~CAMIILE'S POV~
"So that's what happened." I say, looking at Alice, awaiting her reaction after finishing my account of the events.
"Are you fucking serious right now?"
"Of course, I am, Alice."
She shakes her head, as if trying to process what I just said. "You agreed to be sex friends with him? I thought you hated his guts!"
I scratch the back of my neck. "Yes I did. I still do though."
She playfully pushes my head. "Shut up! You agreed to be sex friends with someone you hate?"
I shrug. "It's just sex, it's no big deal."
"Coming from someone who was deeply in love with a man not long ago," Alice grins at me.
I avert my gaze from her. "That was all in the past, Alice. I just want to do what I want this time around. And if Niklaus is willing to be my pain relief, then I'm so in."
Alice stares at me in amusement. "No big deal? Who are you, Camille?"
I shrug. "A girl who doesn't give a damn anymore."
Alice smiles widely. "I like this, girl! That's the spirit!" She playfully pulls my cheeks. "But are you really sure about this? As much as I love this new side of you, friends with benefits thing never ends well. And most importantly, he's a professional player, Cam. His record is not good at all. From what I heard, he has never repeated the same girl he fucks and he's very..."
"I am very much aware of all that, Alice. I know exactly what I'm getting myself into. Don't worry, I'll be fine."
Alice stares at me for a moment before she sighs, "So you guys have like rules and all that?"
I nod, "Yeah."
"How long do you plan on doing it?"
I pause at her question; I hadn't actually thought about that. "Uh, until one of us decides to quit."
Alice nods, "Alright girl, just make sure you don't get hurt. And to avoid getting hurt, please don't fall for him."
"You think after wasting so much time with Max, I'm willing to go down the same road? Besides, it's never going to work, we are way too incompatible."
"How are you incompatible, because he's rich?"
I sigh, "Whatever, just know that falling for him is never going to happen."
Alice reaches for my hand, "Just in case you start developing feelings for him, please end it as fast as possible, Cam."
I roll my eyes, "I am not going to fall for him, Alice! You are good at this game, you sleep with men without any commitment, what makes you think I can't do it as well?"
Alice sighs, "You and I are different, Cam. You are a lover girl while I am not. There's a possibility that you might fall for him but it's never the case for me because all my life, I have never opened my heart to love anyone. But you have fallen in love many times, what if it isn't different this time? That would be a very big problem because Niklaus is different from those men you have loved, he's a player who will not care less about your feelings. I am just worried, Cam. I won't like it if you get hurt again, you're not even healed yet from what Max did to you."
I smile and cup her cheeks with my hands, "Aren't you the cutest?" She smiles. "Don't worry about me, I really want to this and besides, I'm not losing anything from doing it. Niklaus is a player who doesn't want love and I am a broken girl who does not want to be broken again, what makes you think I would allow myself into the same shit again?"
She nods, "Just make sure you handle it well, Cam. And I'm here to help if you encounter any problems, okay?"
I nod as I release her cheeks. "Thank you, Alice. I love you." I purse my lips and reach for her hands.
"I love you too, you stubborn girl." She kisses my cheek, making me smile widely.
"Now, as for Lester, I never knew he was so sweet."
I nod in agreement. "He's the nicest person I've ever met. People like him are very rare."
"Do you think he's going to agree to work with us?"
I sigh. "I really don't know, but I hope he will. Will you come with me to the party on Friday?"
"He invited you, not me, Cam," Alice shakes her head.
"I can ask him, you know. I don't want to go alone."
She sighs, "Alright, ask him first."
"I will ask him when he texts me the location."
Alice nods and stands up. "I'm hungry. Let me fix us something and then I am going to see someone."
I grin at her, "Why do I have a feeling it's a stranger that you are only meeting for the first time?"
She turns to me and grins as well, "Well, congrats girlfriend, you are right and I am going to fuck him as well."
I place my hand on my forehead and shake my head. "You never change, do you?"
She shakes her head. "I like trying new things, you know."
"Shameless," I tease, and she laughs before heading into the kitchen.
"I'll come with you." Just as I stand up, there's a knock on the door. Carter had gone to study with his friends, but he wouldn't knock if it was him. Who could it be? I walk over to the door and when I open it, my heart drops when I see my mother standing in front of me.
"Hi Camille." She smiles widely at me.
I look away from her with a frown on my face and start walking away.
"What are you doing here, mom?"
"Oh come on, Cam, how can you ask your mother that? We haven't seen each other in five months."
"More reason why I'm asking you why you are here." The last time she came to my house, she was excessively drunk and had passed out in front of my door. If I hadn't come out of my room that night, she would have slept there. Then when she was leaving, she didn't even say goodbye, and I never saw her again since then.
"I came to see my son and daughter, is that a crime?" She walks past me and goes over to sit on the sofa. "Hmm, I smell something delicious. What are you cooking?"
"Please go back and handle your club, Mom. Don't let Carter see you here, it would give him false hope." I stand in front of her with my arms across my chest.
"What false hope?"
"Oh, please, Mom, don't act like you came here out of some deep longing for us. Why don't you go back to your boyfriends and leave us alone?"
She stands up, her expression turning stern. "Don't you dare talk to me like that, Camille. I am your mother."
"You could have considered that before abandoning me and Carter to chase after some..." I can't even finish my sentence before she slaps me hard across the cheek.
"Don't speak as if you understand anything, Camille! You have no idea how hard it's been like for me!"
"For you?! How hard it's been for you?! What about me and Carter? Have you ever wondered how we've been? Do you even know how hard he's been studying to get into a good school? No! You don't know! So why should I care about how hard it is for you when you don't even prioritize your own children?! You're selfish, Mom."
"Camille!" She screams my name, a mix of desperation and anger in her voice.
Alice walks out of the kitchen hurriedly to meet us, her eyes wide with surprise. "Camille?" She calls me, clearly taken aback.
My mom turns to her, studying her face as if trying to recall who she is. Since I only recently became close to Alice before my mom abandoned us, she doesn't know Alice well and only knew Ava.
"Who are you?"
"Uh..." Alice scratches the back of her neck. "My name is Alice, I'm Camille's friend."
She blinks in confusion and turns to me before looking back at Alice. "Oh, I didn't know she had any other friend apart from Ava."
You see? She doesn't even know what happened between Ava and me.
Alice smiles slightly, "We've been friends for close to seven months now."
"Oh..." My mom's eyes scan Alice's body, and my heart races, anticipating whatever awkward comment she's about to make. "You have great skin; you must be from a well-off background."
Oh my goodness.
"Mom! What does her skin have to do with her background? Please, leave her alone and don't say anything stupid."
"What? What did I say wrong?"
"Uh, it's fine, Camille. It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Cooper."
"Please leave, Mom." I say firmly.
"Why are you like this, Camille? I came to see you guys and this is what you do?"
"You don't need to see us. Since your life is more important to you, you should focus on it."
"Camille," Alice calls out to me, but I choose to ignore her. I'm seething with anger, and it wouldn't be fair if Carter were to come across her here. All she does is give him false hope that she's here for us, only to vanish again, leaving the poor kid heartbroken.
She lets out a sigh and retrieves her bag. "Can't you at least give me a chance to explain myself?"
"You've been saying that throughout this year, Mom. I don't want to hear any of your pointless excuses anymore."
Her eyes well up with tears, and it seems like she's on the verge of crying. She nods silently before making her way out. I slump to the ground, burying my head between my legs as tears stream down my cheeks. Alice squats beside me and place her hand on my shoulder.
"Shh, don't cry, baby, don't cry."
"She just doesn't get it..." I manage to say between tears. "She thinks she can just come into our lives and leave whenever she wants."
"It's okay, baby. I know this isn't what you want to hear right now, but sometimes, older adults may be dealing with something even bigger than what we're going through, and they might not express it well, causing us to misunderstand. I understand how difficult it has been for you, coping with this for so long. I can imagine how heartbroken you must have felt when she wasn't there during the most important times. But I think you should still give her a chance to explain whatever excuses she has to tell you. You don't want to end up with regrets, you know."
I lift my head to look at Alice as tears continue to stream down my cheeks. "What could she possibly say? That she's sorry for sleeping around with men when her children needed her the most? That she's sorry for missing Carter's high school graduation while she was clearly off fooling around in her gigolo club? That she's sorry for not calling or texting her own children countless times?"
Alice smiles and strokes my hair gently. "Yeah, she might actually say sorry. Sorry might be all she will say in the end. But have you ever given her a chance to say it?"
I pause for a moment, still letting the tears flow, then I turn to her. "Not now. I'm not mentally stable enough for her pointless excuses."
Alice smiles and kisses my head. "Alright, baby, now stop crying. You wouldn't want Carter to see you like this."
I nod and quickly wipe my tears. "Thank you, Alice."
Alice smiles. "Anytime, baby."
XOXO