by Ruby Forrest
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” she called out as she finally reached the door. “So that’s 39.95$, right?” she asked as she swung the door open.
Only it wasn’t the pizza delivery man standing in front of her. It was an older man, distinguished looking with day old stubble on his face forming the beginnings of a beard and a mustache. He had on a suit, but the tie looked askew as it hung around his neck awkwardly. He had on a pair of loafers, and his brown hair was swept carelessly to the side.
His brown eyes sparkled with annoyance which turned into amusement as he regarded the blonde before him.
“Can I help you?” Camilla tightened the robe around her as she mentally calculated the route to the closest weapon.
“Well, I can think of a number of ways you can help me especially when you’re dressed like that though I don’t think any of them would do you justice.”
“Excuse me?” Her mouth hung slightly open as annoyance crossed her features.
“You heard me correctly.” He crossed his arms over his chest as he gazed at her. “My offer hasn’t changed just because you’re in denial.”
Camilla blinked at him. “Do you make a habit of ringing a random strangers’ house and then proceeding to hit on them?”
One corner of his mouth titled upward. “Not particularly, no. Although if it should yield results like tonight then I might have to try it more often.” His gaze penetrated hers, and it was like he could see beneath the very thin fabric of her robe, but instead of feeling like it was invasive, Camilla felt like she was on fire. Like he was lightly caressing her with his eyes.
“Well, I hate to break it to you, but you’re barking up the wrong tree.”
One eyebrow shot up. “Not into men?”
Camilla choked back a laugh and began coughing before she glared at him. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I am in fact into men.”
She crossed her arms over her chest as she realized that he wasn’t a threat at least not physically. The worst he’d do is make her feel frisky.
Understanding dawned on his features. “You’re with someone then.”
Her mouth turned into a thin line. “My answer shouldn’t matter if I’m simply not interested.”
One corner of his mouth went up. “It matters simply because I make it a habit not to go after another man’s girlfriend, and as to the second part of your statement, you can try to pretend you aren’t interested, but your body language is telling me something else.”
One eyebrow went up. “Is that so?”
He nodded. “It is in fact. If you weren’t interested then you would’ve slammed the door in my face because I take it you are not in fact the kind of woman who lets random guys hit on her.”
“A fair assessment,” she conceded. “However, it still isn’t any of your business if I’m seeing someone.”
“It would be a pity if you were.” The man abruptly straightened up. “Well, as fun as this has been, I see my sister standing behind you looking like she’s about to kill me.”
“Sister?” Camilla echoed as she heard Katherine come up behind her.
“Hey, little Sis.”
Katherine screamed as she hurled past Camilla and threw herself into her brother’s arms. Camilla awkwardly took a step backwards as she made eye contact with Leroy.
Leroy shrugged as he leaned against the nearest wall.
“Jayden, what’re you doing here? You weren’t supposed to be arriving till tomorrow. You’re already settled across the street? I thought the movers weren’t done yet?”
“Well, it turns out they work a lot faster if they’ve got incentive, and Abigail insisted that we hit the road as soon as we could.”
Katherine looked up at her brother who towered over her. “She’s got you wrapped around her little finger, doesn’t she?”
Camilla felt something lurch in her stomach, but she wasn’t sure what it was.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Camilla inwardly rolled her eyes as she realized that this man was probably a womanizer who was probably used to getting anyone he wants, anywhere he wanted, and she doubted that any woman had actually said no to him especially with his brown eyes, mischievous smile and chiseled cheek bones.
Leroy coughed to remind them of our presence. Katherine colored as she hastened to Leroy to tug him forward. “Jay, you remember my boyfriend Leroy.”
Jayden held out his hand as Leroy shook it, and they did some kind of complicated handshake. “Of course, it’s good to see you again, Lee. It’s good to see you’re surviving my little sister.”
Leroy laughed good-naturedly. “Honestly, she’s the one who puts up with me, I don’t know why, but I’m thankful.”
Katherine grinned as she blew him a kiss. Leroy pretended to catch it, and Jayden rolled her eyes. “Two years, and you guys are still doing it.”
“We just need to find you someone, Jay. That’s all.” She ruffled his hair playfully as he gave her a wryly grin.
Katherine bounded towards Camilla and dragged her towards Jayden whose brown eyes bore into hers.
“I can’t believe you’re finally going to meet, Camilla. I have been trying to introduce you guys for such a long time. Camilla this is my big brother, Jayden. Jayden, this is my roommate, and best friend Camilla.”
“Pleased to meet you.” Camilla held out her hand, and Jayden lightly wrapped his hand around it. His eyes twinkled. “Charmed, although we hardly need an introduction after our little prologue at the door.”
Camilla flushed as Katherine slapped him on the arm. Jayden gazed at her curiosity as he rubbed his arm. “What was that for?”
“Just because you’re older than me by like twenty-five years doesn’t mean you get to hit on my friends while I’m standing there.”
“Twenty-five years?”
Katherine turned to face Camilla. “Yeah, my parents weren’t exactly planning on having another kid twenty-five years later. This big lunkhead over here got used to being an only child, but that all changed when I came along. Now he realizes how fortunate he is to have his little sister around, and how I really am something else.”
“You’re something else alright. A pain in my ass,” he said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and began rubbing her hair.
“Hey, hey,” she muttered as she squirmed beneath his grasp. “Watch the hair.”
Jayden held up his hand in mock surrender. “Wouldn’t want to mess with the do. After all, I learned that lesson the hard way.”
“I’m so glad to see the things I taught you back then have resonated,” she said sweetly.
“How can I forget? You left me a rather obvious momento,” he commented, very dryly.
“One of my finer dares.” She winked at Camilla. “He was visiting for dinner, and I was about to go on this big date, and he messed up my hair, so I told him I’d get my revenge. He dared me to shave one eyebrow off, and so I did.”
Leroy burst out laughing. “You didn’t.”
“Oh, but she did.” An amused smile tugged on the corner of Jayden’s lips. “It was pretty late, so I decided to crash on the couch and head back into the city in the morning. Little did I know that when I woke up the next day, I’d look like I was permanently curious.”
Katherine began to chuckle at the memory. “It kind of looked like that woman whose plastic surgery went horrible wrong in the movie Just go with it.”
A snort escaped Camila’s chest. “No way. That bad?”
“Worse,” Jayden responded grimly as he gave Camilla an easy smile.
“Where’s Abigail?” Katherine stood on her tiptoes as she peeked over Jayden’s shoulder.
Jayden waved his hand dismissively. “Oh, you know, Abigail. She doesn’t waste time in getting to know the place, meeting people, and whatnot.”
Katherine tried not to look disappointed as she lowered herself. “That’s true. Well, how about you come over for dinner tomorrow
night? We can make something special.”
Jayden shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’d like that.”
“Cool, so come by tomorrow at around seven and I hope you’re planning on wearing something much comfier.”
“I’ll see if I can oblige.” He deadpanned as he shook his head and laughed. “Anyway, I’ll see you later, little sis, Lee.” His eyes sought out hers. “It was lovely to meet you, Camilla.”
Camilla shivered as little tingles went up and down her body at the way her name rolled off his tongue.
He’s got a girlfriend. Snap out of it. Her head screamed as she gave him a polite smile in response. He waved goodbye and made his way out the door.
Chapter Three
Camilla zoomed in and out of traffic as she cursed under her breath wondering if she’d make it to work on time. She had woken up on time, gotten dressed and left at exactly the same time she left every day, but much to her chagrin, the street was completely backed up, and she was left drumming her fingers against the steering wheel. She hummed under her breath as she leaned back in her chair and sighed.
She began to fiddle with the radio dial until she turned to her favorite station. She tuned out the world around her and began to listen to a funny story the radio host was telling.
Once the radio host was done, she grinned as the new Coldplay some came on. She reached for the dial and turned it up and began singing out loud to the song something just like this.
She turned down the volume when her phone began beeping. She put her phone on speaker and answered. “Kat, hey, what’s up?”
“Cam, hey, Listen, I’m at work right now, but I’m going to stop by after work and pick up some things for dinner. I was thinking of making tacos and burritos.”
“A little Mexican, huh?” Camilla honked as the car in front of her refused to move.
“Yeah, Jayden is really into Mexican food, and he doesn’t get to eat authentic Mexican cuisine that often.”
Katherine was part Mexican on her mother’s side, so she always made a fuss about what was considered genuine Mexican food and what wasn’t because her abuela taught her everything she knew about food.
“You know I love your tacos and burritos, in fact, I’ll probably be salivating all day at work thanks to you.”
“Sort of like you were salivating over my brother yesterday.”
Camilla made a dismissive noise in the back of her throat as she made a U-turn. “I wasn’t salivating over your brother. I thought he was just a random guy who hit the doorbell and was you know lost or something.”
“Uh huh. Then why didn’t you just give him directions or tell him to eff off?” Katherine’s voice sounded smug.
Camilla hit the brakes as she spotted a prime parking spot. She put the car in reverse and began to maneuver into the spot. “Well, I’ll admit, I was curious.”
She switched off the car and began shoving everything into her bag.
“Curious isn’t exactly the word I’d use for it. Don’t forget he lives across the road now. But hey just remember that we’re best friends even if my brother ends up breaking your heart or something. I mean obviously I’d kick his ass, but our friendship wouldn’t change.”
Camilla opened the door, swung her bag over her shoulder and switched the phone back. She cradled it between her shoulders and ears before she clicked on the button that would shut her car.
“Kat, I really think you’re reading too much into it. Nothing even happened between your brother and I. We were just talking.”
“Talking?” Katherine snorted. “Is that what you call mentally undressing each other nowadays? Honey, I could feel the heat in that room, I was about to burst into a rendition of Nelly’s hot in here.”
Camilla rolled her eyes as she looked both ways before she checked to make sure that the traffic light was red. She hastened across the street. “Knowing you, you probably would’ve, so my question is, why didn’t you?”
“And ruin a moment like that? No, I was having way too much fun watching although at one point, I thought he was laying it on a little thick considering he’d just met you.”
Camilla shook her head as she walked up to the building where she worked. She swung the door open. “Well as fascinating as your theory is, it’s unfounded and unsubstantiated —”
Katherine interrupted her. “Don’t you talk to me in the journalist tone of yours.”
Camilla paused, confusion lacing her tone. “Journalist tone?”
“Yeah, that you have no comment, that my claims are unsubstantiated, blah blah.”
Camilla laughed. “I’m so glad you take my job so seriously, Kat.”
“I do,” she responded, “but when I’m trying to weasel a confession out of my best friend, I don’t want Camilla Queen journalist extraordinaire. I want Cam, my best friend.”
Camilla zigzagged in and out of people and made her way up the stairs. “Well, it’s a good thing you don’t want Camilla Queen journalist extraordinaire because she’s clearly a made up fictional character in your head.”
Katherine gasped. “How dare you say that? She is very real thank you very much, you’re just in denial.”
Camilla began panting as she finally reached her floor. She huffed, placed her hands on her thighs and began breathing deeply until her face no longer felt enflamed. She stood up. “If I’m in denial then you’re high.”
Katherine laughed. “Wouldn’t have it any other way. Anyway, listen, I have to go now, I’ll talk to you when you get home, bye.”
She hung up before Camilla could get a word in edgewise, and Camilla stared at her phone for a minute before she shook her head and headed to the office.
***
Camilla exhaled as she leaned back in her chair and began rubbing her forehead in slow circular motions. She took her glasses off, placed them on the desk and stared at her laptop as she tried to figure out how to end the article.
That was the problem with doing a piece you weren’t really passionate about, and that lead you nowhere, there was no good way to end it because you weren’t even sure how you started it.
She ran her hands through her blonde hair and decided to keep it simple and direct. She put her glasses back on, straightened her shoulders and heaved herself forward nearly making herself tilt off the chair.
“Voodoo curse on the chair,” she muttered underneath her breath as she let her fingers hover over the keyboard for a second as she gave her thoughts time to gather themselves.
A minute later, her fingers were flying across the keyboard as she stared at her screen in concentration.
“Finally,” she said as she hit the save button and leaned back in her chair with a satisfied grin.
She swiveled in her chair in a celebratory circle before she paused and checked the time. Her grin fell as she cursed and hopped up from her chair.
“Katherine is going to kill me.” She began jumping from one end of the desk to the next, shoving all her stuff into her bag as she hit the shutdown button on her computer and waited for it to power down. The second it did, she shoved it in her laptop bag, threw her purse over her shoulder and raced down the stairs.
Katherine called her as she was getting into the car. “Kat, I’m so sorry, I’m on my way, I lost track of the time when I was working on my story.”
“You mean that gutter story that turned out to be a dead end?”
Camilla revved the engine and backed out of her space. “The same one. I told my boss this morning, but he said finding nothing is something in and of itself, so he said I need to write an article about how finding nothing is evidence.”
“Of what?”
Camilla switched on her turning signal as she made a right to exit onto the highway. “That’s exactly what I said.”
Camilla could hear the sound of a cutting board. “And what did he say?”
“He said something like nothing is something, and something is nothing. It was sort of like Jaqe
n Ha’gar from Game of Thrones.”
Katherine choked on a sip of water, and Camilla could hear her hacking in the background. “You alright, Kat?”
Katherine’s voice came back on. “Yeah, just swell.”
Camilla did her best Ingrid voice. “You know nothing, Jon Snow.”
They both burst out laughing, and Camilla heard Leroy’s voice in the background. “Leroy says we’re both geeks for quoting Game of Thrones.”
Camilla grunted. “Like he doesn’t watch it with us.”
Camilla heard the sound of shuffling before Katherine’s voice came back on. “Hang on, Cam. I’m putting you on speaker.”
“You’re such a geek, sis.” Leroy’s voice wafted through the car’s speakers. Camilla could hear the sound of deep throaty laughter, a laugh she didn’t recognize. “Oh, Jayden is here too by the way.”
“Hey,” his voice quipped. Camilla felt herself blush and think of what he heard, and what he made of it.
“Hey,” she responded weakly.
“I only have one sentence to say to that, bro,” she veered the subject back on track.
“What’s that?”
“Valar Morghulis,” Camilla said smugly knowing that despite his teasing, Leroy was a huge Game of Thrones fan, and he’d know exactly what she was referring to.
“Oh, really? Well, just remember that I’m a Lannister, and the Lannister’s send their regards.”
“It’s on, Dracaris, Lee.”
Leroy laughed as he hung up, and Camilla pulled into the driveway a few minutes later. As she parked her car in the driveway, Camilla could smell the scent of Katherine’s cooking wafting down the driveway.
Katherine was a software engineer, so she usually worked from home unless they needed her to come down to the office which was fairly rare, and as such, she had a lot of time to cook. Luckily for Camilla because Camilla couldn’t cook to save her life.
Katherine knew how to make a variety of dishes, and Camilla loved sampling them. She walked up the path and placed her key in the lock, it clicked open, and the smell of tacos and burritos invaded her senses.
