Chapter Four
Olivia
“Olivia, darling. Did I wake you?”
I sighed and yawned before replying. “No, Mom. I was already awake.”
Her call had actually woken me, but I didn’t need a lecture on how bad it was to sleep in late. I’d had enough of them when I still lived back at home. Besides, I wasn’t lazy. I’d been up all night working on some new pieces for my jewelry line and also setting up an online site for it, so I could do online promos and take orders.
“Good. I have a request for you. Quite a serious one.”
I swallowed hard. Requests from my mother usually weren’t a good thing. “What is it?”
“Just hear me out before you answer me, sweetheart. I know it sounds crazy. But I really need your help. See, a female contestant dropped out of the cast for this season of Wed At First Sight. All the previously-rejected applicants aren’t available anymore, as they thought they weren’t needed. And it’s only two weeks till filming is due to begin.”
I groaned. The latest reality program Mom was producing was a ludicrous joke of a show. I’d only seen the adverts for it on TV, but that was enough for me to know how bad it was. If she honestly thought I knew a single girl who’d be up for applying for this season at the last minute, then she had another thing coming.
“Mom, sorry, but I don’t know anyone who would be interested.”
“That’s not why I called. I called to ask if you would fill in.”
I sat bolt upright. “What?”
“I want you on the show.”
I rubbed my eyes. Surely this was a dream. “Um…how about no way?”
“Please, Olivia. I’m desperate. I can’t have this season canceled! That’s what will happen if we don’t find a replacement soon. We need the numbers. And it’s not like anyone would know who you are. I’m back to using my maiden name professionally, and we look nothing alike. So no one would have to know little Olivia Esposito is actually my daughter posing as a last-minute fill-in.”
“Mom, I can’t be on TV!” I said. “And I can’t get married! Especially to a stranger.”
She scoffed. “The marriages aren’t real. Only the idiotic fans who get flown in to be guests at the ceremonies think it’s real. The marriage certificates are fake, and the priest is an actor from LA. You wouldn’t be legally married.”
“I’d still have to be on TV, pretending to be some stranger’s wife. I don’t want that, Mom. You know what I’m like. I’m not some nutty attention whore.”
She affected a wheedling tone. “You wouldn’t have to do it for long. Just a few episodes, then get yourself voted out.”
My brows drew together. “You can get voted out of a marriage?”
There was an edge to my mother’s voice when she replied. “Do you even watch the show?”
I blushed, thankful she couldn’t see it. I knew she worked hard at her exec producer job, and I was proud of her for that, but I couldn’t stand reality TV. “Er. Let’s just say I haven’t caught up on it in a while.”
“Well, thanks for the support, darling daughter,” she said sarcastically. She huffed before going on. “Let me explain how it works. On the first day, you get matched with a partner by the Love Randomizer. It’s pure chance who you end up being partnered with, and you don’t get to meet him before the ceremony. So the first time you see him will be when you walk down that aisle.”
“Riveting stuff.”
“Let me finish. After you’re married—and all the other couples are as well—you all have to spend time at a resort on the Starling Islands. There are all sorts of group and couples challenges to test how well you and your partner function together as a married couple. Viewers then vote on online polls at the end of each week, and whichever couple is deemed the most annoying or ill-suited for each other that week is voted off the island. Last couple standing wins a million dollars for their brand new life together.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Okay, but don’t you think that’s a bit unfair?”
“That’s how reality TV works, honey.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. I mean if you bring me in as a replacement…you said I’d only have to do it for a few weeks and get myself voted out. That’s not fair on the guy I get partnered with. I’m sure whoever he is, he’ll be desperate for that million dollars. So if I just mess things up and get voted off within two weeks, then he gets voted off with me as my husband, and he loses out on the chance to win the prize, right?”
“Let me tell you a secret, Olivia. Most of the viewers don’t even care that much about what antics you get up to, or how boring you are. They mainly vote for the hot ones. And this show attracts literal models as contestants. So people won’t exactly be expecting someone like you to last all that long anyway. Your future fake husband will surely realize that.”
Her words cut like a knife. “Wow, thanks, Mom. I just love being reminded that I’m not model material.”
She tut-tutted. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. Most models these days look atrocious with those drawn-on Instagram eyebrows and big fake lips, and they’re all so damn tall and skinny that they look like birds of prey in person. But that’s the beauty standard these days for some ungodly reason. All I meant was that you’re real, darling. That bores people for some reason. But you know you’re lovely-looking.”
“Um. Okay. Thanks, I guess?”
Mom affected that same wheedling tone from earlier. “Olivia, it’s a free vacation to a tropical island for a few weeks. I know what New York is like this time of year, and it’s not exactly pretty...”
I chewed my bottom lip, considering her request seriously for a second. The city was a little cold and dreary at the moment, and the thought of sunning myself on an island beach made my stomach do excited little flip-flops. And by god, I’d worked so hard these last couple of years— I wasn’t even in my twenties yet and I felt like an old woman. I could definitely do with a nice break to make myself feel my own age again.
“We’ve barely even seen each other since you left, Olivia.” Mom was really laying the guilt trip on thick now. “Only on Christmas and your birthdays. So I think it would be good for us to spend some time together. And also, I know you’re trying very hard to start that jewelry line without your inheritance. Being on TV is a great opportunity for you to pimp your website, if you have one.”
That was true.
“Let me think about it for a few days?” I said.
“I really need an answer now.” The no-nonsense business tone was back.
I blew out a puff of air, quickly weighing up all the possibilities. “Fine,” I said. “Yes, I’ll help you out, Mom.”
“That’s my girl,” she replied proudly. “You won’t regret it! I’ll send over the plane ticket and the network contract right away, and I’ll see you soon!”
“Cool,” I replied flatly, already regretting my hasty decision to say yes. I really had needed more time to think it over, but Mom didn’t really give me much of a choice in that department, and I knew I’d feel too guilty to live if I said no. But I’d agreed to it now, and I had to deal with that responsibility. How bad could it be on the show, anyway?
I guess I was about to find out.