Brie Sheridan has had her heart broken way too many times. Rhett Price is usually the culprit, but, this time, he might be the solution.
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Brooke 'Brie' Sheridan wouldn't necessa...
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BRIE
Rhett's face has turned whiter than bone. I can't say I blame him, though, as his mom is standing right in front of us, separated from our now broken embrace by a straight row of kitsch kitchen islands, as green as Rhett's eyes.
The same eyes he got from the woman standing right there, examining us closely.
It's only then that I remember we haven't reached the 'tell the parents' stage yet, convinced we'd have time to prepare, and I don't know why I assumed his family wouldn't want to congratulate him for the first win of the season. They were present at the match, sitting a few rows down from me and Nancy, but they didn't notice my presence.
Their eyes were either glued to the rink or to the group of fancy-looking people sitting next to them, who I assumed were brand executives and scouts. Even when Rhett isn't playing, he's still trying to sign deals, and I'd be naive to think there's a moment in time when there aren't eyes following his every move.
It's hard to believe there's room for me in his world. Everything is so lightning-paced, so fleeting—his career can end in mere seconds and all it would take would be a bad fall—and the flashing lights are directed at him instead of coming from him.
He's always under a spotlight, always networking, but, unlike me, he has been taught how to behave, when to speak and what to say, whereas I wing it. He's in his element when he's invited to galas and people actually want him there; he doesn't go in as someone else's plus one or arm candy.
I'm just a nobody. With every step forward our relationship takes and we become better partners to each other—fake or not, it doesn't matter to me—it also becomes more and more obvious we're still fundamentally different, and I fear we won't be able to make it work. It's not even about making it work past the fake relationship period; if there's no space for me in his life, I don't want to impose my presence.
I don't want to be suffocating.
I wonder if that's how Rhett will break my heart this time around, through the reminder that we belong to vastly different worlds and it won't be sustainable to pretend otherwise. Last time, what drove us apart was him not being able to match my expectations and fulfill my relationship needs; this time, the driving force pulling us away from each other might as well be my inability to be what he wants and what he needs.
I can give him all the support in the world, give him the best of me and pray it will be enough, but I'm not cut out for the ruthless world under the limelight. I'm meant to be behind the camera and that's exactly where I want to be; being thrown into a completely unfamiliar world where the both of us would likely be miserable doesn't sound like the greatest idea in the world.
