat must have seen the distressed look on my face in the rearview mirror, because he turned to me and said, “You alright, miss?”

All I could do was nod, which he seemed to take as a green light because then we were off, driving away from the holding tent.

I somehow managed not to fall backward and tumble off the car as he drove up the driveway and then came to a stop about halfway to the villa at what appeared to be a mini video village. There, two monitors and a handful of crew members stood, all watching the screens.

I tried to squint my eyes and catch a glimpse of what they were so absorbed in. Was it another contestant? I was desperate for any hint of what awaited me at the top of the driveway.

Callum’s eyes briefly flashed through my mind, his cold and confusing demeanor playing in my memory. I shook it off, not wanting to think of him. We’d be coming face-to-face soon enough.

Whatever was happening on the monitors must have come to an end because suddenly the group watching them turned to look my way.

Unsure of what to do with myself and the six pairs of eyes on me, I went with a wave.

I immediately regretted the choice when no one waved back.

In the middle of the group sat Cecilia. It was both a relief to see a familiar face and also a bit terrifying as it was her world I was operating in.

She got up from her chair and walked over to the idling car I was perched on.

“You alright?” she asked, her British accent crisp.

“Yes, great. So excited to be here!” I exclaimed, surprising myself with my own enthusiasm. If there were any time to fake it until I felt it, this was obviously it.

“Glad to hear it. We’ll be shooting your entrance now. Cameras will be rolling the entire time, so just be aware of yourself. Once you get to the top of the driveway and out of the car, you’ll walk up to the villa doors. Then we will cut, reset, and go again to get the whole thing from a few different angles. Any questions?”