‘No, I can’t do it.’ Her lungs are desperate for air but her breathing has become shallow.

A flicker of concern crosses Mel’s face. She looks at Bonnie properly, probably seeing the beads of sweat, the shaking hands, the panicked breathing. She talks into her headset. ‘Negative. We’re not ready.’ Mel hasn’t taken her eyes off Bonnie, and now moves to sit next to her. ‘Bonnie, you look beautiful.’

Bonnie doesn’t doubt that. She’s had people fussing over her all day. She’s never been pampered like that before. She was a bridesmaid for both Carla and Paige, but Carla’s wedding had been stressful and chaotic, so Bonnie had her hair and makeup done while trying to console Carla about the flowers being not what she wanted, assuring her the best man wasn’t going to say anything inappropriate about her during his speech (he did, it’d been amusing but highly inappropriate) and that her future mother-in-law’s tight fluoro-pink outfit wasn’t going to ruin the family photos.

‘All you have to do is get down the path,’ Mel goes on. ‘Just think, the suitor waiting at the end might be your future husband.’

Bonnie isn’t sure if that makes her feel better or worse.

‘This is supposed to be exciting.’ Mel leans forward and Bonnie notices one of her eyes is green, the other blue. Mel’s hand moves towards her headset. ‘Not yet,’ she says, a slight annoyance in her voice. Her eyes are still on Bonnie, all bright and cheerful.

‘Sorry,’ Bonnie says, knowing the crew are waiting for her. They’d all been briefed earlier about the schedule, how many minutes each girl would be allocated, that you must wait for your cue before you got out of the limo, that a producer might step in at any point to make an adjustment.

‘Take all the time you need,’ Mel says. ‘Just remember we can reshoot if this first meet doesn’t work.’

Bonnie knows Mel means well and is only trying to reassure her, but if Bonnie trips or stutters or embarrasses herself in any way, it will, without a doubt, end up on television. She shudders, thinking about strangers watching her, criticising her, judging her. She wonders what everyone from her hometown will think of their beloved photographer Bonnie Yates putting herself on a reality television show to find love. Oliver’s face pops into her mind. What will he think when he sees she’s come on this show? Will he be jealous? Outraged? Will he want her back?

He’s marrying someone else. He’s having a baby with someone else.

She has to remind herself of that every few minutes. There is no future for her and Oliver.