Island Curves (A BBW Romance) by Virginia Wade

Chapter One
     
     
     
    When I filled out the application to be a
contestant on the reality game show, Contest Island , I never
thought I would actually be chosen to participate. I wasn’t
athletic or super model gorgeous, having had a baby three years
ago; I still had yet to lose the entire forty pounds I had gained.
Blonde, green-eyed, and buxom, I doubted I would even last long in
the hostile, bare bones conditions we would be forced to endure.
The three million dollar prize money, which was to be split between
the two remaining contestants, wasn’t an achievable goal either; I
was just hoping for the generous Per Diem of three thousand dollars
a week. If I could last two weeks, I would be able to pay down my
debts. That was all I wanted.
    I kissed my daughter, Scarlett, goodbye early
in the morning, leaving her with my parents, who I was living with
at the moment. My ex-husband, John, had disappeared with a new
girlfriend, whoever she was, hiding from me because he was behind
on the child support payments, as usual. This was a matter for the
courts to untangle, and I wasn’t going to hold my breath waiting
for him to provide the funds for his daughter’s welfare. Marrying
him had been my first real mistake. Having the baby, although I
loved her dearly, had been the second.
    “Oh, gosh,” gushed an anxious looking
brunette next to me in the airport terminal. “This is so exciting.
I’ve been trying to get on this show for three years.”
    I nodded. “It’s something all right.” I’d
applied on a whim, never expecting to be chosen, and, after a
series of interviews and auditions, here I was.
    “I’m Susan, by the way.” She held out her
hand.
    “Marissa.”
    “I’m so ready for this. I’ve been cross
training and lifting weights and stuff. I just got out of a fitness
boot camp. I’m in the best shape of my life.” She looked sheepish.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have admitted that.”
    I shrugged. “Your secret’s safe with me.” I’d
done absolutely nothing to prepare for the show other than spending
a day at the spa getting waxed, plucked, and manicured.
    We were waiting to board a small Cessna Grand
Caravan. The terminal in Nadi was empty at this time of the day,
most of the flights having arrived earlier. I’d never been to Fiji
before, or anywhere else outside the United States for that matter.
A childhood trip to Florida had been the closest to paradise I had
come, and it had been wonderful.
    I’d been grouped with eight other
contestants, waiting anxiously for our connecting flight. A
representative from the television show had separated us from the
other passengers, so as not to draw attention to the fact that we
were part of the tenth season of the wildly popular reality
franchise. I signed a binding contract that stated I wasn’t allowed
to discuss where this season was located and any outcome of the
contest, or risk forfeiting the lucrative Per Diem. They were
understandably paranoid about leaks, and I wasn’t able to tell my
parents where I was. If there was a family emergency, I might not
find out about it until after the taping ended, which worried me.
Scarlett was a rambunctious three-year-old, and she would be a
challenge for my parents.
    Susan was the oldest of the women, the others
appearing to be in their early twenties, and predictably gorgeous.
The men were a mix of ages, with a silver fox, who everyone seemed
to revere already, holding court with a small group of men.
    A black lady, with hair braided in tiny, neat
rows, came over and sat with us. “I’m Loren.”
    “Marissa.”
    “Susan.”
    “God. This is killing me. When’s it gonna
start?” she asked.
    We had been cooling our heels for over an
hour. A representative for the show standing nearby overheard the
question. She had a phone to her ear. “We’re waiting on one person.
He just landed.”
    The first group of contestants had already
arrived and been taken to the small outer island.
    “What’s the rush?” I