บท 14: This Freaky Angel!

Early morning's sunlight flittered into the room, highlighting Camille's sleeping silhouette.

She was lying on her side, facing away from the window; her hair messily covering part of her face.

Lyris quietly approached the bedside and gently placed his hand on Camille's shoulder.

Shaking her softly, he whispered in her ear, "Wake up sleepy head. It's time to get ready."

Camille furrowed her eyebrows and batted his hand away.

"What are you doing…." she asked, her voice heavy with sleep.

She slowly opened her eyes, blinking a few times as they adjusted to the light.

Standing next to her bed was Lyris, dressed in a brown button-up with jeans, and a brown trench coat.

A paid of black aviator glasses sat atop his head on top of his stylish new short hair.

"You cut your hair?" She asked as she closed her eyes again.

"Mhmm. You told me to, didn't you?"

She didn't respond, having already started drifting back into slumberland.

Lyris sat by her side and placed his hands on either side of her, leaning into her ear.

"Get up already. We're going out." He whispered softly, his breath tickling her ear.

"Mmm!" she whined as she grabbed her blanket and pulled it over her head.

Lyris chucked and proceeded to head towards the window, where he promptly opened the blinds, allowing a beam of light to come in.

"I said, get up!" He then grabbed her blanket and yanked it off of her.

Camille pulled her exposed legs up to her chest, the chilly draft of the morning air gently caressing her skin.

Lyris flopped on the bed next to her, grabbing her nightgown and tugging on it.

"Get up!"

Camille sat up, rubbing her eyes as she yawned.

"What are you talking about? I don't want to go anywhere, I just want to stay home," she glanced at his coat with furrowed eyebrows, "Won't you be hot in that anyways?"

Lyris waved his hand and shook his head, "Don't worry about that. I lived in the savannah for thousands of your lifetime, I'll be fine. I want to go out with you, Camille!"

Her eyes widened as a light blush came over her face.

"….what is it?" Seeing her face like that caused his heart to skip a beat.

"You've just….never said my name before."

He glanced down at her nightgown. The silk cream color wrapped around her curvy figure wonderfully, and the strap on her shoulder had fallen, exposing more of her chest.

A strange feeling that he had never felt before began to well up inside him.

Just as he was about to lean in, she let out an exhausted sigh.

"Alright, fine. Get out so I can get ready."

She grabbed her fallen strap and pulled it back onto her shoulder, causing Lyris to feel disappointed.

"Hurry up. We've already wasted enough time."

Lyris promptly crawled off of her bed, stealing one last glance at her before exiting her room.

"I'll be waiting outside!" He called out from the other side of the door.

"Alright, I'll come out when I'm done!"

After some time, he heard the doorknob twist.

He turned around to face Camille.

Her brown hair was wavy, making it look like it was enveloping the purple plaid headband on her head.

The miniskirt she wore, matched the headband and tucked inside of it was a silk white camisole. Over to the top was a sheer white long-sleeved button up shirt that had been left unbuttoned and hanging on her elbows.

Camille's sweet scent filled his nostrils as she placed her hand on his shoulder, using him to balance as she adjusted her black pumps.

His heart was racing, and his eyes were wide as he took in her beauty.

For some reason, he found himself being drawn to her. It was as though she were sucking him in.

Camille looked up at him and tilted her head.

"What are you staring at? Do I have a stain or something?" She promptly averted her gaze to her top before grabbing the end of her skirt to examine that too.

Lyris shook his head and grabbed her hand, "No. You just look perfect is all."

Without saying anything else, he began leading her away.

The red hue that colored her cheeks only accentuated the blush she had painted on herself.

He had said it so matter of fact, she couldn't tell if he was flirting or if he was just paying her a compliment.

"Where are we going?" She asked after moments of silence, as he continued to pull her down the street, his hand never loosening its grip on hers.

"We're going to eat first. I want to go everywhere with you today."

Camille laughed, "Everywhere? I think that's too much to do in one day."

Lyris stopped and turned to face her, "Then, we'll just do as much as we can."

She looked up at him and batted her big brown eyes at him, "Is there a particular reason you suddenly want to do everything with me?"

He shook his head again and continued to pull her into a nearby restaurant.

"Not really."

For some reason, she found herself feeling disappointed at his answer.

'What is wrong with me,' she thought as they were seated, 'I can't possibly start crushing on this freaky angel! Get it together! You're engaged!'

The entire time they sat there, Lyris was unable to take his eyes off of her.

It was like there was an ethereal glow emitting from her.

He found himself dreaming about being with her, he almost couldn't take it anymore.

What was it about her that had him feeling this way?

Lyris was suddenly snapped back to reality when Camille waved her hand in front of his face.

"Lyris? Hello?"

"Hmm? What?" He blinked a few times, staring at her with confusion.

"Your order-" she said, motioning to the waiter that was waiting next to their table.

"Ah, right. I'll take the same thing as her." He said, handing the menu to the waiter without looking away from Camille.

Camille glanced around awkwardly before looking back at Lyris.

'Come on! Stop staring at me like that!' She thought before speaking up, "What's wrong?"

Lyris bit his lip, thinking for a moment before leaning with a smirk on his face, "Nothing. It's just, when we return home, I want to…"

Camille's eyes widened with shock as he continued speaking, her brain blocking out the filthy things coming out of his mouth.

"You're disgusting!" She shrieked, causing him to stare at her with more confusion.

"What?! Two bodies coming together….it feels great! I especially want to do it with yours! What's so wrong with that?!"

'Ew!' she thought as she stared at him with pure disgust.

The waiter came by and dropped off their drinks, alerting them that their meals would be out soon.

Camille smiled and nodded in response before turning her attention back to Lyris.

'Alright, there goes everything I was just thinking about him. He's worse than Neil!'

"There's nothing wrong with it. I just prefer to be the only one, not one of the hundreds of women you keep. Do you even remember or know their names?"

She took a sip of her coffee as he struggled to respond.

"Plus," she began just as he took a breath to say something, "all I can think about is all the women you've brought into my apartment. I don't want a bunch of strangers coming in and out of my house leaving their…..things….on all of my things!"

Lyris tried to speak again, but Camille shook her head and continued before he could, "NOR do I want yours! It's a thought I just can't get out of my head!"

The two sat in silence for a moment as Lyris waited to see if she'd continue again.

When she didn't, he slowly took a breath.

"But it feels so good. You won't let me have women over to your apartment, and now you won't even do it with me yourself? I'm already keeping your space clean and now you're asking for more? You're impossible to please!"

Camille looked down and pursed her lips.

'You're impossible to please!' echoed in her mind, this time in Neil's voice.

'Am I really so impossible to please? Is it so wrong to have standards? Is what I'm asking for really of such inconvenience? Maybe I am being too much….but I definitely don't want to sleep with him.'

Lyris, noticing that she suddenly looks so down, began to feel bad.

Before she could come up with a compromise, Lyris placed his head in his hand and stared at her with a soft smile, his eyes full of sympathy.

"I guess it's not going to be too much of a problem if I keep them out of your apartment. All of those strangers, I mean."

Camille leaned back in her chair, "Maybe…if you get to know them, you can bring them in, but no strangers! I don't want a huge party at my house either! Having strangers over could be dangerous. If you bring anyone you don't know over, I'll kick you out!"

Lyris closed his eyes and flashed her a wide smile, "Alright. Deal. No more strangers!"