Chapter Twenty-Four
Dec
I took a deep breath and knocked on the door in front of me. If there was one person I’d met on this show so far who could possibly help Liv and me in our fucked up situation, it was the person who stayed beyond these particular walls.
The door opened, and I looked down at the short skinny man in glasses who’d answered. Mark, I think his name was. “Hello, Declan,” he said, always the politest man in the room. “How can I help you?”
“I was wondering if I could speak to your wife. She here?”
Mark nodded, pushing his glasses back up his nose. “Isobel!” he called out, turning his head. “Someone’s here to see you.”
Isobel appeared from the bathroom, walking in long strides toward me. “Dec,” she said. “Nice to see you, man.”
“I’ll leave you two to chat,” Mark said before bowing his head in a nod at me. Isobel kissed him on the cheek, and then she led me out onto the balcony to give us some private time.
“You two are so cute,” I said with a wry smile as she lit up a Marlboro. “Never thought someone like him would make it this far in the competition. Apparently viewers usually tend to prefer the tanned, muscular guys.”
“Well, I didn’t think so, either. I only came on the show for the money, to be perfectly honest, but…” Isobel chewed her lower lip for a second, a little blush creeping into her cheeks. “Mark was looking for more, and he and I are actually well-suited. It’s worked out.”
I grinned despite my mood. “You really like him, and vice versa. Trust me, it shows. That’s why the viewers have kept you guys around and not voted you out. You’re popular as hell. Sort of a wild card couple.”
Isobel blew out a puff of smoke, then smiled. “Guess so. Anyhow, what did you want to talk about?”
“I need your help. If you can even do it. I dunno. I’m in a pretty tight spot at the moment. I know you have no real reason to help me, but I figured it was worth a shot to ask.”
“What happened?” Isobel’s eyebrows puckered.
I didn’t answer her question just yet. “I’ve seen the way you operate, Isobel. You mostly keep to yourself, and you don’t care what anyone else thinks about you. You’re quiet, except when someone gets in your way. Most of all, you observe. You see everything, and you store it all up here, don’t you?” I tapped on my forehead.
Isobel arched a brow and smiled. “I sure do.”
“I first realized when you caught me with Andrew that night. You saw. You could’ve had me thrown off the show, but you didn’t.”
She shrugged. “Firstly, I didn’t need to. And secondly, that prick Andrew deserved what he got. He’s such an asshole. I can’t believe he’s still on the show.”
“My point is, you have dirt on pretty much everyone on this show, right? In case you ever need to use it to eliminate the competition when things start to heat up. Like you said before…you came here to win. You’ve never felt the need to befriend anyone.”
She laughed and nodded. “Yep. That’s right. I keep everything to myself unless I feel like it’s necessary to bring up. I was thinking about using some of the shit I’ve discovered about people to get ahead, but…” Her voice trailed off, and she looked through the French doors at Mark. “I guess once I met Mark and actually got to know him, I decided to play the game properly. Actually try to make things work with him and win as a couple. We’ve grown really close, and I’ve gotta say, we’ll be sticking with each other after the show even if we don’t win.”
“Glad to hear it. You two are adorable.”
They really were. Isobel was tall, dark and domineering compared with Mark’s nerdy, mild-mannered demeanor, but they somehow melded perfectly together instead of clashing. Mark was kind and supportive, Isobel strong and smart. A great combination, and viewers had loved it so far. It was different from the usual winning combination of a strong, handsome guy with a petite blue-eyed blonde, and sometimes, different was good.
“So are you actually gonna tell me what sort of tight spot you’re in?” Isobel asked.
She drew on her cigarette again, and I sighed and sat down. “Let’s just say a certain someone is using nasty tactics to try and get me thrown off this show. Me and Liv.”
Isobel rolled her eyes. “Let me guess. Sweet Southern Shayla?”
I raised my brows. “How did you know?”
“Like you just said, I observe everything. Shayla is a grade-A cunt. I tried to warn Liv about her, you know, because Liv’s always seemed like a sweet girl and I’ve been a bit of an impatient bitch to her in the past. It was a couple of weeks back when I saw her and Shayla taking a boat out for a joyride.”
I sighed. “Unfortunately, she either didn’t hear you or didn’t listen. She thought Shayla was her friend, and now Shayla has used that against us to try and get rid of us. She thinks we’re her biggest competition.”
“Well, you two are. Viewers love you guys. Shayla’s gotta hate that.”
“They love you and Mark, too. So you’ll be next in her firing line.”
She nodded. “True.”
“So I guess the reason I came here was to ask if you knew of anything that could help. If you even want to help.”
“You mean you came to see if I had any scandalous shit on Shayla that could be used against her to stop her Cunt Crusade?”
I nodded. “Pretty much. So if you do have anything on her, what do you have?”
Isobel smiled widely and raised her eyebrows. “Oh, wouldn’t you like to know…”