Simply Complicated (25 page)

The next morning Camille and Paul decided to order breakfast in the suite. They thought about heading out but the weather report mentioned that Chicago was going to get some early snow so they chose to stay inside for the entire day.

“Good morning, beautiful. I was glad to see that you slept well last night,” said Paul as he leaned over to kiss her on the lips.

“Good morning, sweetheart. How could you tell I slept well?” she asked while smiling.

“You were snoring so loudly, you must have been in a deep sleep,” he joked.

“I don’t snore,” she laughed, lightly hitting him on the shoulder. “But you’re right; I had a wonderful sleep.”

“Girl, you snored so loudly the neighbors knocked on the walls for us to keep it down,” he mocked.

“You are so silly. I see you wake up being bad,” she said playfully.

“I’m just teasing. You actually looked very peaceful.”

“It was probably the most peaceful and restful night I’ve had in a long time. I feel so safe and comfortable with you.”

“Good. That is exactly how you should feel. A man is supposed to make his lady feel safe. Of course I know you’re engaged to Jake, but you’re still my lady and you always will be,” he said, giving her a hug and another kiss.

“I don’t know what to say,” she said.

“You don’t have to say anything, baby. Let’s just enjoy being together.”

They ordered room service and stayed in bed until the breakfast was delivered. After eating, they remained inside and enjoyed each other. They talked, laughed, watched movies, and made love. This was their routine for the entire day.

Camille found herself totally engaged in Paul and the time they were spending together. For a brief moment she thought about calling Jake but didn’t want to take any attention away from Paul.

She knew he had called her once and assumed that since they were scheduled to go out Friday night he had called her several times. She didn’t care. She figured she would make up something to tell him after Paul left.

On Saturday, Jake woke up and looked at his cellular phone. He was surprised that Camille had not called him. He thought maybe his phone had missed her call so he checked to see if he had any voice messages. None. He didn’t know what to think.

He assumed Candace had told her about them and she was too upset to talk to him. He wanted to call Candace to ask if she said anything to Camille but wasn’t in the mood to talk to her.

The thought of Camille being with another man never entered his mind. Assuming that she knew about his affair with Candace, he started thinking about what he was going to say to her if she confronted him about it.

At first he considered blaming the entire situation on Candace, but he knew that wasn’t going to work. He then thought about telling Camille that Candace was making up the entire story. He could say Candace was upset because he chose Camille and she was only trying to break them up.

He didn’t know what to do. He started thinking furiously.
I know what I have to do. I’m going to plan our engagement party right now. In fact, forget the party. I’m going to ask her if we could get married on her birthday in February.

That gives us three months to plan everything. I don’t want to risk losing her again. Marrying her won’t be too bad. This way I’ll be able to control who she hangs out with better. Besides, as long as she doesn’t know that I swing I can probably still get away with it.

That’s what I’ll do. As soon as I see her I won’t even give her a chance to confront me about Candace. I’ll simply tell her that whatever happened this weekend to cause her to cancel our plans is behind us and that all I want to do is be with her forever.

Knowing my baby like I do, she’ll jump at this opportunity and forget all about what Candace told her. All she wants is to get married to me anyway. This way she gets what she wants and so do I. I’ll cook her dinner tonight and tell her then,”
he thought.

He decided to head out before the weather became too bad. He went to the florist and purchased a dozen red roses and told them to deliver them to his house. He also purchased a beautiful card. He then went to the wine store to buy her favorite bottle of wine. Afterwards he went to the grocery store for steaks and potatoes for dinner.

Although he had not spoken to her, he assumed she would contact him even if she were mad. He was so sure that he had her under his control that he started getting everything ready for their evening together.

When 4:00 p.m. rolled around he was still awaiting her call.

Damn. She must be more upset than I thought. I can’t believe she hasn’t called me. This isn’t like her. I know one thing, she’d better call me before 7:00 p.m. or I am out of here
, he thought, getting increasingly irritated.

At 6:30 p.m. he called her cellular phone and when it went to voicemail he left her a message.

“Camille, I don’t know what’s going on with you but you need to call me right now. It is 6:30 p.m. You know who this is. Bye.”

He decided to start cooking dinner in case she called him back.

When 7:00 p.m. arrived and she still hadn’t called, he called her again.

“Camille, where the hell are you? If you’re mad about something you need to come out and tell me. Don’t cut me off like this. I planned a special evening for us tonight. You need to call me,”
he said, sounding angry in his message.

He forgot that the florist was scheduled to deliver the roses to his house by 8:00 p.m. As he was finishing dinner, the doorbell rang. He thought it was Camille and hurried to answer it. When he opened the door and saw the deliveryman standing there with the roses, it pushed him over the edge.

He gave the man a tip, took the roses, and tossed them on the counter after slamming the door. He could not believe she was doing this.

What the hell has gotten into her? The last time she was tripping on me was when I stood her up before the engagement dinner. That damn Candace—I know she must’ve said something for Camille to act like this
, he thought, becoming more and more upset.

He was so angry that he thought about calling Candace and letting her have it for running her mouth to Camille. He went over to his bar and poured a glass of Jack Daniels to have with his steak.

After an hour he had finished eating and had drunk most of the bottle of whisky. He was very intoxicated. Since he was home he didn’t care. He threw the roses in the garbage. He then took her portion of the dinner and threw it away as well.

At that moment he felt so alone. He finished the rest of the Jack Daniels and hurled the bottle against the wall. He then fell on the couch and buried his face into his hands. To his surprise, tears started filling his eyes. The last time he felt this way was when he and his fiancée Lisa broke up.

Damn. I think I may have messed up this time. I think she may be gone for good,
he thought before passing out on the sofa.

By the time he woke up, it was 5:30 the next morning. He couldn’t believe he had slept on the sofa all night. He looked at the clock on his cellular phone. When he saw the time he got up and made some coffee to ease his pounding head. He noticed that Camille had yet to return his calls.

Camille and Paul woke up around 6:00 a.m. His flight was scheduled to leave at 10:00. They went to breakfast near her apartment so he could be at the airport by 8:00 a.m. She was a little nervous about going to her apartment because she wondered if Jake was there.

When the limousine pulled up she didn’t see his car and felt relieved.

“Thank you for wonderful weekend, baby. I love you so much,” Paul kissed her gently on the lips.

Camille replied, “No, thank you. This was the best weekend I’ve had in a very long time. You really made me feel special and I love you too.”

“That sounds so good. Can you say it again?” he asked, smiling broadly.

“Say what?” she asked.

“Say you love me again. It sounds so wonderful to hear you say it.”

“I love you,” she said before giving him a hug.

“When can I see you again?” he asked.

“Give me a call when you get back to Los Angeles and we’ll work something out.”

“Sounds like a plan. I need to get going. Thanks again and I love you,” he said, this time kissing her passionately before walking her to her door.

She gave him one last hug goodbye, “Okay, baby. Have a safe flight and call me when you land.”

When she walked into her apartment she noticed that her television had been turned off. She knew she left it on. She then realized that Jake must have come over. She charged her cellular phone so she could listen to her messages. The battery had gone out while she was at the hotel. When she plugged it to the charger it started beeping, indicating that she had some messages.

The first message was from Candace checking to see how she was doing and telling her to call back. The other messages were from Jake. When she listened to his voicemails she could tell that he was angry.

She started thinking about what she was going to tell him.

I wonder when he came by my apartment. Since I’m not sure, I better not say I was home sick. I know, I’ll tell him that I had to go to Los Angeles unexpectedly and left my cellular phone at home by mistake.

If he asks why I didn’t call him once I arrived I can tell him that I tried but his phone was busy so I figured I would explain it to him once I came home. That sounds believable. It’s not like that hasn’t happened before,
she thought.

Camille wasn’t sure when she was going to call Jake or Candace. She was still tired from her time with Paul so she decided to slip into pajamas and go back to bed.

In the meantime, Jake was home trying to determine if he was going to call her. He decided that he would go by her apartment instead.

When he pulled in front of her apartment he noticed that her car was parked in the same place it was all weekend. He sat in his car for about five minutes trying to decide if he was going to go up to her apartment. He also wanted to get his story right about he and Candace.

When he finally went up to her apartment he wasn’t sure if he should knock or simply go in with his key. He knocked and when there was no answer, he went inside. He could tell that she had been home, but was not sure how long.

He quietly went into her bedroom and saw her sleeping. He just stood there looking at her as she peacefully slept. He was glad to see that she was home. He didn’t want to wake her, so he went into the living room to stretch out on the sofa.

As he left her room he glanced over to her nightstand and was surprised to see a baby book. He didn’t know what to expect.

So she is pregnant. I can’t believe it. I wonder why she hasn’t said anything to me
, he thought. He looked over at her again and gently kissed her on the cheek. He knew what he had to do. For the first time he resolved to do right by her and marry her for real.

He gently closed her door and sat on the living room sofa. He decided to leave her a note:

Hey baby,

I came by to check on you and you were still asleep. I didn’t want to wake you, so I decided to leave. I love you. Please call me after you read this note.

Jake quietly left and called Ken to tell him what he had discovered.

Camille awoke from her sleep at about 11:30 a.m. She groggily wandered into the living room and immediately noticed the note. After reading it she could tell that Jake was no longer upset.

She wondered why he was so calm. His messages sounded like they were going to have a huge argument as soon as they connected. She questioned his change of heart. She decided to call him after her shower. When she went into her bedroom, she noticed the baby book on her nightstand.

Oh my God! I wonder if that’s why he was so nice in his note. He must have seen the book. I didn’t want him finding out this way. How can I learn if he saw it without asking him directly? I need some advice. I better call Candace,
she thought.