“And I’m afraid that’s the end of the Road for our friend here,’” Bradley Walsh smiled towards the contestant “Konstantin, you have been caught, and for you, the chase is… over.”
Konstantin turned to the audience, waving with a heavy laugh and a smile stretched across his face before turning back to shake Bradley Walsh’s hand and departing from the view of the cameras.
“Well guys,” Bradley threw his hands into the air “We may have lost two of our four great contestants this evening but we still have two left!’ He turned to face the two remaining contestants sat at opposite ends of the long blue and purple counter. Two women standing behind their respective names.
“Eve and Villanelle, everybody!” The audience erupted with applause as Bradley continued “For those of you who are just joining us, Eve here has already secured an impressive £9,000 for the duo and with that only one remains. Villanelle! It’s time… to face… The Chaser!”
Villanelle got up from her seat, walking slowly behind Eve and round to the centre of the studio stage. Her tartan trousers matched perfectly with her short sleeve tartan shirt, font unbuttoned just enough to reveal a little of her chest. She smirked at Bradley and looked around at the audience. Confidence radiated from her as she stood ready to prove herself.
“Great to have you with us Villanelle,” Bradley Walsh stood several steps in front of her “Why don’t you introduce yourself to the audience”
“Hi everyone,” Villanelle waved one hand up to the audience “I’m Villanelle, I’m 27 and as deceiving as the accent may be, I’m currently living and working in London as an entertainment journalist.”
Bradley clapped his hands together “Fantastic! Well let me quickly run through the rules of this for you!” He continued to explain that Villanelle had 60 seconds of general knowledge quick fire questions, with each correct answer being worth £1,000 to determine how much they will be playing for against The Chaser. Time to begin.
“Who won the last ever non-celebrity series of Big Brother aired on Channel 4?” Bradley quickly started firing the questions.
“Josie Gibson.”” The money rolled up to £1,000 instantly.
“What’s the name of the real name of the author who took his name from one of Suffolk’s bridges?”
“Eric Blair.”
The questions continued on until the 60 seconds had finished. Villanelle lifted the back of her hand to her forehead and wiped the thin layer of sweat from it. Not even able to recall how many questions she had answered correctly, she had no idea how much money she had secured for her final chase.
“Well Villanelle, I don’t think we’ve had someone have The Governess this scared in a long time!” Bradley grinned, looking up at The Governess only to receive a stern look back.
Villanelle waited anxiously and turned to look at her team mate. Eve was smiling. She looked happy. So she must have done well, right?
“£14,000! A whopping £14,000 secured in just 60 seconds!” Cheering and clapping filled he studio and Villanelle grinned at Eve. They were complete strangers but Villanelle was ecstatic at how well she had done.
The game continued on. Villanelle decided to risk everything in her face off with The Governess who had offered her a much higher amount of £65,000 to move a space up on the board, closer to The Chaser. The chase was became increasingly intense as Villanelle made her way down the board, answering question after question. One space from home, with The Governess one space behind her, this was it.
“Final question!” Silence in the audience.
“Eastenders began broadcasting on BBC One in which year?”
Villanelle looked down at her options. 1985. 1971. 1989. “Fuck” She whispered under her breathe, never having seen an episode of Eastenders in her life. She pressed the button. A completely wild guess that would determine whether or not she joined Eve for the final chase.
The board flashed green, lighting up the £65,000 that she had just won for the team. Villanelle couldn’t believe it.
“Amazing! Just amazing!” Bradley put his arm around Villanelle’s shoulder as the studio filled with noise. “£65,000 to take back for the final chase, combined with Eve’s safe £9,000 you have a combined total of £74,000!” The audience continued to cheer and clap around them.
“Looks like The Governess has a tough chase ahead of her. Villanelle head back and join Eve as we prepare for the final chase!”
Villanelle walked back to where she had previously been sat but instead skipped the first few seats to sit herself next to Eve whilst they waited for the studio to prepare for the last round.
“Fuck,” Eve turned to face Villanelle “You were unbelievable!”
Villanelle smiled but didn’t respond, wanting to laugh but still trembling slightly from the shock of how much money they now had riding on this final round. She thought about how life changing even half of this money would be.
Picking up on the Villanelle’s nervousness, a brief moment of confidence hit Eve. She quickly and firmly placed her hand on top of Villanelle’s sat upon her knee. She squeezed it and smiled.
“If we win this, we’re going out to celebrate.”
The final round seemed like a blur to the both of them. Eve kept one hand on Villanelle’s the entire time. Two minutes of answering as many correct questions between them and they had secured an impressive 22 questions.
“It’s time for the final chase guys! Eve and Villanelle here have managed to correctly answer 22 questions meaning that now it’s time for the Governess who will have 2 minutes to also try and answer 22 questions in order to catch our amazing team!”
Villanelle’s hands sweat below her. A make or break moment for this amount of money. On public television aired which would be aired to the entire nation, and to top it all off, she was sat next to the a drop dead gorgeous woman. Any other circumstance and she would have been on her game with Eve but not now. Not when she might lose all of this money and not when she might make an absolute fool of herself.
“For £74,000 … The chase is on!”
The two minutes felt never ending. With 10 seconds to go, The Governess had already answered 21 questions correctly and counting. Just 1 away from catching Eve and Villanelle.
“Stop the clock!” Bradley shouted as The Governess incorrectly answered her final question “Eve and Villanelle, this is your final chance. Answer this correctly and you can push The Chaser back.”
Villanelle felt Eve’s fingers wrap tighter around her hand. Her heart pounded and she licked her lips, unsure of whether she was more on edge about the potential loss of £74,000 or the beautiful stranger’s hand on hers.
“How many children does Queen Elizabeth have?”
Fuck they both thought, realising that neither of them had much knowledge of the Royal Family.
“Time is ticking guys, I need a final answer now!” Bradley Walsh pressured Eve and Villanelle into deciding.
“5. The answer is 5.” Eve answered, not quite as confident as she would have liked to have been.
“And I’m afraid that’s the wrong answer, which means the clock restarts and we put it back to our chaser!”
The Governess answered her final question with seconds to spare, taking her to 22 questions. The chase was over and £74,000 was gone. Eve removed her hand from Villanelle’s and wiped it on the leg of her own trouser. Neither made eye contact with each other or offered any form of comfort. Eve was furious at herself.
“Eve. Villanelle. It’s been great to have you and a brave effort on both parts but, for you have been caught, and for you… the chase is over!” Bradley finished his last few lines on the camera and Eve and Villanelle were free to go.
Villanelle hardly had a chance to open her mouth before Eve pulled herself up from her seat as quick as she could, heading back stage. Villanelle followed behind, just managing to catch her before at the end of the corridor about to leave the studio exit.
“Eve!” Villanelle shouted from behind her.
Eve stopped, her hand on the door. She turned to face Villanelle and then couldn’t stop herself. She had gone from saying nothing to saying everything that came to mind.
“Look, I’m sorry! You did so well to secure the £65,000 and we definitely wouldn’t have done half as well without you on the team,” The words continued to fall from her lips “I only had to answer the one question at the end and I fucked it up. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
“Give me your phone.”
“I said I-, Wait, what?” Eve looked at Villanelle directly this time.
“I said… Give me your phone.”
“I- I don’t” Eve was cut off by Villanelle reaching and pulling her phone from her hand. She typed her number into Eve’s phone and handed it back to her. She moved around Eve and pushed open the exit door, stepping outside into the darkness of the evening.
“Maybe we can drink away our losses together instead” Villanelle turned her back and left Eve stood in the studio.
What the fuck…