Darcy didn’t think life could get much worse after yesterday, but she’d barely had any sleep when Alice had called her, outraged. ‘Bonnie is supposed to be in lockdown. Why is there a photo of her with a guy all over the internet?’

Darcy’s stomach had sunk like lead. She had no idea what photo Alice was talking about, but gut instinct told her she’d made a terrible decision letting Bonnie go back to her own place instead of the cheap hotel they were staying in.

That decision might cost her job.

‘Is something going on between the two of you?’ Darcy looks at Bonnie, wondering how many people they went to school with. It’s likely that old photos of them will start circulating within the hour. Darcy can imagine the headlines now: The One contestant leaves show for ex-lover.

‘Uh …’ Bonnie says slowly, her eyes closing for a moment before shaking her head. ‘He’s got a fiancée … or a girlfriend at least. He came here last night to tell me they’ve called off the wedding.’

Darcy inhales sharply at the thought of another wedding being called off. ‘Because of you?’ Darcy isn’t about to have to justify a cancelled wedding along with everything else, is she?

The One contestant breaks up wedding of ex-boyfriend.

‘No,’ Bonnie says quickly, but then adds, ‘well, I don’t think so. I kind of shoved him out the door before he had a chance to explain.’

Darcy doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t know what to say. She doesn’t know what to do. She needs her brain to think—to come up with a plan. She feels herself become very still. She wants to breathe a little deeper, she needs more air in her lungs, but the more she thinks about air, the more she starts gasping.

‘Are you okay?’ Bonnie stares at her.

Darcy tells herself to get a grip. She needs to concentrate on work, but it seems impossible because she has one thought that won’t stop replaying over and over in her head. ‘I want to call off my wedding,’ she blurts without even meaning to. It’s the first time she’s admitted it. The relief is momentous, like she’s been walking around in a suit of heavy armour and has just taken it all off. And even though it feels liberating, she suddenly realises that she won’t ever be able to fit into the armour again. Her heart squeezes tight, her throat closes over and tears come flooding until she’s snotty and barely able to speak. She needs to pull herself together. ‘Can I use your bathroom?’

‘It’s through there.’ Bonnie points, clearly not sure how she should be reacting.