Hard in the Paint

 

Chapter one

Cameron

The air was thick with sweat and the putrid taste of vomit. The speakers were blaring. The lighting system overhead was operating in conjunction to the rhythm of the music. It was noisy, crowded and the worst possible place that Cameron could be.

Natasha was glaring at him. Her tiny hands wrapped around her even tinier waistline. He could see the way her dress was pulling in under finger tips. She was pissed. She was really pissed. He brought himself back to gaze at the disgusted look she was wearing. “Do you really have nothing to say?” she asked in a thick European accent that was probably from the Czech Republic or somewhere close to it. He’d never bothered to ask her about it. It had seemed like something he didn’t need to know.

He shrugged. He’d barely been able to hear her words above the music. He’d felt their sharpness though; carried through the space between them without disturbance. “I think you need to calm down,” he held her eyes firmly. He wasn’t going to stand for another fight with her. When he’d met Natasha they’d had fun, she had been fun, but she’d changed. She was starting to get serious. She was expecting him to be serious too. That was something he’d never agreed to.

“You think I need to calm down?” she snarled. Her eyes darted to the sofa that was behind Cameron. He followed her eyes and found them leading to the girl he’d just been getting close to. Her cute, pale cheeks started to blush under the scrutiny of Natasha’s eyes.

“Oh, don’t start blaming this on her,” Cameron demanded Natasha’s attention back. “It’s not her fault that you don’t satisfy me.” A sudden, very bright flash went off to his left hand side and he knew that they’d been spotted by one of the other clubbers. “We should get out of here,” he walked forward quickly and grabbed a hold of Natasha’s elbow, so that he could lead her out.

She jerked it away from him. “I’m not going anywhere with you,” she continued her glare. “This,” she pointed between herself and Cameron. “Whatever this is; it’s over.”

Another flash to Cameron’s right hand side this time forced his hand. “Okay,” he shrugged. “Whatever.” He turned to the girl who was still sitting on the sofa behind him. “Do you have any plans for tonight?”

She shook her head quickly. He could see the way her eyes were fixed on him. It was almost, as though, she was afraid to look away from him.

“Okay,” Cameron gave her a smouldering smile that brought the red flush back to her cheeks. “I think you should come with me.”

She stood up quickly under his order and walked over to meet him. He could feel Natasha’s eyes on them, but she said nothing. The flashing from the corners of his eyes was starting to get more frequent. “Come on,” he leant into the girl who’d just joined him. “We better get out of here.”

She followed him like an obedient puppy. Cameron liked that. He liked the fact that she’d done what she had been told to do. It had been a long time since Natasha had listened to him without argument. He pushed his way through the crowds of dancing, sweaty people.

They weren’t much of an obstacle. He was 6 feet tall, athletically built and unafraid of conflict. It didn’t take long for him to get to the door that led outside. The girl he’d invited with him was right behind him. “What’s your name?” he asked while pushing open the door and holding it so that she could walk through first.

“Tessa,” the girl smiled. She had a thick, southern accent that made her vowels long and soft. It was subtle and sexy. His back felt a shiver run down it. He felt like she’d just breathed sweet nothing’s into the back of his neck.

“Tessa,” he nodded approvingly. He followed her out of the door and was relieved to find silence in the open space of the outdoors. “That’s a real pretty name,” he took her hand in his. “Then again, you’re a real southern beauty, so I suppose it fits.”

She blushed.

“Here we are,” he stopped outside of his matte black Bugatti. He used his free hand to fumble in his pockets, until he found the keys.

“Wait,” Tessa shook her head softly. “Haven’t you been drinking tonight?”

Cameron found a throaty chuckle proceed her words. She was sweet. Her eyes were full of an innocence that didn’t belong in the city. “I’ve only had a couple,” he brushed off her worry. “We’ll be fine.”

She looked hesitant. Her hand had loosened around his. “Can’t we just call a cab?” she looked up at him with startling blue eyes that carried the worries of stormy oceans. “I’d feel a lot better if we called a cab.”

“Look, I’m not leaving my car out here over night, so you can either get in, or you can go back to the club,” Cameron said flatly. He’d had enough of women arguing with him. Why couldn’t he just find a girl who was willing to follow his orders? It wasn’t like he was expecting too much. He just wanted obedience. He just wanted some order to his messed up life.

“Oh,” the girl looked hurt.

Cameron’s eyes starting to glaze over her and back to the club doors. “You should go back inside,” he clicked the button on his keys, which unlocked the door. He opened it and climbed into the driver’s seat, before turning back to the girl. “It’s a real shame though; we could have had a great night together.”

“Is that all that you wanted?” the girl’s frown was a little unsettling to him.

“Tessa, you just watched me break things off with my girlfriend,” his tone was dry and unfriendly. “What did you think this was going to be?” He didn’t wait for her answer. He closed the door and started the engine, so that he could pull away from the failures he’d endured that evening.

*********

Chapter two

Ashley

Ashley stopped in her tracks and turned around. Her supervisor was standing right behind her. His pointy face and tired eyes focused on her. “Ashley,” he sighed. “There’s a problem with one of the guests, I need you to go and get him ready for the camera.”

Her eyes slipped down to her clipboard. She already had a hundred things to do, before she’d be able to clock off for the night. She wasn’t even supposed to talk to the guests. That wasn’t part of her job description. She was just a researcher. She was just the person who filled out the host’s scripts with facts and figures.

“Who is it?” she asked returning her eyes to her supervisor.

“It’s Cameron Deangelo,” he told her quickly. “He’s meant to be talking about his recent drinking and driving charges but he turned up wasted.”

“Can’t you get someone else on it?” Ashley asked. “I’ve already got loads to do before the show can go out.”

Her supervisor shrugged. “Look Ashley, if you want to keep this job, then you’re going to have to be useful.”

Ashley sighed. “Right,” she nodded sharply. “I guess I better get up there then.”

“That’s the spirit,” her supervisor gave her a thin lipped smile.

She stopped outside the room with Cameron’s name taped to it. She could hear him through the door. He was singing along to the radio. It was terrible. He was totally tone deaf and his drunken slur didn’t help matters.

She knocked. The singing stopped almost immediately. The radio went dead. Heavy wobbling footsteps got steadily closer to the door. It opened. “Hi,” Ashely tried to smile. “I’m Ashley,” she held out her hand to the confused man standing in front of her. She tried to ignore the fact that he wasn’t wearing a shirt, but her eyes kept falling to the tight lines of his abs. “I’m the researcher here,” she broke the silence he was throwing at her.

Cameron dropped her hand and stepped back, so she could get into his changing room. The door wasn’t small, but he filled it with his dominating presence. “Why are you here?” he asked closing the door.

“I’ve been sent to babysit you,” Ashley told him honestly. “My supervisor isn’t happy that you showed up wasted.”

Cameron’s eyes opened slightly at her honesty. A cocky smirk slipped over his lips. Ashley could feel her cheeks started to flush under his intense gaze. Being seen wasn’t something she was used to, but being seen by Cameron felt worse than the rare instances she’d experienced with other people.

He was a superstar. He was a household name. He was pinned to every teenage girl’s bedroom wall in America. He had been dealt a generous hand in the looks department. Ashley found herself comparing him to the white marble statues of idols that had been sculpted in Rome.

There were small differences between the Gods of the old world and the one standing in front of her. They were white marble, unreal, statues of what had once been. Cameron was the color of freshly ground coffee. He was very real and had much more to offer the world.

Ashley sat down on the sofa that was at the back of his room. It was old and it sagged under her weight. She couldn’t deny that taking the weight off her feet felt good. She looked back at Cameron and found herself wondering who would win in a fight. One of the statues or him; she was inclined to believe that he would. There was something about his broad shoulders that gave him power over the space around him. She could only imagine what it might feel like to experience the full force of the power behind them.

“So,” Cameron sat down in front of the wall length mirror that was lit up with bright, white LED lights. “What exactly does a babysitter do?”

Ashley shrugged. “I have to get you ready to do your interview,” she told him. “Kudos for that by the way,” she couldn’t help, but add sarcastically.

“Are you judging me?” Cameron’s eyes narrowed into hers.

“So, what if I am?”

Cameron’s fist slammed into the small table that ran along the mirror. The whole thing shook against the wall.  Ashley fought against the urge to push herself back into the sofa. “You have no right,” he declared when the slamming had turned into nothing more than weak echoes. “You have no right to judge me. You’re a nobody; you have no idea what my life is like.”

Ashley held his gaze. She wasn’t going to let him frighten her. She wasn’t going to let her fright show. “Well, I’m the nobody who’s babysitting your ass,” she snapped standing up, so that she held more of a presence within the room. “So, I suggest that you shut up and do as I say, otherwise you’re not going to have an interview to defend yourself in.”

Cameron’s mouth opened and then shut again quickly. His narrowed eyes were furious, burning pits of rage. Ashley could feel her blood starting to bubble in her veins when she caught his eyes. He didn’t like her or her blunt honesty.  That wasn’t going to change anything.

He was a douche who had been caught drinking while under the influence.. Why wouldn’t she judge him? It wasn’t like this was the first blip on his record either. He’d been in the papers over and over again for doing stupid things that were going to end up with him being killed at some point.

“You better put this on,” she held out his shirt and looked down at her watch. It was almost time for his segment. She knew she needed to get him over to the studio. Her heart sank when he pulled the shirt over his body and hid it from her view.

She shook her head. She couldn’t be feeling like that. Cameron was a douche. He didn’t care about anybody other than himself. He wasn’t the kind of guy that she should be falling for and she knew it.

*********