‘But in return I’ll need you to finish off the season,’ Darcy goes on. ‘It’s only a couple more weeks. I’ll need you to pick one of the girls at the end and stay with her for three months after the show wraps.’

The brightness that had so quickly filled his face now dims. ‘What if …’ he begins to ask, but Darcy shuts down the question as quick as she can.

‘Do we have a deal or not?’

He’s reluctant for a moment, clearly thinking it over, but his eyes remain focused on her phone sitting on her clipboard. ‘Deal,’ he confirms, leaning forward to shake her hand.

She offers him her phone, which he takes and quickly keys in the number. She’s surprised he even knows the number off by heart. She barely knows her own.

He holds the phone to his ear. She can see his chest rising and falling, the lump in his throat, the shakiness of his hands.

She feels a bit bad for him, waiting for the devastation.

And then it happens. His face falls. Ty presses the loudspeaker so that Darcy can hear the mechanical voice say, ‘The phone number you have dialled is no longer connected.’

Darcy had tried calling his ex enough times when Ty first signed on to the show to know the phone had been disconnected.

‘If I could just contact her boss and get her new number?’ He’s expecting Darcy to say yes.

‘Sorry, Ty.’ She extends her hand for him to give her the phone back.

‘You said five minutes.’

‘I also said one phone call. I gave you that. Now it’s time for you to hold up your end of the deal.’

He’s annoyed she cheated him into a bad deal and whacks the phone back into her palm.

Darcy can feel her emotions begin to waiver, but she reminds herself that she needs to prove her worth to Alice. ‘Ty, if she’s changed her number she clearly doesn’t want you to be able to contact her.’

He looks winded by her harshness, but Darcy pretends she doesn’t notice. Instead, she gestures to the photos of the remaining five girls. ‘So, do you know who you want to send home, or should I pick someone?’

‘It’s taking a long time,’ Addison says, craning her neck to look for Ty. Some of the crew have taken to playing a card game while they wait.

Bonnie shifts from one foot to the other. She can’t stop fidgeting with the bracelets around her wrist, which creates a jingling noise that she imagines is annoying the others. The five remaining girls have been put in the ceremony room, all waiting for Ty to come and hand out four keys. One of them is about to be sent home.