Page 103 of The Love Dare
“So you want to leave?”
“Yes, I want to leave. I want to get out of this car and go find Tyler and never look back. Are we almost at the puzzle ceremony?”
“We’re not going to the puzzle ceremony.”
“What?” Winnie squeezes her eyes together, forcing the last of the blur away as she meets Rita’s emotionless brown eyes. Thegirl has never looked more like Nina in her life. A heavy weight drops coldly down Winnie’s sternum as her heart skips a beat. “What do you mean?”
“Uldwyna Rusu, I’m sorry to inform you that pursuant to Article Twenty-Five of the contract, you have hereby been dismissed from the set ofThe Love Match, effective immediately.”
“Huh?”
“Did you or did you not sneak out of your hotel room to meet with Tyler without informing your handler first?”
Winnie shakes her head, still not understanding.
“In Iceland?” Rita clarifies, lifting her brows expectantly.
“But that was weeks ago,” Winnie blurts. “And you guys saw us!”
“Doesn’t matter. You’re in breach of contract and it is entirely within our rights to dismiss you.”
“But…I don’t understand…” She sputters, her pulse thundering too loudly for her to think.Dismiss? Effective immediately?“What are you going to tell Tyler? What about the end of the show? Why?—”
She stops cold.
Her stomach flips.
The drops. The tears. The red blinking light signaling the camera is recording.
Horror tightens her throat as she remembers that hard look in Nina’s eye yesterday during the non-confrontation with Cynthia.
I should’ve known better, she curses internally.I should’ve known they’d get their drama one way or another. I should’ve just yelled and screamed and done exactly what they wanted.
But she didn’t. And this is so much worse.
What did I just say to Rita?
Yeah, it hurts. Of course it hurts. It was too much. That was too freaking much. I feel attacked. No one could handle that. I want to leave. I want to get out of this car and never look back.
God, I’m an idiot.
Rita practically fed her the lines, but Winnie was the sucker who fell for it, and now Tyler is going to pay the price. They’re going to tell him she left. They’re going to say that the confrontation with Cynthia pushed her over the edge. They’re going to make it seem as if she ran.
“You can’t do this,” Winnie begs, putting her ego to the side because she knows how much this will hurt him—how much it will break him. “Please, you don’t understand. This is his worst fear. You can’t do this to him. You can’t?—”
“We’re here,” Rita interrupts as the car comes to a sudden stop.
“This isn’t a fucking game!” Winnie shouts, desperately grabbing at the girl’s shoulders. “This is his life! It’smylife. We love each other. Why won’t you people just stop trying to break us apart?”
“If he loves you, he’ll see through it.” Rita shrugs her off, unmoved. “And even if he doesn’t, filming ends in three days, so you can call him to explain. That’s not really my problem.My problemis making sure you get out of this car right now. Here’s a ticket. Your bags are in the trunk. Your flight leaves in about thirty-five minutes, and I should probably tell you that we’re only contractually obligated to pay for one. So if you don’t want to buy a ticket home with your own money, you should get a move on. Oh, and Nina told me to mention, if you return to the hotel or try to interfere with filming in any way, we are prepared to sue you into oblivion for breach of contract. I hope you have a safe trip. Now get out of my car.”
Rita reaches past her for the handle and throws open the door. Winnie stares blankly at the airline sign, the automaticdoors, the flashes of the terminal revealed every time someone wheels a bag inside.
“Thirty-four minutes,” Rita tuts from behind.
Winnie swallows, still stuck, still torn, caught in the cyclone as she tries to figure out a way out of this mess. But there isn’t one.
“Thirty-three minutes.”
