Chapter Two

As the door slammed closed with a resounding thud I gasped as the surrounding darkness enveloped me. I knew they warned us that the room was dark but I really couldn't see a thing. I stumbled forward with my hand still in Annie's, my other waving wildly beside me trying to find a wall to guide the way.

I trailed behind with tentative steps listening to the girls before me giggling in the blackness. I felt completely lost, I had no sense of direction whatsoever, there was no way of knowing how big or small the room was, where the boys were or where we were supposed to sit.

I let myself be guided a bit further forward before following the group to the right. I felt the sofa against my thigh and released Annie's hand to place mine on the rim of the soft cushions and began to follow it around. I heard the girls as they plopped onto the sofa with small 'poofs' and more giggles. I moved into my own space, nerves were bouncing around my stomach, the idea of talking to four unknown men – even in the dark, terrified me.

Don't get me wrong I know I sound ridiculous, that talking really isn't a big deal, but beyond the fear of being judged is the fear of being judged by men. Now you could blame it on low exposure – as I often do – and blame the fact that I was brought up in an all female household, or even that I went to an all girls private school, but the blame doesn't change the fact that when put into a situation where I have to talk to a guy my brain freezes and my mouth dries up. I literally have no idea what to say.

"Do you think the guys are even in here?" I heard Evie ask. I couldn't help but roll my eyes, we were told they were here already, I just had no idea how close they were.

"We're here girls" declared a smiling voice. It was across the room slightly from what I could tell but close enough to be heard clearly. My companions responded with a mix of gasps and chuckles.

"Hi guys! I'm Connie and I'm a model." I was not surprised by that at all and I could just imagine her waving at them in the dark, nor was I surprised by the appreciative sounds coming from the boys sofa. Really? She could be a hand model for all they knew and what's the point of coming on a show that's about personality and then make it clear that you're hot – not fair at all!

"I'm Evie and I'm a sales rep for Chanel." you could tell she was smiling widely just by the tone of her voice. She was way too excited about this whole thing.

"I'm Annie and I own a little coffee/book shop." I smiled at that, I'd always loved those places, there's not much better than browsing a good book while drinking a cherry mocha. I'll have to ask her where it is. There was a small silence filling the room and I was sat wondering why the boys hadn't made any move to introduce themselves when I felt an elbow make a sharp, swift contact with my ribs. Oh right.

"Oww.. um.. I'm Charlie and I'm a trainee teacher." I hated how I sounded so mousy, even more so next to these three confidence filled women. Nobody seemed to care however and after a brief pause the boys began to introduce themselves.

"Nice to meet you girls, I'm Eric and I'm a fitness instructor." cue ooohs here. Again he showed an advantage, even I was guilty of assuming he had a good body if he was a gym bunny. I made a note not to let him too close to my own body as the last thing I needed on a date was him giving me tips. He had a nice voice though, kind of deep and gravely with a small lisp on the s.

"Hey I'm Nick and I'm a musician." Nice. I'd always thought guys playing instruments were hot. Though most of my friends harped on about guys in uniforms I'd never seen the attraction, put a guy strumming a guitar in front of me however and it's a whole other story. He sounded a little shy too, the way his voice caught slightly when he said 'hey', would be nice not to be the only one.

"I'm Danny and I'm in engineering." I'll be honest and say I have no idea what that meant. What does an engineer do? It was however the most normal job so far and he had a nice tone to his voice, I could almost see the smile he must have been wearing and I think he was the one greeting us at the beginning.

"and last but not least, I'm Shaun and I'm a realtor."

I didn't have a chance to think from that point on as the room burst into chatter. Questions were being thrown around either directed at particular people or open for the group and although I tried, and I really did, every time I opened my mouth my mind would go blank. Even when I did manage to think of something to say by the time I got around to saying it the topic of conversation had moved on. So I figured I'd just sit it out. I listened to the banter and the flirty laughs and tried to remember any relevant information to use later on. Maybe if I thought of things to say now I could actually hold a conversation when alone with one of them.

"So Charlie, you're very quiet." I looked up with wide eyes. Someone – Eric I think – actually directed a question at me. I felt the heat from the invisible spotlight and was sure that I would melt under it at any second. I made sure to clear my dry throat before answering and sat up straight in my seat.

"Um.. sorry... I guess I'm.. just more of a thinker...um in a, you know, big group." Oh god stutter much? How embarrassing! I felt my cheeks redden and thanked my lucky stars that the room was filled with darkness. To make it worse it appeared that I'd effectively killed any conversation that had been taking place. I seemed to have a knack for doing that today.

"So you want to teach?" a new voice, Nick? asked. Determined to get out a sentence devoid of 'ums' and 'you knows' I took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yeah, ever since I was a kid, I guess I get a kick out of the idea of making a difference." Success! Although I'm not sure how interesting it made me. Nervously I reached up and tucked a piece of loose hair behind my ear. Luckily before any more could be said, three sharp buzzes resonated throughout the room. Date one over. I'd survived.

We'd stumbled our way out and back into the main hall, before being ushered quickly back to the girls waiting room. We are currently all sitting on the cerise sofa with Sarah in the chair I'd occupied previously. This time there were two cameras also in the room, one on either side of her pointing at us. My palms began to sweat as I stared at the red light.

"So ladies... what did you think of the guys?" she gave us a warm smile and leant forward in her chair as if she were a teenager waiting for gossip. As seemed to be my signature move now, I decided to sit back and let the girls gush.

"They are sooo amazing! I thought Eric and Nick sounded really cool!" Connie shared, gesticulating enthusiastically. Evie and Annie nodded in agreement and someone mentioned Danny but I wasn't sure who.

"What about you Charlie? Who did you like in the darkroom?"Sarah froze her eyes on me, waiting expectedly.

"I.. um.. thought Danny was nice." I gave a little nod to reiterate my point. I wasn't sure why I'd chosen Danny, maybe because he'd seemed to be the most normal and although the idea of Nick being a musician got my heart racing a little I wasn't too naïve to realise that I would totally tank on a date with him.

"Great!.. Well girls I do have some bad news." She paused for dramatic effect and it seemed to work as both Evie and Connie stiffened in their seats. "Now you were told that first impressions are really important and that's because based on your first impressions of the guys you will need to choose one of them to send home." Wow. That's pretty harsh. The process has barely started and based solely on personality someone already has to leave. On the plus side if the boys are doing the same thing I may just be able to get out of this as there is no way they would choose to keep someone that was practically a mute. Suddenly my spirits were lifted. I was going home. I wouldn't have to put myself through this torture any more and nobody could moan at me – mom – for not giving it my best shot. "You have one minute to decide girls... starting now" She threw us a wink and the girls quickly started making their decision. I nodded where needed but didn't really stake a claim on anyone seen as I'd be leaving soon. When Connie asked if we were all in agreement I merely stated that I was. I felt sorry for the guy but really I couldn't see him working out with one of these girls, though maybe Annie.

"We chose Shaun." Evie told the host, I'm not sure whether I was surprised or not by the fact that I heard no sympathy or remorse in her tone.

Taking our choice we were lead through the main hall and out to a door at the back. Upon walking in I could see that two of the four walls were glass and although they looked out over a beautiful stone courtyard, it also faced the front door. And that's when the realisation hit me, we were going to watch him leave. Talk about adding insult to injury. Before I could think any more about what was happening the front door opened and out stepped Shaun. He was tall and slim and really quite attractive. He had a number two haircut that showed just a little of his dark hair and reminded me a bit of Justin Timberlake. I imagine that he managed to sell a lot of houses. I heard Evie suck in a breath and exclaim that maybe we had made a mistake as he walked directly passed us. He didn't turn towards us and for that I couldn't blame him. Instead he kept his head held high, faced ahead of him and walked casually to the waiting black car at the end of the courtyard. Never have I felt as awkward as I did right then. We'd all had a hand in telling him he wasn't quite good enough. I could only hope his skin was thick enough to discard it.

I turned to look at the other girls as the door to the room opened and Sarah walked in. She at least had the decency to look sad about what had just happened.

"So.. I know that was hard and unfortunately it's going to get a little bit harder, as I had to ask the boys to make the same decision about you." our eyes all met nervously as I anticipated hearing my name. "The girl they want to send home is... Evie." Wait what? I did not see that coming at all! I watched, as with tears in her eyes Evie was told that she was to collect her suitcase and make her way to the front door where she'd meet a member of the crew. She gave us all a quick hug and waved as she walked out of the door.

The rest of us were told to get our suitcases and make our way to the first floor where our living accommodation for the following days would be. I followed the instructions in a daze. What had just happened? Was I really staying? Did I really have to go on dates now? Crap!

The apartment was much in keeping with the waiting room. A lot of bright coloured furniture filled the lounge, kitchen and bedrooms. I liked it, it was funky and modern and not at all what I would chose for a house of my own. I was currently laying on my chosen single bed reading Danny Wallace's new book and trying to ignore the chatter happening in the room next door. While I thought that Annie was ok, Connie I found very irritating and I planned on spending as little time around her as was possible.

We all had some down time now, there were no cameras, just us filling time until the dates started. We were told that within the next four hours we should think about who we'd like to invite on the first date and write them an email, with the addresses provided, to invite them to join us. I knew that Connie has already sent one to Nick and Annie was stuck between choosing Danny or Erik. I figured I'd wait till the end and see who was left. There's nothing worse than not being chosen. The guys had yet to email any of us but I knew that the girls were hovering by the computer waiting to see if anyone picked them for a date. I decided to keep my expectations low.

My reading was interrupted when Annie walked into the bedroom and hovered at the end of my bed.

"Hey Charlie... there's an email for you." I closed my book and sat up in shock.

"For me?" She smiled at my expression and nodded before turning and heading back into the lounge. I slowly lifted myself up from the bed and walked into the other room. Annie was by the computer smiling and waiting to see who it was from and Connie was sat on the sofa with narrowed eyes staring at me. Clearly she didn't like me being chosen before her.

My heart was thudding in my chest as I sat down and looked at the screen. There was my name and under it a box that read 'open'. My shaky fingers reached out towards the mouse and I watched as I hovered the arrow over the button. This was it, somebody had chosen to have their first date with me and I was about to find out who it was. One of those guys had decided that quiet, illiterate me was worth getting to know just a little bit more. No pressure then. I clicked the button and scanned to the bottom as the words filled the screen. Wow. Okay. My heart rate increased slightly as I went back to the top.

Hi Charlie,

I'd really like it if you would go on a first date with me.

I'd love to know more about the girl hidden in the quiet.

Nick

Thank you to those of that gave it a chance and from now on I'm aiming to write a chapter a week as I've got a lot going on with a new baby in the mix :)

What did you think of the chapter? What are you hoping will happen on their date? Who do you think is out to cause trouble? Lol

Please review – they help to fuel my motivation.

xx