Shawn's POV
I didn't know what I was expecting to happen after Camila broke up with his boyfriend and moved out from the apartment they were sharing, but it wasn't this.
I felt a bit disappointed, but embarrassed at the same time, because I had no reason to expect anything from her. As far as I knew, she had just fallen out of love with her boyfriend and I had nothing to do with that, so why was I here waiting for her to make a move?
God, Shawn, this is lame.
We went to bed together after a hot chat, but I didn't even try anything with her. It wasn't the right moment, I was well aware of that. Although it was impossible not to stare at her. There was something about girls wearing my hoodies that drove me absolutely crazy. She looked so cute and tiny in my clothes. Her eyes were a bit smaller and her cheeks had a pink color. From the alcohol, I assumed.
I thought she had fallen asleep right away that night, but maybe I was wrong and she noticed how I couldn't keep my eyes off her for a long time, because she left in a rush the next morning and now she was acting differently around me.
I didn't know if I should apologize. I wasn't sure if that was the reason for her behavior. What if I just play myself and ruin things even further? I sighed loudly and rubbed my eyes the minute I was left alone in the break room. I hadn't been this lost for a girl in a while and I didn't know how to act.
She went back to her desk and I tried to focus on work again. Stupidly enough, I missed making fun of her idiot boyfriend, now ex, because at least I had a excuse to talk to her. Now that I couldn't, I was going crazy thinking of other ways of starting conversation.
My game has never been this lame. Get it together, Mendes.
When I arrived home, I felt defeated. I needed to talk to someone, so I called my friend Brian.
"What's up, man?" he answered right away.
"Hi, man. I'm ok, how about you?"
"Everything's good",
"Hey, listen. I need your advice. Do you have time?"
"Of course. What's going on?"
"Ok, so... Do you remember Camila, the girl I invited to our night out a couple weeks ago?"
"Yeah... What about her?"
"I think I have a huge crush on her".
"Well that was obvious, my friend" he said chuckling.
"Shut up. No, it wasn't".
"Yes, it was. Although I remember she had a boyfriend".
"That's the thing. She broke up with him last week".
"Oh wow. Did you have anything to do with that?", he asked with an accusatory tone.
"Well not really, but he thinks she cheated on him with me".
"And she didn't...", he said doubtful.
"No, you idiot".
"Alright, calm down. I'm just checking. So what's the problem now?"
"I... I don't-".
"Shawn, she's single now. What are you waiting for?" he interrupted my stumble.
"I don't know if she's ready or if she even thinks of me that way".
"This might sound shocking, but... if you don't say anything to her, you won't have a chance to find out". He said with a stupid voice.
"I know that".
"Look, I'm not the wiser person when it comes to relationships. But if you really need my advice, I would say you need to go slow. Show her that you are into her but don't be so obvious, that way you can have an idea of where things are going before you make a fool of yourself, you know".
"I guess that makes sense".
"I don't know what else to say, really"
"No, that's ok. You're right. Thank you, Brian".
"No problem. Hey, are you up for some beers this week?"
"Yeah, that sounds good. I'll text you".
"Ok. Good luck. Bye"
"Bye".
What Brian had said was kind of obvious but I needed to hear that from someone else, so his words were actually very helpful.
Camila had put me in an awkward position after years of enjoying my bachelor life. This girl just stumbled into my life, made me fall for her when she was in a relationship and then turned my world again by being single.
I grabbed my phone. I was going to text her.
[S: Hey, how's the new home?]
Ok, that was simple, casual. You're doing good.
I waited around for like 10 minutes before I saw three dots on the screen.
[C: Lonely. I'm making dinner for one]
[S: Where's ur roommate?]
[C: On call, she's a nurse]
[S: What r u cooking?]
If I remember correctly she had said she didn't cook.
[C: Roasted veggies and steak]
[S: I hope u don't burn the kitchen down]
I hope she knows I'm joking.
[C: If I do, it'll be ur fault bc u r distracting me]
Was she joking or should I stop messaging her?
My phone started vibrating in my hand and I saw her name displayed on the screen. I picked up right away.
"Sorry, I can't cook and text at the same time. I'm gonna put you on speaker, hold on", she said.
"Well, hi". I said when the noise stop on her end stopped.
"Hi", she replied.
Damn, I wasn't planning for this part. Texting was a lot safer.
"Are you nailing it so far?" I asked her.
"Uhm... I haven't screwed it up yet, so that's good, right?"
"Right".
Why am I being so awkward? I'm usually not this clumsy and shy around people.
"Did you already have dinner?", she asked me breaking the ice.
"No. I was thinking of ordering a pizza".
"Ugh, that sounds nice".
"Don't give up so easily".
"I won't. I've been wanting to learn how to cook for a while. This is my moment". I could hear her moving things around.
"How's that you haven't tried before?"
"Well, I always had someone cooking for me. My mom at home, friends at college and then Liam".
"You're a spoiled girl, aren't you?" I teased her.
I laid down on my sofa, holding the phone on my ear.
"No, I'm not", she said a bit offended. "I'm just lucky".
"That's what a spoiled girl would say".
"You're annoying".
Shit, I heard her say in the background and I frowned at her cry a bit worried.
"What happened? Are you ok?"
"Yeah..." she said grumbling. "I cut my finger with the knife, but it isn't serious".
"Are you sure, is it bleeding?"
"It already stopped bleeding. Don't worry, Shawn, I'm ok".
"Ok. I'll let you go, maybe my voice is distracting you too much", I said with a raspy sexy voice just to annoy her.
"You wish", she said. I do, I thought.
"Anyways. I hope you can have a decent dinner".
"Thank you. See you tomorrow".
"See ya". I hung up.
Ok, that was fun but I still didn't know what we were doing.
I decided to actually ordered that pizza and eat my insecurities away. Maybe it was too soon. She had just broken up with her boyfriend after all. Probably she doesn't want a relationship in a long time. Probably I'm just wasting my time here. Wait no, she isn't a waste of time. Fuck, I'm stressed.
First thing I did when I saw her the next day was to check on her finger. She had a bandaid covering the cut and she assured me it wasn't anything serious. She blushed while I examined the wound, that might mean something, right?
We slowly went back to our usual chats and I felt so relieved for that. I was actually scared that not having the project to keep us together, we would just drift apart. Luckily, we didn't. It was a stupid fear after all. She wouldn't had gone to my apartment if she didn't feel at least close to me. I tried to keep that in mind to cheer myself up.
On Thursday, I almost fainted when I saw her. She was wearing a little black dress, heels and her red blazer. She had her hair on a ponytail. She looked gorgeous. As she moved around the place, guys were trying to discreetly check her out. They were clearly not doing a good job because I could still see them drooling behind her back. My inner caveman was telling to scream at them that I had seen her first and that they should look away, but I knew how stupid that sounded, so obviously didn't.
"You ok?" Camila asked me.
I had spaced out, looking beyond her, making sure no one was approaching her when she came back to her desk.
"Yeah, yeah", I said blinking to bring myself to the present again.
She smiled at me and started typing on her computer.
"Hey", I called her. "You look gorgeous today".
She looked at me with big eyes and a shy smile. She opened her mouth a few times before actually uttering words.
"Thank you", she whispered.
I turned around on my chair to check my emails when she spoke to me again.
"What are you doing tomorrow?", she asked me.
"Uh..." she took me by surprise. Answer her, you idiot. "Nothing".
"Would you like joining me for dinner? I'm tired of eating alone". She said.
"I'd love that", I said a little too eager.
"Great", she smiled. "I hope I don't poison you".
"Should I bring my own food?" I joked.
"No, have some faith in me". She whined.
"Ok..." I laughed.
I wanted to ask her if it was a date, but it seemed like too much. She just wanted company, which by the way, I was more than happy to give it to her.
I'd be the biggest lair if I said this wasn't making my heart pound in excitement. I can't wait for tomorrow.