'Mom? Why are you shouting soo early in the morning?'Cameron asked softly although he had a bad feeling about it. His mother only called him by his full name when she was angry with him or had a bone to pick with him.
'Soo early in the morning? It's 2 pm!'she exclaimed. His eyes widened and he looked at the time on phone. Wow. It was really 2. He had never woken up soo late before, even when he had been in his partying phase. He wondered why.
'But that's not why I called you. Why do you have a new girlfriend and didn't tell us? No phone call, no text, no email. I had to buy a sleazy newspaper just to know what's going on in my son's life. Don't you think that's a bit extreme?'
He was lost. What girlfriend? Was she talking about Sharon? But how did they find out? Although there had been mentions of him and Sharon in the papers, it was fairly innocuous. Just him and his friend going out. Now, there were mentions of their relationship escalating? In the papers that was. Their relationship had gone on to the next level in their private lives.
'Why were you even buying the sleazy paper, Mom? You could have just called me.'
'We know how well that worked,'she said drily and he had to flush. He had a history of passing his calls to his then hookup just to get her off his back. That hadn't gone well but she had stopped calling him unexpectedly. 'But enough about that. From the looks in the paper, the both of you looked pretty serious. I've never seen you look so tenderly at any woman before. She must be special. Where did you two meet-'
'What's all that noise?'Sharon suddenly mumbled. She opened one eye to investigate and both eyes shot open when she saw their position. 'Cameron?! What are you doing here? Why are we tangled like this?' She started to move away but he snaked an arm around her waist to keep her in place. He liked the position they were in.
'Ooohh. Is that her? Let me talk to her,'his mom squealed excitedly in his ear. He had to hold the phone away to protect his hearing. Sharon was rubbing the sleepiness out of her eyes while he tried to find a way out of his predicament. 'Cameron, I demand to talk to your girlfriend. Oh, but I don't even know her name. What is it?'
'It's, um, Sharon,'he muttered. She stopped rubbing her eyes and looked at him quizzically. 'Mom, this is not a convenient time to talk.'
'Oh. Why?'she asked. She continued without waiting for a reply. 'Is she there in the bed with you? Oh my god. I can't believe you're answering me when she's right beside you, probably naked, probably trying to sex you up. Ew, ew, ew. You should have better timing.' She sounded soo disgusted.
'Jennifer!'he heard his father reprimand from the background.
'Well, how would you feel if the person in the other line is getting aroused by some naked, beautiful lady?'she returned.
'I'd say he's lucky and hang up. Then I'd find my own beautiful lady and get her naked for my pleasure,'his father answered and he could feel the bile climbing up his throat. He knew his parents' relationship was still strong to this very day, he had seen evidence of that every day of his life. And he knew their sex life was still active. That had been awkward and embarrassing, especially during his teenage years.
Sharon giggled beside him. During his parent's argument, or should it be labelled flirting, gag,she had climbed up the bed, leaned on his shoulder and put her ear as close to the phone as possible. He, being the considerate boyfriend that he was, transferred the phone to his other side, the side which was nearer to her.
'Please. Stop. I don't want the image in my head, no matter how beautiful you are, mom,'he quickly cut in before his mother could throw a rejoinder. 'How about we meet for dinner? At your favourite restaurant. I'll even pick up the tab.' Sharon was shaking her head vigorously at that. He didn't know why she was against the idea but he knew this was the fastest way to end the call. She tried to pry the phone away but he just stood up and walked away. 'Hello?' He heard her fall and saw that her legs were entangled in the blankets.
'Alright,'his mother agreed cheerfully. 'I'll have to shop for a gift. This is your first ever serious girlfriend. Ooohhh. The things I can tell her about you.'
'Mom, no-mom? Mom?' She had already hung up. He looked at his phone in horror. Then a pillow was smacked against his head. Sharon was looking particularly murderous this morn-afternoon. And the pillow looked decidedly harmful in her hands. Maybe he should take away the pillow from her.
'We're meeting your parents this afternoon?'she screeched angrily. That's when he realised his mistake.
-------------@@@@@@-------------
'Sharon. Sharon.'
Cameron had been calling her for the last 10 minutes, trying to make her respond. She refused to even look at him. She knew she had previously said she couldn't give the silent treatment but she was trying very hard to keep her resolve. He had to know how angry and upset she was with him. She'd give him and herself another 5 minutes before she gave in.
'Come on. If I hadn't done that, she'd have been yammering on the phone for hours and eventually she'd demand to meet you. I was just speeding up the process,'he offered as they got in his car.
Was the 5 minutes over? She glanced at the dashboard clock and saw she still had 2 more minutes to go. So she moved her head and looked out the window. And was shocked to see soo many reporters loitering outside their condo. Why were they there? Was there a new gossip about any of the occupants? But the occupants were fairly innocuous. Just businessmen. The only notable person was -
Suddenly, they stood up and started running after the car. They called out,'Cameron. Cameron. A word about your new girlfriend.' Or something similar. Or 'Cameron. Cameron. Is Sharon with you? Why is she allowed in your car?'
Her head whipped back to look at Cameron. He was looking quite grim as he sped up and made a call. His face didn't invite questions and she didn't know what questions to ask yet, she was that shocked, so she sat back and listened in on his conversation. Luckily, he didn't have to be told to put it on speaker.
'Matt Colton.'
'Hey, Matt. What's the new story about me?'Cameron asked. They heard Matt sigh from the other line. 'Does it have something to do with Sharon?'
''Me?''she mouthed in shock. She'd thought she'd misheard. He shook his head and mouthed back,''Later.''
'Word got out that you have a new girlfriend. And from the picture in the paper, you look pretty serious,'Matt answered. 'Someone from the shoot last night must have taken it and sold it to the press. And it's not like you have been keeping your relationship a secret.'
'Well, yeah. But I would've liked to keep Sharon out of the limelight for a while longer. You know how the paps get with any of my hookups,'he said worriedly.
'Yeah. They get very harsh and judgemental,'Matt said and you could hear the wince from his side. What did he meant by judgemental? Would they be comparing her with someone else? But who? Stephanie? Is this her first move? 'I'll try on my end to keep the heat off her but you'll also have to be a bit more discreet. Be slightly more covert when you're going out and check out the place where you're going to see if the coast is clear.'
She could see from his face that he didn't like the precautions. And, to be honest, neither did she. 'What if we meet the paps head on?'she asked. 'I mean, as harsh and judgemental they could be, you wouldn't leave me, right? And if I have you by my side, it'll be worth it. Especially if we can avoid all the hassle and fuss. I, for one, would like to get ice cream without being mobbed.'
Cameron grinned, as she had wanted him to. He had looked soo stressed and worried. To ease his burden, they had to come up with a satisfactory course of action. She reached across the gear and took hold of his hand, intertwining their fingers. He had her support. He tightened his hold on her hand.
'Alright. OK. Matt, please release a statement that Sharon and I are at the beginning stages of out relationship and we would update them if there is any changes. Eventually, we would release news of our upcoming marriage but that wouldn't be for a few months-'
'Marriage?!'Sharon and Matt shouted incredulously.
'Was that your idea of a proposal?'she snapped. Her heart was beating soo hard, she was surprised they couldn't hear it. A horde of butterflies fluttered madly in her stomach. Her mouth was drier than the Sahara Desert. Did he see marriage in their future? Was this an indication of stronger feelings for her? Admittedly she did have fairly strong feelings for him. Before the official escalation of their relationship, she'd thought it was a one-sided infatuation. But now, it had grown to soo much more.
'Well, yeah,'he said nonchalantly. 'There's an attraction between us. A strong chemistry. I am one of the marriageable men that Scott would ever allow you to be close to. Plus the thought of any man touching you makes my blood boil. Thus to save myself from certain imprisonment, and any other man from certain death, I'd have to marry you.'
HAVE TO? Now she was a duty? The butterflies died, her heart rate slowed down, her mouth was even drier. He didn't see her as more of a duty, despite their attraction. Her disappointment turned to anger.
'Well, what if I like the other marriageable men Scott approves of? You can't be the only handsome man,'she retorted. 'And I can have chemistry and attraction with other man too. Not just with you. So I don't see why I have to marry you.'
She noticed his grip on the steering wheel tightened soo much until his knuckles were white. 'Sharon,'Matt warned.
'What other man? You mean the man you left behind? Or should I say the man that left you behind? Yeah, I'm sure you guys had loads of chemistry. So much chemistry that he had to look for someone else,'he shot back scathingly. She felt like someone had punched her. She'd told him her previous relstionship in confidence and in hopes he'd understand her wariness. Obviously he didn't understand her one bit. The butterflies became a dead weight in her stomach. They seemed to have invaded her heart too, it felt soo heavy. Her eyes welled up with tears and she turned her head resolutely to the window
'Cameron!'Matt reprimanded harshly. Cameron paled and looked at her with mild panic in his eyes, realising what he had just said.
'Sharon, I didn't mean it that way. Your ex was a snake and he doesn't deserve to breathe the same air as you. He doesn't deserve to be in the same sentence with you. Please forget what I just said-'
'Look,'Matt interrupted. 'Clearly the declaration of marriage was premature. Why don't you guys enjoy your lunch and we can discuss this later?'
'Yeah,'she said softly, resolutely refusing to look at Cameron. 'Thanks, Matt.' She cut the connection. Cameron tried to take a hold of her hand but she snatched it away. She didn't think she could allow him soo close anymore. Not if he had such power to hurt her.
AN So this chapter feature their first ever major argument. how do u guys feel abt that? comment and vote guys :)