“You’re right,” he said. “I know you’re right, now. You made me realize that I’ve gone too far. There’s a place for both sorts of buildings.”
A wave of relief washed over her. “Really?” She turned around to face him.
“Yes, really.”
“So... what were you doing coming up to me today with those people?”
“I still have some business to wrap up. I was there to discuss with them the future of the project.”
“And what is the future of the project?”
“To restore it.”
She swallowed. “Are you just saying what I want you to say?”
He smiled. “And when have I ever done that?”
“True.”
“I’m sorry, Amber. I’m so sorry that I misled you at the beginning. It’s true, I thought I could get to know you and...”
He was at a loss for words, but Amber knew what he meant.
“And use me to get to my friends to stop what we were doing. People shouldn’t use people.”
“I know. I was wrong. Can you ever forgive me?”
“Honestly? I don’t know. Can you be one person who destroys buildings and uses people one minute, and then change, becoming someone entirely different the next minute? I’m not sure that that’s possible.”
“I understand. But I don’t think that person was the real me.Thisis the real me.”
“So many yous. But how can I know which is the real one?”
“By letting me hang around, getting to know me better? Would that be okay?”
But, in that moment, Amber didn’t trust her gut instinct anymore. And she really didn’t know who the real David was. She shook her head.
“No. I don’t think it would be okay.”
David looked shocked, and she realized that he also didn’t know her at all. She gave a sad smile. “I may look like a hippy pushover and I am to some extent, but I’m pretty tough, too. I know what I want, and I know what I don’t want. Unlike you. I think you’re the lost one.”
The wind chimes around her front door clattered in the breeze.
“I made a mistake, and I’m sorry. But surely you’re not going to throw away what we have because of that one mistake?”
“It was a big mistake, David, and it was mine. It wasmewho made the mistake.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I told you once that I trusted a boy, I even told you what happened because of that trust.”
His mouth tightened into a grim line.
“And,” she continued, “you promised me that you’d never let anything like that happen to me again. You may not have raped me, David, but you deceived me, and took me for a fool. I’m no fool, and you’re not the man I thought you were. You’re not good enough for me, David.” She nodded towards the car. “Now, please go.”
He thrust his hands in his pockets and nodded. “I’m so sorry, Amber, for what I did to you. But I never meant to hurt you, and I definitely don’t think you’re a fool.”
“I don’t believe you.”
