The drive to Cameron's place was short but strangely relaxing. The mere fact that she was going to see her best friend in the whole world was enough to soothe her jittery nerves. Cameron had the answers to questions she didn't even try to solve. She drove as fast as she could, having been missing the baby already. She knew that the feeling the baby gave her was nothing short of ecstatic and she needed to be around such a happy atmosphere before she could think logically about her situation.
Before she got to the door, she saw Cameron sitting outside, baby in hand. It had been said that having babies often made women eccentric, breaking them out of different habits they might have had and creating new habits, the child being the center of it all. She didn't know how true it was but seeing her friend act so out of character made her chuckle under her breath. Children were indeed gifts, the most priceless gifts ever.
"I was waiting for you to arrive," Cameron said as a way of greeting her oldest and best friend. The baby she held squealed in delight as Beverly came closer, eyes fixed on her. Beverly felt joy, joy at being accepted by such a beautiful household. She deliberately picked an auspicious time to visit, not willing to trouble anybody but her best friend and the baby that brought her immeasurable joy.
"Sorry, did you have to wait long?" Beverly apologized for keeping her friend waiting even though it was a few minutes at best. But due to the child she carried, she got tired easily, and was often told to rest as much as she could.
"Nope. Jake kept me company, didn't you Jake?" Cameron cooed at the baby placing her finger in his. He squealed in excitement and Beverly couldn't help the smile that formed on her face. It was such a beautiful sight, she wanted to pause that moment and hold onto it forever.
"Oh, Jake is already taking care of his mummy." Beverly cooed along with Cameron as the baby held their pinky fingers and refused to relinquish his hold. The love welling in her heart for the baby was all-consuming, the fragile way he slept, taking hold of her pinky finger like it was the most natural thing in the world. The blind trust melted her heart and she knew that it was not a novelty that would wear off, it was something eternal. She wondered how Cameron felt if she herself felt such a heady wave of emotions.
"He's beautiful, isn't he?" Cameron asked, staring at the form of her baby, sleeping without a care in the world. It made Beverly want to reach out and take some of that level of peace for herself, the content way her friend looked made her feel like she was floating on air.
"Yes, yes indeed. A very beautiful boy." She whispered as the baby let go of her and Cameron's fingers simultaneously, trying to feel for food. As Cameron saw what the baby wanted, she motioned for Camila to enter into the house, breastfeeding Jake as she talked to her oldest friend.
"When I heard your voice on the phone, you sounded troubled. What is really going on?" Cameron asked as the baby suckled. Beverly watched this exchange between mother and child and finally understood why the bond went beyond life itself.
"I just needed to talk to my friend, I guess," Beverly replied, deliberately shying away from the question staring at her. How was she to explain what she felt when she couldn't explain it herself?
"No, don't give me that. The Beverly I know never caves because of situations like this, never!" Cameron proclaimed as the baby in her laps moved a little but settled back down.
"Okay, okay. Sheesh, gusty much?" Beverly replied, smiling. Being with her friend always made her feel light, like she could fly into the sky if she wished. It was the friendship she never took for granted, no matter what.
"I just want you to know that I am solidly behind you. So, talk to me, and let's figure whatever this thing is." Cameron, always the voice of reason, proclaimed and everything sounded way better than it did while Beverly drove to her place. The baby helped, seeing as he enveloped the atmosphere in a kind of serenity never to be found anywhere.
"Well, my car broke down on the highway and-" Beverly started but Cameron interrupted, eyes wide.
"Where did your car break down? What time?" She asked, cradling the baby she held lightly.
"Well, it was just after I left here yesterday. I didn't want to worry you but my phone died." Beverly said as a way of explanation but Cameron wasn't having it.
"YOUR PHONE DIED? WHILE YOU WERE STRANDED ON THE HIGHWAY AT NIGHT?" Cameron exclaimed as Jake woke up, crying. She rocked him as the cries died down gradually and softly turned into light breathing.
"Sorry I didn't explain but please don't wake the baby. Yes, my phone died and I was stranded on the highway. But then, a man who lived close came to get me wearing a raincoat, rain boots, and hoisting an umbrella."
Cameron looked at Beverly in open-mouthed shock, unable to form words.
"So, a strange man came to pick you up from the rain?" Cameron asked as soon as she got her voice. Her reactions were usually epic, Beverly knew that much.
"That's about right." Beverly nodded as she saw the fire dance in Cameron's eyes. If there was one thing she was sure of, Cameron was more protective of her than she was of anybody else. She didn't want her hurt, and she hated being left out of the loop whenever something major or minor happened.
"So, this strange man, did he do anything to you? Talk to me. Also, what was he like? And, where's the pepper spray I gave you to hold at all times?" Cameron asked question after question, a barrage of questions just for Beverly. She was more like a doting mother than a best friend and it suited her just fine. Being babied had its perks, in Beverly's opinion at least.
"Well, no, and he was a really charming man. Yes, I held the pepper spray and no, I didn't use it. Is that all or should I continue?" Beverly asked, a hint of amusement in her voice. Even though she was a fully-fledged adult, Cameron treated her like a child so often, she didn't even know if she wasn't.
"By all means, continue. I just wanted to make sure. Just checking, just checking." She said once, twice for emphasis. Beverly felt stupid for denying the existence of love, she could see it in the way her best friend worried about her, she could see it in the way Jake gripped her pinky finger, she could see it in the way Cameron rocked him to sleep. It was love, as clear as day.
"Well, he took me to his place to dry off, and before you throw a fit, he didn't touch me once. He was literally the first man to treat me with such respect. He didn't try to hold my hands or anything. In fact, I was too immersed in his flawlessness, I didn't see anything else. He spoke beautifully, the sound of his voice did things to my insides. I felt like butter, melting at his touch."
Cameron looked at her friend, staring at her like she'd grown horns. Beverly wasn't the lovey-dovey type, she was the logical and realistic one. Or at least, she was before she met the mysterious man in her story.
"Are you sure you didn't hit your head anywhere? Where's Beverly?" Cameron asked in a half-assed attempt to make a joke but she could tell that whoever the man Beverly met, he stole common sense away from her and it would have been intriguing to watch if only she knew his motives.
"I assure you, I didn't hit my head at all. He was just nice without forcing it, it was a free-flowing gesture, one I appreciated immensely. He was real, or rather, he is real. I just don't know what it is I feel, this feeling in my stomach refused to leave. It's like a thousand butterflies taking root and the thought of him just makes me smile for no reason. Is that normal?"
Beverly asked Cameron who gave a sly smile as she thought about how she felt the first time she met her husband. It was identical, the jittery feelings, the butterflies that refused to leave, everything.
"Well, depends on your definition of normal. But the man in your story, he sounds really intriguing. Do you think you could do the introductions if we ever meet?" Cameron stated flippantly as Beverly felt her heart race at the implication in her words. Cameron only asked to see a man she considered as worth her time, even though they were either too boring or too weird. But knowing that her best friend had her back made Beverly smile from ear to ear. Some things were never meant to change, marriage or not.
"Normal is boring anyways, you said so yourself. Also, that's a big IF you ever meet him. He's like some exotic plant, seen once every century or so. I know it seems like I'm exaggerating but it's how I feel." Beverly said, sulking. She'd never lied to Cameron on purpose, she did anything possible to avoid telling lies to her best friend. She could be 100% open with Cameron and not feel belittled in any way because Cameron always understood her plight, it was what best friends did.
"Hmmm, that makes me want to meet him even once, to see if he's worthy of you," Cameron stated plainly as Beverly stared at her with eyes wide opened, shocked at the implications in her tone.
"Worthy of me? You make it sound so.. intimate. That's not the case here, I barely know him." Beverly tried to defend a nonexistent point but she was losing, as she always did with Cameron.
"Oh? I didn't mean it that way. But, for you to start thinking along that line… Hmm.." Cameron said in a suggestive way and Beverly could see the trap she dug for herself. She didn't want to openly admit what she felt, didn't want to put the words out there and find out that everything was true. She didn't want to, yet she was drawn to. She was drawn to say the words she shied away from for most of her adult life, content on breezing by life and worrying about nothing else.
"Uh-oh. I can see the gears turning in your head. Spill what's in that head of yours. I'm listening." Beverly urged Cameron to speak, knowing that she'd find insights to fight the warring emotions in her.
"What do you mean by what's in my head? There's nothing in my head, I'm just happy to see my friend so flustered. It's been a long time coming, a long, long time."
Cameron said, grinning from ear to ear. A flustered Beverly wasn't something she saw often, if she ever did. It was a refreshing change of pace from the lady who always maintained a stoic expression and never let anything stress her unnecessarily. It was easier to relate to Beverly when she acted a little more human than normal.
"So, what do you think I have to do?" Beverly asked, going to Cameron for advice on love related issues for the first time. Cameron was always talking about love and all that mushy stuff so Beverly stayed aloof since she felt love was a sham, a disguised attempt at manipulation. She used to think that way, but not anymore.
"It's about you, isn't it? That's the beauty of it. For the first time, you're thinking along the same line I am. That's a refreshing change if I might add."
Beverly listened to her best friend like she was a student under tutorship, learning the art of love from a veteran with lots of experience. The roles being reversed didn't seem so bad, she'd always been too aloof for Cameron's liking.
"Hmmm, let's see. Planning takes time yeah? I have an idea."
Cameron gave a wicked grin as the gears turned in her head with Beverly seemingly oblivious to her machinations. Love was a game and sometimes, to play the game, fairness has to be thrown out of the window.
It was time for matchmaking, Cameron style.