“Right!” I exclaim. “I grew up in a small town and live orchestras weren’t a thing. The most I’ve got to experience was the fishermen’s voices blasting through my school windows.” I tuck my hair behind my ears even though I didn’t need to. It looks better in front. I pull thestrands back out. “The next is attending a lantern festival, which is every Tangled lover’s dream. I’m afraid I am a victim to that as well.”
Another person pulls out their phone.
Last one, Nova.
“The final one is going to a masquerade ball,” I think of something to say. They’re not looking at me anymore. The camera’s running, my mic’s still on, but no one is paying attention. Even Irene is focusing on her iPad and not on me anymore. “I want to experience a sexy rendezvous.”
This gets the room’s attention.
“Imagining a dark ballroom and dancing with a man who whisks me away into a secret garden and undoes parts of me is… thrilling. I know it may not happen in real life which is why I added it to my bucket list for this show. You’re able to make these items come true and if you make it come true then I finally get to put the boring, good girl act to rest and have a minute of rebellion for myself.”
Attending a masquerade ball was to experience the romance of being whisked by someone. To have the opportunity to hear a loving whisper in my ear. Or the secretiveness of not knowing who’s holding my gloved hand, who wants to peel it off of me and profess their undying love.
Is it too much to ask for romance to be romantic?
The camera light turns off.
“Perfect,” Irene excitedly hops over to me. “That last part is going to make you popular, I know it. I’m already thinking of your character arc,” she quickly takes a seat beside me and creates an imaginary rainbow with her hands. “Good girl gone rogue.”
I’m here for the money. I’m here for the money. I’m here for the money.
“That sounds…” terrible. Awful. Disgusting. “Amazing,” I cheer. “It’s exactly how I’d picture my own arc to be too.”
“Awesome,” Irene’s eyes shimmer with excitement. My answer pleases her, and I can’t take that away from her. From any of them, really. They’re starting to like me, and they think they’ve misjudged me earlier. Their perception of me is changing for the better and if I can keep it that way then it’s perfect. “Thank you for sharing that with us, I know it’s difficult being honest when you’re in front of cameras. I appreciate your effort, Nova.”
“Thank you,” I blush. I’m lying to them, to the world now, and it’s too late to take it back.
It’s a small lie, but why do I feel like I’m shrinking in size?
“That’s all for your interview today, you’ll get a message every time you need to come in for one.” Irene continues talking, pulling her hair into a side braid at the same time. “You have two hours before we start filming the first episode so if you’d like to rest for a bit, you can take one of the rooms here or you can follow Gbenjo over there and he’ll tell you how to set up your microphone for later.”
She wants me to go with Gbenjo.
“It’s better for me to go with him. I can’t for the life of me do technical things without messing it up.”
The lines beneath her eyes crease, “Perfect.”
At least I did one thing right.
CHAPTER 10
Iroll my luggage up the cobblestone path.
“Be yourself and try hard to not look directly into the camera. If you find yourself looking there, look at me instead.”
Austin stands next to a camera man, walking backwards as they film me walking.
I found out that Austin’s responsible for all camerawork. He decides how it’s filmed, where they’re placed, and what angles they should be using. Irene, on the other hand, takes care of logistics. She’ll be on and off set throughout the days, but her work will mostly be in the editing room after each filming day.
Is it weird that I thought dating shows are filmed normally? I didn’t think we’d go through an extensive process of getting our makeup done, having our outfits picked out, and getting our hair styled.
The styling artist scoured through my luggage and chose one of my favourite yellow sundresses. The bottom hem reaches the top of my knee, and the dress is held up with a thick band around my neck, which clips onto a sunflower button in the back. This has to be a staple piece in my closet. When I turned eighteen, my sisters collectivelybought it from the Alida Soani collection. Her dresses are magnificent (any dress with pockets is a win), and I can’t afford them on my own, but I’m glad I have this one.
In a typical, Nova, nostalgic way, it feels like my sisters are with me.
When she unclipped my bun and the hair fell down to my lower back, skimming the top of my butt, the styling team were in awe. There’s not a lot I’m proud of, but my hair is definitely at the very beginning of that list. Years of oiling after noticing a prominent bald spot and thinning led to this progress,thankfully. It did suck because Rosa and Nadine have the most luscious Filipino-esquehair, while I struggled to hold onto mine.
It’s been curled and brushed through, now it’s bouncing around in the wind as I walk up. The cool air is a nice contrast to Toronto’s awful heat. The weather in the city is nothing like the Philippines, but when you’ve grown up your whole life near the water, it’s terrible.
