I shook my head. “It’s okay. Sometimes we just gotta let it out. I get it.”
Her phone vibrated again, but this time she just peeked at the screen then flipped it over. Her shoulders fell forward and she released a heavy sigh.
“I miscarried two months ago.” My eyes widened and I glanced at her. That was the last thing I expected from her.
“Oh shit. I’m so sorry.”
Camilla wiped her eyes and wet her lips. She grabbed her purse and unzipped it, digging inside and pulling out tissues.
“It’s my third one, but Dylan only knows about two of them. The first one was a couple months after we first started dating. We were drunk and forgot the condom. Before I could tell him, I was losing it. The next one was six months ago, then the one two months ago.” Her head dropped. “Dylan just keeps saying maybe it’s not our time, but he doesn’t get it. He doesn’t understand how hurtful it is that my body won’t carry a fucking kid. When I asked him if he even cared, he said he did, but that we can always make another one, as if a baby is just replaceable.”
Camilla’s phone went off a couple times. “Leave me the hell alone!” She flipped the phone over and pressed the side button until it turned off.
“Hey, how about we go to my house instead of going out somewhere? We can make some drinks, order food, turn on a movie, and relax.”
She nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good.” Using the tissue, she wiped her eyes again before blowing her nose. “Wait… doesn’t Creed stay with you? I don’t want to run into him right now.”
“He’s not there. I’m sure he’ll be out most of the day. I’ll text him and tell him to stay out if not.”
Camilla sighed. “Thanks, girl. I don’t have a lot of girlfriends. Bitches are too shady and I don’t play that funny shit. Normally I wouldn’t even be telling my business or crying in front ofsomeone I just met, but I don’t know, I feel like it’s okay in front of you.”
“Listen… I recently had a run in with my future mother-in-law from hell. It’s always been hard dealing with her but with Rome in a coma it’s ten times harder. My cousin Summer is always my sounding board but I don’t always want to overload her with my troubles, so I get it. I know we just met each other, but if you ever need to talk, I’m here for you.”
For the first time since I picked her up, a smile split her mouth. It wasn’t as big as I’d seen, but it was there.
I continued to drive. While I wanted to know more about her situation, I decided to wait until we got to my house. Right now she had calmed down and stopped crying and I didn’t want to trigger her again.
____
“You live here? This is nice as hell!” Camilla gushed when we stepped into my house.
“Yeah, it’s okay I guess.” I looked around my foyer.
She turned to face me. “You don’t like it?”
I shrugged and kicked my boots off before heading to my living room. “I mean… I love the house, but it’s not exactly what I wanted. It’s too big and Rome is gone a lot so I often feel lonely. Hi, Bella girl!” I reached down to pet her head.
“Oh she’s cute. Is she friendly?” Camilla asked.
“Yeah. She’s my service dog actually.”
“You don’t need her to leave the house?”
“Sometimes, mostly when I know I’m going to be in an unfamiliar place or if my ears are bothering me. A lot of times I don’t use my aids at home so she helps me out around here more than anything.”
“Understandable.” She stroked the top of Bella’s head whose tail began to wag eagerly.
“Go ahead and get comfortable. I’m going to grab some glasses. There’re trays on the side of the couch against the wall.”
We had gotten premade frozen drink packs that we could either put in a glass or drink out of the pack. We also got a bottle of LuxeMoné wine.
“Is there a bathroom where I can wash my hands?”
“Oh yeah, right over there?” I pointed across the hall. “Outside, Bella, c’mon on,” I called out as I headed for the kitchen.
After letting Bella out, I went to the sink and washed my hands then grabbed glasses. We had gotten Chinese food on the way here as well.
Once I let Bella in and went back into the living room, I took a seat next to Camilla who had already started removing everything.
