Page 3 of Taking the Heat

‘It’s not just about the sex.’ She waved an indifferent hand. ‘It’s about the experience. And it’s not like we’re talking about turning tricks for twenty bucks to support a drug habit. This is a million dollars!’ Serena stroked my arm gently. ‘You and I both know what you could do with that cash.’

She had me. When framed against a need as great as mine, my indignation and morals started to look selfish. ‘Just once?’

‘Just once.’

Resigned, I dumped my tea in a nearby bin. ‘Fine. Let’s go.’

We jogged quickly back to the convention centre, where the snarky desk girl made us wait for another hour or so. Then we were ushered into a preliminary room with a hundred other pretty people. On an iPad, I answered dozens of random questions.

Have you ever had sex in a public place?

Have you ever led someone on?

Have you ever thrown a tantrum to get your way?

I selectedyesfor everything. If they were looking for crazy, I would give it to them.

We made it through the first round and found there were only ten people left from our group. Serena winked confidently as we were separated into smaller rooms with interviewers. A personality test later and I was cleared for round three.

A girl in the next room gave me more waivers and informed me casually, ‘This is the aesthetics test. If you make it on the show, you’ll be expected to wear what we provide for you, which will be mostly bikinis and resortwear. Are you comfortable in your own skin?’

‘Yeah, I actually am.’ All my gym time had paid off.

‘Great. We’re after a specific look, so I’ll need to see you in your underwear.’ She tapped her stylus against her tablet and stared at me.

‘What?Now?’

‘Yes. Or you’re welcome to leave.’

If I was going to back out, it would have been then. But my sister’s face swam before me, and I sucked up my inhibitions. I shucked out of my jeans and pulled off the silky top before I could rethink my choice.

‘Great,’ the girl said, marking something off on her screen. ‘What’s your bra size?’

***

After dressing, I joined the other auditionees in the almost-empty auditorium.That actually wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be …

Looking around, I tried to find Serena. There were only about twenty people milling around the seats, giggling and chatting, and I couldn’t see my friend anywhere.

‘Excuse me,’ I tugged the sleeve of the closest production assistant. ‘Are we waiting on more people?’

He consulted his schedule. ‘Nope, that’s it. You guys are the short list.’

‘Out of my group?’

‘Out of everyone.’

I gasped as he scurried off. There were thousands of people out the front when we started the day and now I was one of the last ones left standing. Despite myself, I felt a little special.

Wait … Serena’s gone?I was only standing there because of my friend. With her cut from the audition, I felt my resolve to get on the show start to falter.

I looked around for the assistant again to tell him that I wanted to leave, when my neck prickled.Someone is watching me …

Turning, I found myself pinned under the intense gaze of a certain judgemental barista.

Chapter 2

‘You!’ I hissed, stomping over to where he leaned against the wall. ‘Mr “I’m-so-superior-to-anyone-auditioning-for-that-show!” You are such a hypocrite!’

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