by Leen Elle
The world around Sylvia came back to her and she moved to Todd. She was in the middle of giving him a welcoming kiss, too, when she noticed the woman.
Her eyes lit up and she stood, shocked, for a moment. She gasped and looked at Cameron.
"Oh, Mom…"
"You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend, Cameron," she gushed as she made her way over to Imogen, who was standing with her weight on her right leg, propped up against the doorframe. Imogen smiled back at Mrs. Moody.
"She's not my---"
Todd laughed. Cameron punched him in the arm.
"Hey, ow!"
The blush on Imogen's cheeks was clearly visible. "Hello, Mrs. Moody. It's nice to meet you." She held her hand out. "I'm Imogen Campbell."
Sylvia took her hand and shook it firmly. "Dr. Sylvia Moody. But you can just call me Sylvia, if you'd like," she laughed. "It's a habit of mine to give my title before my name. No need to be that formal."
Imogen swallowed hard and half-smiled.
Sylvia took a moment to look the woman up and down. She was pretty. Not the type she imagined Cameron to go for, but pretty nonetheless. She had a youthful, whimsical air about her that Sylvia liked. She was childish, in a good way. She was alive. Perhaps she was rubbing off on Cameron. God only knew he needed it.
"Now why didn't Cameron tell me about you? Cameron," she turned to her son, not giving Imogen a chance to respond to the question she'd just been asked. "Why didn't you tell me you had a girlfriend when I last talked to you on the phone? That's so rude, you know. I raised you better than that." She turned back to Imogen. "Really, I did raise him better than that."
"Mom!" Cameron let his head roll so far back it rested against his neck. "She is not my girlfriend, alright? Stop embarrassing her. Stop embarrassing me. Stop embarrassing yourself."
Imogen smiled again at Sylvia, who placed her hand on Imogen's shoulder and led her into the apartment, leaving the door behind them wide open.
"You two aren't dating."
"No," Imogen shook her head, standing awkwardly between Cameron and his mother. "We're…" she looked inconspicuously up at Cameron, who stared back at her. "We're just friends."
Friends wasn't even the right word. It didn't encompass the fully dynamic of their twisted relationship. No word really could.
"Well, then," Sylvia smiled, her gaze shifting from Imogen to Cameron and back to Imogen again. "I suppose that means you'll be coming with him when he visits me in two weeks?"
Cameron groaned and turned around, leaning against a wall on his forearm, his head finding the comfortable juncture of his elbow. Imogen looked around, panicked. She widened her eyes at Todd, who only shrugged and shook his head in confusion.
"Todd, will you be coming? I'd love it if Cameron was accompanied. It's not every day we get to see him or converse with his friends. The house is quiet lately; it could use some livening up. You know what they say! The more the merrier."
Todd's mouth fell open and he looked at Cameron's back for help. "Uh, I--- I um, I'm sorry, Mrs. Moody. I actually can't make it…" He mentally calculated the date in his mind. The twenty-first, twenty-second, twenty-third. "Is that the weekend of the twenty-third?"
Sylvia nodded.
Todd lifted the corner of his lip and shook his head. "Man, I'm sorry, Mrs. Moody. I'll be out of town that weekend."
"Where are you going?" Sylvia asked.
"Florida." It was the first place that came to his mind.
"Florida? What sort of business do you have down in Florida?"
Cameron turned around. This was suspicious, and it was about to get interesting. Slowly he folded his arms and cocked his head. "Yeah, Todd. Why are you going to Florida?"
Todd scrambled. "Uh, work. Yeah, work. See, there's this play."
"A play. In Florida?"
Todd nodded. Sylvia wasn't buying it. "Yeah, see. It's um… it's a little traveling theater group I joined. We're kinda going on a bit of a tour, you see. We're doing a modern-day rendition of…"
A play, he couldn't think of a play.
"Of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Yeah."
Cameron scoffed. "That's a good one." He smiled at Imogen, who covered her mouth to stifle laughter.
"Yeah. We're tweaking it a little." A charming smile made its way onto Todd's face with beautiful fluidity. He brushed his chin with his thumb as the story made its way into his head. "You see, Caesar will be a modern day dude, right, with a huge like… multi-billion dollar corporation and all. He gets all the ladies and then some other guys who work for him, they hatch a plan to murder him and steal all he ever worked for. Yeah."
Sylvia's eyes glittered. "Who are you playing, Todd?"
He winked. "Brutus."
Cameron shook his head in disbelief. "Et tu, Brute?"
"Huh?" was Todd's reply.
Cameron blinked blankly, triumphant. The guy was an idiot.
"Well, it's a shame you can't join us, Todd." Sylvia said, walking to the refrigerator and taking out for herself a cool bottle of water. "But Imogen, that's the right pronunciation? That's a pretty name."
Imogen nodded and thanked her.
"Imogen, perhaps you'd like to come."
Her mouth dropped open and though she didn't dare look at him she could feel Cameron telling her with all his will, "no, no, no, no." She swallowed. Suddenly her mouth was so dry. But there was Cameron's mother, looking at her expectantly, telling her with all her will, "yes, yes, yes, yes."
"Have you ever been outside the city, Imogen?"
Imogen shook her head. "No, ma'am. I moved here about five weeks ago from Louisiana. This is pretty much all of Illinois I've ever seen."
Sylvia closed the refrigerator door with her foot and suddenly the apartment was alive with nothing but the hard sound of high heels clacking on the linoleum of the kitchen floor. "Really? Oh, Imogen, the state is beautiful. You really must come down, then, if you can. You can, can't you? Or are you being a dutiful daughter yourself and going to visit your own parents that weekend?" Sylvia looked at Cameron, who was the subject of her jab. Imogen's face went slightly pale and she looked down at her feet.
"No, ma'am, no, nothing of that sort. I think I'm free."
Cameron closed his eyes and sighed.
"Great!" Sylvia clapped her hands together. "Oh, this will be so much fun. You really will adore it, Imogen, I promise you. There will be lots and lots of opportunities for outdoors. Are you fond of being outside?"
Imogen looked up, her eyes large. "Very."
"You'll have the greatest time. We'll make up a big dinner the first night and Cameron can show you around. I'm sure he'd love the company." Sylvia placed a hand on Cameron's shoulder. "That way he won't be around his family the entire time. It was like pulling teeth even getting him to agree to coming down for just one weekend! You'd think he hated us or something."
"Mom!" Cameron interjected. "It's time I walk Imogen home, if you don't mind." He took Imogen by the crook of the elbow and started making his way towards the door. "I won't be long. You stay here." He stopped long enough to point back at the couch. "The remote should be around there somewhere if you want to watch TV."
"Don't act like I'm a criminal or anything," Sylvia said wryly.
"I mean it, Mom. Please stay here until I get back."
"Alright, alright! You kids go. Go! I'll be fine. It's not like I didn't wait for you for two hours before you came home anyway."
Cameron made a face. "That's not fair, you didn't even let me know you were coming up so don't try to play that card." He turned again for the door.
Imogen looked under Cameron's arm and waved. "Bye. It was nice meeting you."
Sylvia waved back. "I'm looking forward to seeing you again in two weeks!" Then Todd was advancing toward her.
"I've gotta be heading out, too, Mrs. M. Nice seeing you again. I promise sometime I'll come on down with Cameron and you can show me a nice time."
Sylvia laughed and hugged Todd. "That better be a prom
ise. You remember I have your phone number and I will call and nag you, too."
Todd waved to her as he followed Cameron and Imogen out the door. "I know, I know. I won't forget it. Hey, I'll send you a post card or something from Florida!"
Cameron slammed the door as soon as Todd came through it. Imogen yanked her arm from his grip and rubbed. Todd grinned stupidly.
"You are such a dick." Cameron berated Todd before he began stomping down the hallway. Todd and Imogen exchanged confused glances before starting after him.
"What did I do?" Todd asked, placing both his open palms against his chest.
"Julius Caesar? You've got to be kidding me. You're some friend, you know that, jumping at any chance to get away from my mother. I ought to tell her about your little white lie and make you come with me."
Imogen cleared her throat. "Us," she said in a small voice behind him. "You should make him come with us. Hey, it could even be fun, don't you think?"
"No, no, no, no," Cameron grumbled. He reached the elevator and pressed the button that would take them down into the lobby. It opened immediately with a loud ding! and the three of them crowded inside. The doors shut and they each stared at their blurry, corresponding reflections on the steel elevator doors. "Imogen, look. I'm not gonna take you with me."
"Why?" She protested. "That's not fair."
"We all know you really don't want to go. You were coerced."
"Oh, so it's not allowed for Imogen to come along if she's coerced into it, but it's not cool for me to bail out even though I was nearly forced, too?"
Cameron ignored Todd, not even giving him the satisfaction of so much a roll of his eyes or a sarcastic comment back, and continued speaking to Imogen. "Look, I'm doing you a favor. I'm going to save you from the pain of being with my family for two and a half excruciating days. Ask Todd how it is. You saw how quickly he jumped ship."
Todd licked his lips and without an ounce of hesitation said, "hey, it's every man for himself." He shoved his hands in his pockets.
Imogen made a face at Todd.
"See?" Cameron said.
"Well what if I want to go?"
"You don't," Todd answered.
"What if I do? No one asked me what my feelings were on the subject and I say I want to go. I would like to see something other than this city and I happen to think your mother is a very nice woman." Imogen stuck her head out so she could see around Todd, whose tall frame was blocking most of her view of Cameron.
"She actually is a nice lady," Todd piped in. "She's like my second mom, you know."
"Then why don't you come down and see her more often?" Cameron's voice was dry.
"Because I'm too busy seeing my own mother."
"Yeah, if your mother is some twenty-three year old stripper, then you sure do spend a lot of time around her."
"You know, Cameron, I don't see the root of all your mommy issues. If you had a twenty-three-year-old stripper for a mom I bet you'd like visiting her once in a while, too." Todd took a hand from his pocket and leaned his arm against Cameron's shoulder.
Cameron shook him off. "Shut the hell up before you get seriously injured."
"That's disgusting." Imogen swallowed. Todd winked at her.
The elevator stopped and, after the ding, the doors slid open. Cameron led the way out.
"How are we getting there?" Imogen asked.
"I am going by rental car."
The rustle and bustle of life all around invaded their ears. "Where do you live?" Cameron asked. Imogen went left and in seconds Cameron surpassed her.
"Okay, when do you expect we'll be back?"
"That's hard to say. If something in me snaps and I murder them all, I might just be jailed and never return."
"Sunday night," Todd told her.
Imogen smiled. "Perfect. I'll let my boss know in advance. I don't know about you, but I'm excited."
Cameron chose to ignore her, focusing instead on the car horn that blared in his ears right at that moment.
Todd's apartment was on the way to Imogen's. The night was young- it was only just eight o'clock, and that meant it was time for a drink and probably a pretty girl. No, scratch that. Definitely a pretty girl. He waved goodbye and happily left the other two to their own devices.
Imogen and Cameron walked for five more blocks, Cameron still thinking he was leading the way despite the fact that he had no idea at all where he was going. He didn't care. He prided himself on knowing the city like the back of his hand and besides, Imogen was only just new to the city. If anyone knew where she lived, it was him.
"Take a left at Bedford Street," Imogen said, shoving her hands into the pockets of her coat. She was surprised how chilly it got after the sun went down. She ran a few steps to keep up with Cameron's large, quick stride.
"Bedford, hu?"
Imogen looked up at him. "What? Is there something wrong with Bedford?"
Cameron shook his head and looked up at the large, looming buildings above his head, opaque shadows against the backdrop of the royal blue night sky. "Nothing wrong with it at all. It's…"
"It's what?"
"Expensive." Cameron shrugged in his own coat. His hands were freezing. He wished he'd taken enough time to grab a pair of gloves but he considered himself lucky enough to have separated Imogen and his mother before things got any worse. It was bad enough Imogen already had it in her mind that she was going to be going with him to visit his family. Family visits were terrible on their own. He didn't need Imogen adding to the misery.
"Are you implying that I can't afford it?"
"Can you?"
Imogen smiled at the sardonic look on Cameron's face. "Would you believe me if I were to tell you that I'm not really from Louisiana and that in another country I'm one of the most respected, revered, and biggest actress they've ever seen?"
Cameron scoffed, his hot breath crystallizing in the dark air. Imogen took a right at another street and he skipped to catch up to her, taking his place in front like usual. "No, I wouldn't believe you. For one, you have a Southern accent."
Imogen laughed. "I do not!"
"Please. I could close my eyes and pick you out of a line of Chicago natives. You're like a yellow lemon in the middle of a sea of blackberries."
"Nice comparison, I appreciate it."
"I'm just saying… you're a bit conspicuous."
"Fine. Take a trip down to Louisiana and you'd be the yellow lemon in a sea of blackberries. You know, make that a lemon in the middle of a bowl of seafood gumbo."
Cameron made a face as he followed Imogen, who was taking a right down Winchester Avenue.
"What? You've probably never even had gumbo. Don't knock it before you try it. You really need to get yourself out of here, Cameron. You've got yourself in this little protective hole where no one can get in and you can't get out. Bet you've never been out of the state, have you?"
"Hah!" He pointed a finger. "I've been to Wisconsin."
She threw her head back and laughed, loudly, fully. Cameron stopped in his tracks and looked around. She was making a spectacle.
"Hey," he took her by the elbow and started again. "Think you could do that a little less, I don't know, noisily?"
"What the heck is in Wisconsin, can you just tell me that?"
"Don't knock it before you try it."
Imogen was still giggling to herself when she grabbed Cameron's elbow. They stopped and Cameron looked around.
"This is it," she said, digging for her keys from her purse. "I appreciate you walking me home. You didn't have to."
Cameron raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, well it was either spend some time with you or my mother…"
" I suppose I'm glad to hear I'm more fun than at least one person in this world."
"Don't feel too privileged. It's not hard to be more fun than her."
Imogen stood at the doors to the apartment complex and stared at Cameron, trying to gauge his reaction. He blinked and a sincere smile spread slowly across his face. Imog
en couldn't help but smile back. She had a feeling he was really beginning to warm up to her.
"Fine, then. I have a new mission. During our trip there I will get her to join in some real fun."
Cameron scoffed. "I told you, I'm going alone."
Imogen shifted her weight on her leg and crossed her arms over her chest. "You heard your mother. I was invited, too. Save some room for me in the car."
"You don't understand, Imogen. The two of us--- it'd be like putting potassium and water together. Don't you know what happens when potassium and water mix?"
She knew but she didn't move an inch.
"They explode, Imogen. It's bad. Bad all around."
She tilted her head to the side, long hair grazing the side of her arm. "Didn't you ever stop to think that maybe they explode together in a good way?"
Cameron's mouth dropped slightly as he considered her. Maybe they'd explode together in a good way? Was there even such a thing as an explosion of any kind that could be deemed as good?
Imogen broke his train of thought. "Thanks again," she waved. Her keys jingled loudly in her hand. "See you around."
Cameron waved toward her and watched her turn and open the door.
"Oh." Imogen stopped and faced Cameron again. "Here. Let me know the details about this trip when, you know, you finally come out of denial." She handed him a piece of paper with a phone number on it. Above it was her name, scrawled in large, loopy handwriting. "By the way, you have lipstick on your forehead." She gestured with a long pointer finger to his face.
He swept the back of his hand across his forehead before he swallowed, folded the small paper with two fingers, and placed it in the pocket of his jacket. He nodded, not knowing for certain if he ever would dial those numbers. Imogen waved goodbye again, and in seconds she was gone.
He walked slowly on his way back to his own apartment, dreading the moment he would come face-to-face with his mother. The rest of the night would probably consist of her badgering and cross-examining him until the sun came up. That was definitely something he didn't look forward to, but it was a routine they went through any time they were in the same room together, so at this point Cameron considered the Clash of Wits, as he called it, inevitable. He didn't know how long she intended to stay, either, but it couldn't be too long. After all, it was a Saturday night and he had to work on Monday. Thank God.