NYCTOPHILIA

chapter six • summer

"Dad, what do you know about the Cameron's?" Scarlet suddenly blurted from where she had perched herself at the kitchen island, half way through devouring her bowl of cereal.

Her father turned with bafflement at the most bizarre, idiosyncratic question that had come from his youngest spawn, drawing both his brows inwards with curiosity to her curiosity. "Myself and Ward have done many business deals over the last few years, you know they own Cameron's development so being the richest estate agent in outer bank's we've crossed paths on numerous occasions. Why do you ask sweetie?"

It confirmed what April had said about the business deals happening between the two middle aged men, but what bewildered the brunette the most was the fact she had never once became aware of the Cameron name- Rafe was a complete stranger she had managed to ironically stumble upon at a 'one off' party she had attended. Yet everyone around her seemed to know of them. Strange.

"Uh, no reason really. I just met his son not long ago and didn't realise the severity of their status around here on the island, that's all" she smiled simply, going back to shovelling spoon fulls of her cereal into her mouth to energise her for the rest of day.

"I've heard a lot about his son actually, Ward says one day he expect's him to follow in his footsteps and take upon a large responsibility within their company but at the moment is unsure on which path he was currently taking, something about going off the rails but I'm not sure. That was a couple months ago now honey, it's been awhile since we've had a business opportunity pop up"

That sounded about right, she thought. Rafe had vaguely mentioned about working with his father but wasn't sure exactly what they defined as going off the rails. If abusing drugs and having a raging cocaine addiction was justified for that meaningful saying, then yeah, sure, she could confirm he was slightly off track within the ideal pathway of being a respectable business man. But no one was perfect by any means.

"Why is that? Aren't many people looking into buying a house around here recently?"

"After what happened with the sheriff and the speculation around Ward for being at the scene, not many people are drawn in his direction at the moment. It will pass though, just a rough patch I believe" her father shrugged, packing everything he needed for the day in his cliche briefcase that Scarlet and her mother both hated as he was nearing ready to leave.

Sheriff? Scarlet found herself asking if she had been living under a deafening, bulky rock that had erased her hearing or cast an oblivious spell upon her as she was completely lost to what her dad had inferred. Her brows shot to her hairline, feeling now slightly disorientated with her lack of knowledge. "What happened to the sheriff?"

"She was shot baby, on the tarmac months and months ago. Haven't you heard about any of this?"

"Apparently not" she spoke through her last mouth full of cereal, overwhelmed with the new information she had collected in the last minute or so whilst chewing it vigorously as her mind searched for any inkling of remembrance.

"Well, that's my cue to leave" Chuckling towards her obliviousness, her father walked over to where she sat and pulled her into a brief embrace, kissing her forehead delicately in departure. "Have a good day and I'll see you later"

"Will do, have a good day at work!" Scarlet called out after his retreating form that passed through the archway out of the kitchenette with a wave.

Amusingly it was Rafe she was happening to be seeing today once again, due to the message she had received last night from his number, of course Scarlet had gave in and traded her digits for his, after all she had wished and the granted her with just what she wanted with him making the first move. Some fraction of her wondered wether she should bring up the whole sheriff situation but soon decided against it once she figured it could possibly be a saw subject, considering it had caused a malfunction within their business and it may scare the male away.