Janet’s phone, which Dahlia had still been clutching, dropped out of Dahlia’s hand, meeting the floor with a tinny clatter that felt too loud in her ears. She was going to vomit. If she did, she’d aim it at Janet’s face.
“Dahlia,” Janet said, leaning over to retrieve the phone with a frown. “You must have seen some of the comments online, right? I know people are blowing up your Instagram. You and London are very lovable.”
“You’re looking at my Instagram?”
“Of course we are,” Janet said, matter-of-factly, like this shouldn’t be a surprise.
But it was. It felt like Dahlia had entered an alternate reality Chef’s Special. One where she was the star, but for none of the reasons she wanted. Reasons that had nothing to do with her cooking abilities.
She hadn’t seen the comments online. Ever since the beach last week, after the first episode had aired and she’d seen all the horrible things people were saying about London, she’d turned off all notifications on her phone. Just like she’d advised London to do.
And she had been . . . busy. With other things. Like deluding herself into believing she had entered into a private relationship, apparently.
She swallowed back bile, while Janet sat, tilting her head with an odd look on her face.
Dahlia bit her lip, mentally shaking herself. No . . . She knew. She knew that she and London were on national TV. Barbara had warned her. Her own brain had told her, yesterday on set, when she slipped up and acted too intimate with London and saw the cameras closing in. Janet had seen, and commented on, Dahlia’s nasty business hair just yesterday. None of this should be a surprise.
But it all felt like too much, suddenly. This conversation. The last two nights with London. Everything.
“Why are you telling me all this?”
Janet leaned in.
“There’s going to be an opportunity today on set. It’s all worked out perfectly. You and Cath and Khari have the advantage from the Face-Off yesterday.”
The Face-Off ? Dahlia could barely remember it. Yesterday already felt like so long ago.
“You’re going to get to save another contestant. You’ll get to choose between London or Lizzie. Or Ahmed, but he’s not really important here.” Janet waved a hand. “So this is what I’m thinking,” she went on, grinning, like this was genuinely fun for her. “Khari and Lizzie are tight, so I imagine he’ll want to fight for her.”
“Khari and Lizzie are tight ?” Dahlia was so thrown by this that it cut through her temporarily shut-down brain.
Janet rolled her eyes. “You and London wouldn’t know it, but yes, other contestants have made friends with each other, too, Dahlia. So anyway, I imagine Khari will fight for Lizzie. And it’ll be your opportunity to really fight for London, explain why they deserve the advantage more than Lizzie. A classic Team Lizzie–versus–Team London setup, with some romance thrown in. It’s gold.”
Janet sat back in her chair.
“I thought I’d warn you so you’re prepared when you’re up there, so you can maybe think of some real good zingers about Lizzie or something.” Janet snorted. “I could think of some good zingers about Lizzie.”
Dahlia opened her mouth, but Janet was still going.
“The beautiful thing?” Janet smacked the side of her chair, shaking her head. “Is that Lizzie and London are both such strong competitors. I can see the finale being Team Lizzie versus Team London for real, and man, that would probably be our most watched finale ever.”
She paused, her smile faltering again for a moment.
“Again”—she reached a hand toward Dahlia—“we’re all totally Team London. Right?” She looked up toward Mack again. “Right?”
“Right,” Mack muttered, putting the final touches on Dahlia’s hair, looking disgruntled.
Even with how foggy Dahlia’s thought process had felt over the last fifteen minutes, something seeped through the cracks now. A slow, viscous hurt, like a honey without any sweetness.
Was there any possibility in Janet’s mind? That it could be Dahlia in the finale instead?
Was anyone Team Dahlia?
Or was her only purpose here to be a cute anecdote, the funny klutz, a supporting role for Team London?
Being with London had made her feel more alive, more connected to another person than she had perhaps ever felt in her life.
But in that very moment—a confusing contrast to how fully she also wanted to be Team London, how violently she had wanted to defend their honor moments before—Dahlia suddenly felt acutely alone.