“What do you think?” Enzo asks, walking over and joining me.
I look up at him and smile. “It’s pretty amazing.”
He sits down beside me. “Yeah, it’s fucking great. Listen, I want to talk to you about somethin’...”
I blink, confused. I stare at him, suddenly feeling like this conversation is about to take a painful turn.
“Ah, okay.”
“I can see you and Rhett have got somethin’ goin’ on and that’s all well and good, but you gotta know that when you leave this place...it has to end.”
I’m confused.
I shake my head. “What do you mean? Isn’t that his choice?”
“It is, and don’t think I’m bein’ a dick sayin’ this to you because I really like you and it’s clear he does, too, but there’s shit you don’t know about Rhett and one of those things is that he’s not the stickin’ around type. I’ve seen this before, more than once. He is into you, but you’ll give it all up and it’ll fade. You don’t believe me, ask Maggie. Them two had a thing and then he gave her the flick.”
My heart feels as though it’s going to leap right out of my throat.
I try not to say anything, to react, to show him how much his words hurt me but...oh...they do.
They kill.
“I’m not tryin’ to upset you, Lei. Trust me, last thing I wanna do is hurt your feelings, but I don’t want to see you step away from the orchestra and give everything to come here and have him change his mind, because he will change his fuckin’ mind. Eventually, it’ll go to shit. Thousands of women are goin’ to walk through those doors, and he’s goin’ to feel this way about more than one of them, but when it comes down to bein’ the man that sticks around, he’ll let you down.”
Don’t cry, Lei.
Don’t do it.
Not here.
Not in front of him.
I nod, sharply.
Enzo looks to me, his face showing remorse. “I really am sorry.”
He stands and walks away, and I have to get the hell out of there before I lose it. I stand and rush off into the trees, where tears burst forth and flow down my cheeks. Is what he’s saying true? Will Rhett just give up on me? Will I sacrifice everything? Isn’t that the point of long distance for a while? Maybe that’s why he said that, so he can end it with me when he’s done. Oh god, am I an idiot? I feel like a fucking idiot.
“Hey.”
I turn to see Kara standing by the tree I’m leaning against, her face soft, her eyes narrowed with concerned. “What did Enzo say to you?”
I tell her in a crackly voice exactly what he said. She sighs and steps forward, putting her hands on my shoulders. “Listen, he could be right, and maybe you need to keep that in the back of your mind, but what if he’s wrong and you throw it all away without finding out where it can go? I’ve seen the way Rhett looks at you, there’s no way what he’s feeling isn’t real. I think you’d be crazy to give it up.”
“The thing is,” I say, swiping my eyes, “is that if Enzo is right, I don’t think I can handle it. It hurts now, it’ll only hurt that much more if it happens later, when I’ve let my feelings grow and develop.”
“Maybe you should talk to Maggie?”
“So she can confirm it? I don’t want to do that.”
“Then talk to Rhett, tell him your concerns.”
“He might think right now he wants to be here with me, but if Enzo is right, that might just change down the track. He said I’m not the first girl he has acted like this with. I’m not special, what we have is not special. Enzo isn’t a nasty guy, he wouldn’t say it just to be spiteful, he’s Rhett’s best friend. He knows better than anyone.”
Kara sighs. “I feared something like this might happen. Look, in the end what you do is your choice, I’ve got your back no matter what, but I think you should at least talk to Rhett.”
I nod, wiping away my tears. “We better get out there before anyone gets suspicious.”
Kara takes my hand, and we appear back into the clearing. Rhett’s eyes fall on me right away, but I don’t hold them long. Instead, I dive back into the water, going under to try and take the redness from my cheeks. I swim over to the waterfall, not looking back, and climb up and in behind it. It’s beautiful in here, big wet rocks and little pools of water. I sit by one, dangling my feet into it.
A minute or two later, Rhett appears through the waterfall, wet and dripping, his hair stuck to his face, looking so damned perfect it only makes me hurt that much more.