Just the two people I was hoping to run into today. Let me just sayI am so glad you both made it today! So, as I started to tell you in my last message, Ley, I’m starting a new group-based outreach program, and I would love it if you two could get involved!” Her caramel eyes soften, as she looks at us expectantly and pats our shoulders.
I’m aware I should say yes— more than aware that I shoulddefinitelysay yes to her. I look at Cameron whose easy demeanor is radiating off of him like a warm breeze.
He nods with a smile. “Well, I suppose I can go ahead and give you my official reply: I would love to help out. I think it would be a fantastic opportunity.”
Alex claps her hands together excitedly with a smile, she turns to me, her blinding white teeth flashing my way.Oh god, she wants my answer now too.Pressure builds in my chest, but I try to breathe in the easygoing aura that comes from Cameron. Maybe if I could just borrow an ounce of it, I can get through the rest of this event without losing my mind from anxiety.“Uh yea, sure. I guess that would be a cool thing to help out with.” I say almost reluctantly, a smile as she grins even wider.
“Great! Thats–” Her voice is cut off and her head swivels as she’s pulled away in another direction, that she just takes in stride. “Okay kids, I’ll be in touch. And thanks so much– sorry–yes! I’m coming!”
And as quickly as she was here, she’s gone. Cameron lets out a huffed laugh as he watches Detective Alex’s figure being ushered off to talk to a small gaggle of press. Cameron and I stand there in the quiet awkward silence that shimmers around us. Even though I’ve been itching to get out of his hair this entire time in fear I’m somehow holding him up or being a bother, now that I’m looking atthe lull in conversation where we could easily go our separate ways… I don’t want to say goodbye.
I decide to take the leap, despite all the chaos in my life right now. I ask, smiling up at him, breaking the silence at last. “Wanna go for a drink?”
He nods emphatically, and smiles. “Would love to, Cherry.”
My heart flutters at that nickname that he gave me so long ago, and for some reason I just know that tonight is going to be a good one.
Chapter 6
Old Friends
Cameron - 26, Present day
“So, how are you?” I ask with a grin on my face. My mind starts to wander as soon as she begins to tell me all the things she’s been up to. Leyla could tell me anything and it wouldn’t really matter.I’ve never let her out of my sight.
Since the moment I met her, she has beenmine.
She doesn’t know it yet, but Leyla Clarkson will belong to me— no matter what the cost. I look at this stunning woman in front of me, this goofy grin immovable on my face as we sit at Kris’s Music Bar. It is a tiny dive, only the locals go here so most nights aren’t crazy busy, and exactly the reason I decided this would be the best place to take her. It’s somewhere we won’t get interrupted. I need this to be perfect and want to spend time with her.Onlyher. No one else around, no huge groups of people, no Detective Alex.
I don’t really believe in love or anything of the sort, but the way my chest constricts when I’m around Leyla is something out of one of those romance novels. I know that’s not me, though. In my life, love always comes with a cost and it is usually held over my head.
Her laugh shocks me out of my swirling thoughts. Our eyes connect and my smile softens as I nod in agreement to whatever it is that she’s saying. I realize, however, that this is probably my first mistake; she’s definitely looking at me expectantly.
“You asked me a question that wasn’t a yes or no answer, didn’t you?” I truly can’t tell based on Leyla’s face what was going through her mind but I knew that I really needed to stop getting in my damn head around this girl.
“I did. I asked what have you been up to?” Leyla chuckles softly, somehow not a hint of judgement in her voice. My shoulders sag, releasing the tension that I didn’t even know I had been holding, and I finally meet her gaze. Her unwavering smile leaves this warm feeling in my chest. I sigh deeply as I drink in the moment; I’m more content than I’d been in a long, long time.
I answer her with a breezy tone, “I’ve been awesome. Keeping busy with working part-time at the hospital nowadays. I was taking care of my dad for a bit, but he passed away last month.” I look down as a lump forms in my throat.
Her face falls as she reacted to my words. I’m not sure if she remembers my upbringing, but when she replies, I’m reminded of how she has always been able to truly see me.
“I would say ‘my condolences’, but I would be lying. How are you holding up?”
Even without my twisted sense of loyalty and devotion, she’s perfect for me. She’s not afraid to speak her mind with me, and she cares. Leyla isn’t just asking how I’m holding up to make conversation, I know that she’s seeing me as someone more than just a face. She sees me.
Our conversation is interrupted by the waitress. She takes our orders, Leyla ordering a vodka cranberry, me, a whiskey ginger. When the waitress walks away, my eyes instantly connects with Leyla’s again.
“I’m doing okay, it got hard towards the end. He had dementia so he would have these moments of just pure rage, which to everyone else was a symptom of the dementia. But, I knew him, he was–”
“Always that monster?” she answers for me, my heart seeming to come to a halt as I nod in agreement.
“It got worse as it progressed, but there were days of lucidity, where he would be that kind dad that I remembered when my mom was alive, ya know?” I drag my hand through my hair and take a deep breath. “He didn’t even remember she was dead some days. He’d ask me when mom was going to come visit him, those days always were the hardest for me. ‘Cause then I’d have to explain why she wasn’t coming to visit. I would make excuses, but it got to a point where it would upset him so much…toomuch… I just started distracting him with other things so he wouldn’t get agitated anymore.“ I sighed, my eyes widening as I looked at Leyla. “Oh my god, I’m sorry, Cherry. This is such a depressing conversation for our first time talking in, god, what– eight years?”
Eight years, four months, eleven daysto be exact.
This beautiful fucking woman smiles at me. I watch as the blush creeps up her neck and it’s as if there is nothing wrong in the world. There’s just us in this crappy little bar that will no doubt become one of my fondest places to remember. My heart sings with the harmony and glee of a choir as I study every little detail of that gorgeous smile.
I will make her mine, no matter what it takes.
