Groom Wars

45. When a Heart Breaks

Early one morning, after I had gotten over my malady, I sat on a sofa in the common room with an acoustic guitar I had found in the arcade. A small crowd gathered around me as I sang a silly song I had written on a rainy day.

"I wanted to be famous

Wanted to sing before a large crowd

I went to many agencies

But they turned me down.

"Rejections as sweet as honey

I just wasn't good enough for them.

"I put my guitar down

Gave up and being famous

If you want to see me perform

Come watch me flip pancakes at Cora's.

"Where I hear people whisper, 'he tried to be famous.'

But then reality struck him down,

And now he spends his days making pancakes.

God, he's such a clown'."

A hand on my shoulder interrupted my song. By my listeners' shocked faces and tense body language, it wasn't someone we welcomed. Lord Columbia climbed over the back of the couch and sat next to me. "You and I have never officially talked, have we?" He held out his hand, but I didn't shake it. I could see the delicate texture of the powder that covered his face, the mascara that darkened his eyelashes. His breath smelled like mint. One of the guys said, "You shouldn't be down here."

Lord Columbia told them, "Don't worry; I'm not here to hurt you." He turned to me. "I wanted to explain my prior actions because I realize I might have offended you. In all honesty, I would never hurt you; I was upset when I threatened you. As a result, I said something to you and your teammates that no man should ever say. To apologize, I wanted to give you a fair warning that I heard from some of the alliances that I'm working with that your husband is planning to send you home. He's planning to vote you into the next elimination round."

"He wouldn't do that."

"We think we know people," he said, his voice airy, "but we really only know what they show us. There is so much that we don't see beneath the surface, but out of kindness to you." His gaze travelled down my face, neck, and body. He smiled, returning his gaze to my eyes, and said, "Out of kindness to you and out of respect to your partner, Cadmus, if you are sent in, betrayed as I presume you will be, I'll send in a team I know you can beat." He patted my knee then, standing, stretched his arms across his broad chest. He added, "You have a nice voice." After that strange message, he left.

***

I knew Lord Columbia had plenty to gain by planting seeds of distrust among our team, but I dwelled on what he said and played it over in my head. At lunch, while sitting at a glass patio table near the pool, I watched Leandro roll spaghetti around his fork, blending the savory white sauce and roasted mushrooms. "Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat, or is something wrong?" he asked, leaning back against the chair. The shade of the umbrella painted his skin with shadows and darkened his golden hair. His dark green eyes studied me. He reached over the table and drew a line on my chin with his thumb, but I leaned away from him.

He sighed, rubbed his forehead in exasperation, and said, "Was it something I said?"

"Is it?" I wanted to hear his answer, but I also dreaded hearing the words from his perfect lips. There was chatter as people passed us on the way to the gym.