Free Reality Girl: Episode One by Jessica Hildreth Page A

then, when the show’s over, you get ahold of him only to find out he has a girlfriend. How would you feel?”
    “Terrible.”
    “So, tell him.”
    I sighed. “I’m non-confrontational.”
    “It’s not being confrontational. It’s being human. Just explain, truthfully, why things aren’t working. And, the sooner the better. Maybe off camera.”
    I considered it for a long moment, and then took a drink. “It sounds easy.”
    “It is easy.” He rubbed his palms together. “What’s his name?”
    “Rhett.”
    “Rhett? Holy shit. His mother was a hopeless romantic.”
    “Why do you say that?”
    “Gone with the Wind? The book, by Margaret Mitchell? Rhett Butler was the hero. What a name. Well, if you’re a douchebag.”
    “I like it. Or, at least I did .”
    He rolled his eyes. “Rhett, the pizza incident revealed enough about you that I decided it’s in our best interest that we not continue along any romantic path together. Don’t try to explain or make excuses, my decision is made. I came here in hope of finding someone to love, and--”
    “Finding someone compatible,” I interrupted. “Not a lover, compatibility.”
    He sighed. “I came here in hope of finding someone I’m compatible with – then, you can name any other reasons you can think of.” He stood up and began to pace the floor behind the bar. “After you list the reasons, tell him that you want to try and get along for the rest of the show, and that’s it.”
    “Do I really have to?”
    “You should.”
    “Why?”
    “Because if you don’t, it’ll be awkward. And, it’s the right thing to do.”
    “Do you always do what’s right?”
    “I try to.”
    Why didn’t Kelli pick you for the show?
    “I wish Kelli would have picked you for the show.”
    He stopped pacing and turned to face me. “The fact I’m not on the show, and never would be, is what separates me from those idiots. Tell yourself whatever you want, but you’re not looking for compatibility. You’re looking for love. That’s okay. But you’re not going to find it there. You’re just not.”
    I stared back at him, convinced he was right.
    On both parts.
    He wasn’t one of the idiots. 
    And, I was looking for love.
    My problem – at least one of my problems – was that I feared I wasn’t going to find it.
    At least not where I was being forced to look.

 
     
     
    CHAPTER FOURTEEN
    I had reached a point that instead of counting the amount of days I got to spend with Rhett; I was counting how many days it was until he was gone. 
    Eleven.
    Eleven torturous days remained, and I felt like time was standing still.
    Right thing to do, or wrong thing to do, talking to Rhett about how I felt wasn’t going to be an easy . Although telling men no wasn’t something I did very often, I decided Franky was right. Implementing my plan and doing it , however, took three days.
    We were in the living room. Rhett was mindlessly staring at a basketball game. I was watching him watch the game, and wondering how I ever thought – if even for a minute – that he could be the one.
    I felt like such an overeager fool.
    “We need to talk.”
    While he continued to stare at the television, he responded. “About what? You ready to fuck?”
    I found it difficult to believe that he was so much different than he appeared to be the first night we met. We had gone from watching the sunset together to having not one thing in common in seventeen days. 
    “No,” I snapped. “We’re not fucking again. Ever.”
    He continued to stare at the television. “Yeah. I figured that one out. Still butt hurt about that pizza, huh? Man, you’re stubborn.”
    “I’m not butt hurt about the pizza.”
    With the remote dangling loosely from his hand, he remained slumped into the arm of the couch with his eyes fixed on the basketball game. After a few long minutes of silence, I made a mental note to ask Franky if he was a sports fan.
    I cleared my throat.
    “Time for dinner?” he