Chapter Eighteen
Camille sighed as she flung her backpack on to the floor of the apartment. She was starting to get really tired of school and couldn’t wait until the semester was over. Not that she didn’t enjoy her classes, she just found them to be dragging on. Especially since she was having something of a stressful few months.
There wasn’t much she could do. Nick had stopped trying to contact her completely. No phone calls, no e-mails, nothing. She had to admit, it bothered her a little. She rather liked that he was trying so desperately to contact her. Now that he had stopped, it only reiterated her feelings that he didn’t care.
Sitting down on the couch, she started to flip through channels on the TV. She was trying as hard as she could to get her mind of Nick, but he still continued to plague her. Wasn’t the point of breaking up with him to get him off her mind? It wasn’t working at all. If anything, she thought about him more. Constantly questioning if she’d made the right decision or not.
Of course, she knew he had. It was now Wednesday and he hadn’t phoned her since the weekend. She figured he’d given up, and if he was going to give up that easily, then she really didn’t need him, right?
That didn’t make it hurt any less, though.
Settling on an old rerun of Everybody Loves Raymond, Camille curled up on the couch and lost herself in the sitcom. After a few minutes, the door opened and Chris walked in.
“You’re home early.” He commented, sitting down beside her.
Camille shrugged. “I skipped my last class.”
Chris frowned. It bothered him that Camille was so upset lately. As far as he was concerned, she didn’t deserve the shit that Nick was putting her through. He was glad that she’d finally come to her senses and ended things with him. Even if it had been partly because of his meddling. But of course, she didn’t know that. “How come?”
“Because I was tired and wanted to come home.” She replied, as if it were obvious. All she really wanted was to be left alone.
Chris gave her a sympathetic smile. “Stressed?”
“Yes.”
He draped his arm around her, and as much as Camille wanted some alone time, it was nice to feel wanted. She leaned her head on his shoulder, thankful that she had him as her friend. At least all men weren’t pigs.
“Why don’t I take you out to dinner tonight?” Chris asked as Camille continued to laugh at the antics of the Barone family.
“I don’t know…” She replied. She really was tired and would liked to have just relaxed all evening.
Chris smirked. “I’ll take you to Olive Garden.” He suggested, knowing that the mention of her favourite restaurant would entice her.
And it did. “Okay, fine.” She agreed, giving Chris a small smile.
Nick strolled around LA absentmindedly. He’d had another boring day in the studio, and the guys were starting to get annoyed with his lack of enthusiasm. It wasn’t his fault! He blamed Camille. If she would just talk to him and give him a reason as to why she’d ended things, he’d be perfectly fine.
Well, not perfectly fine. But at least he would have an answer, instead of wondering all the time. He’d always been like that, preferring the harsh truth to not knowing.
He knew Camille well though. He knew that she wasn’t really breaking up with him. There was just no way, it was completely unlike her. No… she was trying to get him to step up. To figure his shit out and beg to get her back.
She hadn’t let him beg though! He scoffed, the least she could do was answer his calls, or respond to his e-mail. But no… he needed to figure himself out first. Well, how could she know if he’d figured things out if she wouldn’t pick up the damn phone?
He loved her, that’s all there was to it. Shouldn’t that have been enough? It had been enough before, he would tell her he loved her, she would say it back, and they were happy. He would surprise her sometimes after school by having dinner cooked, or just by randomly sending her notes in her school books for her to find.
He laughed a little, she’d turned him into such a sap.
And then all of a sudden she’d gotten bitchy. Right around the time that she’d started school again. Right around the same time that he’d said he wouldn’t marry her.
Suddenly, something clicked in Nick’s head. After they’d had that argument, things had become very cold and bitter between the two of them. He’d stopped doing sweet things for her, and she’d stopped showing him affection as well. When it became time for him to leave, things had become so routine that he didn’t even think that he needed to change his ways.
He loved her, and that’s all there was to it. Why had that been so difficult for him to figure out? She wanted to marry him eventually, and it had scared him. But why? Deep down he hadn’t ever seen them breaking up, so why was that such a big deal to him? Why couldn’t he just smile and give her what she wanted so desperately? It’s not as though it would have changed much, especially if they were going to be together anyway. In fact, the only reason they weren’t together any more was because they’d acted so bitter towards each other because of that differing opinion. If he’d just agreed on her idea to get married in the future, things would have been fine.
Things would have been fine back then, and they would be fine now. All he had to do was propose to her! Nick grinned to himself, unable to contain his giddiness. That would definitely solve his problem, he was sure of it! He practically ran to Tiffany’s as he searched for an engagement ring.
Nick knew he was always one to act on rash ideas. If he’d taken a step back and looked at the situation, he probably would have realized that he was being completely irrational. However, he was so excited about the prospect of winning Camille back that he didn’t even stop to think. Instead, he dropped a ridiculous amount of money on a ring and kept on grinning to himself as he envisioned her telling him that she loved him and couldn’t wait to spend the rest of her life with him.
It wasn’t the best idea in the world, but Nick was certain it would work. It had to. He would propose and they would live happily ever after, just like in those sappy movies she’d always made him watch. Truly, just like the sap she’d turned him into.
Camille took a sip of her water and waited for the waitress to come back with her food. She loved the Olive Garden, though it made her somewhat sad. She and Nick had gone there for dinner a number of times. They both always ordered the same thing and often didn’t even have to look at the menu.
Mentally, she scolded herself. She was supposed to be getting over Nick, not thinking about him!
Chris glanced at Camille. She was staring off into space again, probably thinking about Nick. He knew that Olive Garden used to be their date place, but still. He didn’t understand why Nick had such power over her. Sure, they’d been together for a while, but Nick had treated her so poorly in the last month they were together that he didn’t understand why Camille cared anymore.
Besides, there was a far better guy sitting right in front of her! And Chris intended to show her that.
“You know, this one time, when Nick and I were here…” Camille started telling some story about how Nick had got some sort of soup and got far too much cheese grated into it.
Chris sighed. His goal was easier said than done.
