Chapter Text
Reality TV is predictable. Introductions, makeovers, challenges, the inevitable collisions of personalities. It is the process of chemistry performed at the macro-level, where, sans the people that change season to season and format to format, everything is largely formulaic.
Penelope studied the packing list before her and could just guess what might be expected from her from the bullet points. Three formal dresses, two party dresses, athleisure, pajamas, and a bathing suit. She had shown it to her mother earlier, and they had gone to some outlets earlier in the day, where Portia proceeded to drown Penelope in the department store dressing room with outdated fluorescent dresses. Neither the color nor the contours of the dresses did Penelope any favors.
“The camera always adds ten pounds,” Portia clucked futilely.
“I could not have known I would be going on national television,” Penelope protested.
Portia’s gaze had been withering. “You should not have had those ten pounds in the first place.”
Eventually after a few department stores, her mother grew fatigued from watching her shimmy and out of unflattering dresses. Penelope saw her opportunity when Portia took a moment to sit at the edge of a planter.
“Mother, how about you rest for a bit? I’ll take a spin and be done in an hour.”
Portia fanned herself in the heat with a tabloid magazine she had bought. “Thirty minutes. Parking is expensive.”
This was how Penelope found herself readying for her introduction walk in a dress of her choosing. A seafoam and satin dress she had bought during that shopping trip hung in a corner of her hair and makeup trailer.
A knock came at her door. “Penelope, open up!” Kate, a production assistant, came into check on the status of her hair and makeup.
Penelope was nearly done. She wanted to start off with a more soft and natural look. It would be enough of a surprise for Colin to see herself undoing her mother’s gaudy taste. She studied herself in the mirror closely. Her eyes sparkled with a barely there gold and her lips were gently glossed in pink.
Kate took in Penelope’s choice of look. “It is very pure and appealing. And since you know Colin already, you don’t have to set yourself up to be anything different than how you are.” Kate was reassuring in a way a sisters were supposed to be, though Prudence and Phillipa had certainly never stepped up to the task. Penelope had learned very quickly from her minimal interactions with Kate that she was pragmatic, professional, and yet warm.
“And there is this dress.” Kate motioned to the way it tapered to her silhouette. “It is an absolute dream on you.” Penelope smiled, feeling confident about the lovely color and movement to it she was seeing in the mirror. It reminded her of the soft beauty of a waterfall. A quiet statement yet effervescent when watched.
“He will be enamored, I’m sure.”
Marriage Market shoots the introductions scene at sunset, and Kate tells Penelope to start her walk from the west corner of their rented resort villa. Her confidence does not falter when they mic her up. Nor does it falter when she makes her way down the winding torch-lit path for her grand entrance.
No, her confidence only falters once she sees Colin beaming at her, a sight she had the privilege of being on the receiving end of for years as his family friend. He watches her as she cautiously tries the first few wooden steps that connect the cobblestone path into white beach sand on her kitten heels. He jogs over to her, offering her his hand to steady her.
“Welcome Pen,” he says, before taking his place back at the center of the beachfront to welcome the next contestant. His stance is open and relaxed, and he is backlit by the sunset.
She noticed her heels start to sink into the sand and stepped out of one of them in surprise, before hurriedly rethinking and slipping back into them. Well, hopefully the producers can just cut this. Otherwise she could just see her mother pinching her forehead at her inability to keep still.
But then she hears Colin’s reassuring chuckle directed at her from a few paces away, and it sends strength through her. Penelope stands taller and takes a moment to take in her surroundings.
The contestant next to her is glowering at their exchange. She presumes that that could only be Cressida Cowper. She was only supposed to know their names, but she had sleuthed online before she boarded the flight, so she could make quick guesswork out of most of the other contestants. Cressida was a blonde in a bodycon dress. She was striking and looked exactly like her IMDb headshot. Eagle-like features, athletic proportions–things would work absolutely in her favor if she did not look so openly antagonistic. She looked like she could give the producers plenty of ammo and drama this season.
Penelope glanced sideways at the other few contestants to Cressida’s left. Siena, a fledgling actress who also dabbled in modeling and music, did not look Penelope’s way. She wanted to discreetly study the other contestants more, so she could get a sense of their compatibility with Colin, when the last torch at the eastmost corner of the villa finally lit to life announcing the last contestant.
“Marina Thompson!”
Penelope craned her head to see a girl walking down the path in a chartreuse satin evening gown. Penelope masked her frown. That evening gown was the exact look that she had been going for, albeit it was an elevated version of her own.
Gliding down the steps, Marina reached the rest of them and nodded her head at each of them in greeting, saving a lingering smile for Colin. Penelope felt thoroughly embarrassed to be wearing something so similar, but she knew the layers of foundation would keep her fluster hidden. She calmed down after a few beats to look over at Colin, and that’s when her heart dropped all over again.
Whatever look they had shared earlier paled to the open wonder on his face at Marina. Penelope knew the difference between when Colin was playing it up for an audience and when he was being genuine, and this–-this was the look of someone lovestruck.
She wondered what bolt of lightning had hit her brain to make her think she ever had a chance on Marriage Market with Colin when there was always going to be a girl that caught his eye as incomparable as Marina.
She sees little of Colin for the next day and finds out from the text message system they have with the producers that there will be one-on-one time with Colin for each of the contestants.
For Cressida, a hike to a scenic point on the island. She hid her smile when she saw Cressida’s lot–-Colin was an avid hiker, but Cressida had not even brought a pair of regular sneakers.
For Marina, an idyllic cliffside picnic. It was enviable. Penelope had walked by the cliffs in the morning. She could imagine the saturated shots already, with romance in the foreground and paradise in the background. Maybe they would feed each other strawberries, maybe Colin would tuck a hibiscus flower behind her hair, or maybe they would do something more terrible so Marina could cement the lead Penelope had already sized her up with over the rest of the contestants.
And for Penelope? The villa pool. She frowned upon reading her date location. How was it that even when selected to be one of a handful of contestants, she got the short end of the stick? The villa pool was nothing to scoff at, an Olympic volume hot springs befitting of their five star accommodations. But the hotel pool would obviously render as half an advertisement for the resort, and she wondered why her date theme had to be the one to fulfill Marriage Market ’s contractual obligations. Colin and Siena were going to go on a helicopter ride, for god sakes.
And then there was the matter of the bathing suit. She had a flattering ivory one piece that put off some Marilyn Monroe airs, but she had seen what Siena and Cressida had brought. They had packed bikinis that were so minimal the fabric could be balled up within one hand.
Nevertheless, at eight in the evening, a full day after she had seen Colin for the first time, she put on her swimwear and headed down to the pool. Colin had not yet arrived, so she tested the water, letting the water come up to her hips. Being submerged made her feel more comfortable about being in her bathing suit.
He came running fifteen minutes later in nothing but his swim trunks with two towels in hand.
“Pen! I apologize keeping you waiting.”
“Not at all. It’s good to finally get some quality time with you.”
“They made me change my outfit between every date, so I had to change five times. Now I’m in the emperor’s new clothes for you.” He gestures at his lack of a shirt, which makes Penelope laugh.
“Are you cold?” Colin notices that Penelope has her arms crossed around her. He waves her closer before crouching down on one knee, wrapping a towel around her shoulders, and sliding into the water.
“Thank you.”
“Hardly. It was my fault for keeping you waiting.”
Colin finally takes in her appearance. His eyes are respectful yet appreciative. Penelope looks away shyly, only for her gaze to land eye level with his chest and boomerang back up to his face. From his perspective, she looks like a force of nature: the wind kindles her hair like flames where it is not wet, and the waves of the pool pattern her skin with alternating tiger stripes of light and shadow.
He offers her a hand and leads her through the pool water. “You look stunning by the way, like this under the stars.” As family friends, he felt he had lost the opportunity to verbally appreciate her appearance as Penelope grew up with Eloise. But decorum was different in reality TV, and it was expected for Colin to say something nice about her efforts.
Penelope chuckles. “Did you prepare one-liners for every lady in advance?”
Colin made a noise of mock offense. “Of course not. I would have had a better line for you then. If it weren’t for all the outfit changes,” he motions to his blank forearm, “I would have had all my witty pickup lines that I had scribbled onto my forearm intact.” They stand in the middle of the pool, closer than they have ever been.
Penelope smiling, simply shakes her head. “I just still can’t believe we’re here.”
“My thoughts exactly. One day you’re seeing each other at family parties every holiday and the next you’re in a pool with one of your closest friends… and a hundred cameras trained on you.”
A friend. “Whatever strangeness I am feeling must be tenfold for you, because you’re meeting so many contestants at the same time.”
Colin agrees. “I am not used to entertaining so many women. I am used to just myself, from all my travels. And well, I am just used to you,” he grins.
Penelope pockets this compliment. Somewhere inside her she is bursting with joy that she will have this compliment forever on tape. “How has it been going through all the dates? How are the other girls?” Even as a contestant, it is too easy to slip into her modus operandi she has always had with Colin and to lend an ear to his uncertainties.
“Cressida and Siena are nice.” She picks up on the casual note of distance in his voice. “But Marina–-Marina is lovely. We had a nice picnic where we found we had a lot in common. We had both lost parents. We also both knew the feeling of having to start from scratch in new places for our careers.”
She nods and listens as the time his talk about Marina expands into her dedicated time with him. He gives her a full ten minutes of details before she moves them both towards the edge of the pool so she can let the jets filling the pool massage her back. They pummel at her skin, a dull thrum of currents not unlike the ones of familiar disappointment that have always mixed in her heart when it came to Colin.
Penelope finds it within her to be fair and pleasant. “I have only known Marina for a bit, but I agree Colin. She is beautiful and kind.” Colin stares at her for a moment.
“Forgive me. I was rambling on and on about my day when I forgot that it is supposed to be just about us right now.” Penelope shrugs and offers a smile, making sure he knows it is all fine. “How was your day?”
“I didn’t do too much compared to you. I walked along the water. It inspired me a little so I journaled and wrote some poems.”
Colin’s face split into a grin. “Now they will all know why I call you Pen. What inspired you?”
There was something sweet and special about the way they both got when they talked about writing. “The water.”
“As stereotypical as it is, the ocean always inspires me to write too when I’m traveling. If you share what you were thinking about it today, I’ll share as well.”
She bites her lip. She is shy, but he knows she is also excited, and he wants nothing more than to bring out the wit and energy that he knows is just underneath her surface.
“It is so trite but I keep thinking about Odysseus’ Penelope.”
He laughs. “Oh Pen, if you keep going, you will sound way too smart for this show. Our viewers will need more explanation.”
“Odysseus is the traveling hero in the Odyssey who becomes lost at sea. Penelope is his wife, the one who must wait twenty years before he comes back to her.”
“I recall better now--and her loyalty is the moral of the myth.” She nods.
Penelope looks away from him and towards the infinite expanse of the ocean, which now mixes in a gradient with the dark sky. “Yes, I was looking out into the water, just thinking about how much love it takes to wait.”
“If you are to be Penelope, am I to presume that the traveling Odysseus is supposed to be me?” His question calls her gaze back to him. His tone is lighthearted, but Penelope knows this is the first time are crossing the lines they have drawn in the sand of being family friends.
"...Yes."
“Well, you’re still the same as ever since boarding school. Summoning Greek mythology even on a dating show. Romantic and brilliant.”
He makes the omission she found so heavy, light. She cannot hide her delight at the praise. “And what about you Colin? What do you see and write about when you look out into the water?”
“I like to look at its color. It is different in every bay, sea, and ocean that I have been to. Typically blue. Golden and purple at sunsets, murky blue greens at estuaries. I find it iridescent. The water reminds me of you, you know. Because you have different shades to you. Shades that the world now has the privilege to see.”
“I’m flattered that you think of me on your travels. You know, you really have this way of transcribing the world, and like I have always said...you should consider putting it out there more.” Penelope truly believed in him and his ability for story. His eye was like a camera, his imagination a developing room. When she read what he wrote, she felt like she was right there with him.
“You’ve always been my number one supporter in this respect.”
“There is no one whose writing I want to see out there more than yours.”
“Then please wait for me, my Penelope.” He smiles proudly, even though the line is a little cheesy.
A tiny part of her wonders how the producers will cut their scenes as they wax poetic about Greek mythology in a hot tub and make it more palatable for the masses. They weren’t exactly ticking off the checkboxes of dating shows: getting handsy and snogging. But she stamps down the pessimistic voice within her. This much is enough for her to call it bliss. Her heart is aflutter. He is flirting, and this is their very brand of romance.
The rest of their time in the pool is relaxed. He piggy backs her around the length of it twice, and they float on their backs to take in the constellations that are naked in the sky. There are no cameras up there, so for a moment she knows that what they see can only be a memory for the two of them.
After nearly an hour, they decide to get out. Colin is gentlemanly and lets her use the other towel to wrap around herself for warmth, even though evening air must chill his wet skin. She takes a few steps towards the villa in her flip flops before noticing that he does not follow.
“Colin? Are you coming?”
“I was thinking Pen, that our date didn’t have the best location.” His body is angled toward the ocean, which is just beyond the gate that connected their resort to the private beach of their island.
She frowns. While had the same thoughts before, she had felt that their quality time had more than made up for it. “I had a lovely time nonetheless. Don’t think much of it. Let’s go up.”
Colin shakes his head. “No, I don’t want this evening to end yet for us. You deserve something more.” He grabs her hand and leads her out towards the beach. He guides her along the outer perimeter of the villa premises, and eventually after navigating the cobblestone in her flip flops for twenty minutes, Colin beckons her to walk towards the desolate side of the cliff. She looks up at the blurry dark contours. She recognizes it; this was where he had his picnic with Marina.
“Why have you brought me here?” She has to raise her voice as Colin starts ahead and wades forward into the water. He is ankle deep before he looks back at her and motions for her to join him.
“I thought it would be a bit more apparent than it is at night, but I wanted you to see this.” Her curiosity about what he means propels her forward. She has to take a few more steps away from the shore before she starts to see it. There is an unearthly glitter in the water, a subtle stir of dark sparkle that drifts in and out with the waves that lap at the white sand. The beach is bioluminescent at night.
“I researched the location before coming. From the temperature and color of the water, I suspected it would glow in the dark. I knew I would want to show you it and it was actually on my mind even before our date, while I was picnicking with Marina.”
She does not know what to make of that. “It’s beautiful, Colin. It’s electric.”
“Electric." He ruminates on the word. "Even in awe, I think you have the best choice of words out of anyone I know.” He reaches for her hand, forms a palm with it, and scoops some of the water into hers. Within her hands, there is only a hint of the night magic.
“Like this, up close you can see it’s always the same. We know water is as constant as it is precious. But here,” he gestures at the viscous carpet of stars the water has become, “here it is something that shines every night, even if people are too busy to notice.”
She looks up at him. He fixes the towel around her shoulder, though she notices the glances he steals at her swimsuit and the way it is soaked and essentially to her body. It does not render her self conscious in the slightest. In fact, she feels alluring, more than she has ever felt in her entire life.
“Thank you for waiting for me tonight, Penelope.” He presses a kiss onto her forehead and she feels as incandescent as the water.