Chapter Sixteen
Things were going pretty well, so of course, the other shoe had to drop at some point. Camila had just gotten so happy with the way things were going with Samuel and Brianna that she’d forgotten all about her previous troubles.
It was naïve of her to think they would go away so quickly.
“Camila!”
A knock on her door and her mom shouting her name brought her out of her daze. She actually didn’t have any job going on, but she’d taken plenty of pictures on the trips she’d been going to with Samuel and Brianna. She didn’t do it when it was just the two of them, but Brianna was actually interested in Camila’s photography. Camila was sorting the shots. Of course, they weren’t things she could sell, but she could at least arrange them.
“What is it, Mom?” she called back, putting everything in their chosen folders and turning her computer off. When her mom called her like that, it was usually because she wanted something.
“Honey, can you go get something from the grocery store for me? I didn’t realize how little we had left at home.”
Oh,she thought guiltily.
Not that it was strictly her job, but Camila was usually the one watching their resources in the kitchen and restocking when they needed more, especially since she was the one with the money, and she knew it made her mom feel ashamed to keep asking her for cash.
“Hang on, I’ll be right there!”
With her computer turned off and her things put aside, she changed out of her yoga pants and old sweatshirt into clothes she could actually step out in public in, and picked up her purse.
“Do you have a list for me?” she asked, walking out to the kitchen to find her mom going through the cupboards and the fridge.
“I’m almost done with it, just wait a sec, okay? Just buy whatever you can.”
A minute later, she had the list and headed out to the store a block away. She hummed to herself as she picked up all the things on the list, paid for them and then walked out of the grocery store carrying all her bags.
The whole thing was so familiar. She looked casually around as she was leaving the store, and just happened to see him. Then again, he wasn’t trying to hide, either, and she could feel her heart freeze and her legs go stiff.
Adrien.
Shit!
She turned for home and walked on the far side, away from Adrien. Even though he wasn’t hiding, he wasn’t actually looking her way. She could recognize him even from a distance, though, with his unique features, second only to his brother’s. He still wasn’t looking her way, as she wished she had checked when she’d walked into the store if he was around. She’d taken a good half hour to get her things, pay and get out, so there was no way to tell if he’d come before he knew she would be there.
Still, it was problematic that he was this close to where she lived.
When she arrived at home, she was breathing heavily because she’d practically run all the way back.
“Camila?” Her mom, hearing the door being slammed open and closed came out of the kitchen and saw how hard she was breathing. She frowned, moving closer. “You didn’t have to run all the way, you know. We can have lunch a little later, it’s not like it’s really a problem.”
Camila looked at her mom, and thought about telling her. She even opened her mouth to say so, but then her lips curved into a smile. “It’s fine,” she said. “I just wanted to hurry back because I was doing something. No need to worry.”
Her mom looked skeptical, but she didn’t argue.
“All right,” she said hesitantly, taking a couple of the bags.
She helped Camila take the groceries to the kitchen and put them away, leaving what she was going to use to make their lunch.
“I shouldn’t have had you make the run,” she muttered. “We could have just as easily gone out. That restaurant a couple streets over, we haven’t been there in a while, have we? We’ll go next time, okay?”
“Sure, Mom,” Camila murmured, her voice tight. “Next time.”
Her mom didn’t seem to pick up that something was wrong, so Camila ran to her room to hide before she gave it away. She didn’t want her mom to worry, and besides, it might have been a coincidence.
That’s right,she thought, trying to convince herself. There’s another reason he could be there…
She had never actually seen him around her street, so she didn’t think he knew exactly where she lived. As long as she was careful, things would stay that way. Actually, it would probably be a good thing if she went off on a trip for work that would help her keep a distance for a while, but she didn’t want to have to explain to Samuel the reason why.