Chapter 114 Get Tangled with My Friends
Juniper was all worried that Camilla would keep grilling her, so she switched gears real quick, "I'm starving. Didn't we book a spot? Let's go chow down."
Once Juniper plopped down at the restaurant, she went ham on the menu, ordering whatever caught her eye.
She'd been shedding pounds all week from pulling crazy hours at work. Finally getting a chance to chill, she was ready to feast like a queen.
Packing on a few pounds? No biggie. She could always hit the gym later. But no way was she gonna deprive her taste buds and stomach!
Camilla eyed the mountain of food and gulped. "Can we actually eat all this?"
It was just the two of them, and Camilla was legit worried about wasting all that grub.
Juniper raised an eyebrow, like she just remembered something. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, Sebastian's mom asked me to call him and have him come home this week. When I called, Sebastian said he was free, so I invited him to join us for dinner. Camilla, you cool with that?"
Camilla was sipping her soup, and when she heard that, she almost choked.
Juniper looked at her, all confused. "You know him well, so why the freak-out?"
They were neighbors and worked in the same lab, seeing each other all the time. They should be pretty tight by now.
Plus, Juniper had invited Sebastian to make sure he had Camilla's back at the lab.
She thought, 'What if Camilla gets messed with at work? Sebastian's the boss, and with him looking out for her, things will be way smoother.'
Camilla calmly wiped her lips. "Soup's just a bit hot; I drank it too fast."
Juniper nodded. "Yeah, let it cool down a bit before you gulp it."
"Got it."
Sebastian got stuck in the evening traffic and was running a bit late.
It was drizzling outside. When he finally showed up, his hair was speckled with tiny raindrops, and his shoulders were kinda damp.
"Didn't you bring an umbrella?" Seeing him like that, Juniper found it odd. 'It's normal for most people to forget an umbrella, but Sebastian? He's always so on point. How'd he slip up?'
"Yeah, I forgot," Sebastian shrugged it off.
Camilla was still sipping her soup, not thinking much of it. But when Juniper asked, she suddenly remembered that one time it rained, and she forgot her umbrella. Sebastian had lent her his from the trunk. She never gave it back.
Sebastian hadn't brought it up, and she totally spaced on it. That umbrella was still at her place.
Thinking about it, Camilla ducked her head even more and quietly sipped her soup.
Sebastian noticed her trying to hide and a tiny smile played on his lips.
With a few friends gathered around a table, lazily listening to the raindrops and the occasional honk from the street, Camilla felt totally at ease.
After they finished eating, it was pretty dark outside. Juniper had her own ride, so she took off first.
Sebastian had a car too, and since they were headed the same way, Camilla naturally hitched a ride with him.
Their old apartment building didn't have a garage, so they had to park at the mall across the street and then walk back.
On the way, they strolled through a grove of poplar trees, and out of nowhere, a strong wind kicked up. The poplar fluff was everywhere, floating around like tiny white snowflakes.
Camilla couldn't help but sneeze. "Sorry, I..."
After a few more sneezes, Sebastian realized she was having an allergic reaction. He quickly pulled out a pack of tissues from his pocket, opened it, and handed her one. "Cover your nose and breathe lightly."
Camilla did what he said, and her nose felt way better.
They picked up the pace to get home faster.
After saying goodbye at the door, Camilla quickly shut it and sneezed like seven or eight more times. When she finally stopped, her nose was all red.
Everything about Imperial City was awesome, except for these few months of flying fluff each year, which were a total nightmare for her.
Even though she'd been living here for about seven years, she still couldn't get used to it.
After chilling for about ten minutes and downing a big glass of water, Camilla finally felt better.
She opened the fridge, grabbed some ingredients, and started prepping lunch to take to the lab the next day.
By the time she finished, packed everything up, and cleaned the kitchen, it was almost eleven o'clock.
Camilla glanced at the trash can, filled with eggshells and veggie scraps, sighed, and went downstairs to toss out the trash.
On her way back, just before entering the building, her phone rang. "Hello, Oliver, what's up?"
Oliver said, "Camilla, watch out! Leopold's heading your way, and I couldn't stop him! He's had a bit too much, and I'm worried he might do something stupid."
Camilla scanned her surroundings warily, and just as she was about to respond, a shadow suddenly appeared.
"Camilla." Leopold reeked of booze, his cheeks flushed, and his eyes glazed as he looked at her.
"Camilla? Camilla! What's going on? Why'd you stop talking?" Oliver's anxious voice came through the phone.
Leopold grabbed Camilla's wrist, snatched the phone, and ended the call. "First Marcus, now Oliver. Camilla, you say you don't love me and refuse to get back together, but then you get tangled up with my friends. What are you trying to do?"
"You're drunk," Camilla turned her head away, her face cold. "I don't argue with drunks."
"You say I'm a drunk?" Leopold grabbed her shoulders and shook her frantically, his voice filled with despair. "You didn't used to be like this. You used to worry about me drinking too much, about my bad stomach, and whether I'd feel sick the next day. Why did you change so suddenly? Why!"
Camilla pushed him away. A drunk Leopold was weak, and it wasn't hard to break free.
She took a few steps back to put some distance between them. "I only care about people I value."
"I'm not one of them anymore?" Leopold murmured in disbelief.
"You haven't been for a long time."
With that, Camilla turned and bolted upstairs, afraid that if she delayed even a second, Leopold would catch up.
This one-sided mess had long since stopped being just an entanglement; it was straight-up harassment. Camilla had gone from being exhausted to now feeling only disgust.
Seeing Camilla avoiding him, Leopold, who had been in a daze, seemed suddenly provoked. He chased after her, and as he reached out to grab her, he accidentally pulled her hair.
Camilla let out a scream.
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