I’ve Got You

Chapter 7

Aleshia resisted the temptation for two weeks. In the meanwhile, Cameron helped move her into the new property – sorting out the necessary documents, taking her to make the deposit, and moving in belongings bit by bit – as she didn’t have many in the first place. Vaneese helped as well, she and Dijon possessed a car each to help them get to work or take Amy around to visit her friends. The beach for them was a ten-minute walk from their property. When Aleshia confided to Vaneese about Cameron’s rushed promise to stay by her, Vaneese at first couldn’t believe it.

Then, when Cameron and Dijon confirmed for her the truth, she was ecstatic – as if all her prayers had been answered, rather than Aleshia’s.

“Hold that man tight, and never let go.”

“Vaneese,” Aleshia had protested, on one of her regular visits over, “Give it a break. You know I can’t take a perfectly fine man off the market and deal with the life changes I’m having to go through now. He still hasn’t even had a proper relationship with a woman before. I’m kind of a big step up.” Even as she said those words, hidden under the guise of practicality, slivers of jealously spiked the offloaded facts. Somewhere in her brain, she had already began seeing Cameron Lovell as someone who belonged to her – though in what form, she still didn’t know.

At least, that was what she told herself.

The man, every gorgeous inch of him, insisted on sticking by her and helping her move in. A voice of doubt asked what benefits he got out of this. The same voice insidiously suggested that the only reason men liked her at all was because she was so easy to control. Blindsided by love, enamored by the notion of being loved.

Even with those doubts nibbling at the shadowy regions of her mind, she caved in, two weeks later – on her first day in the new house.

Vaneese, Dijon and Amy had come to see the quirky, living wood house. Dijon loved it, Vaneese acted dubious of her sister’s taste, declaring she felt like a squirrel stuck in a tree. In response, Aleshia innocently handed over a bowl of nuts for Vaneese to crunch through, provoking much laughter from Amy, who insisted on exploring every room, and jumping on each bed. She occupied herself by running up and down the spiral staircase as Aleshia served her guests coffee and tea respectively. Cameron visited shortly after the relatives left.

He listened, nodding along to Aleshia’s gushing amusement about her family, her awe of the new place.

“I’m glad. I can see the effect it has on you. It does make all the difference, being somewhere.”

Sat on the sofa, their bare feet touched, and launched into a lazy war, where it wasn’t clear what winning or losing meant.

Two weeks, Aleshia thought. Barely any time at all. The nugget’s growing bigger. He’s going above and beyond for me. Peter is still bombarding me with texts. She even showed the texts to Cameron. He liked and appreciated this gesture. And why wouldn’t he? She had nothing to hide. This was her life – and she couldn’t run away from the facts, no matter how desperate she became. Life enjoyed throwing her curveballs. The arrival of Cameron Lovell proved the biggest one of all.

Two weeks, and Aleshia brought up the notion of a relationship. One where they dated. Kissed. Tried to work each other more exclusively into their lives.

Cameron immediately accepted. And now, they sat opposite each other, having not yet arranged their first date, stuck in that curious limbo. The more Aleshia thought about their situation, the more convinced she felt that all logic and reason was jumping itself out the window.

There was no logic. Even with the reasons they gave each other, the situation felt fantastical at best. However, what mattered was the constant flicker of sparks between them – the inexplicable attraction that had wormed a way through the fabric of their being. A possibility that instant love and attraction, along with dedication existed.

“I can’t comprehend it,” Aleshia confessed, out of the blue, even as their feet continued to dance together on the leather sofa. “I felt like everything was breaking down, and I had reached a dead-end, and needed to figure out how to back myself out of it. Then, you come along. You freak out when you find I’m pregnant, but you come back almost straight away. You promise to stick by me, straight away, when people can spend months building up those kind of commitments.”

Cameron Lovell rubbed the lines at the corners of his eyes. “It’s true. I haven’t even bothered trying to explain to my family what’s happening, yet. I’ve told them I’m seeing a nice woman, but I haven’t mentioned any of the other factors. I’ll have to at some point. It’s likely going to be a massive headache. All I know is that maybe there’s an answer for that… displacement I have. I know you seem more real than anyone else I’ve met.” He then chuckled. “Well, you basically did give me your life story on our first big meeting.”

“I imagine you needed the time to process,” Aleshia grinned, her big toe now tangled up in Cameron’s.

“Yeah. I’m not used to people giving me everything upfront like that. I wasn’t sure whether to run away yelling at the top of my lungs, or admire that brutal attitude. I mean, women have told me before that they have medical issues straight away, or depression, or whatever. But you basically told me that you were a fu*k-up that had just escaped a fu*ked up situation.”

“I wasn’t that bad,” Aleshia protested. “I’m nothing like my sister. She’s a baseball bat with spikes.”

“I’m still wondering how I’m going to put across the pregnancy to my family.”

“I appreciate you like me enough to consider that,” Aleshia said, with a tiny smirk. “And I’ve thought of something.”

“Oh? Do enlighten me.” He shifted positions, so that they could cuddle up together on the sofa, instead of wrestling with their feet. Aleshia enjoyed the way he fit next to her, body pressed onto her spine. Rain thundered outside, torrential and as intensive as ever. A car horn beeped in the distance, long and livid.