The Mansion

6: instructions

The plane landed safely and I stepped into the airport. It was white, shiny and pristine.

Then I realised it wasn't an airport. It was a private landing stretch and I was in the "shed". I basically stood there staring into the pristine, tiled shed until my phone pinged.

Unknown Number (3:50)
Great to know you've landed.
Follow the cobblestone
Path until you find Alicia.
She is the game show host.
She will tell you everything.

I followed the instruction and saw massive mansion. I walked through a huge garden with shaped hedges, mini fountains and exotic flowers, birds and plants.

When I made it to the mansion, I was met by a woman who I presumed to be Alicia Hunter, the famous game show host.
She was wearing a suit jacket and pencil skirt, both extremely tight and leaving nothing to the imagination.

"Good afternoon, Ginny." Alicia held out her hand to help me with the last few steps. "Welcome to the mansion. In this show, you will be partnered up and set challenges to complete...And of course, everything will be broadcast on live television."

I gulped. Live television?? Oh dear.

Alicia led me through the huge doors and into the mansion. I stood and gawped.

There was a huge set of marble stairs in the middle of the room leading to who knows where, the floor was tiled and spotless. The walls were covered in elegant wallpaper with golden patterns.

There was a fireplace to the right with a roaring log fire burning away inside. Suddenly Alicia clapped and all the other contestants came downstairs. There were a few average looking ones, and a few drop dead gorgeous ones.

"Right! We're doing the partnering now. Arrange yourselves into a line and then we'll roll the cameras" Alicia ordered. She sounded like an army general.

We all formed a line and the cameras turned on.
"HQ has partnered you all up into pairs of two. I will now call out six names, and those six people will step forward and name their partner. No, you don't get to choose your partner based on appearance, we game them a list of names to randomly select from. Lilly, Fiona, James, Phillip, Sarah and Benjamin, please come forward"

My nerves were going haywire.

"I want you to call the name of your partner so that we know who's who. Also, you each have a luxury two person suit in the mansion. With One bed"

One bed??
Oh shit.

A girl with fair blonde hair stepped forward "I'm Lilly, 23, and my partner is Kenny!" A brunette with hazel eyes stepped out of the line. He was average looking, but with impeccable cheek bones.

The next person called out. She was tall, with black hair in a tight ponytail. This girl looked no nonsense. "My name is Fiona Westwood, 25 and my partner is Amy"
Another girl stepped out of line. She was short and curvaceous with curly hair that came down to her shoulders.

The lines gradually got shorter until there were just two people left in each.

Me and one other guy in one, and Phillip and Benjamin in the other. Both men were frightfully attractive.

One with dark, slick hair, incredibly blue eyes and a black silk button-up with a few buttons open, the other with a blonde crew-cut, chestnut eyes and a varsity jacket.

I crossed my fingers behind my back as I waited for my partner to step forward.

The blonde guy took a short step and smiled at the camera "My name is Phillip, I'm 24 and my partner is Leo."
The air escaped my lungs. I didn't realize I had been holding my breath.

The world around dropped away when Benjamin stepped forward "My name is Benjamin, I'm 25 and my partner is Ginny" he held out his hand, and I took it. His skin was soft and he smelled of cologne.

We all tramped upstairs to our suits and settled in before the next challenge.
Benjamin watched as I unpacked in silence.

"What do you do?" He broke the silence with a question.
I looked up "huh?"

"What's your job?" He looked at me quizzically.
"Oh, I work in a supermarket, stocking shelves... Minimum wage, but I had an abusive boyfriend back home...He cheated so I came here" I slapped a hand over my mouth as I realised I just said all of that to a complete stranger.

Benjamin's eyes twinkled with amusement at my horror. "Hm." That was it. No 'oh my job is-' just hm.

After that we walked downstairs for our first challenge.