Page 135 of The Moon Also Rises
“You really don’t want to do it?” I ask, sitting back down.
“Fuck, no. My luggage stays in storage unless it’s Mexico or the Maldives.” She flips her iPad over. “So, here’s my shortlist.”
“Wait,” I say without looking at it. “I don’t need that list.”
“Yes, you do. You’re not managing a fucking world tour all on your lonesome, not when you’re already going to try and dodge every single media interview I set up for you. You managing this tour will mean half-filled stadiums and us all in the red by the time you’re back in LA.”
“That’s the thing,” I say.
“What’s the thing?”
“I’m not moving back here.”
Her eyes and mouth pop open. “You’re not?”
“No, I still want to live in the UK, even if I’m touring. That’s where I’ll be going home.”
“Because of your family?” she says with a hint of disdain.
“Yes, and… other people.”
Cassie’s eyes narrow on me. “Rami, do you have someone else you’re going home for? Because if you do, that could really fuck up this world tour and my summer house in Cabo purchase plans.”
“It was a ranch in Montana a minute ago!”
“Oh, God, you are in love, aren’t you? Jesus fucking Christ.”
“Why is that so shocking?”
“Well considering the last time you fell in love you ended lost in the Mojave Desert eating nothing but raw vegetables and fermented leaves.”
I swallow roughly. “And you think this is the same?”
“Tell me it’s not. Whoever they are they want you to be in the UK! For all we know the UK could just be one big cult. It would make an awful lot of sense, to be honest.”
“The UK is not a cult,” I say, feeling a flash of pride at saying that word out loud for the second time.
“You all drink tea with milk in it!”
“At least we have gun control!”
Cassie slams her fists down on the sides of her chair. “Goddamn the guns. They silence me every fucking time. I hate not being able to win an argument. Anyway, are you going to tell me more about them?”
“No, I’m not,” I say with a smile on my face but it quickly fades when I speak again. “Besides, it may not… work out.”
“Why not?”
“Because I walked away when he needed me most.”
Cassie shrugs. “Needing someone is not a safe place to start a relationship from. If you’re lucky they won’t need you anymore.”
“Great, thanks.” My stomach sinks.
“No, I mean it. If you’re lucky they’ll have moved on, they’ll be in a place where they don’t need anyone at all and so when you do show up again and start grovelling – and grovel you must, by the sounds of it – then if they do take you back, you know it’s because theywantyou and not because theyneedyou.”
I blink at Cassie. “That almost sounds like good advice.”
Her smile concentrates in one corner of her mouth. “I’m a ruthless bitch when it comes to business and the UK’s unsavoury refreshment habits, but when it comes to true love, you’ll not find a bigger fan.”
