by Jamie Knight
“Good, health-wise, I would mean.”
“So, I’m told.”
“Are you seeing anyone?” Shae asked.
“Sure, lots of people.”
She shook her head. “No, I mean—”
“I know and no. I’m trying the Larkin method.”
“The what?”
“The Larkin method. Named after the Canadian cartoonist Beau Larkin who, in addition to being a genius, was notoriously reclusive and famously celibate. He pretty much disappeared in the early ‘80s.”
“Great role model,” Shae said snarkily. She rolled her eyes.
“You haven’t seen his work. If being a celibate recluse helps you create at that level, sign me up!”
The bartender came back with my drink and slid it over. It didn’t have an umbrella. I was a little disappointed.
“Can’t really argue with that. I saw your most recent ad.”
“You looked me up?”
“You sent your mom a copy for Christmas. She showed it to mine and so on.”
“Oh yeah. What did she think?”
“She was impressed. I’m not sure she quite got all of it, but the animation was excellent.”
“Thanks.”
“Statement of fact,” she said deadpan.
“Of course.”
I still couldn’t help being touched; this being the closest thing to praise it was possible to get out of Shae, who had always been the most practical person in my immediate circle. Including my parents.
“Do remember Camilla and Cooper Jones?” I asked.
“Of course.”
“We are working together now.”
“You’re own company?” Shae asked, perking up.
“That would be nice, but no. Cooper and I are the main graphic designers, and Camilla was just hired as a receptionist.”
“How’s that working out?” Shae asked, clearly remembering what Cooper used to be like.
My cousin had been around a lot when I was younger since my mother and hers were very close.
“Cooper is his usual charming self, but it is working out better than I might have expected.”
“Well, there’s an upside.”
“You haven’t heard the best part.”
“Oh? Do tell.”
“Camilla now lives down the hall from me in the same apartment building.”
“No shit?”
“Not a spec. Do you want to see her?” I asked, downing a gulp of my drink.
I wasn’t acting entirely out of altruism. I certainly wanted to help my little cousin make friends if I could, but it was also partly selfish. I was hoping that Camilla would get so busy with Shae as a new friend that she wouldn’t have as much time for me. It might also help her forgive me, as I figured caramel eclairs likely wouldn’t do the trick this time. I didn’t feel good about it, and I felt even worse when I realized that this is precisely how Cooper would have wanted me to feel if he had known what I had done with Camilla.
When we were finished with our drinks, I drove Shae back to the apartment building. Not that Shae was particularly tipsy. She just didn’t know where I lived. The elevator was out of commission when we arrived, so the stairs it was. I was suddenly glad that I only lived on the fourth floor.
Walking up to Camilla’s door, I knocked lightly, hoping she wasn’t furious still. After a long pause, I started to think that she might not be home, then I heard noises inside. I tried knocking again. When Camilla finally opened the door, she looked like she might have been crying. I hadn’t even realized that she was wearing mascara.
“What the fuck do you want?” Camilla demanded, locking me with what I immediately recognized as a death stare.
“I-I would like you to see someone,” I managed.
“I have no interest in meeting your sluts,” she said, slamming the door so hard it echoed down the hall.
I raised my fist to knock again, but Shae took me gently by the wrist, stopping me. We may have only been cousins, but she could read me like a blog. She frowned at me when I looked at her and shook her head.
“I’m really sorry about that,” I said, letting out a big sigh and turning back toward my apartment door.
“It’s fine. I’ve heard worse than that, and she didn’t really mean it.”
“How can you tell?” I asked.
“That wasn’t anger,” Shae explained.
“It wasn’t?” I asked, pretty sure I knew anger when I saw it.
My cousin rolled her eyes at me like I was an idiot. “No, it was passion, the girl in 4B either really hates you or really loves you to give that kind of reaction. I don’t think she hates you, or you wouldn’t have tried to reintroduce us.”
I was stunned into even more profound silence by the thought that Camilla might really love me. Lust was one thing and something she had made clear with her recent behavior, but love?
Shae was right, of course. When I thought about it, Camilla didn’t really look mad, more hurt and defensive. And it wasn’t only because she would have reasonably assumed that Shae was my girlfriend or at least a one-night stand. I wondered if Cooper had told her about my man-whore past. If he had, his little sister’s reaction made even more sense. I tried to deny it in the moment, but I knew in the back of my head that it was futile.
“Love? You think?” I asked.
“Definitely,” Shae said, taking off her coat.
“Beer?” I asked, heading towards the fridge.
“Please, I’m not nearly drunk enough to erase the day I’ve had.”
“Want to talk about it?” I asked, getting a bottle of stout out of the fridge.
“No. I’d rather know what’s going on with Camilla. What the heck did you do to her?”
“Nothing that I know of,” I lied, popping the lid and sliding the bottle over to her as we sat at the dining room table. The same table I had taken Camilla on just hours before.
“Hooey.”
“Okay, you got me.”
“So, spill,” Shae said, before taking a long sip.
“Well, I can’t be sure, but I think Camilla might have had a crush on me since we were kids. I mean actual kids. She was seven, and Cooper and I were eleven when we all met. Even then, she would always try to hang out with me. I didn’t notice her then, of course, and she was still only fourteen when I left for the army, so I really didn’t think much about it. I mean, Cooper told me, but I thought he was kidding.”
“Apparently not,” Shae said.
“Right. Anyway, the new owner of the office brought Camilla in as the new receptionist a couple of days ago. She was insatiable and wouldn’t take no for an answer. That doesn’t make it right. I still shouldn’t have done it but—”
“You fucked her, didn’t you?”
I sighed. Shae had always been pretty blunt. Sometimes she was even too direct, but to be honest, it helped to have a cousin I could talk to about anything.
“Today, right before I came to meet you.”
“So, that’s why she looked like she was crying.”
“Most likely, yeah. I didn’t mean for it to happen. Any of it really.”
“I believe it,” Shae said, much to my surprise.
“You do?”
She nodded. “Of course. I remember what she was like as a kid, too. I also just saw the woman that she grew up into. I can see how it was unintended and also why you gave in to temptation.”
I sat back into my seat. “That’s about it, yeah.”
“Want my advice?”
“Please.”
“You need to decide if you want her or not. If you want her, go for it. Straight up. No bullshit, no excuses, no what-ifs. Including what Cooper might think. He doesn’t own either of you. If you don’t want her, then stop. Make Camilla understand it is never happening and stop torturing her. Make sure it is clear. The last thing she needs right now is mixed signals.”
I smiled at my cousin.
“How did you get to be so smart?”
“Genetics and experience,” Shae said casually.
We talked a while longer, and Shae had a few more beers. Actually getting to the point of tipsy.
“You want the couch?” I asked.
“No, thanks. I’ve got a hotel until my apartment is ready. It’s in a casino, so I got an outstanding deal. Good thing, I don’t actually gamble. I might come down to the office tomorrow to see Camilla properly. Especially so, she knows that I’m not your girlfriend.”
“That would be really helpful, thanks.”
“Your welcome.” I gave her a fist bump.
“Though I would suggest bringing Ellis’s signed NFL helmet if you’ve still got it,” I told her, referring to her horrid ex and his main obsession. Shae might need the helmet to protect herself from Camilla’s rage.
My cousin laughed brightly. “I pawned it the day after we got divorced, only got like twenty bucks.”
We were both still laughing as she left for her uber and shut the door.
Chapter Eight - Camilla
I was still fuming when I woke up the next morning. If I had one overall talent at that time, it was holding a grudge. I liked to chalk it up to my fiery, Irish genes and artistic temperament. Most people just thought I was a bit of a bitch.
My teeth were still gritting as I made breakfast. Just one serving all for me. Just to drive the point home to Aden, that he couldn’t jerk me around and get away with it. If he wanted any more of my practically perfect in every way cinnamon French toast, he would just have to lump it.
Filled up with the best of my culinary abilities, I put on the least attractive outfit I could find—hot pink yoga pants with a mint green hoodie and brown crocs. I had no one to impress anymore and figured I might as well be comfortable. It wasn’t like Ryan was going to fire me for not following the non-existent dress-code. Besides which, the company apparently had a reputation for being casual. A notion only reinforced by the dedicated ping-pong table and the vintage arcade machines in the break room.
I was at the office first as I always was. The design staff wandering in as close to nine as they could manage, time being a more flexible concept within the company’s walls. Ryan didn’t seem to care much how the work was done as long as it was finished on schedule. The schedule was part of my job to keep in order. A fact which filled me with a sense of pride and power.
When Aden came in, I completely blanked him, eyes fixed firmly on the comic book Carlos had suggested. It was actually pretty good. I knew it was Aden because I could smell him getting off the elevator. I didn’t even know that they made Eddie Bauer’s Pure anymore, but he had apparently found enough to bathe in the stuff. It was a crisp, pleasant smell, but I was training myself to hate it.
I knew his whore didn’t stay last because I watched through the peephole for her to leave. Not my finest moment but it seemed like a good idea at the time. He must have kicked her out like he had done to me. I figured he’d come in with a spring in his step after getting laid twice in one night. I never would have said it out loud, but the pink-haired girl was pretty cute.
Though from what I could tell, Aden wasn’t smiling as he came in. Not that I cared. It served him right.
“Why didn’t you bring over breakfast?” he actually had the nerve to ask.
I just glared at him, resisting the urge to bludgeon him with my stapler until he walked off.
But he didn’t just walk away. No sir. He fucking chuckled at me as he did so. I was overtaken with a sudden and childish urge to throw my pen at him. It bounced off his broad back, barely making a sound.
“Sorry, it slipped,” I said, picking it up off the floor.
We locked in a hard stare, that is, until the sound of Cooper’s voice, coming out of his office while talking to a client, made us separate and return to our corners.
“You’re playing with fire, sweetie.”
“I’m not playing at all anymore. The rules keep changing,” I quipped, returning to my desk, feeling like Dorothy Parker.
The hours ticked by without further incident. My point was apparently well and truly made. At least to Aden.
It was just after lunch when the pink-haired girl came in like nothing had happened.
“Your lover is with a client,” I said, tone dripping with cold bitterness.
She dared to smile at me. I tried to return it with my own face smile.
“Oh, I’m here to see you, not my cousin.”
“Cousin?” I felt my eyebrows shoot up.
“First cousin last I checked,” she said, leaning on my desk, getting right into my face.
That was when I recognized her. “Shae?”
“Yep.”
“What happened?”
“Fourteen years of growing up and a stellar dye job.”
I felt sick as the tsunami of humiliation crashed over me. I had been such a fucking brat and for no good reason. I felt my cheeks turn bright red.
“So, how have you been?” Shae propped herself onto the edge of my desk. “What have you been up to?”
I couldn’t respond at first. The crushing weight of embarrassment rendering me momentarily mute. Eventually, I managed to gather up my maturity enough to answer.
“This mostly. Not here, I mean but part-time work. Not a lot of call for philosophy experts.”
“Sounds thrilling.”
I chuckled. “It can be, though most jobs aren’t quite as lively as this place. Did you know they have a ping-pong table?”
“No way.”
“Way.”
“No wonder Aden likes it here so much. I wasn’t sure how he’d adjust after the army, but he seems to be getting on fine.”
“Yeah,” I said, trying furiously not to blush. Shae was kind enough to pretend that she didn’t notice. I started to wonder how much she knew about what was going on.
“Know any good clubs around here?”
“Um yeah, there’s a casino with a pretty good venue,” I replied.
“My ears are burning,” Chris said, coming over to the desk with Coop at his side.
“Lighting your Q-tips again?” Cooper asked, sighing in mock disappointment.
“What was that about Q-tips?” Aden asked, emerging from his office with a client.
“We’re going on a staff trip to the casino,” Chris said. “To get our dance on!” He shook his hips a little and swung his arms. The art director couldn’t really dance, but he was so goofy that no one cared.
“Cool.”
“I might come along too if my wife’s morning sickness gets under control,” Ryan said, appearing from the aether.
“Can I come too?” Carlos asked, leaning out of his cubical.
“Sure, why not?” Shae said, unable to keep from smiling at all the attention her idea was getting. “Let’s make it a party.”
****
When the clock struck the appointed time, I hauled ass back to my apartment, trying my best to avoid Aden. I stripped off the intentionally repellant outfit and stood in front of my open closet in my underwear, trying to decide what to wear to the club.
I tried to convince myself that I wasn’t going to dress up for Aden. I would dress for me and no one else. The only problem was that I really felt that I was back in the game since I realized that the cute, pink-haired girl I assumed he was fucking was his cousin, who neither of us had seen in years.
I got into my sexiest dress and heels combo and really just hoped Aden could forgive me for being so awful.
I must have taken longer than I thought to get ready, everyone else was already at the club before I arrived. I thought I’d heard Shae arrive at Aden’s apartment, which really only made sense because he had a car and knew where the casino was. I got the feeling from Shae that she hadn’t been back in town for too long.
The parking was hell on the Vegas strip, but I still found a spot on the third time around. The extra trips gave me time t
o think about what I would do when I got inside. Strangely, I was happy we were there in a group. Just Shae and I would have been cool, but if Aden was going to be there, it would be nice to have an out if need be.
I needn’t have worried too much about ignoring Aden. He was doing an excellent job of avoiding me. I really didn’t know anyone aside from him, Cooper and Shae. I didn’t need Cooper’s shit, so I tried to focus on Shae, who turned out to be something of a hit among the single boys, particularly Chris.
The more I drank, going past where I usually would, the more my immaturity reared its head. Before long, I was hammered and dancing with random guys. It was honestly an ego boost to know that some guys were still interested even if Aden was ignoring me. Love the one you’re with, in the immortal words of Stephen Stills.
It didn’t last. Cooper pulled his usual bullshit, getting a punch in the nose for his trouble.
“Serves you right,” I said, leaving him to drip blood onto the dance floor.
It was a bit harsh, I admit, but if he hadn’t stuck his nose in this, the whole issue with Aden and Shae never would have happened.
I started to feel sick when I got back to the dance floor. Without a word, Shae steered me back toward the table.
Chapter Nine - Aden
Camilla looked awful. Sickly and garish. Like a college freshman who had taken frosh week too far. Cooper was pissed and also too drunk to drive. Camilla certainly couldn’t. Truth be told, I was the only one who hadn’t been drinking at all.
“I’ll take her home,” I said to Cooper when he made it back to the table, holding a napkin to his nose.
“You’ll what?”
“I’m the only one who hasn’t been drinking, and I live next door.”
“Good idea, thanks.”
Getting my jacket, I picked Camilla up in a fireman’s carry and hauled her toward the doors of the casino, getting nary a glance from the on-site security.
“Put me down! I can walk!” she protested, her dress riding up on her ass.
“Not steadily,” I said, slapping my hand down on her ass to hold her dress down as I carried her to her car.
Setting her down into the back seat, I got the keys from her purse and started it up. The owners knew me and my car, and it would still be there in the morning.
