“How long will you be with Richard?” Caroline asked forlornly.

“A long time.”

“I brought you a present from Paris. I want to give it to you tonight.”

“Tomorrow’s fine.”

“What’s your room number? I can wait there for you. Maybe you can give me your key.”

Darcy shuddered and insisted, “Tomorrow.” He then escaped into Richard’s room and slammed the door shut.

***

Caroline was extremely vexed about the turn of events. She had thought she could force Darcy to reveal his fantasy tonight. She didn’t mind giving the man a taste of her fabulous body. This would be a small step towards her grand plan to become Mrs. Darcy.

Why did he have to retreat to that blasted playboy’s room? I wished I had paid more attention when they gave out room keys...

She was deep in her thoughts when she bumped into Annesley. “Hey, look where you’re going, big lady!”

“Sorry, Miss Matchstick!” Annesley retorted.

Caroline was ready to put Annesley in her place…but then she saw that she was carrying a clipboard of papers.

“Is that logistics? I need to talk to William Darcy about something urgent. Can you check his room number for me?”

“I’m not supposed to give out that sort of info.”

“Here’s $20. Just check!”

Such a nasty woman! “Keep your money, Miss. Luckily for you, I’m in a nice mood tonight. William Darcy? Let me check… Ah. Room 12.”

Caroline almost ran back to her room, forgetting the need to walk elegantly at all times. She decided to spend two hours to primp and perk her body up for the rendezvous with William. A facial, an orange-scented bath and a full-body oil treatment should do it. He was bound to be back to his room after two hours.

Knock or not? Better go through the balcony door. It’s so hot tonight, I’m sure he’ll have it open. And what a treat for him! Under the full moon, a perfectly toned body waiting to fulfill his every fantasy...

***

Caroline’s seduction plan was working out as well as she could possibly have wished. Under her sensual silk wrap, she wore only an orange see-through negligee. She wasn’t wearing a bra or panties. Why hide the perfect body when I had paid so much for it?

She was right on time, for once. And, to her immense satisfaction, she found the balcony door of Room 12 wide open. But before she could sneak in to present herself as a present to Darcy, she heard a woman moaning loudly.

“So, you fantasised about me all those times? Why didn’t you tell me earlier? No, don’t touch it like that. Do it like this. Yes! Thrust harder. I haven’t had an orgasm for decades…”

Caroline nearly fainted by the door! How could you, William! With that ancient witch, Lady C!

She crept on trembling legs off of the balcony, then ran back to her room as quickly as she could. After she slammed the door shut, she picked up the vase of flowers and threw it against the wall.

Her anger only subsided after she had smashed several other pieces of furniture in the room. Exhausted, she sat down on her bed. Can I ever forgive his transgression? I didn’t know he had a thing for old wrinkled woman.

The practical side of her responded, what’s the difference? He’s still loaded. You'll still have private jets, enormous yachts and all the designer clothes you want. The thought of all the beautiful designer clothing finally calmed her down. It’s worth it! She decided, then threw her tired body down on the soft mattress and went to sleep.

***

Outside the balcony of Room 12, a man sucked his cigarette hard, breathing in and out non-stop. It was his third consecutive one. He was unwilling to return to the bed. Such a demanding woman! Her skin was like sand paper! And her breasts sagged like hanging cucumbers! Such a lot of hard work, just for the position of a TV presenter! Damn!

***

Darcy was annoyed that he hadn’t been able to find a moment all morning to talk to Elizabeth again. Everyone was gathered in the studio, as the shooting would start soon.

“Dear boys and girls, new costumes for a new day,” Lady C said.

“What did she have for breakfast? She seems so cheerful this morning.” Richard whispered to Darcy. The latter shrugged, but Caroline, who was standing right next to them, heard their exchange and shuddered.

“Do we get to change partners?” Collins asked.

“Sorry, my dear, no such luck. You’re still stuck with Miss Supermodel. Now, all the gentlemen, please look under your coffee cups. There is a number written there. Richard, what number do you have?”

“Four.”

“That is the cowboy and cowgirl costume. Collins?”

“One.”

“That’s the lion and leopard costume.”

“Damn! Why do we always get the worst one,” Caroline pouted.

“Bingley?”

“Three.”

“That’s the Pirates of the Caribbean costume. And that means that Darcy got two. That’s the Regency costume. And now for our first game, ‘Practise The Shot!’”

Two temporary horizontal bars were set up in the studio, spaced 2 metres apart. The female contestants were behind one bar, the men behind the other, with each pair of contestants facing each other across the divide. Each person had both hands handcuffed to the bar but spread slightly apart, and they were tied with a string at their waist.

Another string soon dropped down from the front. On the men's side, a banana was tied at the end of this vertical string, touching the ground. On the women's side, a tube 8 cm (around 3 inches) in diameter with openings on both ends was hung from the string.

“The game’s really quite easy. Richard, Charles, Darcy and Bill, you just have to sway your body to swing the banana to hit the golf ball here into the tube of your partner. You’ll score 10 points when the shot goes through. Of course, the lovely ladies on the other side can help to receive the balls by moving slightly to position the tube better for your shot. We'll have an assistant put the golf ball in the mark right in front of the men, and another assistant on the women's side to keep the score. So let’s practise the shot!”

Elizabeth couldn’t help laughing at Darcy. Gone was the nerdy scientist look. Also gone was the hot batman look. Along with his pristine tight shirt, waistcoat, trousers and riding boots, there hung a funny-looking small banana. He swayed his hips left, right, forward and backward, in every possible angle, but the golf balls just wouldn’t cooperate. He sent some balls to Caroline’s side, some to Jane’s and one even as far as Charlotte’s.

“Look at Bill! Use your feet to help,” Elizabeth yelled to him.

“That’s cheating!”

“They didn’t say you couldn’t use your feet. Quick! Or we’ll lose.”

Darcy followed her instruction and used his feet to help kick the banana to hit the balls. Finally, he put some through the target, but they still lost the round to Bill and Caroline.

“Bill and Caroline, which torture box do you want to inflict on them?”

“No, no torture for my sweet Elizabeth!” Collins said.

“Yes, no torture for William,” Caroline added.

“Sorry, Bill and Caroline. We can’t break the rules. Darcy and Elizabeth, how about you two choose a number?”

“Three,” they said in unison, and looked at each other in surprise.

Wickham took out the note card from the torture box and said, “Oh, this is really no torture at all. Elizabeth, you just need to sit on Darcy’s shoulders while he jogs around the studio three times.”

“But I’m in Regency dress!” Elizabeth protested. “How can I sit on his shoulders?”

“Just hike it up. Do you want me to help?” Wickham asked, and winked.

“Let’s not waste time. Annesley, help her mount Darcy.” Lady C said, losing some of her cheerful countenance upon seeing Wickham’s flirty manner toward Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was hot and flustered. To hike up her dress indecently in front of millions of TV viewers was embarrassing enough. But, to top it off, Darcy was grasping her naked thighs too tightly. Despite that, she didn’t feel at all safe on her perch, because he was very tall. When he started to run, she felt as if she was sitting on top of a three-storey building, about to plunge to her death, so she bent her body lower and held tightly to his jaw, with her breasts practically resting on the top of his head.

In truth, Darcy had lost the game because he was so distracted by Elizabeth’s low neckline. Her gorgeous breasts almost spilled out of the dress every time she laughed or bowed down to receive his balls. Now he was hyperventilating from holding her creamy thighs steady on his shoulders and feeling her secret lips rubbing the back of his neck. To make things worse, she bounced her breasts against the top of his head at every stride and held his throat tightly. He felt like he was going to be suffocated. He just hoped that no one would notice his bulge in the tight trousers of his costume, or suspect the true reason why he ran so awkwardly. I may expire from the lack of oxygen, but my dead body will be fully aroused!

When the torture run was finally finished, he was eternally grateful for Annesley’s help in relieving him of Elizabeth, amid the chuckles of other people in the studio.

***

“Now for the second game: ‘Fill The Bottle.’ Blindfold the men, and then handcuff their hands behind their back!”

Once that was done, three special bottles were pinned onto various parts of the costume of each female contestant. The bottles were small and light, made of plastic so they didn’t weigh down the costume. The pin was moulded onto the waist of the bottle, leaving the top open and easily accessible.