Chapter Seventeen
“Camila! I’ll be heading out for a bit, okay?” She heard her mom call out to her through the door. “But I have my phone on me, so call if you need anything!”
She didn’t have any work, and she didn’t feel like doing anything, so she was just lying in bed even though it was the middle of the day. She was tempted to call Samuel, but he’d told her he would be out of town on business for a while and he hadn't contacted her other than a few texts here and there for the past couple days.
“It’s fine, Mom,” she called back, listless. “Don’t forget to carry your spare keys, okay!”
“Will you be going out?”
“I’ll probably just fall asleep, so don’t wait for me.”
She listened until she heard the door open and close. She didn’t move from her bed, though. She’d already moved twice, once for breakfast, the second time for lunch. She wasn’t planning on getting out of bed unless it was for dinner. She even knew she wouldn’t be getting any jobs for a few days because she’d asked to take a short time off. It usually happened anyway in between her huge projects when there weren’t any mid-level or smaller projects for her to work on.
“I’m so damn bored, though,” she groaned to herself, rolling so she was lying on her front with her face buried in her pillow. She quickly felt suffocated like that, though, so she rolled back over onto her side. She didn’t know how true agoraphobics lived like this. She was bored out of her mind.
She stretched her arm toward the nightstand and picked up her phone. As expected, though, there was nothing. No new texts or calls. She didn’t like to read a lot and the news right then didn’t interest her, so she was left bored. She could always go through her pictures again… but she’d done that yesterday and the day before already. She’d put up some pictures for sale and they had gone pretty quickly. It helped that she had a good reputation and that there was actually a lot of people waiting for her photos whenever the ones she put up were sold out.
Maybe go out and take pictures?
It was a good plan. If nothing else, there was always photography to make her happy. Taking photos had been a hobby of hers for a long time or she wouldn’t have chosen it as her career. But… where would she go? She was too afraid to leave her own street. Considering how many times she had run into Adrien, but never this close to home, she felt that going too far would be dangerous.
She had been lucky with all their previous encounters, but what would happen if she met him, and there wasn’t even a cop or security guard in sight? She didn’t want to think what would happen to her thanks to that bastard.
Camila didn’t have that many friends, and it was in times like these that she really felt it. The few people she spent the most time with were either at work while she wasn’t or busy with their own thing. She thought of calling Brianna, but ever since they met, Brianna mostly just communicated by writing things down. She didn’t speak, just made soft sounds sometimes. She also didn’t have a personal cell phone, or Camila would have texted her already.
Suddenly, her phone vibrated. Camila practically jumped for it, only to be disappointed and annoyed when she saw who it was. She sneered as she directly cut the call and put the phone back down. The last person she wanted to hear from was Jordan.
With nothing else in mind to do, Camila rolled over in her bed, pulling the sheets up around her shoulders, then she closed her eyes. In a matter of minutes, she fell asleep.
When her eyes blinked back open, her room was a lot darker. The curtains were drawn, so light from outside was coming in, but she could tell it was dark already. With a yawn, she pushed herself out of bed and picked up her phone to check the time.
Whoa.
It was getting pretty late already, eight p.m., and she hadn't had dinner yet. She’d left her bedroom door unlocked just in case, so did her mom just leave her to sleep on her own instead of disturbing her?
She ran her fingers through her hair as she slipped out of bed. She was in a tank top and a pair of shorts, and with the day gone, and out from under her blankets, she could feel the chill. She pulled on a pair of khaki pants over her shorts, and a hoodie over her top. Then with another yawn, she left the room.
First, she stopped by the bathroom to wipe her face with some warm water. Then she patted herself dry with the towel, and left the bathroom.
“Mom?” she called out, heading for the kitchen because she didn’t see her mom in the living room. Only to frown when she got there and found no one, still. “In her room, maybe?” she muttered to herself as she headed that way.
Even after knocking, though, there was no reply. So she tried to open the door, and it actually opened. No one inside.
“Is Mom still out?” she worried to herself.
She didn’t like it much when her mother stayed away for too long because it made her worry. Especially this late at night! Mom might be able to take care of herself, but when Camila checked her phone, there wasn’t one missed call or text, which was unusual since her mom always informed her when she was going out. She was too protective to do anything less.
Camila tried calling her number, but no one picked up. She debated calling again, but decided to leave it alone. If her mother could trust her, then she could at least repay the favor.
Her stomach grumbled, and she pressed her palm to it. She hadn't done a thing besides sleep, and yet she was feeling so hungry. With a sigh, she headed for the kitchen to see what she could make. Her mom may or may not come back… but in that case, she could take care of her own meal, because Camila didn’t feel like cooking too much.
Actually, she didn’t feel like cooking anything. So after giving it a bit of thought, she figured she’d just not cook. She thought about ordering in, but then remembered she hadn't been outside yesterday or today, and she’d gone straight to bed both times. Also, it had been a while since she’d had that much exercise. There was always Samuel to pick her up for their dates, but with him out of town on business, she wasn’t leaving the house that much recently. She’d already noticed she was a bit out of shape, every time she had to run she got short of breath quickly.
“Time to hit the gym,” she said with a groan, then sighed. “Or maybe find some nice trails and go hiking…”
Camila wasn’t sure if that was something Samuel would be into, but she would ask him about it when they met up later that week. She had been so busy between work and dating, and two different guys within a matter of months, no less, that she hadn’t realized the last time she’d had a nature walk was too long ago. She did it pretty often because it made for the best of pictures that her boss even sometimes used for the blog.
Maybe over the weekend? If he’s finally free from work and home again. And would Brianna like to come along? There might not be anyone there depending on where we go… though with her pale skin and how fragile she is, it might not be possible…