Chapter 7
2310 Words
Rachel
“Are you okay?” Zara asked.
“I am.” Actually, not really. All because of Cameron the asshole Greene came into the picture. What did he want? I thought because he wanted to visit Lucas or talk with my dad. They had been doing business before I was born. And f**k him for being attractive. Why he had to be? If he were so ugly I could easily shake him off my butt. His handsome structure distracted me from doing the right thing. Right, there was nothing right whenever Cameron was involved. That asshole cut my hair. He destroyed my dream. And he came now for…what? He even forcefully got my number. He threatened to kiss me if I ran away from him. Hell, no. I refused to be kissed by him again. Besides, there was nothing romantic about our first kiss. Our first kiss was brutal. No gentleness. Nothing I’d ever dreamed of. Only raw like kissing meant nothing to Cameron. Of course, it was not. Cameron was a ladies man. He kissed women probably ten per day. f*****g hell, Rachel.
“Rach,” Zara called, snapping my eyes to my friend next to me. c*****g her chin under the counter, she said, “Your phone buzzes since two minutes ago.”
“Oh, thanks, Zara.” Slipping my hand under, I didn’t recognize the number. Dunn? No way. Today was not my consultation day. s**t, I had to deal with it when I got home. I had to ask Mackenzie if she was willing to be my object. I was sure she would, but I wanted to make it official by asking her properly. “Hello,” I picked it up.
“Hey, Rachel,” Cameron’s voice boomed on the phone. f**k! “Are you working—” Without thinking, I shut off the call. Okay, that was rude. But then again, my opponent was Cameron. And whenever I was with him, I couldn’t keep my language at PG. My phone vibrated in my hand. Must be Cameron again. Should I block his number? Remembering this was Cameron, he could come and haunt my ass down. I certainly did not want that.
“I think it’s best if you take it, girl. Might be important,” Zara suggested. “I will keep the counter at bay.”
“Thanks,” I hurriedly walked out of the shop. I mentally counted in my mind. Calming myself first before I face the beast. And I picked it up again. I didn’t even get the chance to talk.
“Don’t f*****g shut me off, woman! I forbid you to do that to me,” he bellowed I had to pull the phone from my ear before he exploded mine. “I let it slide this time, next time I will punish you,” he added.
I scoffed. “Did you even hear yourself?”
“I hear myself clearly. I don’t like it when I call you, and I was about to ask how you were doing and you turned off my call.”
“Okay, I’m sorry. I, uh, panicked.”
“I wasn’t going to hurt you.” I scoffed again. “Will you stop scoffing? You’re being plainly rude now and here I am trying to be nice to you.” I could tell by his tone Cameron was trying to be nice to me, but he was also holding back his anger had I unleashed the beast. Not even a whip could stop him now. I didn’t want to deal with Cameron when he was furious. He was brutal, and what happened when he was furious? I said goodbye to my crown of hair.
“Do you need anything?” I calmly asked.
“I want to have lunch with you.”
“I don’t have a lunch hour.”
“Yes, you do. Are you working ten hours nonstop?” he sardonically asked.
“I’m working in a coffee shop where customers come every ten seconds at lunch hour, Cameron.”
“Then, I will be there so you can have lunch with me.”
“No!”
“I didn’t ask for your permission, dolly. I am telling you to have lunch with me. And you will.”
“You can’t control me, Cameron.”
“I’m not trying to. But you’ve always been mine so you have no place to disobey me. Think again when you want to.” The only thing I remember was the fear and my hair was gone.
And I uttered the words Cameron seemed despite the most, “f**k off, Cameron.” I shut off the call. Again. I quickly turned off my phone just in case that madman wanted to call me again. I was working. Even Cameron was working. He should’ve known that. “Stupid jerk.” I went back to work right after.
I slipped my phone under the counter and never bothered to check on it. I knew the second I turned it on, Cameron would bombard me with thousands of missed calls. Just let him be. He was acting like a child now. Come to think of it, despite his parents never spoiling him and always giving the equal attention just like his brother, Chris, Cameron acted like a spoiled brat. I liked Christ. He was so composed, and I felt safe with him. He and Cameron were like fire and ice. Where Chris was calm, Cameron was like a tornado.
And he did cause the natural disaster now when someone angrily pushed the door, the bell on top of the door would run away now because of the assault. An angry-looking Cameron strolled in. His burning blue eyes were on me. I tiredly exhaled. Just having him here had shortened my lifespan. I had lost five years in three seconds. As he stomped his long legs toward me, the door was opened again, and this time, I could genuinely smile and had those five years back. “Chris! Knox! Welcome,” I welcomed them.
“Hi, Rachel. How are you doing?” Knox asked.
“Great.”
“I heard from Cam you’re on your final project now,” Chris said.
“I am.”
“You will graduate next year, then,” Knox stated.
“If everything goes well.”
“Nah, I know you will do just fine. You’re a smart girl since long ago,” he winked. I nervously smiled. Knox had always been good with his words. He never purposely flirted with me; it was just in his nature. He always managed to make me blush even when I was still a kid.
I cleared my throat. “So, what do you guys want for today?”
“I would like that delicious-looking sandwich with tuna and cheese. Also, a single cinnamon roll. And white coffee,” Knox mentioned his order.
“Got it. Chris?”
“I would have black coffee and mozzarella and ham panini, please.”
“Great.” I slowly cast my eyes on Cameron. Rather than looking at me, he was glaring death at me. Seriously if one look could kill, I would be dead by now. Swallowing a lump, “Cameron?” I asked him.
“Have lunch with me,” he stoically said.
“That’s not on the menu,” I countered.
“Rachel, I’m serious.”
“And I’m serious, too. I’ve told you on the phone that I can’t have recess during lunch.”
“Yes, you can, and you will.” Rounding the counter, I panicked instantly. I tried to dodge him but he caught my elbow.
“Cameron, this is inappropriate!”
“I tried to be appropriate but you make me inappropriate. Suck on that, woman.”
“Cam—”
“Excuse me, the gorgeous lady with dark hair,” he called on Zara. “Could you cover my girl for thirty minutes? I want to have lunch with her.” Oh, no. I looked at Zara, looking worried. She glanced at me, unsure. I prayed she could listen to my silent beg.
But she crushed it and said, “Yeah, sure.” I closed my eyes tiredly. I lost ten years of my lifespan. All because of Cameron. Next time, I’d be dead.
“Awesome. Thank you. I want a cappuccino and a latte. One chocolate scone, sausage sandwich, and scrambled egg on toast,” he mentioned his orders.
Hold on.
Cameron towed me to the table at the very corner. Sitting me next to the window, he claimed next to mine. Asshole, he did that on purpose just in case I wanted to run. “My boss won’t approve of this,” I told him.
“Then, you can quit. You don’t have to work anyway. You have your final project to attend to. Why are you working anyway?”
“I’m an adult, and it’s common if I have to have a job.”
“You can work for me.”
I dryly laughed. “Not a chance in hell.”
“For crying out loud, could you watch your goddamn mouth? You make me want to sew them.”
“What’s your problem? Cursing is normal.”
“I f*****g hate it coming from your mouth. Could you do what you told for one second?” Oh? I smiled. He dropped it. “Rachel, don’t you f*****g dare.”
“One. Fu—” I was about to say f**k off, but Cameron gripped my jaw.
Pushing his face closer, his masculine cologne entered my nostrils. The only sedation I needed to stop pushing his buttons. His warm breath hit my mouth, cleaning all the blue and red language I was about to throw at him. Cameron had this aura of not being disobeyed. He always did since we were younger. “Do it if you want to be kissed like I’m claiming you here, in front of our brothers, your coworkers, your customers, everyone. Just to show you that I’m not messing around. Your choice, dolly.”
It didn’t take long for me to gain control because of his stupid pet name on me. “I hate you.”
He smirked. “That’s right, keep on hating me, dolly.” He released my jaw. I was one second to cry now. No, I would never cry in front of him. I refused to show my weakness in front of him. Not with a man like him.
Zara arrived with our lunches, but I had lost my appetite and all I wanted to do was get back to work so I could distract myself from Cameron’s penetrating gaze. Or better yet, I wanted to go home already and work on my project. Cameron slid my latte and my favorite chocolate scone and scrambled egg on toast. All my favorites. How did he still remember them? “Eat,” he ordered. Honestly, I didn’t like his tone at all. Not even my parents ever used that tone to me. I was not his freaking doll.
“You’ve made me lose my appetite.”
“Oh, I can get it back for you.” He cut a small portion of my scone and stuck it between his teeth. I quickly drank my latte, ignoring how hot it was now, and pulled my toast toward her. Cameron smirked. “What a shame.” He chewed the scone.
“Behave, Cam,” Chris told me. “You promised to be a good boy to us earlier.”
“I never asked you two to come with me. I wanted to have lunch with Rachel. Just the two of us.”
“We knew what you were about to do if we left you alone with the poor girl,” Knox said.
“What was I about to do?”
“You already did by manhandling her like a madman. Give the girl a break and have a proper lunch with her. You’ve wasted eight minutes because of your silly argument with her.”
I smiled at how Chris and Knox were on my side. They both knew how uncontrollable and unreasonable Cameron was. I silently felt grateful to them for keeping Cameron company. I didn’t know what would happen if I was alone with him.
In the end, Cameron behaved himself until we all finished our lunch. It was odd but at least, Cameron didn’t do anything sneaky.
“I’ll pick you up tonight,” Cameron stated as Chris and Knox strolled out.
“I—”
“No,” he cut me first. “This is bullshit, Rachel. Stop rejecting me. I’m trying to do the right thing here.” Right thing?
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I meant.”
“What? Look, I don’t need your apology if you’re referring to what happened to us five years ago. The damage had been done. There’s nothing you can do to fix me.” Not even us.
“Do you really think so?”
“I know so. So, you don’t need to pick me up. Deal with your own business. I’m not a child anymore. I’m twenty-one, Cameron. I know how to take care of myself. And I have a final project I need to take care of. So, I suggest you stop bothering me because you will only make everything worse,” I sternly said. The hurt flashed in his profile and I swore his body fidgeted a little. And I cursed myself for doing that to him and I felt horrible about it
His broad shoulders dropped. “Fine,” he said before he finally walked out. Taking in the fall wind from outside, the longing for him quickly coated me.
Fuck, I still liked him.
- Writer
