Emily and River meet in Miami, where they have the time of their lives, but it isn't meant to be: the next morning, Emily leaves for San Francisco, leaving both their hearts broken. They don't think they'll ever see each other again.
Emily goes back...
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His eyebrows furrowed together and he pursed his lips. "Wait, what?"
"I want you to leave," she repeated. "You can't be here."
He narrowed his eyes. "But—"
"I don't have time to talk," she said—or more accurately, whispered frantically. "But you can't be here. It's my wedding, River."
He nodded, pointing to the decorations. "I figured as much."
She sighed deeply and rolled her eyes. Didn't he understand how serious this was? She was about to get married to Jason in a few hours and she didn't want River to be there.
Okay, if she was honest, there had been a slight hope of seeing him again when she was picking out a venue in Miami, wanting to bump into him again during the weekend she and Jason stayed here, but now that it actually happened, she realized it was a mistake.
"Don't you get it?" she asked. "A wedding, River, as in I'm getting married." But saying it to him sounded wrong. A wedding? What was she thinking—she was just twenty-two! Although her parents had said it was necessary, she thought that spreading rumors about her and Jason dating would've been enough to save the companies too, and she wished she'd done that now that she was talking to River. However, she hadn't, and with Jason not standing far from her while she was discussing this with River didn't feel right. This wasn't how it was supposed to be, and the only solution she could think of to make things right again was to get rid of River—even though it pained her to tell him to go. "I want you to leave," she repeated.
She wanted him to stay.
He bit his lip, not saying anything.
"If it's about money, I can pay you triple the salary you'd make today," she said.
He opened his mouth slightly when he heard that, and he was speechless for a second. "You're paying me to get away from you?" he asked.
Emily then realized it had really come to this. She knew it was mean of her to make that offer, but didn't want him to know that. Besides, she still needed him to leave.
Coming back to Miami was wrong, she knew that now, and River couldn't be here. If he was watching when she walked down the aisle or when she was holding Jason's hand, she would be reminded of her mistakes again. She didn't want to marry Jason, but she didn't have any other choice. When her mother had said, "There's no one else you love, anyway," River had crossed her mind, just like it had when she'd said yes to the proposal—which hadn't come from Jason, but was an offer made by his parents—but she hadn't told her parents about River and she wasn't about to either. She also had never imagined them meeting again or having a chance of getting together.
But now he was here, everything started do dazzle her. She wasn't even sure if she could say 'I do' to Jason if River was in the same room, watching.
