Chapter 18
“ I can’t believe I fell asleep in the car,” I shut the door behind me. Cold air flings in my face and I shiver. Curse me for only packing a blue Cami top. It is not made for Swiss weather.
Rhys walks over to stand next to me and we stare across from up, then up. And up.
“You sleeping in the car is the least of my worries now.”
I turn to look at him. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of heights?”
“Sorry, guys.” One of the camerawomen steps forward and points towards the skyline. “Can I have you say those lines again while standing over there?”
“Of course,” Rhys pulls me to the side. “Whatever you need, Lois.”
Whispering, “You know her name?” I should know her name too .
“She shoots most of the scenes inside the house.” We’re moving. He stands on my right now, I’m on the left. We repeat the lines, but it doesn’t sound genuine anymore.
Short hair, brown eyes, mole above her brow. That’s Lois. “Thank you,” I say to her.
She brushes it off by waving her hand. Either that or she’s telling me to ignore her.
“So,” Rhys fists his hands by his side. His eyes never leave the tower. “This is going to be fun, right?”
It was the girls’ turn to pick an item from the boys’ bucket lists. They took us in a room, and we technically didn’t get to decide. There were white slips in a box with our dates' names that we stuck our hands in and whatever came out, that’s what we had to do.
My heart raced when I saw bungee jumping, but thankfully I got over my fear of heights the second I rode Leviathan at Canada’s Wonderland.
This should be nothing compared to that.
“Can I be honest?” He stops in his tracks, then looks at me.
Oh gosh.
He looks terrified .
“When they told us to write down our bucket list, I didn’t know what to put so I went on Reddit and wrote whatever I saw.”
Double gosh. This dude.
Then my stomach falls. Am I the only one who took this seriously?
Out of everyone, I assumed Rhys is the one to put effort into this.
Maybe Dean put effort in his too.
Not now, brain. More important tasks at hand.
Forcing a smile, “I get it.” I don’t get it. “You didn’t think you’d have to do anything on the list.”
“Yet, here we are.”
“Mhm,” I squeeze his bicep. “Just think of this as a dare.”
“I’m more of a truth guy, Nova.”
Of course you are.
I look around the area. They booked the place for us. I can see people at the gate waiting to get in, but they’ll only be allowed once we finish filming. I hate being a hurdle in someone’s well-planned day .
This activity is actually on someone’s bucket list right now. That old man holding onto—who looks like his daughter—this could be a lifelong dream of his and we’re wasting every remaining time he has left.
The crew, employees, everyone is waiting for us, and this isn’t even on Rhys’ list.
“How about we get to the top and if you really can’t do it, we’ll head back down?” I say it earnestly so he can see every bit of honesty and support on my face.
He stares, looks away, shakes his head, then nods. “Is this an ick for you?”
Yes.
“No, of course not.” I push him forward because even if he’s not excited, I sure am. Bungee jumping in Switzerland? Not on my bucket list but it sure as heck should have been.
The view from the top of the tower is breathtaking.
I’m in someone’s dream, playing the role in their desires, being the faceless character with no purpose, but I’m here and that’s all that matters.
I’m trying not to think of the fact that Rhys doesn’t want to do this.
Maybe once he jumps down, he won’t care anymore.
In fact, maybe he’ll love it so much and want to go for round two.
Two employees work on our harnesses, they go over safety checks with us and even pull out a pop quiz. I’m nodding and trying to listen, but I’m hit with a sudden wave of nausea and insane butterflies.
Scratch that, there’s a new ecosystem developing in my stomach.
I will not back down.
“If I die, I’m going to kill you, Nova.” I look back at Rhys, who’s holding onto the railings. He looks pale and yellow. Then there’s the swiftness of him looking down and he shuts his eyes. “Let’s get this over with quickly, please. ”
Then I’m bouncing, because as scary as it looks, nothing bad happens around here.
Or well, it’s rare for it to happen.
Then I’m gently pushed to the edge. Someone’s in my ear telling me not to be scared and I’m not.
All I do is look straight ahead, the curves of the mountains, the rugged personification of their skin lagging against the distant sharpness.
They count down in the back, but I jump before they reach one.
It’s not adrenaline that pulls me down, but the rush of living .
I think I’m screaming or yelling profanities. But I’m doing this. It’s the most freeing feeling.
My head dips into the water. My body aches. But I love every minute of it.
People are cheering. Heck. I’m cheering.
Then I’m being pulled out, the harness being taken off of me, and I’m heaving like I need to give others my level of confidence when I look up for Rhys’ turn, and he’s not there.
A camera zooms in on my reaction as I turn around, and peer over three of the crew members that came with us.
“Where’d he go?”
“Nova!” He comes running towards me, then stops, checks me head to toe and sighs. “I couldn’t do it. I’m sorry. When I was up there and saw everything below...” He shakes his head in pain.
The adrenaline morphs into an ugly, mucky feeling.
It’s not a big deal, but if he didn’t want to do it then he should’ve been careful about what he wrote down on his list.
At the very least, if you’re coming on a dating show, at least watch its previous seasons to know what it’s about before signing up.
Instead, I smile. “Rhys, it’s fine. But I have to say it was so much fun, I kind of want to go again and at the same time, I kind of don’t. Is that crazy?”
He sighs. “I don’t know how you did it but,” he then raises two thumbs up like I’m a little child getting over my fears. “Good job!”
Faking a chuckle, “What’s next then?”
“Should we get something to eat?” He asks.
I turn to Lois. “Do we have time for that?”
We definitely do, but I’m hoping she says no.
“Yep. Make it seem like both of you pulled this restaurant up on your phones.” She shows us the title of the place and it takes every power within me not to grimace.
I don’t like sushi.
“Sushi’s my favourite,” Rhys exclaims. “At least something’s going my way. Do you like sushi?”
Because he looks like he’s finally enjoying his time, I nod. “ Love sushi.”
There’s an array of sushi lined up on the table. Shouldn’t we eat native Swiss food instead?
It’s odd. I’m usually great at talking to people on my own. Especially when my sisters aren’t around, but right now… it’s weird. My brain is blank and not the good kind where you can breathe in peace. But the kind that I’m staring at the utensils and wondering what I should say to Rhys.
Do I talk about the weather? The mountains?
At least the food looks pretty. I take my phone out, swiping right to the camera app.
“Is that really necessary?” Rhys asks. He’s placing a napkin on his lap .
“Oh… um,” my cheeks heat. I lower the phone. “I guess not, sorry.”
I get it when people say they don’t like taking pictures of food or the place around them. Because there are people that don’t look at them again, but me? My photo album is a diary and I like to capture images of whatever I can. It’s not like I’ll come to Switzerland or have sushi again.
“Remember last year when we met at The Palace ?”
I pour myself a glass of water. “When your date bailed on you?”
He laughs and it's rich. Too smooth for me. “Yes, that very day. I’d been going on blind dates for over three months at that point.”
I give him a look, but he points a defended finger at me. “My sister was making me go. She said it was time to get married.”
“But then I saw you standing in line. You were in a grey pantsuit, your eyes squinted in a friendly smile as an old lady talked to you. I couldn’t help but keep my attention on you and then you sat at the table next to mine.”
I’m breaking out in cold sweat. Please tell me this conversation isn’t going where I think it’s going. If Rhys spent the year thinking of me and I haven’t spared a single thought about him, I’m going to feel immensely guilty.
“You looked like you had a date, that you were waiting for someone. And I thought that man must be lucky. Until you started ordering food for yourself. That’s when I took my chance to talk to you. Could you tell I flirted?”
I chew the inside of my cheek. The end of his monologue is anti-climactic. “You weren’t very slick,” I shake my head. “But I couldn’t tell. You were a gentleman. Nice. You made conversation with me until the end and then we shared a lava cake. It was a good day.”
But not memorable because I didn’t care much.
Look, Rhys is attractive. More than that, he’s a kind, honest, desirable man.
There’s hearts shaped as stars in his eyes, there’s a hopeless romantic hidden somewhere inside of him.
If I was a nicer person—a better woman, I’d give him a chance.
I’ve said love isn’t my priority, but if I felt more than platonic feelings towards Rhys, he would’ve already been mine.
“It’s crazy how we’re reuniting on this show though.”
Rhys uses his chopsticks to put a dab of wasabi on his sushi, then dips it in soy sauce.
I pull my lips inwards to stop myself from laughing, recalling the memory of Dean devouring a bowl of milk with soy sauce in it. I still can’t believe he ate it. I must’ve given him heartburn or a long visit to the bathroom.
“What do you think the others are doing?”
Dean’s bucket list would have something like sitting on a bench, brooding at happy people as they walk by. Or, or, or maybe it’s staying in bed doing nothing with a grumpy look on his face.
A girl would be in the same bed next to him.
Oh, well. That’s… he probably doesn’t have it on his list then.
If he does?
I swallow hard, taking a bigger sip of water.
Rhys takes a deep breath, “Nova, I have to confess something.”
Please let it be that he doesn’t like sushi.
“I’m the reason you’re on Love? Check! right now.” He doesn’t look away. In fact, he smiles like that’s supposed to make me feel great.
“No, Irene’s the reason I’m here.”
“Irene’s a friend of my sisters. She was adamant on me being a contestant and I told her the only way I’d be on it is if she could put you on the show.”
The guilt is building up quickly.
“But you didn’t know where I lived or anything. ”
Rhys leans back, “That’s true. But I knew what you did for work, and I told Irene if she could recruit you, I’m in.”
I’m an incentive for someone else.
“Why?” I ask.
“I wanted to see you again.”
“You could’ve sent me a message on Headshot, it would’ve done the same thing.”
He looks confused. “Girls like this stuff, don’t they? When the man pulls something extravagant together for them?”
Not me. No. I hate this.
Being on the show for money is one thing but being on the show because a guy you met in passing a year ago can’t forget about you is another.
Rhys likes me.
“Rhys…” I’d prefer shoving my mouth with sushi than continuing this conversation. “That’s sweet of you, it is. But?—”
“Don’t answer yet,” he pleads. “We’re only a week in. I want us to get to know each other. I’m putting all my focus on you and no one else in the time that I’m here.”
“You don’t want to build other connections?” I ask. “There’s wonderful women here, Rhys.”
“Let’s see where the show takes us.” He offers an encouraging grin. “In two weeks, if you don’t feel anything towards me, we can be friends. Deal?”
I look at him. Really look at him.
His goatee.
The icy blue eyes.
The kindness beneath the contours of his face.
Rhys Silver is what every woman wants their man to be.
Yet I don’t need two weeks to decide how I feel about him .
Because deep down, the architecture of my ribs are getting replaced with vines.
“Deal,” I say instead.