by Angela Blake
She grabbed a plastic bag out of the trunk of her car, carefully placed it over the chair and then gingerly sat on it, careful not to touch anything else lest her entire car be left smelling like that.
She revved the car and backed out of her parking spot and onto the highway to head home.
***
Camilla wiped the steam from the mirror with the edge of her bathrobe. She smiled as she inhaled the smell of soap and body wash.
She twisted her hair up into a bun before turning on the faucet and waiting for the water to heat up. She lathered her face with soap before splashing water on it, relishing the feeling of the droplets sliding down her face and onto the tile floors.
She picked up her toothpaste, squirted some onto her toothbrush and began to brush her teeth.
A loud banging on the door made her pause and stare. She tried to speak around a mouthful of toothpaste, but it came out sounding garbled.
She spat some of the toothpaste into the sink, and yelled out. “What?”
“Are you almost done in there?” her friend Katherine’s voice came from behind the door.
“Kat, I literally just stepped into the shower fifteen minutes ago.”
“It took you fifteen minutes to wash off the gunk?” Katherine’s voice sounded dubious, at best, and Camilla chuckled under her breath as she realized that had it been Katherine, they never would’ve left the house tonight because she would’ve been in here all night, seeing imaginary germs everywhere.
“Are you sure you did it right?” Katherine’s asked.
“Well, unless you want to come in and see for yourself, you’re going to have to take my word for it,” Camilla responded as she bent over the sink once more.
Camilla shrieked as the door flew open, and Katherine stood there, her massive brown curls tumbling down her head, her hands placed on her hips as she surveyed the bathroom.
Her petite form came into the room and sniffed. She wrinkled her nose as one foot took a step forward, and the other hovered just outside the bathroom.
“Kat, what are you doing?” Camilla placed her hand on her heart to calm her erratic breathing.
“You told me to come in and see for myself,” Katherine pointed out as she paused as if deciding something. Finally, she put both feet forward and came into the bathroom.
One eyebrow went up. “I didn’t mean that literally.”
“Well, if you don’t mean it literally, then don’t say it. You know I’d take you seriously, and I never back down from a challenge.”
Camilla rolled her eyes. “I know that only too well.”
Katherine’s green eyes turned to face her. “Aw, come on. I said I was sorry. How was I supposed to know the guy couldn’t take a joke?”
Camilla gave her a wry grin. “Well, when you walk up to a guy and declare that Disney princesses are real, and would he like to meet one, how do you expect him to behave?”
“I expect him to know that it’s a joke, then he’d laugh and play along, or think it’s a dirty reference and still play along,” Katherine pointed out as she hovered near the edge of the bathtub and peaked in.
“Well, clearly, this guy wasn’t in a mood to joke, and besides I was kidding. I didn’t know you’d actually go through with the dare.”
Katherine gave her a pointed look. “I’m crazy enough to do crazy dares when I’m sober, did you really think I wouldn’t because I was tipsy?”
Camilla paused as she gargled some water. She spat it out. “Good point.” She watched Katherine in the mirror as she stood there, staring down at the bathtub as if she was staring into the abyss.
Katherine took a step back and turned to survey Camilla herself. She edged around her and circled her a few times, leaning in to sniff her.
“Okay, now you’re just being weird.”
“You know that I hate germs,” Katherine said as she lifted Camilla’s arm up, looked at it then put it back down.
“There’s hating germs, and there’s this.” She gestured at Katherine. “Your boogey monster must’ve been one big germ when you were little.”
Katherine bent down and began to look at her legs. “Laugh all you want, but germs are the real enemy here.”
“The effects of growing up with parents who were doctors.” Camilla sighed. “Well, if you’re going to inspect me this thoroughly, at least buy me dinner first.”
Katherine stood up and waggled her eyebrows at Camilla playfully. “I see my awesome powers of seduction extend to women as well.”
Camilla snorted. “I see your modesty plays an important role too.”
“If you’ve got it.” She paused and shook her hips. “Flaunt it.”
Camilla pretended to cover her eyes. “Oh, believe me. I’ve seen enough ‘flaunting’ to last me a lifetime. There is such a thing as oversharing.”
Katherine pretended not to hear her as she began singing. “I like big butts, and I cannot lie, you other brothers can’t deny, when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist, and a round thing in your face—“
Camilla clamped her hand over Katherine’s mouth to stop her from singing. “When you’re quite finished.”
Katherine’s eyes sparkled with mirth as she tried to speak around Camilla’s hands. Camilla carefully removed her hand, and then placed it back when Katherine began to sing again.
Camilla screeched when Katherine’s tongue darted out to lick her hand. “Kat, what the hell?”
She pulled her hand away and wiped it on her bathrobe as she eyed Katherine with a mixture of horror and amusement.
Katherine stood there in her jeans and top, looking very smug and very pleased with herself.
“A little trick I learned from my niece.”
“Well, obviously. I mean only a six year old could teach you something so juvenile and disgusting.”
“You’re just mad because you didn’t think of it first.” Katherine ran her hands through her hair as she stuck her tongue out.
“How charming. Another trick you learned from your niece?” Camilla crossed her arms over her chest, an amused smile tugging on the corner of her lips.
“She is wise beyond her years. I could ask her to teach you a few things.”
“Generous as that offer is, I think I’ll have to pass,” Camilla responded, very dryly.
“Anyway, back to the matter at hand, are you sure you cleaned up properly?” Katherine narrowed her eyes as she studied Camilla as if somehow she could scare the germs away.
“There’s only one way to find out.” Camilla took a step forward, casually.
“What’s that?” Katherine’s eyebrows scrunched up in confusion.
“Give me a hug.” Camilla opened her arms and moved towards Katherine. Katherine shouted as she sidestepped and jumped to the back.
“No, no, don’t touch me. What if you still have germs?”
“Well, then we’ll have germs, together,” Camilla said wickedly as she chased her down the hallway.
“You always said we were like sisters, and we share a lot of things,” Camilla called out as the laugh bubbled up in her throat.
“I didn’t mean that, obviously. To quote what you said earlier ‘there is such a thing as oversharing’.”
“Aw, come on, Kat. Come get a little Cam love.”
Katherine made a face at Camilla before she ducked behind the couch. Her head popped up. “No, thank you. Keep your Cam love.” She used air quotes on the last thing.
Camilla ran towards the couch and tackled Katherine to the ground. “Do you surrender?”
Katherine squirmed as she tried to get away from Camilla. “Never.”
The front door clicked open, and both women froze as they stared up at a tall, muscular man with shaggy blonde hair and blue eyes.
His eyes trailed down to the two women sprawled at his feet, and his eyes lit up with amusement. “Now, this looks like the intro to this wet dream I had the other day.”
Katherine blushed as she
scrambled up. “I’m not sure I want to know.”
“Oh, you’d have loved it, babe. Although, no offense, Cam, but I’d rather not have a wet dream starring my little sister.”
Camilla made a gagging noise as she stood up. “You little perv. Why would you even have a dream about two women fighting?”
Leroy, Camilla’s brother, stood there with his hands wrapped around Katherine’s shoulder as he placed a kiss on the side of her head. When he told Camilla that he liked her roommate and best friend Katherine, Camilla was skeptical and afraid that if things didn’t work out, she’d lose one or both of them, but it was two years later, and they were still going strong.
“I’m a guy, why wouldn’t I have a dream about two women in a cat fight?”
Katherine elbowed him in the side. “I hope I’m at least one of those women.”
“You win every time, baby,” he said as he winked at her.
Camilla groaned. “At least wait until I leave the room, guys. I mean, I don’t want to see my big brother and best friend going at it.”
“You might have to deal with at least hearing it,” Leroy said without looking at her. His eyes never left Katherine’s face. Katherine bit her bottom lip as he drew her closer to him.
“I’m leaving, jeez.” Camilla threw her hands up as she stepped around the two and made her way back to her room down the hallway.
“I guess this means we’re not going out tonight?” she called out across her shoulder, not really expecting an answer.
She paused as she debated whether or not to turn around, but when all she heard was giggling, she decided against it and sighed as she trudged down the hallway.
Chapter Two
Camilla sat in her bathrobe and channel surfed as she realized that she didn’t even feel like changing into some actual clothes. After all, she wasn’t going anywhere, so what was the point of getting dressed?
She huffed and blew on a loose strand of hair that came out of her bun as she decided whether she should watch The prestige or a rom com that was airing.
Deciding that she could use a good dose of Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale, she settled on the channel and turned the volume up.
She realized that the movie still had a few minutes before it would start, so she got up and slowly open her door.
The door creaked open, and she poked her head out to see if they were anywhere.
“Hello?” she whispered as she opened the door wider and took a step forward.
When she heard the sound of muffled laughing coming from across the hallway, she stepped completely out of her room and made a beeline for the kitchen to pop some popcorn into the microwave.
She unwrapped it and set the timer for three minutes. She drummed her fingers on the counter as she waited for the timer to finish. Her stomach made a loud gurgling noise, and she splayed her hand across it as she realized that she hadn’t eaten dinner yet.
She pursed her lips as she grabbed the take out menus and perused them. She settled on a pizza and sighed as she made her way down the hallway.
She banged on Katherine’s door and waited for a response. An annoyed, “What?!” came out a while later.
“I’m going to order a pizza, do you guys want anything?”
She rolled her eyes as she heard more giggling. “I’m pretty hungry.”
“What? I thought I did a pretty good job satisfying you.” Leory’s voice wafted through the doors.
Camilla made a fake gagging noise. “Lee, I really don’t want to hear that. I’m asking a simple question about food, you in or out?”
“Well, I mean that’s oversharing, don’t you think, Sis? But now that you mention it—“
Camilla groaned as she placed her hands over her ears. “Why did I even bother asking you two horn dogs anything? Anything I say at this point will only lead to further embarrassment on my end, and entirely too much laughing at my expense, so I’ll just get your usual with ranch dipping on the side.”
“That’s what she said,” they both yelled out.
Camilla glared at the door. “Oh, real mature, guys. Honestly.” She wheeled around and stalked back to the kitchen, an amused smile making its way to her lips.
She teased them about not being able to keep their hands off of each other a lot, but the truth was, she kind of wished she had that. The last few guys she had dated were more interested in getting to the finish line than the actual process.
She missed having someone who would not only touch every inch of her skin, but also every inch of her soul.
She picked up the phone and dialed the pizza place. She cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder as she hunted around for a bowl for the popcorn.
She poured the contents of the bag into the bowl and tossed the bag into the bin. She made the order and after a quick thank you, she hung up, grabbed her bowl of popcorn, and made her way back inside.
She hopped onto her bed as she un-paused the movie, and settled in.
She muttered under her breath as the doorbell rang a while later. She waited to see if they would get up and get it and sighed when the doorbell rang a third time. She shoved her feet into a pair of fluffy slippers and made her way towards the door. She grabbed her wallet and took out some money as she made her way down the hallway.
“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.”