The following week...
I stood outside Camila's apartment, waiting impatiently for someone to open the door. I tried calling to see if she was at home, but she didn't answer. I decided to show up anyway, and fortunately for me, I saw her car parked out front. Otherwise, this trip would've been a complete waste of gas.
Sighing, I knocked on the door one last time, banging repeatedly until it opened with a loud squeak. "Damn, is everyone still asleep?" I laughed, slightly annoyed.
"No, I'm sorry. I didn't hear the door," Sofia apologized.
"It's fine. It's not like I was running away from death or anything," I shrugged, like that would've made a difference. I could've been bleeding out on the floor and it still would've taken three minutes for someone to open the door.
"Camila's in her room," she spoke, reading my mind. I nodded and stepped inside. I closed the door behind me and made sure to lock it.
"How are you?" I asked Sofia, taking my shoes off by the door.
"I'm okay, and you?" She questioned politely, examining me from head to toe. "I like your shoes," she added.
"Thanks, and I'm good too. Where are your brothers?"
"Jonathan spent the night with his girl and the twins are in the room playing 2K," she replied. I nodded and made my way down the hall. I stopped at the first room and waved to the boys. They gave me a half-assed greeting since they were too immersed in the game, but I only laughed and continued to Camila's room.
"Camila?!" I yelled, knocking on her door. When I got no answer, I pushed it open.
"Really?" I mumbled, rolling my eyes at her slumped figure. It's damn near one in the afternoon and she's still sleeping. I dropped my laptop on the bed and walked around to her nightstand.
"Camila," I yanked the covers from her body, which made her eyes jerk open.
"Amira?" She croaked out.
"Are you hungover?" I took a seat on her bed and eyed the room—there was stuff everywhere, and none of it was where it was supposed to be.
"A little bit," she responded, and I looked at her in confusion.
"This early in the day?" She slapped a hand over her forehead and turned away from me. Hmm, she must've had a long night.
"No judging, Ms. Perfect," she mocked. I only sighed and stood up. I'm not judging Camila, but sometimes I do expect more from her. Her crazy ass doesn't know when to stop, and she certainly doesn't know when it's time to give her liver a break. I know she has a lot on her plate right now, but drowning herself in liquor all the damn time will not solve her problems.
"I'm not judging you, Camila, but I wish you would do better," I said, adjusting the blinds to let some natural light seep through.
"And how is that not judging me?" She groaned.
"Because I genuinely care about your well-being, and I wouldn't be a decent friend if I praised your destructive behavior." I gathered her clothes off the floor and dumped them on the bed, not sure if they were clean or dirty. I then found her hamper in the closet and decided to wash everything, including her sheets.
"Camila," I called her name once I noticed her drifting off to sleep.
"Huh?"
I dropped the basket by the bed and stormed over to her. "Get up," I grabbed a fistful of her shirt and pulled her to the edge of the bed.
"Let's take a shower." I struggled to get her to her feet, but when I did, I dragged her over to the door and took her into the hallway where I knew the bathroom was. I turned on the light and quickly started the water.
"Is everything okay?" Sofia asked as she appeared in the door frame.
"Yes, Sofia. Thank you," I told her. She nodded and left, closing the door behind her. Camila huffed lazily and got in the shower. I watched as she turned the water on cold and attempted to wake herself up. But she just stood, shivering for a good few minutes. I wanted to give her some privacy, so I went back into her room and gathered all of her sheets and pillowcases. It took a second for me to figure out how to work her washing machine, but I eventually started a load of clothes and shoved her sheets in as well.
When Camila finished showering, she brushed her teeth, took two aspirins, and got dressed for the day. I was in a fairly good mood, so I decided to help her straighten up her bedroom—which gave her clothes enough time to wash and dry. Camila wouldn't accept my assistance at first, but when she noticed how dead-set I was on giving her a fresh restart, she ceased her whining.
And with her cooperation, it didn't take long to put everything back in order.
"I hope you didn't come all this way just to nurse me back to health," she said, munching on the turkey sandwich that I made her. She acted like she wasn't hungry, but I knew some food would aid in curing her hangover. And of course, I was right—her ass had a lot more energy now, and it was obvious that she felt immensely better.
"No, I didn't come all this way just to babysit you, but I'm not so sure if I should tell you why I truly came."
"No, you have to tell me," she said, dropping her empty plate on the nightstand.
"Well, it's not really what I should tell you, but rather, what I should show you," I stated, reaching for my laptop on the floor. I realized that I didn't have the flash drive, so I excused myself and ran out to go grab it from my car. When I got back, Camila was setting up her wifi information on my computer.
"Do you have headphones?" I asked. She nodded and got up to search for some. I stuck the flash drive into my laptop and pulled up the folder with all the videos.
"Camila, look at this shit." I wanted to get an unfiltered reaction from her, so I refrained from giving away any spoilers.
"Will these work?"
"Yes." I took the cord from her and plugged it in, pulling her down on the bed and setting the device in her lap. "I'm only showing you this because I'm freaking out and I need someone to talk to."
"Is this porn?" She gasped, teasing me. Her words were surprisingly spot on, but comparing any of these videos to porn would be an insult—porn is child's play compared to this.
Camila offered me the left earbud, but I declined. Instead, I found the same video that I watched yesterday and skipped forward about five minutes. It only took Camila approximately eight seconds to react, and when she did, her reaction was priceless. It was as dramatic as I envisioned it to be.
"Oh, my fuck. Is that him?" Her jaw dropped. I muttered a simple yes as my eyes snapped to the screen. I tried watching it for a few minutes, but the anticipation had me standing up to pace the floor. Camila's facial expressions were hilarious, and she had the volume up so loud that it echoed throughout the room.
"Bitch," she beckoned me over, pausing the video.
"I already know," I climbed back onto the bed just as fast as I left it.
"And look," I settled next to her and ran my finger over the touchpad.
"He has so many different kinks and fetishes—all of which are organized within this main folder." I exited the video and scrolled down to show her the different sub-folders. I was familiar with some of the categories. For instance, I recognized titles such as bondage, flogging, wax-play, sensation-play, electro-stimulation, gagging, sadism, and more. But there were also categories that I couldn't even pronounce.
"Many of his videos appear to be around thirty minutes to an hour. The longer ones are legit structured like a movie, but with very little dialogue," I told her.
"Have you looked through all of them?"
"Hell no. I've only watched one of them—the one I was showing you. A lot of these titles seem brutal as fuck, so I called myself just skimming through a few. Other than that, I'm not sure where to start," I voiced.
"What about here?" She stopped my hand at a sub-folder that read, Blood-play. She clicked on it, and it lead us to a ton of videos. The thumbnails alone had me shaking my head.
"He let you see these for FREE," she emphasized, gawking at the files. But I only shrugged.
"When we first met, he told me that he stopped doing performances. And I thought nothing of it until people started bragging about how great of a performer he was. I didn't even know he kept the footage, but when I found out, I asked if I could see them."
"And he let you? Wow." Camila was about to press play on one of the videos, but a knock on the door stopped her.
"What?!" She yelled.
"They've been on the game for hours. I wanna watch TV," Sofia spoke up. Camila then stormed over to the door and yanked it open, disappearing out of sight. I immediately heard yelling, which gave me my cue to leave. And after removing the flash drive, I stuck it in my pocket and got up.
"I'll see you later, Camila," I said, walking down the hallway.
"Wait, where are you going?"
"To help my mom at the bakery. I'm closing today."
"Take Sofia with you. The boys can play 2K all day or go outside and fuck around, but Sofia gets bored easily," she said, rushing Sofia down the hall.
"Do you want to come with me?" I asked her.
"Yes, if that's okay with you."
"Of course, it is," Camila spoke up, beating me to it. I quickly nodded to agree with her. Sofia is like the sweetest little girl, so I didn't mind bringing her along. Plus, my mom would love the extra set of hands.
"Thank you so much. I'll cash app you like fifty dollars," Camila said as Sofia ran off to get her things.
"That's excessive," I frowned, bending down to slip on my shoes.
"I'll do it anyway."
"And I'll just send it right back," I countered, laughing as Camila rolled her eyes. Sofia then returned with her cute fanny pack, a small jacket, and her shoes. We left almost immediately, and I couldn't help but notice the shift in her mood as we walked to my car.
"I see someone's eager to leave," I smiled, locking the doors once we got in. I tossed my computer in the backseat and stored Rowan's flash drive in my glove compartment.
"My brothers are annoying, and they're always so loud," she huffed, putting on her seatbelt.
"Oh, I bet. It must be overwhelming."
"Sometimes, but I think it's only because the space is too small for five people. None of us have any privacy, and we're always in each other's faces."
"Where do you sleep?" I asked, pulling off.
"With Camila mostly, but since Jonathan is always gone, I sleep on the couch some nights. He said he's gonna move out for good, so it'll just be me and Camila once the twins go back to our grandparents."
"And then you can finally have a room all to yourself," I noted, and she smiled. I bet she can't wait for summer break to be over.
.....
A/N: Hey!!! I could've done better with this chapter, but it's a little bit of a filler anyway. It might take me a minute to write and edit the next chapter, so please bear with me.