"Savannah is one of the most intelligent people I've ever met. She's passionate, dedicated, and capable of extraordinary work. And you're treating her like an accessory. Like her dreams are negotiable as long as they don't interfere with yours."
The silence that follows is deafening. Thad's face has gone red. "You have no right?—"
"You're right. I don't." Romeo stands, and his eyes meet mine. "But someone should tell you that you're making a mistake. That if you can't see how remarkable she is, if you can'tsupport what she wants instead of what you want for her, then you don't deserve her."
He puts money on the table—enough to cover all three meals—and walks out.
I sit frozen, my heart pounding, unable to process what just happened. Thad is staring at the door, his jaw clenched. Then he turns to me, and his voice is dangerously quiet.
"Is there something going on between you two?"
"No." It takes everything in me to keep my voice from shaking.
"Don't lie to me, Savannah. I saw the way he looked at you."
"Nothing is going on. We're just?—"
"Just what? Just friends? Just study partners?" He leans forward. "I'm not an idiot. That man wants you. And I think you want him too."
"Thad—"
"Do you?"
“No!” I say sharply, and it feels like as much of a lie as the one I told last night. But I have to defuse this before it blows up. "I think we should go.”
“I want you to get a different partner. Tell your professor that it’s not working out. Get a female study partner this time.”
“I—” I stare at Thad. “We’re partway through the project. I can’t just?—”
“Switch with someone else. I don’t care. Just do it.” His eyes are flinty and hard, locked on mine. “This is not negotiable, Savannah.”
I can hear everything he’s not saying—that if I refuse, he’ll talk to my father. He’ll get me pulled from the program and brought back home. We’ll be married faster than I can blink, and everything I wanted will be gone.
I nod, forcing myself not to think about it. I can’t just swap partners, and I don’t want to. The idea of going to Dr. Kourisand telling her that I need to change because my fiancé doesn’t want me studying with a man is beyond humiliating. And Ilikeworking with Romeo. I don’t want that to end.
I’ll figure something out,I tell myself.Just defuse it for now.
“Savannah? Am I understood?”
I nod again. “Yes,” I manage, looking down at my salad. “I understand.”
And I do understand. What I understand is that, if I’m going to have the life I wanted to have for two years, I’m going to have to get much better at managing Thad.
Because if I’m going to be forced to marry him and spend the rest of my life with him, I’m damn well not going to let him manage everything I do for these next two years.
I spend the rest of the weekend avoiding Thad's calls and texts. I tell him I'm sick, that something I ate didn’t settle well, and I need to rest, and that I'll talk to him when he gets back to Charleston.
But really, I'm hiding. From him, and from the situation.
Romeo texts me once:I'm sorry if I made things difficult. But I'm not sorry for what I said.I don't respond. I don't know what to say.
On Monday, I skip Dr. Kouris's seminar. I tell myself it's because I'm behind on my reading, but really it's because I can't face Romeo. I can't face the questions in his eyes and the concern, the intensity that makes me feel like I'm standing on the edge of a cliff. On Tuesday, I make an excuse not to meet him for our project work. I say I have a meeting with my advisor, which is technically true, though the meeting only lasts thirty minutes.
He texts:Is everything okay?
I respond:Fine. Just busy. Can we reschedule for Thursday?
Romeo:Of course. Let me know if you need anything.
