He loved lying with me almost as much as he loved lying to me.
It was a harsh truth, one that pierced like a knife between the ribs as I walked the empty shoreline of Kontokali Beach, a half-empty bottle of white wine in hand and mascara-stained tears drying on my cheeks.
Less than twenty-four hours ago, I couldn’t imagine a life without him.
Now, I had no choice.
I collapsed onto the beach, flopping down in a heap without a care in the world that the water was now soaking my lower half with each wave that washed upon the shoreline. My ribs tightened around my already struggling lungs as I stared at my feet in the sand. I dug my toes in deep after each wave only to have the water wash away any attempt at hiding them.
All the promises we made in the hours where night kisses morning were broken now, the shattered pieces blowing away with every rush of the salty breeze.
“I want you,”he’d whispered against my neck that first time we touched, both of us shaking, panting, yearning.
“I need you,”he’d groaned into my mouth the night he told me about his dreams, the night he let me see what drove him and realized I wasn’t laughing.
“I love you,” he’d confessed, unwillingly, his forehead against mine on this very beach, brows furrowed like the words pained him as much as they freed him.
Now, all those words were being washed away like the grains of sand around my toes, replaced by the truth that always existed beneath them.
We’re nothing. We never were. We never could be.
Four months.
That’s how long it took for me to fall in love with him.
Four minutes.
That’s how long it took for him to wreck my whole world.
TWO YEARS LATER
POST-PRODUCTION CONFESSIONAL
CLOSE QUARTERS
SEASON 4
EMBER REED: CHIEF STEW
PRODUCER
Alright, Ember. Ready to get started?
EMBER
As ready as I’ll be.
PRODUCER
You can relax. We promise — nothing to be nervous about.
Ember laughs softly.
EMBER
If you say so.
PRODUCER