Page 34 of Competing Against Thor

The judges milled about looking at the sculptures and making some notes, making me surprisingly nervous about the situation. I hadn't really thought about whether it was a good idea for me to take part in the competition until now. But it was going to be difficult to maintain the blind part of the judging if they recognised me.

Aine walked over to Rosie and said a few words before the judges retreated from the room.

Rosie stepped forward. "I know that's got to have been nerve-wracking for you all, but the judges have passed on their comments and their decision."

Daisy sat up straight beside me, the tension clear in the way she was sitting.

"Brandon and Kenji, they loved your pond, and the way that you made the willow leaves look as if they were falling into it, but they thought your fish could have been more prominent in the sculpture to fit the brief better," Duncan said.

The two men exchanged a curt nod.

"Carlos and Ralph, they thought your savannah tree was unique and not what they were expecting, and they thoughtthat the lion cub curled up in the roots was adorable, but they thought the leaves and trunk were lacking detail," he continued.

Daisy sucked in a deep breath beside me, clearly nervous about what they had to say about our tree.

"Daisy and Thor, the judges thought your woodpecker family was charming, and the use of techniques in the leaves and apples was impressive. However, they thought you could have had one less element and the whole thing would have felt a little cleaner."

"Okay, that's not too bad," Daisy murmured, though I suspected it was more to herself than to me.

"So this week, I have the job of giving outJudge's Choice," Rosie said. "And I'm pleased to be able to award it to Daisy and Thor, congratulations to you both, you're also through to the final."

Daisy let out a small gasp and looked as if she wanted to reach for my hand but decided against it.

"Now I have the unpleasant task," Duncan said. "I have to announce which two of you are leaving us."

Selfishly, I hoped it was Brandon and Kenji. The two of them were very talented, and that posed more of a risk of winning the whole competition.

"Carlos and Ralph, I'm afraid you're going to be leaving us today."

Carlos cursed and got up from his seat. One of the cameramen zoomed in on him, and I wished I could say something to him about taking it easy but there was nothing I could do.

The bell sounded to announce the end of filming and I let out a sigh of relief.

"We gotJudge's Choice!" Daisy's excitement came through her voice.

"We did," I agreed. "And it was well deserved. We worked hard for that."

She bit her lip, drawing my attention to it and making me think about the next time I could kiss her. "We should celebrate."

"What did you have in mind?"

"There's a good Vietnamese restaurant down the road, if you like that."

"It almost sounds like you're asking me on a date," I responded.

She flushed. "Well, yes. But I have to go first, I can't go to dinner in yesterday's clothes. And if I don't show my face, Danny is going to track me down, and I don't want that."

"Fair enough," I responded. "And Vietnamese sounds good."

"I'll message you the address and meet you there?"

I nodded.

She hesitated for a moment, as if she wanted to kiss me, but thought better of it when we were around all of the other people. I wasn't sure how any of them would react to knowing that we were dating one another, but I couldn't imagine it would be good.

And it was best to keep my private life just that.

Chapter 17