Winner Takes All

by Katie Price

  ‘A wedding present from some friends,’ Richard said to Lila, gesturing to the table. ‘I said she could keep it but now I’m missing it.’

  Lila giggled, wasted now. ‘You should reclaim it! Reclaim the whole flat!’

  Richard made his way around the living room. It was the first time he’d been back since he’d let Jas buy him out. The look of the room had changed. Disgusting pink and green cushions all over the Habitat sofa. Arty fashion pictures hung all over the walls. It looked cheap. The oak bookshelf had been replaced with white built-in shelves filled with books, Jo Malone candles and framed photos: Jas and her sisters huddled around a table on Christmas Day; Jas and her parents standing on top of Primrose Hill, goofy grins on their faces like tourists; Jas and her friends tarted up in high heels, pouting to the camera in a club while holding champagne flutes. Richard couldn’t stop looking at Jas in that one. Like she was deliberately looking straight through him, toying with him, teasing him. ‘Look how much fun I’m having without you.’ The solid silver photo-frame next to the sofa on a side table, which once had their wedding photo in it, now boasted a picture of Jas and her sisters. Richard inwardly seethed.

  He bent down to whisper in Lila’s ear. ‘Come on, let’s see what she’s done to the rest of my flat.’ Giggling again, Lila took Richard’s hand and let him lead her down the hallway. He poked around the bedroom, transformed from when he had lived there. The once-white walls were now painted midnight blue and the furniture was different, too. Barely recognisable. After he’d let her buy him out for such a good price, Jas had removed any evidence that he was ever here. And they were still married! If it weren’t for his lucrative job bringing them down to London, getting their life started here, she’d still be in some poxy BBC job up in Manchester. This was how she repaid him?

  Lila was swaying now, leaning into Richard as he stood in the doorway to the bedroom. He looked down at her glassy, bloodshot eyes and they looked up at him. Lila stood on tiptoe and closed her eyes, evidently waiting for him to kiss her. But instead he lightly brushed the top of her head with his lips. ‘Come on, I think we’ve all outstayed our welcome and we should let you get some sleep. It’s late and I don’t want to intrude. We’ll get out of your hair.’

  ‘Nooo, stay!’

  But Lila was slurring her speech now, minutes from passing out.

  ‘No, darling. You go to bed and I’ll order a car to take everyone home.’

  There was no rush. After all, waiting would make it all the more satisfying.

  Chapter 24

  Charlotte seemed to be the only one in the house not giddy over Luke’s arrival. At Bora Bora beach, he was pretty much all Alex and Melody could focus on. She honestly didn’t see what the fuss was about.

  ‘Did you see those arms?’ gushed Melody, dramatically fanning herself with her hand.

  Alex joined in. ‘I couldn’t stop staring into his eyes! So dark, so mysterious.’

  The three women were stretched out on white sunloungers on the famous strip of sand that slowly filled up with more people as the afternoon went by, some already starting on the beers, others napping after a heavy night in Europe’s club capital. The sun was scorching and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, though Alex wore a huge straw hat to shadow her face in case the sun caused a reaction on her tender skin. Charlotte thought the accessory made Alex looked even more glamorous than usual, like a film star from the 1970s. The sea fell in curling waves on the shore and jazz-infused house music played from a café behind them. It was blissful.

  The girls had all brought magazines to leaf through but these were left unopened. The rare chance to talk without prying cameras everywhere was too good to miss and today no subject was off-limits.

  ‘I don’t know what you two are on about,’ said Charlotte. ‘Luke is cute but Dylan is much cuter, don’t you think?’

  ‘Nah, I like big men!’ exclaimed Melody.

  ‘Dylan has muscles!’ Charlotte objected. ‘He was a rugby player. And he’s from a really poor family, he built everything up himself. The first thing he did when he made serious money was buy his mum a new flat.’ She wasn’t sure why she was trying to persuade the competition to fancy Dylan. But she found it necessary to defend him, somehow. And, besides, she and Melody had fast become firm friends.

  ‘Woo-hoo, someone is getting defensive!’ put in Alex. Charlotte still didn’t trust her completely.

  ‘It’s so true,’ teased Melody. ‘I think you’re genuinely falling for this guy.’

  Charlotte frowned. ‘But aren’t we all? I mean, he’s basically the perfect guy.’

  Melody shrugged. ‘He’s not my type. He’s nice enough, but we’ve not really got much in common. I’m not in it to win it, babe, I just want to get far enough into the competition so the audience remembers me and I get some more work off the back of it.’

  Charlotte was confused. Wasn’t everyone here because they were ‘in it to win it’? Melody read her mind.

  ‘There are no cameras around so I’m going to speak frankly and freely. We’re all here to get something out of this, right?’

  ‘Yep,’ Alex nodded.

  ‘I’m not convinced that winning is the be-all-and-end-all for me, that’s all I’m saying,’ Melody continued. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I’d love that holiday to the Maldives.’

  ‘Who wouldn’t?’ laughed Alex.

  ‘But plenty of girls get famous from TV shows without winning them. Besides, I don’t think Dylan is going to pick me. We get on fine but I can tell he fancies other girls way more.’ With that she peered briefly over her sunglasses at Charlotte. ‘Anyway, if I flirt with him enough maybe he’ll keep me in for a couple more weeks. And in the meantime I’m keeping out of trouble, being my cheery, likeable self and saying funny things about everyone else in my interviews so they’ll definitely keep them in the edit. It’s all tactical.’

  ‘Whereas I know trouble is exactly what you need to get the viewers to like you,’ said Alex with a wink.

  Charlotte was gobsmacked. She hadn’t been so naïve as to assume that no one in the competition was there just to get famous – the lure of becoming a minor celeb was a given – but she found Dylan so fanciable she couldn’t believe that Melody and Alex didn’t seem to be falling for him as hard as she was. She didn’t want to home in on this point too much though. And she admired Melody’s honesty and sheer confidence. But everything seemed so … fake. ‘Wait a minute. Alex, you’re saying all the fights, squabbles, everything with Georgia … You just put all that on for the cameras?’

  ‘Oh, don’t get me wrong, I hate that tart with a passion,’ said Alex. ‘And I hate all those stuck-up Mean Girls. But, yeah, I played up the fighting for more air time, just like they’ve all done too. Come on. Charlotte, you’re not honestly telling me you don’t have a game plan? Everyone’s here for their five minutes of fame. At least Melody and I already have careers that are going somewhere. We just need an extra push. God, can you imagine how much exposure the winner will get? I’m going for that, all guns blazing! What’ve we got to lose?’

  Melody nodded as if this was the most natural conversation in the world. ‘True. Except I can tell Dylan isn’t that into me. We’re halfway through and I’ve still not had an alone-date. You, Charlotte and Gabriella have had loads.’

  ‘Only one,’ Charlotte said, somewhat defensively. ‘But what about last night, Alex? You didn’t really do that to your own face, did you?’

  Alex pursed her lips. ‘Obviously not. That was low. I’m sure it was Georgia. You all know we’ve been fighting off camera too. The hatred is totally genuine. And it’s true that I threatened to grass her up about Gary, which is why she poisoned me. Now there’s a girl that’s in it to win it!’

  ‘Totally,’ said Melody. ‘My mate does the make-up for all the finalists on that TV show she was in and she said she’d never seen anyone as fame-hungry as Georgia.’

  ‘Maybe she’s just insecure,’ Charlotte suggested. ‘Gary certainly isn’t
going to make her famous. Maybe they’re for real?’

  ‘Don’t stick up for her, Charlotte. She’s poison and a total man-eater,’ replied Alex, sharply. ‘You never have a bad word to say about anyone, do you?’

  But there was someone in the house who made Charlotte decidedly uncomfortable. She wasn’t normally one to bitch but Melody and Alex had just been so upfront, she didn’t want to act like she didn’t trust them. ‘Well, Gabriella looks at me like I’m an insect she wants to squash. There’s definitely something about her I don’t trust.’

  ‘One hundred per cent.’

  ‘Totally.’

  ‘Dylan seems to love her,’ Charlotte continued. ‘And she’s clearly very beautiful. But she never talks to me or when she does it’s to say something patronising.’

  Alex turned to Charlotte. ‘I told you from the first night not to trust these girls. There’s a reason she, Mackenzie and Georgia are all pals. They’re the most stuck-up, affected ones in the house. Gabriella makes out like butter wouldn’t melt whenever Dylan is around. It’s creepy. If you ask me, there’s more to that girl than meets the eye. I’d stay well away from her if I were you.’

  The girls spent a couple more hours chilling and chatting before heading back to the villa, via a row of shops. Melody wanted to check out the make-up ranges in the local pharmacy and Alex went to enquire as to how she could replace the EpiPen that had mysteriously disappeared. Charlotte trailed behind, deep in thought. She felt silly. Of course she knew the benefits of being on a high-profile reality TV show. She thought back to her conversation with Jas, who’d informed her at the outset of the potential benefits for Charlotte’s career, whether she won or not. But that was quickly forgotten when she’d met Dylan. Was she the only one with genuine feelings for him? And how much was he playing up to the cameras? Was he interested in falling in love at all, or was he in it just to get rich and famous too?

  It was late afternoon by the time they arrived back at Villa Valencia and most of the girls were drinking wine by the pool or relaxing in their room. Charlotte was desperate to find out what happened on the boat-trip group-date and found Nysha applying make-up in the bedroom they shared with Melody. Charlotte grilled her for all the info.

  ‘Well, it was a positive flirt-fest,’ said Nysha. ‘Gabriella and Mackenzie – oh, my God – they were outrageous! We were all sunbathing on the top deck and, no joke, Mackenzie was full-on topless and asked Dylan to put suncream on her boobs.’

  Charlotte banged her fist on the mattress. ‘No!’

  ‘Yup.’

  ‘What did Dylan do?’

  ‘I thought he’d jump at the chance, every other bloke would, but in fact he was the perfect gentleman, handed her the bottle and said she could probably reach that area herself. Lol! Then we were all having lunch and Gabriella literally draped herself around him in front of everyone. Carmel and I didn’t know where to look. Dylan didn’t seem to mind though.’

  Charlotte’s heart sank a little, picturing gorgeous Gabriella and a laughing Dylan.

  ‘Anyway, he was really good at making sure all four of us were involved in everything and that no one was left out. We just sailed around all day, jumping in the sea, swimming through caves. It was utterly dreamy. Then, right at the end, he dropped the bombshell that he was taking Alex out to a gig at Hard Rock Café tomorrow night as he still owed her an alone-date from last night. Well, as soon as we got back to the villa Gabriella did a full-on tantrum, moaning that it should’ve been her and that Alex was getting in her way or something.’

  ‘Wow.’

  Nysha rolled her eyes. ‘She’s just a drama queen. But then, one of those black envelopes came through the door. You know, from Dylan. He announced two more alone-dates for this week. One daytime date with Kat. They’re going for a hike somewhere. And a night-date on Friday. He’s cooking dinner in his guest house for – guess who?’

  Charlotte’s eyes were wide.

  ‘Gabriella. You can imagine what a show she made of that. And they’re holding the fourth rose ceremony on Saturday. I’m pretty sure I’m on my way out. We had one kiss on our alone-date in week two and since then he’s been quite distant with me.’ She looked disappointed. ‘I thought we connected.’ Charlotte liked Nysha but couldn’t help but feel a prick of jealousy at the mention of her kiss with Dylan.

  ‘Anyway,’ continued Nysha, ‘there’s one advantage to going home, I suppose. I’m not sure I can keep up with all this drama.’

  Chapter 25

  On Friday night Charlotte was making pasta for herself, Nysha, Alex, Melody and Kat, who was eating normally and looking like herself again after her nasty stomach bug, in preparation for a film night in the villa’s cosy living room. Becca, Natalie and Carmel were getting stuck into their third bottle of wine out by the pool while Mackenzie stayed in her room. Georgia sat alone on the sofa, quietly giving herself a manicure. She and Alex had been keeping well away from each other and the mood in the house was lighter and calmer already.

  Charlotte looked over at Georgia and, despite Alex’s hatred for her, felt a little bit sorry for the girl. There the five of them were, having fun cooking together, and just a few feet away sat Georgia all alone. Since Gary had been sent back to the UK she’d been much more subdued. Charlotte didn’t think that anyone should feel lonely and Georgia didn’t seem to have any allies now, which didn’t seem right to Charlotte. She started to make her way over to the sofa area to speak to her when the entrance of Gabriella stopped Charlotte dead in her tracks. It might just be a casual dinner in Dylan’s guest house, but she was dressed for the Oscars. A dramatic floor-length white silk dress clung to her slim figure and her red hair was straightened, hanging long down her back. A diamond necklace decorated her décolletage, which was extremely low cut.

  ‘You realise it’s a barbecue by his pool, not caviar at The Ivy, right?’ Alex smirked.

  Gabriella smiled sweetly. ‘Well, he’s coming to pick me up like a proper gentleman and, in my experience, you can never make too much effort for a man. Besides, we might skip dinner and head straight for dessert. And I wouldn’t want to miss that.’ Gabriella looked Charlotte straight in the eye for the last comment. Alex was right: there was something unsettling about Gabriella. Her outfit choice was wildly inappropriate.

  Moments later Dylan strode through the open door, dressed in surf shorts and a Hawaiian shirt with short sleeves, fully open to show off his bronzed, hairless chest. The stark contrast between his and Gabriella’s attire made everyone but her giggle.

  Dylan kissed Gabriella lightly on the cheek then joined the group in the kitchen to say hello before their date.

  ‘Whoa, Gabby, you look amazing! I should’ve made more effort,’ he apologised.

  Gabriella simply shot him a megawatt smile. ‘Nonsense, darling. I know I’m way overdressed but I think it’s so important for a woman never to let herself go, especially on date night. I’ve brought my bikini too, just in case we decide to have a midnight dip.’

  Charlotte cringed. Talk about forward!

  ‘Cool. How’s everyone else doing … all good, ladies?’ He moved closer to Charlotte. ‘Something smells good.’

  She blushed as their eyes met. ‘It’s just pasta. Well, with pesto. I made it myself.’

  Dylan’s eyes widened. ‘You’re kidding? Pesto is my absolute favourite. And my daughter’s. You make it from scratch, really?’

  ‘It’s super-easy and much healthier. You just blend the pine nuts with some olive oil and basil.’

  Gabriella stroked Dylan’s arm, throwing Charlotte a dirty look before flashing her smile back at Dylan again. ‘I’m starving, darling. Can we get going? I’m soooo intrigued to see what you’ll whip up in the kitchen.’

  And with that she smiled so seductively even Charlotte couldn’t take her eyes off her. She had to admit she was in awe of Gabriella’s confidence. Charlotte could never in a million years be so sexy. No wonder Dylan wanted her all to himself tonight.

  ‘Sur
e, babe, let’s do it. I’m starving. Oh, wait, before I forget … Charlotte, I’ve got tickets to the Barcelona versus Real Madrid match tomorrow and wondered if you wanted to come with me?’

  ‘Wow, Dylan! Thank you. But, wait, isn’t that match in Barcelona? You don’t mean the real, actual game, do you?’

  ‘Yep. We’ll fly out first thing and come back tomorrow night in time for the rose ceremony. We might as well spend the day there. It’s only an hour and a half by air. If you want to, of course?’

  Charlotte smiled from cheek to cheek and could feel Melody nudge her affectionately in the ribs. ‘Yes. Yes, absolutely I want to!’

  ‘Great. I’ll pick you up at eight tomorrow morning, don’t be late! Come on, Gabs, I’m starved.’ And with that, Dylan grabbed Gabriella’s hand and bounded out, but not before she had stared over her shoulder at Charlotte. It was just for a few seconds, but it was a look of pure unadulterated hatred.

  With the girls safely occupied in the villa, the crew headed out for dinner in a tapas restaurant not far from their HQ that had become something of a regular spot for them. It was a sweet, family-run restaurant with Spanish guitar music playing softly from the speakers inside. The crew always sat outside, though, under the fairy lights winding through trees and plants. The waiters knew them by now. Lyndsey, the show’s director, immediately ordered dozens of different plates of hot and cold tapas for the table. Jas, dressed casually in denim shorts and a long-sleeved red and white top, checked her phone constantly in case any trouble should occur back at Villa Valencia.

  ‘Just relax,’ Monica whispered to her as the jugs of sangria arrived. ‘Everything will be fine. Come on, have a drink.’

  Jas smiled. She didn’t tell Monica that the troublesome houseful of women wasn’t her only concern. It had been a while since she’d heard from Richard and, for some reason, she felt anxious about that.