Page 2 of Insta Bride
What I hadn’t realized, was that in hiding my hair back in a messy bun, the camera captured me. The essence of me. My pain and my hope.
I’d expected to say a few words. I’d never meant to feel them.
Before I lost my nerve, I completed the questionnaire, signed a dozen forms—some without reading, scanned, uploaded, and hit submit.
I, Elena Mercer, had just applied to a dating show to find the love of my life.
I couldn’t wait to tell my friends I was still young enough to do crazy.
An Australian Love Story
Australian Love Story Cast Leaks
Your wait is almost over. My sources tell me the auditioning for Australia’s next favorite reality TV show has wrapped up. Australian Love Story takes all the romance from Lovers Island with all the craziness from Married at First Sight, matching couples together for a month-long honeymoon on a tropical island.
Who will last and who would rather swim home through sharks than spend another night with their chosen love?
You’ll read it here first. This is Danielle Stone from Wake Up Australia.
Current
Elena
The audition process had been a fresh form of hell. Not that I let a little thing like a non-disclosure agreement keep me from sharing all with my friends over our liquid lunch.
Olivia had been the first to squeal in delight, first with the unwanted advice and first to demand a double date. I loved my friend, but if she didn’t dial down her newly married glow, she might force me to drown her in a bucket of ice.
Tash had sat back, listening without judgement. We’d both experienced the humiliation of public heartbreak. We understood how bloody hard moving on could be. While our friends thought our Saturday nights meant clubbing, it usually meant curling up on Tash’s comfy sofa for movies, wine, and pizza.
“That’s about it.” I’d relayed the three online audition calls, the medical appointment, and admitted to going on camera without my magnetic eyelashes. Now, I waited for my friends’ reaction.
Smoothing down my pale green three-quarter length jeans and burnt orange paisley shirt, I looked to see who’d recover from shock first.
“Interesting,” Jess said, piercing me with her lavender eyes. “Keep going.”
“Nothing much more to tell.” I paused to order the veal and fermented mushroom pithivier. I’d go on a diet next week. Today I could indulge in the dome-shaped, enclosed pie. “I’ve had about half a dozen telephone interviews, offered up answers to more questions than I thought I knew the answers to, and attended medical and psych interviews.” I sat back in my seat, motioning for a waiter to top up our glasses and sighed, “You wanted me back in the dating game, here I am.”
“Are you sure this is what you want, Elena?” Tash asked softly. “There are other ways of finding someone. Why the show? I keep asking, but you keep describing about the process without answering the question.”
“I’m sure.” My full eyes and open smile faked confidence I didn’t feel. “I’m just keeping it real and not expecting anything.”
“You know the only thing real on a reality TV show is the name?” Jess sniggered. “You know you’ll be edited any way they want.”
I doubted even the best producer could turn me into someone entertaining. “I’ll be me. What’s the worst thing that could happen?”
“That you make a fool out of yourself on national TV? That you ruin your dating chances like forever and—”
“What if she finds love?” Olivia interrupted Jess before I lost my nerve. “I mean, it’s not unheard of. It is a dating show, and they need success stories for viewers to get invested in.”
“Let’s look at what it is.” I sat back, relaxed to have the only voice of experience. “On the off chance they accept me, it’s a dating show. I get paired up with someone I’ve never met before and would probably never meet or spend time with outside the contractual requirements of the show.”
“Did they at least ask what you like in a partner and what you don’t?” Jess took over my interrogation, again.
“Yeah.”
“What about hard limits?”
I groaned as the others sat up, their first opportunity for real gossip. “What are your hard limits?” Jess leaned forward, and I laughed. Did she really expect me to give out my sex secrets?