La Mitad Del Mundo / The Middle Of The World

Chapter 22

Beep

 Beep

Beep 

Wack! Her hand made contact with her phone to make the alarm shut up but only managed to knock it off the side table and onto the floor. Six-thirty was an insufferable hour but its what she signed up for. It was either do the supplies loading of the vans and pack lunches for the volunteer teams or do dishes twice a day. Anything is better than dishes. 

Uuugh 

Finally rolling out of bed, she finds her phone wedged between her suitcase and the bed frame. Only a text from Tiffany greets her when she turns off the alarm and sets down her phone, deciding a quick shower would help.

Bleery-eyed, Cam stumbles to the bathroom, the cold concrete floor hardly doing anything to wake her up. 

It's too early. That snarky girl who manages the meal planning and cooking will make a stink if I don't get out of her way by the time she needs the counters in the kitchen. 

Cam unlocks the bathroom and swings the door open, a cloud of steam billowing into her face. There in front of her stands Javi, shirt off and flossing in nothing but a towel tucked tightly around his hips. 

Dang.

 His massive barrel chest is flecked with water beads clinging to his chest hair and tight muscles are rippling over his shoulders and arms. He looks over, tongue clicking over his teeth as a mischievous grin erupts over his unshaven face. 

Then it hits her. 

Full body red pajamas with buttons down to my navel. My hair is wild. I look like a freight train ran over an old western conductor in these long-johns. What the heck Cami.

"Aren't the views in Ecuador amazing? The glory of God's creation just staring you in the face," Javi smirks as he runs a hand through his curly hair. 

SLAM. 

I instinctually whirl around and hold the door closed with my back and let out a deep sigh. 

Well now I'm awake.

"I'll be out in five! I like your pj's by the way! Where can I get some? We could be twins!" His voice carries through the door, echoey from the bathroom's high ceiling and tiled walls.

I'll never live this down. 

-

Twenty minutes later I'm is finally on my way to the dining hall, decked in loads of bug spray, tight cargo shorts, and a faded Old Navy tank replacing that red monstrosity. Thoughts of the interaction curl my lip and make my stomach flop in anticipation of the crap headed my way from Javi. 

Maybe Montezuma's revenge at the Happiness Foundation would be better than this. Maybe I can ask to be transferred back.

Daggers burn into my skull as Gabrielle and Martina spot me coming into the dining hall. Their eyes track me as I make my way across the rows of tables then down one aisle of them to enter the kitchen. I knew I wouldn't beat them after all that this morning, but I was too distracted to prepare myself for their wrath. Their kitchen after 6:45 the glares communicated. I picked up on it after two days here even through the language barrier. 

I guess in hindsight I should have brushed up on my Spanish but Duolingo only covers Mexican Spanish, not the fast-talking secret codes steeped in colloquialisms that these girls speak. 

The first week I was here my duties were pretty slim thanks to Eduardo wanting me to heal from puking my brains out and wanting me to get the lay of the land. The following week I was asked to pick a few chores that could be my responsibility while I worked with them on top of assisting Eduardo with the weekly teams that visited the retreat center to volunteer their hands to the poor. Adjusting to the rhythm was hard at first, because no one is a morning person at five a.m.. Waking at the crack of dawn to go pack a daily snack and lunch for each person on the bus each day then wiping tables and sweeping up after meals was my pick because there's no way in hell I'm touching murky sink water and soggy food. 

I'll let someone else volunteer for that honor, thanks. 

I stop short when I get to the pantry door just inside the kitchen as Javi's stooped figure is putting down a box on the floor. He must have heard my gasp because he looks over his shoulder at me and smirks as he pushes it under the bottom shelf.