LOOK UP AT THE STARS

CHAPTER 5 - MATCHMAKER

Camila

The award show was in LA, so I flew in a few days early to get my clothes ready and rehearse with my dancers. I was excited to be singing my new single, an upbeat reggaeton-inspired dance number with a feature by a currently hot female rapper. The costume was crazy sexy and the choreography was on fire. I couldn't wait. Mama came with me and we moved into my house in the Hills and got to work. Shawn arrived a day later and was staying in his rental. I knew this because we were still talking every night, sometimes all night. Although we talked about everything in our lives from our work to our families to what TV shows we watched and current affairs, they had been getting a little more.....risqué lately. I thought back to last night, the night he arrived in town. Mama had been in bed when the phone buzzed.

"Hey you," his voice made me feel happy. Actually, it made me feel a lot of things. I snuggled down into my bed and watched his face come up on the screen. "You weren't asleep were you?"

"Do you REMEMBER who you're talking to?" I was a notoriously bad sleeper. He chuckled.

"I should be asking what you're doing awake, grandpa!" He was usually asleep pretty early unless he was performing or working.

"Flight landed about two hours ago, I got here, set everything up, ate, showered. Now I'm ringing you." I felt warm that I was in his list of priorities.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" I asked.

"Tiff is coming over with some ideas for the red carpet and my performance at the show," he said. "What are you doing?"

"Yeah all that kind of stuff," I said. "Gotta pick out the gown, this is a big night, my first public appearance since......well in a long time." I hadn't been to an industry event since well before Tyler and I got married. "Something sweet yet sexy I'm thinking."

"That sums you up pretty well," he smiled at me. "Sweet, sassy, sexy."

We were both silent for a moment.

"Is that how you think of me?" I asked him, so quietly I wasn't sure he'd even hear me.

"Pretty much," he said softly.

"You think I'm sexy?" Why was I pushing this? It wasn't unusual for him to make a comment like that, but tonight it seemed more...intimate.

"Yes," His voice was low and rough. "I do."

"What about me is sexy...?" I couldn't help myself.

"You're being awfully bold Ms Cabello," he said huskily. "For a married woman."

He was trying to create space between us, and I knew it was the right thing to do.

"Divorced woman. Official as of today. I'm single again."

His eyebrows rose. "Wow that was quick," he said.

"The quickest they could do it," I said.

"Still another five months for me," he said in a tortured tone. We had discussed our divorces before. New York got things done a lot faster than the minimum six months in California.

The word single hung there between us. My heart was thumping, wondering if it meant the same to him as it did to me. It meant I was available. I still hadn't quite got over the kiss in the tent in Doha. There was something going on between us, we just weren't prepared to take it any further.

A knock on my door led me to whisper a hurried goodbye. Mama had heard me talking, I said I was leaving notes on my phone for a new song, and she bought it. I don't know why I didn't tell her about Shawn. I think she would discourage me from jumping into anything, and she was probably right.