148. Mother Knows Best

Warning: coarse language, adult situations

Bridgeport, present day...

“Ignore it,” Michaela murmured as she straddled him.

They were supposed to be watching a movie. Some chick flick Maddie had loaned her, but they’d forgotten all about it as soon as they cuddled on the couch.

Things between them were getting dangerously hot. Michaela was no longer satisfied with chaste kisses and passionate embraces here and there. She wanted to be kissed, thoroughly, and to be made out with. And more.

Cameron couldn’t wait for her birthday party this coming weekend; he’d promised her he’d have his way with her. Not the whole way obviously, but kiss her with wild abandon like she’d been begging him for weeks. But until then they both just had to be content with light kisses and snuggling on the couch. But Lord she wasn’t making things easy on him.

“I have to get it. It must be important, they’ve been out there for ten minutes now,” he replied, referring to his visitor.

“Ugh. Fine! Just a few days Cameron. A few days and you’ll be mine,” Michaela smiled smugly as she left his lap.

Cameron couldn’t hide his own smile; he liked the sound of her threat very much. “I can’t wait,” he murmured, planting a light kiss on her lips.

Without warning, Michaela stuck out her tongue and trailed it on his lips. Being the weak red blooded man that he was, he was putty in her hands all over again. Before long he had her in his arms and he was pressing her body close to his.

“Shit. What are you doing to me?” He whispered on her neck. He couldn't tear himself away from her.

“The same thing you do to me. We have to tell them Cam. I can’t do this anymore. I’m in love with you. I want everyone to know. And I want you to stop treating me like some fragile egg. I won’t break if you touch me. I won’t crumble if you kiss me.” She moaned feverishly, holding him firmly to her.

“I know. We will. Just a few days.” He reminded her.

“Fine.” She gently pushed him away and sat up.

“I love you,” Cameron reminded her as he went to get the door.

Alone, Michaela squealed and did a happy dance around the room. She felt so damn giddy with love and excitement. She couldn’t believe Cameron loved her back, couldn’t believe he’d actually said those three words to her. It was crazy and insane and scary but it was the best feeling in the world, loving Cameron, and being loved by him.

At the door Cameron’s mood changed. Very quickly.

“What are you doing here?” He snarled at his visitors.

“That’s not the way to greet family Cameron,” Zahara admonished him as she tried kiss him on the cheek. Cameron pulled away before she could.

His eyes rested on his brother and he smiled a little when he realized some things never change.

Charles looked as pristine and pompous as ever in his white Armani outfit, his blond hair was perfectly styled and held in place by copious amounts of the styling gel he loved so much, and oh his blue eyes could they get any bluer?

Cameron snorted when he realized the old feelings of resentment were still there, simmering just underneath his forced calmness. Charles was always Zahara’s blue eyed boy, the angel, the perfect one who could do no wrong. She’d groomed him from an early age to be her clone and follow in her political footsteps, Cameron was sad to see she’d succeeded.  His brother looked and dressed like the bunch of crooks in the Vampire council, he even reeked of their hypocrisy and corruption too.

“Can we come in?” Charles asked. But it wasn’t a question, if his brother wanted to come in Cameron knew he would. From as long as he could remember, Charles had always been bossy and forceful, insisting it came with the territory of being the older brother.

“No. You can’t. I’m in the middle of something,” he told them truthfully. He was in the middle of a makeout session with his 'soon to be legal' girlfriend.

“I’m the head of the Vampire Council. You can’t deny me entry. Show some respect!” Zahara spat.

“And you’re also my mother. The whole Vampire community may bow to you, but I won’t. I told you I don’t ever want to see you again. Both of you!” Cameron retorted angrily.

“Sweetheart, don’t you think this business has gone on long enough? We did you a favor,” Zahara ignored his angry tone; she knelt down to place Philly on the floor.

Cameron noticed the Chihuahua for the first time since he laid his eyes on his mother and brother. The small dog ran around the hallway a few times, howling like a banshee, before settling at his feet.

Philly looked up and barked at him. Cameron barked back and sent her scurrying in the corner. He didn’t like the both of them, the dog and his mom.

He didn’t realize how much he missed his father until then. Charles Walters VII, the man his brother was named after, was the only person in their dysfunctional family who’d understood him.

While his brother was always Zahara’s favorite, Cameron was much closer to their father and he took his death harder than everyone; he was gunned down outside Wilsonoff Community Theater in Sunset Valley as he was leaving a fundraising concert five years earlier.

His father, an upstanding businessman in their community, was loved by all. But Zahara, who ruled the Vampire community with an iron fist, had a long list of enemies, and it wasn’t hard for anyone to figure out that Charles’ death had been politically motivated.

Cameron felt sick to his stomach just thinking about the losses he’d suffered because of Zahara’s prominent role in their community.

He forced himself to leave his painful memories in the past where they belonged by returning his attention to unwanted visit, “What do you want mom. Don’t you have some poor soul to torment, some criminal to judge and send off to prison?”

“Now, now, dear, can’t a mother miss her son?” Zahara’s laugh was loud and false, it resonated around the hallway and it made him uncomfortable, he wanted them gone.

“The only thing you probably miss right now is your throne and all your minions forever kissing your ass!” He didn’t realize how loud they were until he felt Michaela’s hand on his arm.

“Well, well, well! What’s going on here?” Zahara’s sharp green eyes moved from him to Michaela and then back to him.

“Do her parents know?” She asked, reading their relationship for what it was.

“It’s none of their business, and as matter of fact it’s none of yours. Please leave now!” His voice was tight and clipped,  it brooked no further argument. Without waiting for their response he slammed the door in their faces.

He stalked off to the living room and changed his mind half way to the bar. He couldn’t drink in front of Michaela. He’d stopped doing a lot of things in front of her.

“Hey. Come here,” Michaela walked over to him and put her arms around him.

“Are you okay?” She asked softly.

Cameron shook his head. He wasn’t okay.

“Maybe you should talk to them. It’s been a year. How long can you stay angry for?” She murmured as she led him to the couch.

“I can’t. I can’t bear to look at them, Mickey.”

“What I’m about to say may sound selfish and stupid and childish. But maybe what they did wasn’t so bad. I mean we found each other right? If they didn’t stop you from marrying Sylvia, we wouldn’t be together now.”

Yes she knew all about his past. They were friends long before they had feelings for each other and he’d confided in her when she broke up with Leo. He’d understood what she was going through because he’d been there as well, and he’d shared that part of his past to make her realize that a failed relationship wasn’t always the end of the world, and time did heal all wounds.

“It was a rotten thing to do,” Cameron insisted. He frowned darkly as he remembered the humiliation he’d felt when he was left at the altar…

From the get-go Zahara never liked Sylvia, labeling her a whore and a gold digger, and throughout Cameron’s three year relationship with her she had set out to prove she was right about his girlfriend.

Without Cameron’s knowledge Zahara had had investigators look into Sylvia’s past. Their discovery was appalling; Sylvia was a former stripper with a long list of crimes and arrests to boot. But Cameron knew all this already and the reports didn’t come as a shock to him.

His plans though to marry the ex-stripper almost gave Zahara and Charles heart attacks. He’d wasted no time proposing to Sylvia and she’d eagerly accepted.

Charles had opposed his engagement every chance he got, insisting a family scandal wouldn’t look good for Zahara, her name being linked to a whore and a gold digger would certainly squash all chances of being reelected as the Council’s Head.

Despite his family’s protests, he had gone ahead with his plans to get hitched. He and Sylvia settled on a date, booked the venue and he’d even asked Krisis, whom he knew from their photographer days in Champs Les Sims, to be his best man. 

He’d honestly imagined himself in love with Sylvia and he was determined to marry her. But looking back now, he knew his determination to get married was borne out of stubbornness and to prove a point to Zahara and Charles that he wasn’t their puppet and he’d do as he pleased.

In the days leading up to the wedding Zahara and Charles had become supportive suddenly, and that should have set off warning alarms for Cameron. But plagued by pre-wedding jitters he’d overlooked their sudden change in attitude, had overlooked a lot of things too. Like Sylvia suddenly closing up on him; he’d chalked it down to wedding nerves. He should have pushed her to talk more, pushed her for the truth. But he didn’t. And that’s how he was left with egg on his face on his wedding day. Sylvia never showed up.

Krisis was the bearer of bad news. He never said much, but the letter from Sylvia did. It was brief and to the point. She didn’t love him. Never did. She’d found herself an older man.

He’d suspected his mom had had something to do with Sylvia’s disappearance but he could never prove it, until a slip up in the post occurred.

A letter addressed to a C. Walters arrived at the Walters’ mansion.

Initially he’d thought it was for Charles since he rarely received correspondence at his mother’s house and he wouldn’t have opened it if he didn’t see it was from Williams and Williams Attorneys, acting on behalf of Sylvia Barnes, his ex-fiancé. Naturally, he concluded the letter was for him.

Despite the serious, legal language in the letter he managed to make sense of its contents. Sylvia had wanted more money and if Charles and Zahara didn’t pay up, she was threatening to tell him of their little arrangement.

His confrontation with his mom and brother had abruptly ended their life long bond and he had effectively disowned them.

Nursing a broken heart, the offer from Krisis to join K-Infinity was the perfect remedy he’d needed to get over his family’s betrayal and start afresh.

“They were right, Cam. Sylvia wasn’t good for you. I mean she agreed to leave your life for a quick buck. Marrying her would have been a big mistake. She would have hurt you in the long run.” Michaela gently coaxed him back to the present.

“I know. But she was my mistake to make. Not theirs!” Cameron told her, he didn’t complain when she guided his head on her lap and she began massaging his temples.

Michaela always knew somehow what he needed. And at that moment, with a raging migraine threatening its assault on him, he desperately needed her cool hands on his temples.

“Your mom was just looking out for you,” she continued massaging his temples and he felt himself relax.

“No, she was just looking out for her career. Politics and being Head of the Vampire Council was more important to her than my happiness.” Cameron murmured drowsily as he reached up to caress her cheek. He couldn’t believe how exhausted he was, the promotional work they’d been doing since the album release was finally taking its toll on him.

“That’s not true. The way she did it was wrong, and sure maybe it was to save her career, but I think she also did it out of love for you. She didn’t want you to get hurt in the long run,” She would have carried on trying to show him her take on his situation with his mom, but then she looked down at him and saw he was fast asleep.

“You are such a big baby,” Michaela smiled to herself as she kissed his forehead. 

She quickly ran upstairs to grab a blanket and a pillow for him and she made sure he was comfortable on the couch before she did one last patrol around the house, checking that all the windows and doors were closed.

 As she slipped out of the front door and locked it behind her, she thought of Sylvia briefly, about what an idiot she was for letting Cameron go.

"Be glad she did," she told herself. He’d given her the key, not only to his house, but to his heart too, and she’d safe guard it with everything she had. She wasn't going to be another Sylvia...