I’ve Got You

“Apparently, I’m easy to manipulate.” The words came out harsh, bitter. Aleshia checked herself. “Sorry. Residual feelings. Anyway I better call her.”

Cameron hesitated only a moment, eyebrows knitted together in thought. “Why don’t we get take-out? De-stress from the trauma of this morning. You can come back to mine or I come over to yours – that way, you’ll have an excuse to not go and see your sister.”

“Oh! I can tell her I’m with you. Excellent.” Aleshia held the phone to her ear.

When Vaneese answered, she explained hurriedly that she wouldn’t be coming over, and for good measure, handed the phone over to Cameron, so he could collaborate with Aleshia’s reasons to not come. Neither mentioned about the trip to the hospital. Vaneese sounded incredibly smug when she was put back on the phone with her sister, and strongly hinted that maybe the situation between her and Cameron wasn’t as ruined as previously believed.

Aleshia sighed, when the call ended. She looked up at her savior and admired once again his handsome looks, before reminding herself that this was a door she couldn’t open. “What do you suggest we eat?”

The realtor smiled, straightening up and adjusting his thin tie. “We can discuss it in the car. There’s going to be a lot of traffic. And we have torrential rain to go through!” He shouted the last words, as the rain chose that moment to increase in strength, creating a loud rattling across all the surfaces. He held out a hand to her. She took it, beaming, and they hastened over to the car, soaked within seconds.

*****

Back in Aleshia’s apartment, dried off, armed with bottles of water and four boxes full of Mexican quesadillas, they sat around the small table in the middle of her cramped living room. Having already made it past the initial inspection, and Cameron confessing that he was glad Aleshia would be buying the house instead of living in a place like this for much longer. Aleshia had her new prescription pills to help reduce the va*inal bleeding, and the iron supplements to go with her food, as well as an all-around vitamin medley as recommended by Cameron.

Again, despite the tension of the day before, they found themselves slipping into easy conversation. Aleshia couldn’t help the suspicion that flared up within, but she also appreciated the gesture, in that Cameron had gone out of his way to help her obtain a property, get her to the hospital, and assist mutually in avoiding the wrath of her sister.

“I can’t thank you enough for this, really. And the food is delicious,” Aleshia said, munching her way through a chicken spiced quesadilla. They had four box fulls of different flavor combinations, and planned to eat every single one of them.

“I know a lot of good spots for take-out. I often can’t find the energy to cook, and even if I did, there’s no way I could do anything as wonderful as what some of the local food places offer.”

“I can’t cook to save my life,” Aleshia confessed. “I live on take-out and sandwiches. Not the healthiest of options, mind you, but I can afford it, and I enjoy having such a wide selection of different cuisines to choose from.”

They kept up the banter, discovering small things about each other. Aleshia felt, however, that Cameron was circling around the topics he wanted to discuss. His friendliness almost matched the levels of last night, just before Aleshia had dropped the bomb on him. Again, she caught remnants of interest in his eyes, and again, she detected that familiar, irritating twinge of arousal in her guts.

What’s going on? It hasn’t even been a day. has my sister put him up to this?

“Aleshia, I’ve been thinking,” Cameron said, finally cutting to the meat of the subject, “About things. This is also along with some panic when I had to rush you to hospital, because I was convinced you were bleeding to death.”

“I wasn’t. But I understand why you would think so.”

“You literally asked me in the car if you might be bleeding out.”

“Yeah, true. I was a little hysterical about that as well. Thanks for speeding up, though.”

“No problem. I want to try… talking some things through with you. I’m not sure where anything will go, or if it will go anywhere at all. But I’d like to hear your side of things. Your thoughts on your future. And you can ask about me as well.”

Aleshia examined Cameron, contemplated his proposal. “Just on a friendly basis?”

He shrugged. “Maybe just that, maybe more.” Something crackled in the air, intangible. The sparks Aleshia felt from last night came back in full force, along with amazement at this sudden turn around. The sobbing frustration from a near sleepless night vanished in quavering hope.

“Why?” The word escaped her lips.

Cameron stared at her for a long, tense minute. The strange feeling inside her multiplied, expanded. If she had been standing up, she would have needed to sit down, due to the tremors in her legs.

After an age, he responded, “Because I felt something. The first time I heard you, saw you, watched you, talked to you – I honestly felt something. Hearing that you didn’t exactly come burden free was a, uh, devastating blow to that feeling I had. Like it didn’t matter what I felt, I find a nice, pretty woman who is interesting, warm, and has something special about her, and recites poetry despite being shy about it… but that doesn’t matter. Life will laugh at me and tell me once more I’m a fool.”

At this, Aleshia let out an exasperated chuckle. “I know the feeling. If I’d met you over a year ago, I have the notion we could get along well. More than well. But, nope, you had to waltz into my life when it’s been fu*ked up, and I’m busy trying to make sense of the ruins. Not the best timing.”

The realtor helped pour some more water into an empty glass for Aleshia. Their feet touched under the table. Neither moved away from the contact.

“So. I want to talk more. Just to confirm whether these feelings have any basis or not. And, since you’ve asked your question… here’s mine.” He idly tapped the rim of his glass. “Do you still love your ex?”