Page 72 of Unscripted

“Thanks,” I replied, looking up at him. We were close, separated by only a few inches, and yet neither of us moved to step away. Standing there, on top of the bed we had coldly shared for three weeks, I stared up at the man I had somehow made it this far with.

My first instinct was to say something, to fill the space around us with comments on the day ahead, but just as quickly as I opened my mouth, I closed it. I talked to Callum and the girls and the other boys all day and all night long. I suddenly felt done with talking, wanting this, whatever it was, to remain untainted by empty chatter.

So, I simply stood there, looking up at Callum, who was looking down at me, his arms still holding onto mine.

Our bubble was eventually burst by Jess and Chiara screaming at me to come along and get ready with them.

I blinked and looked away from Callum, breaking our eye contact. I felt my cheeks growing hot and knew that in a matter of seconds I’d be bright red.

“I’ll see you down there,” I said to him.

“Yeah, see you,” he replied, a small smile tugging at his lips.

I hopped off the bed and hurried to get dressed for the day.

If I had looked back before I walked out of the room, I would have seen that Callum had been watching me walk away.

***

The producers separated the boys and girls from each other for the rest of the morning, even after we were all dressed and ready to go.

Harry poked his head into the glam room to round up the girls. I hadn’t seen him much outside of confessionals during the week, so it was nice to have a moment to say hello.

“How are you?” I asked as we waited to head out to the driveway and to the van that would take us to the beach.

“Honestly, I’m great,” he said, beaming.

Something was different about him. There was a giddiness in his eyes that hadn’t been there before.

“Something’s happened, hasn’t it?” I said, squeezing his arm in excitement.

“Well, if you must know . . . ” He looked around, lowering his voice even though he had no real reason to. We had been told to leave our mic packs behind as we would be properly mic’d at the beach. It was apparently going to be quite the big shoot.

Still, Harry whispered to me so no one around us could pick up what he was saying.

“Ben and I kissed. Just last night,” he said, squeezing me back.

“Harry! I’m so happy for you. I knew you liked him from the moment you mentioned him on the ferry,” I said.

“I know, I know. It’s early days, but it’s just so fun having a bit of a ‘showmance,’ you know?”

I knew all about “showmances.” I’d had my fair share of flirtations on set when I was starting out in the TV industry. When you worked with the same group of people for essentially twenty-four hours a day, weeks at a time, it was hard for crushes not to develop.

Harry’s walkie-talkie squawked then, pulling us out of our conversation.

“Van’s ready for the girls,” someone on the other end said.

Harry picked it up and replied, “Copy that. Sending them out.”

He stepped back from me and called out to all of us. “Alright, ladies. You can head out and into the van. Remember, no talk of the boys until you are on that beach, mic’d up with a camera in your face.”

A month ago, that sentence would have shaken me to my core. Now, it was just another day in paradise.

What a trip.

***

One winding van ride later, I found myself on the small, private beach that sat below the villa.