WILDFIRE
By Aysia Anderson (a.k.a. Nikki)

Chapter Twenty-Four: Traces of Deceit

“Yeah, everything is cool right now, mom. We’ve worked everything out and got it all out there in the open.” Justin explained to his mother over the telephone as he stood in the kitchen with a bowl of green grapes in hand. “How is my little girl doing? She’s good? Alright then. So you’re taking her to Disney World today? How long do you think you’ll be gone? All day? You going to call when you need me to come and get her? Okay, yeah, that’s fine. We’ll see you all in the morning then. Alright, I’ll talk to you later, love. Bye.”

Hanging up the phone, Justin popped a grape into his mouth and started out of the kitchen toward the den. There he found that Camille had stretched out on the couch watching Invader Zim with her legs dancing in the air. She was completely engulfed in the episode and wouldn’t have noticed his arrival had he not bent over and bit her on the ass.

“Shit, Justin! Stop doing that!” She shrieked as he plopped down onto the floor, leaning back against the couch, and tuned her out. “I’m serious.”

“Yeah, sure you are.” He reached back and rubbed his hand over her wounded area with a smirk. “Right on the tattoo, baby.”

“Shut your pie hole, man. Let it rest.”

“I can’t do it. It’s like a shock every time I lay eyes on it. My baby got my name inked on my ass.”

“Your ass?”

“Did I stutter?”

“You’re going to wish that you had.” Camille shifted on the couch so that she was sitting directly behind him and eased her legs over his shoulder.

“Wow, I regret it already.” He cracked and smoothed his left hand over one of her legs while enjoying his bowl of grapes. “You want one?”

“Sure, why not?”

“Cool, come here.” He placed one of the grapes between his teeth and turned to meet lips with hers. Once the transfer was complete and the kiss had been shared he smirked at her proudly. “You’ve got to admit that that was hot.”

“I will admit no such thing.” Camille leaned back into the couch, chewing her grape, and folded her arms over her stomach. “What’s going on with your mother and Nikki?”

“She’s taking her to Disney World today so she’ll drop her off tomorrow morning…or so she says.”

“Right, so we won’t see our child until we go back and kidnap her from her real mommy then?”

“Precisely.”

“Maybe your mom should have another baby.” Camille suggested knowing full well that Justin would have no parts of the idea. He liked being his mother’s one and only granted he had siblings on his father’s end.

He shook his head completely un-amused. “Maybe you should lay off of the crack.”

“Yeah, your crack.”

“Ha, ha. So funny I forgot to laugh.”

“How old is that joke, now, J?” Camille sat up and tugged lightly on his ears coercing him to lean his head back onto the cushions of the couch to stare up into her eyes. “Come up with something a little more original.”

“Maybe next time.”

“Put the bowl of grapes down, chump.”

“You going to kiss me?”

“Straight nasty style.” She assured him which was enough incentive for him to place the bowl on the floor to his side and reach up with one hand to direct her face closer to his.

“This is like Spiderman and Mary Jane’s kiss in the alley.”

“Less talk and more action, man-whore.” Camille demanded and slid her hands down his chest over his black tee-shirt.

“Ooh, I like it when you talk dirty to me, mama!” Justin growled just as the phone began to ring. “I just can’t win can I?”

“Doesn’t appear so.”

“You better save all of this energy up in here, woman,” he demanded as he stood up and retrieved the phone from the other side of the couch off of the end table, “’cause we’re about to do some things.”

“Is that a promise or a guarantee?” She tucked one of her legs beneath her body and gave him the eye.

“Looking at me like that turns it into a guarantee. Hold on.” He lifted the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

“Hey, Justin, this is JC.” The voice on the other end informed quickly. “Are you and Camille doing alright? Trace told me that…”

“How about we don’t talk about him? We’re fine. How are things with you?”

“You’re fine? No divorces or anything going on?”

“No, that’s all been handled.”

JC took a sigh of relief. “I don’t know what I’d do if you two didn’t make it. You’re like the only things that are right in the world.”

Justin laughed at his friend’s words. “I think that’s a matter of personal opinion, man. So, anyway…”

“Yeah, so, um, everything is cool on this end. I just got done talking to VH1 not too long ago and I head that…well, a person that we’re not going to talk about right now is in there giving his interview right now.”

“He’s got his nerve.” He hook his head. “Let me give you a call a little bit later on, alright?”

“No problem, dude. Later!”

“Yep.” Justin hung up the phone and sat down next to his wife.

“What was all of that about?” She asked.

“What? Oh! Nothing, nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

“You looked worried about it.”

“I’m not.” He assured her and drew her over into his arms. “So, that Invader Zim, huh? Gotta love it!”

////

“Like I was saying, ever since the CFTC event things kind of began to go downward for Justin and Camille. I always figured that they were always so happy and so perfect that something had to go wrong eventually, you know? I wasn’t wishing anything bad for them but it was kind of inevitable. Nothing like that can last forever. It was too good to be true.” Trace stated his opinion even though it may not have been the best reflection on his character. At the time he was more concerned with being honest and airing out his dirty laundry. He was already in hot water with Justin so what else did he have to lose?

“Were you a little jealous of what Justin and Camille had?”

“I don’t know if you would necessarily call it jealousy.” He shrugged. “I mean…I don’t know. JT and I have been boys since forever and he let a woman stand in between us and I think that was dog. You know?

“Camille wasn’t just some woman, though, was she? She was his wife and the mother of his child.”

“As far as I was concerned she was just another girl.”

“You felt that way from the beginning?”

“Don’t get me wrong here. Camille is a cool woman or whatever. If he was going to marry anyone she was as good as any. I just feel like it was rushed and that we should have gotten to know her better.”

“We, as in you and Justin?”

“JC was a sheisty motherfucker if you ask me.” Trace quickly changed the subject shifting the focus onto another individual. “He would go over to their place all of the time when Justin wasn’t home. It was like Justin would hit the door and JC would be walking in. It made no sense. Apparently it didn’t make too much sense to Justin either because that was when he finally snapped…”

////

“JC is here a lot isn’t he?” Trace asked, sitting in the passenger’s seat of the truck, as he and his closest friend pulled into the driveway after picking up some fast food and socializing with friends all day.

“Yeah, I guess he is.” Justin replied, cutting the engine and sitting back in his seat with a miffed look rising on his face.

“I wonder what’s up with that. Is Cam here?”

He nodded, spotting her car parked a little ways off. JC had been around a lot lately but he wasn’t saying anything about it. He had been around a lot before he had even met Camille. Still, he couldn’t stop himself from thinking the worst of things. It was easy to think in the negatives when others were dropping their comments here and there.

“What are you thinking about, player?” Trace turned to him, sucking on the straw in his MacDonald’s cup.

Justin didn’t answer. He simply snatched his keys out of the ignition, threw open the car door, and stomped over to the front door. Trace sat silently with one eyebrow raised curiously as he watched his friend push open the front door and storm inside. He wasn’t sure if he should follow or not but then again what was the point in missing out on all of the action?

“Hi, daddy!” Nicole squealed excitedly as her father entered their home.

“Go upstairs, Nikki.” Justin ordered and started to walk pass her.

“But daddy…”

“Upstairs now, Nicole!” He shouted and she recoiled instantly and rushed up the stairs. He had never yelled at her before and it had frightened her. As soon as she was in her room she closed the door and locked it and then rushed into her closet to hide.

“What is going on?” Camille appeared from the back patio in her swimsuit dripping wet from being in the pool.

“You tell me what’s going on.” Justin looked her over getting more agitated by the fact that she was wearing one of her barely-there swimsuits as JC stumbled into the house in a pair of trunks.

“What do you mean? Why did you just yell at Nicole? What did she do?”

“Its more like what did you do.”

“What?” Camille didn’t understand what was going on at all but when she noticed Trace moseying in through the front door she knew that it was something devious in the works. “I’m going to check on Nikki. You probably scared her half to death.”

Justin held out his arm to stop her from walking pass and stared at his friend suspiciously. “You fucking my wife, JC?”

“What?” JC’s jaw dropped instantly. “What the hell, man? No way!”

“You lying to me?”

“Why would I be sleeping with your wife, Justin? Come on! You know me better than that!”

Justin shrugged his shoulders, “Why wouldn’t you want to sleep with her? She’s as beautiful as I don’t know what and she’s taken. You do like the girls that you can’t have, right?”

“This is bullshit, Justin! Move!” Camille shouted, still more concerned with the well-being of their child than with the situation.

“Why are you avoiding, Camille?” Trace asked from the doorway as he was no stranger to instigating.

“Stay the fuck out of it!” Justin turned back to him and then back to his wife. “Are you fucking around on me with my best friend?”

“What did he just tell you, Justin? What did JC just say to you?”

“We’re not sleeping together, man. I wouldn’t lie to you and I wouldn’t hurt you like that.” JC assured him. “I don’t even know where you’re getting this from!”

Justin laughed suddenly, “I don’t want you around here anymore, okay? I want you to stay away from my wife and to stay away from my kid.”

“Nicole is his goddaughter, Justin!”

“Tough shit.”

“I can’t believe how you’re acting right now!” Camille stared up at him incredulously not even recognizing the man that stood before her. “I would never cheat on you and you know that! Especially not with someone as close to you as JC is! You have to give me a lot more credit than that!”

“I don’t have to give you anything.” He looked down on her as if she meant absolutely nothing to him. It was then that she felt her heart breaking and she knew that she would have broken down into tears had Trace not been there. She knew he had something to do with her husband’s behavior but there was no way in hell that she was going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her break down.

“JC, I need you to take me and Nicole to my mother’s house.” She stared pass Justin and into the cold dark eyes of his treacherous best friend.

“Okay,” JC nodded quickly and headed off to get out of his trunks and into dry clothes to assist her in any way possible.

“Nah, that shit is unnecessary.” Justin disagreed. “That’s adding to the problem.”

“No, the problem is that you listen to every damn thing that asshole in the doorway tells you instead of using your head.” Camille retorted. “I didn’t marry him. I married you.”

“You know what, baby, honey, sugar bear?” He brought his face down close to hers so that she wouldn’t miss a single word that he said. “You don’t have to go run back to your momma this time, okay? I’m going to go. I’ll tell her what’s going on and what kind of person it is that she raised.”

“Oh? What kind of person did she raise, Justin? I’d really like to know your thoughts on the subject especially since you were loving the person that she raised up until this point.”

“Yo, Trace?”

“Yeah, man?”

“Help me pack some shit.” Justin called back to him, still staring into Camille’s eyes. “Then let’s get the fuck out of here so JC and my wife can finish up whatever the hell they started before we got here.”

“No problem.” Trace headed up the stairs with no more coercion needed than that.

“Think about it.” Justin stole a quick kiss from the fuming young woman standing before him before backing away and turning to take on the stairs after his friend.

“Where’d they go?” JC asked, rushing back into the house after changing out back.

“What did I do?” The pain was evident in Camille’s voice as she turned to face JC with tears in her eyes. He took her into his arms immediately. “What did I do to deserve this?”

“Sweetheart, you didn’t do anything at all. Justin’s just letting the outside confuse what’s going on inside.”

“Oh, God. I need to get out of here. I really need to get out of here right now.” She did her best to dry her tears as JC nodded his agreement and went outside to start his car.

Camille immediately set about rushing up the stairs and retrieving a towel to wrap around herself from the linen closet. Once that task was completed she went to her daughter’s bedroom to find that the door was locked. Her stomach dropped into her toes all at once.

“Baby?” She called through the door desperately. “Baby, it’s mommy. Come open the door.”

Nicole looked up in the darkness of her closet at the sound of her mother’s voice. For a few moments she stayed put, afraid to make a move, as her mother called again. It wasn’t until the third time that she was asked to open the door that she climbed out from under her stuffed animal collection and out of the closet.

“Nikki, please, open the door?”

“Mommy?” A small and frightened voice returned and Camille pressed her hand to the door sorrowfully.

“It’s me, Butterbean. Come here, okay?”

The door opened slowly and the little person stared up at her mother with tears in her eyes reaching out her arms to her. Camille immediately lifted her child up into her arms and kissed her forehead before allowing her to rest her head on her shoulder and wrap her arms around her. Without a second thought she started back down the hallway and to the stairs. Only for a moment did she pause when she felt Justin’s eyes on her from the open bedroom but she quickly recovered and continued on her way. Once collecting her shoes from the foot of the stairs she made her way outside, got into the car with JC, and sped off.

“Don’t worry about that shit at all, J. I’ve got the perfect remedy for all of that.” Trace put a comforting hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“What’s that?”

////

“No joke, man.” Trace chuckled. “Justin and I got high as hell that night. He hadn’t smoked since he had started seeing Camille because she had told him stories about one side of her family that was all strung out and everything. He didn’t want to hurt her or have her look at him differently so he cut it out of his life until the whole JC thing happened. Needless to say, it was a very trippy experience for him since he hadn’t done it in years.”

“We can’t air this part of the show.” One of the producers whispered to one of the cameramen urging him to stop rolling tape. “That’s incriminating and that isn’t the intent of this broadcast.”

The cameraman nodded and immediately stopped recording.

“Maybe that is part of the reason that he did what he did in the first place. He was high and he was drunk…and she was there.”

////

“Alright, man. I’ve got you a tight suite.” Trace explained as he walked Justin over to the elevators of The Hilton Hotel in the main lobby. “You’re in room 1234. Here is your key, call me in the morning in room 1212.”

“Right,” Justin agreed as he stumbled into the elevator with the bellhop and leaned his swimming head against the side of the metal box. “Where are you going?”

“I’ve got some running around to do. I’ll catch up with you later.” Trace tossed him the key and waved him off before the heavy metal doors closed and the bellhop asked what floor he would be going to.

“Um, twelve.” Justin cleared his throat and shoved his hands in his pockets. He hoped he didn’t smell like weed. That was the last thing that he needed to be printed in the papers. He could already imagine what they would come up with for the headlines. “Which way am I going here, partner?” he asked the bellhop as the doors opened on his floor and showed him the key.

“To your left, sir.”

“Thank you.”

“You have a pleasant evening.” The old man waved as Justin started on his way to his room. Once he located his room he attempted to push the key into the slot, missing his mark a few times before finally getting it right, and turned the handle. Stumbling inside, he dropped his jacket on the floor and made his way into the darkened bedroom that was lit only by the soft oversized candles lining the walls.

“What the fuck?” He mumbled to himself as his eyes fell upon the breathtaking young woman centered in the middle of the bed. “Alyssa?”

“Justin?” She smirked up at him wearing nothing more than a pair of red lace panties and matching bra.

“What are you doing here?” He couldn’t stop his eyes from traveling over the curves of her body or his mind from replaying every intimate moment he had had with this woman before he had met and fell in love with his wife.

“I could ask you the same thing.” She sat up and leaned forward on her knees. “Why are you standing way over there?”

“Where else should I be standing?”

“Who said that you had to be standing at all?”

Justin swallowed down the lump in his throat and started to back out of the room. “I have to get out of here. Um, it was nice seeing you again but…”

“What’s your rush, honey? You just got here.” Alyssa purred, stepping off of the bed and coming to stand so close to him that he could feel her heart beating against his. “You seem tense.”

“Alyssa, you know I’m a married man now.” Justin began to panic as he felt his back up against the wall. “I’ve got a kid. I’ve got a daughter.”

“Yeah.” She nodded, curling her fingers lightly over the side of his neck. “Little Nicole and Camille, right?”

“Right.”

“They’re not here, though, are they?”

Justin shook his head slowly, staring down into her eyes, “They’re with me all of the time.”

“Hmm,” Alyssa’s fingers trailed down his neck, over his chest, and below. “I don’t think they’re down here though.”

“Shit. You’ve got to stop.”

“Stop what?”

“Fuck.” Justin swallowed again, his breathing becoming erratic. “Don’t do that.”

“I’m not doing anything that it doesn’t want me to do to it.” Alyssa giggled and trailed kisses over the side of his neck as her hands assaulted his not too wise parts.

“Oh, my God. This is so wrong.” He placed shaky hands on her smooth shoulders in an attempt to push her away.

“No. What’s wrong is that you can’t even trust the people that are closest to you.”

“No, no. I can trust her. I can trust Camille. She’s never lied to me before.”

“I’ve never lied to you either.” Alyssa pointed out, running the tip of her tongue over his bottom lip seductively. “It will be our little secret, okay? Camille has hers so now you and I will have ours.”

Justin shuddered at the things that she was doing to his body. If he wasn’t so intoxicated he would be able to think his way out of the situation but in the condition that he was in he felt so helpless. All he could do was stand there silently and let her do to him whatever popped into her beautiful little head.

“I won’t tell anyone if you don’t.” Alyssa smirked at him and curled her fingers into the bottom hem of his shirt. She had no problem at all leading him backward into the bed. She knew she had him from the moment he stepped into the room. He had never been able to resist her advances.

“Don’t make me do this, Alyssa. I’m begging you. Don’t make me do this.” Justin pleaded desperately as she set about tugging his shirt over his head, tossing it to the floor, and pulling off his jeans along with his boxers.

“I can’t say that I haven’t missed that.” She commented and crawled over him to silence his pleas with kisses.

“No, no, no. I can’t do this. I love my wife way too much to let this happen.” Justin moved his hands to her hips and lifted her off of him before rolling over and looking over the side of the bed. “Where are my boxers?”

“You’ve already let so much happen. Why stop now?”

“Because if I have sex with you she’ll leave me. She’ll leave me and she’ll take Nicole with her and I can’t survive something like that.”

“Justin?” Alyssa eased him back down onto his back. “I’m not going to tell anyone what happens here tonight. It’s strictly between us.”

“That’s not the point.”

“Then what is the point exactly?”

“I don’t love you! If I did I would have married you but I didn’t! I’m married to the only person in this world that I want to be with!” He shouted almost angrily.

“Then why are you still here?”

It all felt like a dream. It was some horrible and sickening dream. It had to be. He wasn’t doing this. He wasn’t participating. He was just there almost watching it happen. She was doing her thing but he wasn’t enjoying it with her. He wasn’t touching her or kissing her. No, he was lying there and taking whatever she dished out just praying to God that he would be awoken from this hell.

Morning came much quicker than he had expected it too. He felt so cheap and so used like a woman left behind after a one-night stand. She was still lying there next to him asleep but he hadn’t been able to get one wink. He had been in tears almost since the moment that it had began up until the moment the sun began to sneak into the room.

Unsteadily, Justin crawled out of the bed and searched out every article of clothing that he could find. He felt so dirty and the only thing on his mind was his wife. He wanted to get a shower as quickly as possible to wash her scent off of his body but he was afraid to stick around any longer. He didn’t want to be there when she awoke.

As quickly as he could he dressed and shoved his feet into his sneakers. Before he knew it he was out of the room and in the main area of the hotel room. Just as his fingers curved around the handle of the door he heard her call out his name. He made no hesitation in rushing out of the door and pressing the button for the elevator. He took in a deep breath as it arrived for him and he stepped inside just as the hotel room door opened.

Alyssa stared down the hallway wrapped in nothing more than the sheet from the bed. She was a little broken from the fact that he had ran out on her but there wasn’t anything that she could do about it. He had a home to go back to even if Trace had told her that he was living a hell there with Camille. All Alyssa could do, as she retreated back into the room, was hope that Justin would come to his senses and get out while he still could.

“Trace, Justin just left.” She reported into the phone as she sat down heavily on the sofa in the living area of the hotel room.

“Where did he go?” Trace asked.

“I’m not sure. He just ran out.”

“He did it though, right? He slept with you?”

Alyssa made a face. “It wasn’t like it used to be.”

“I don’t follow.”

“I mean, it was great like it’s always been but he wasn’t here with me. He was thinking about her and he was actually crying…what’s really going on between him and that girl?”

“Don’t concern yourself with it. I’ll get into contact with you later.” Trace hung up the phone and began to gather up his things to leave.

The motel room was dark and dingy but it was better than nothing. He knew that he had to go home but he couldn’t go there in the condition that he was in. He wouldn’t have been able to go to his mother’s house because he knew that she would ask him a hundred and one questions. The only thing that he could think of to do as he sat down heavily on the bed of the Motel 6 was calling up the only person that could understand him and his situation.

“Dirty, you ain’t sounding too good. Where are you at, man?” Nelly questioned after answering his ringing telephone and realizing who it was calling him from a number that he didn’t recognize.

“I’m at this motel off of the highway.” Justin breathed heavily trying not to break down completely. “Nelly, I messed up so fucking bad, man.”

“What happened, dog? Calm down.”

“I fucking cheated on her, Nell!” Justin couldn’t hold back his tears as he leaned forward, propping the phone between his ear and shoulder, and covered his face with his hands. “I just slept with my ex-girlfriend?”

“Damn, man. You for real?”

“Yeah…I got fucked up last night because we got into it and neither of us could deal with one another so I partied with Trace. After that I went to this hotel room because I didn’t want to go home and when I got there Alyssa was ready and waiting for me.”

“Alyssa? I thought you were talking about Cameron. You slept with Alyssa?” Nelly was finding all of this information so hard to believe. Why of all people would he sleep with Alyssa? She was the only ex that Camille had ever been in contact with and they hadn’t exactly seen eye-to-eye.

“What the fuck am I going to do?” Justin asked desperately.

“You’ve got one of two options. You either tell her what you did and hope for a miracle or you keep that whole thing on lock for the rest of your natural born life.”

“What would you do?”

“I’d tell my wife the truth.”

“There is no way in hell that you would tell Nastassia the truth!”

“Nastassia? Hell no. I’m not trying to die. I’m saying that if I was a married man that I would do the right thing. Shit, Nastassia and I don’t have the terms that bind. She could shoot my ass and be on the next plane like shit didn’t just happen.”

Justin tried to laugh at the joke that his friend had made but had little success. After a few more encouraging words he hung up the phone and tried to calm his racing heart. The only thing left to do was to take his shower and go home to face the music.

////

“I’m sure that you’ve already guessed that I arranged that little present for Justin. There’d be no other way for Alyssa to have been there that night. It wasn’t intended to ruin his marriage. I just wanted to calm him down and get his mind off of the bullshit.” Trace sat back calmly as if the things that he was divulging made some sort of logical sense.

Gary was stunned into silence. He didn’t want to believe that anyone could be so malicious or heartless. It was as if Trace had no soul in him. He didn’t have any remorse for what he had done and as far as he was concerned he hadn’t done anything that any other man wouldn’t have done for their friend. All Gary could do was sit there and try to take it all in without vocalizing his judgment.

“I thought that he would have taken things a lot easier than he had but of course he had to make a mountain out of a mole hill. It’s not like anyone forced him to drop his trousers and have sex with that girl. Somewhere on the inside he had to have wanted to do it otherwise we wouldn’t be having this interview right now. He still would have been with the happy shiny people back at home…”

////

As quietly as he could Justin made his way into his home and lightly shut the front door. The first thing on his agenda was to sit down and have a talk with his wife one-on-one but was shocked to discover that she wasn’t upstairs still in bed. Traveling down the hallway he found that Nicole wasn’t in her bed either and it was made up still from the day before. Afraid that she had already decided to leave him he trekked into the den to get the cordless phone and make a few calls when he discovered what he was looking for.

Camille lay on her back on the couch with Nicole sleeping over her beneath a quilt. The television was on but it had been muted. Swallowing, he made his way over to them and squatted down to look them over. He didn’t know what he would do if he ever lost his family. He loved them more than he loved himself.

With a soft smile he spun a few of Nicole’s golden hued tendrils around his fingers as she slept soundly with her mother. She was such a little angel. He had to make up for yelling at her the way that he had. He hadn’t meant it and he knew that his rage was no excuse for traumatizing her like that.

Next he shifted his attention onto his young wife. Her appearance was so docile in her sleep. It was almost as if nothing had ever happened. Her eyes fluttered open when she felt his lips against hers and she stared into his eyes searching for answers. Why had he said the things that he had said to her the afternoon before? Where had he been all night and why hadn’t he called?

“I’m so sorry.” Justin whispered his apology, smoothing her hair gently with one hand as he stared desperately back into her eyes for forgiveness. “I don’t know what got into me or what made me think the things that I thought…or do the things that I did but I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it.”

Camille’s brows furrowed slightly but she nodded her head that everything was okay. She didn’t know why he was on the verge of tears but she wasn’t about to ask him the reason either. She just wanted to forget about everything that had happened and move on.

Nicole stirred above her slightly and Justin immediately went about gently lifting her up and into his arms. He could have died right there on the spot when she opened her gorgeous little eyes to discover it was him that had moved her and looked on him in fear. He had never fathomed that she would ever fear him. It wasn’t something that any father could want.

“Sh, sh….baby, don’t cry.” Justin’s voice was low yet soft as he saw the tears forming in his baby girl’s eyes. “Daddy didn’t mean to yell at you yesterday. He didn’t mean it. He was upset about something that had nothing to do with you and he shouldn’t have said what he did.”

Nicole stared back at him wordlessly but she did stop crying. The whole thing was something that was hard for her to grasp. She had never heard her father yell at her mother before and he had never yelled at her at all. Her fragile mind was confused.

“I’m sorry, honey. Do you forgive me?” Justin smiled when she pursed her lips together and then nodded her head. “Did you and mommy eat at all today?”

“Just woke up.” The small child reported.

“Okay, then I need you to go brush your teeth and wash your face so I can take my two favorite ladies out for breakfast.”

“Yay!” She squealed and then dashed out of the room to set about her daily routine. Justin took a deep breath and turned back to Camille whom was still laying in her previous spot and staring at him silently.

“I did some shit that you aren’t going to like hearing about last night.”

Camille nodded slowly and looked away. “Then don’t tell me because I don’t want to know.”

“Baby?”

“I’m going to go get ready, okay?” She tossed her legs over the side of the couch and stood up with him getting up as well to stop her. “Justin, if this is going to hurt then I really do not want to hear about it.”

“It’s going to hurt.”

“Then don’t.” She pressed her fingertips to his lips to stop him from sharing with her the truths that she didn’t want in her head. She watched painfully as the solitary tear slid down over his cheek and she smoothed it away with her thumb. “Justin, whatever you did last night just let it go.” She allowed him to wrap his arms around her and cry. “It won’t make me love you any less.”

“Yes it will!” He cried painfully into her shoulder.

“Hey, hey, look at me.”

Justin shook his head regretfully but moved slightly so that they were facing one another. He knew that he had to have been as red as a beet carrying on the way that he was. With the look that was on his wife’s face, though, he quickly got himself in order.

“What is most important to you?” she asked.

“You are.” He wiped his face.

“And what is the most important thing to me?”

“I am.”

“And…?”

“We’re one in the same.” He swallowed.

“So that means that I have to understand everything that you do as if I did it myself and vice versa, right? I could never stop loving you because I’m not supposed to stop loving myself.” She explained to him as best as she could in hopes that it would get him to calm down before their daughter reappeared.

“Okay.” Justin nodded. “Then it’s forgotten?”

“Whatever it was never happened.”

/*/*/

“Are you mocking Invader Zim?” Camille looked up at Justin as she lay stretched out over the couch with her head resting on his lap as he played through her hair.

“I have nothing against your little cartoon.” He assured her. “Close your eyes once.”

Camille did as requested and closed her eyes. She couldn’t help but to smile as she felt his fingertips tracing the outside of her face and sliding down the slope of her nose. He was weird in that he did things like that when they were alone together but at the same time she thought it was really sexy and adorable of him to do.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone as beautiful as you. No one gets me the way you do.” He explained as she opened her eyes and mouthed that no one ever would.

Do You Get It?