sweet instigator

three.

The silence felt deafening when Cameron walked behind Madeleine to follow her outside.

Her steps were angry, her entire body tense and he winced under his breath when she didn’t hold the door for him but it almost smacked in his face.

Without sparing him a look, Madeleine shakily took a cigarette from the packet, sticking it between her teeth before hastily lighting it. She didn’t offer him one. Cameron fished his own packet out of his pants to also take one, patting his pockets for a lighter.

“Can I use your lighter?” He eventually asked. Madeleine huffed and handed it to him without looking at him. Cameron swallowed, “Thanks.” He lit his cigarette and Maddie snatched the lighter back out of his hands, blowing out a puff of smoke.

“So - uh… I thought we shared a last cigarette together?” The moment he said it, he knew it was the stupidest thing he could’ve said in that moment. Madeleine sharply looked at him, “I thought a lot of things.” She bit sharply.

“Shit.” Cameron exhaled, “Look - I’m sorry, okay?” He felt himself in a bit of an unknown situation, feeling the anger from a woman he hardly knew. She was right, of course, to be mad at him. He knew he fucked up, he knew even the moment itself that what he was doing, was wrong. Her voice was ice cold and nothing like how warm he remembered her to be the night they met.

“You lied to me.” Madeleine’s voice sounded shrill. She palmed her forehead with one hand, “God, I can’t believe we - I can’t believe you were…” She sighed, shaking her head, “I can’t believe I had sex with you.”

“Look, my name is all I lied about.” He defended and Madeleine shot him a deadpanned look, “Thank god.” She sarcastically spoke. It wasn’t even necessarily what he lied about, but the fact that he lied overall. It made her feel absolutely disgusting. 

Cameron pressed his lips together and shrugged, looking for a way out whichever way possible, “You said your name was Maddie.”

Madeleine clenched her jaw, really refraining from punching him. If he was really planning on pinning this on her, he had another thing coming. If he really tried to make it seem like she lied too, he would be in for a treat, “It’s a nickname.” She sharply spoke, “Didn’t Micah call you Cam? Same thing!”

“Fine.” He groaned, “Fine - fucking hell. You’re right, I was a fucking pig that night. I-I don’t even know why I did it. But the moment I said it, I couldn’t turn back.”

“You could’ve. Or you could’ve let me walk away. Jesus Christ, you could’ve been a serial killer!” Madeleine exclaimed and Cameron rolled his eyes, “Don’t exaggerate.”

“Don’t make me feel like I’m dramatizing this.” She pressed back, not letting him gaslight her into thinking she was overreacting. Cameron pressed his lips together in surprise of her quick response. Madeleine brushed her hair over her shoulder, “I was fucking stupid to trust you. And your name is all you lied about, hm? It’s not! You said you were a CEO. Y-You just proved that people are fucking dangerous!” The entire topic was one Madeleine was passionate about and that often made her chest ache.

People always warned her about one night stands being dangerous. You never really knew who you were going home with, and nine chances out of ten, you didn’t tell anyone where you were going before joining a stranger in bed. She wasn’t exaggerating. He could’ve been a serial killer, or much worse. To think that she put her fate in the hands of a man who so easily lied to her face, made Madeleine feel like she wanted to vomit.

And she felt stupid, because as a woman, she should’ve known better than to trust someone like that just for a quick fuck. 

His ears turned red in shame as he lowered his gaze, avoiding the blazing fire in Madeleine’s eyes. She harshly took a drag of her cigarette, “Tell me what else you lied about.”