Memoir | Klay Thompson

5 // The Attraction

Cameron sat on the plane relieved to be in a business class seat alone, she had never sat with Miranda in first class and she was okay with that. Her boss wasn't pleasant and the time they spent apart was much needed. It would be evening when she arrived in San Francisco. It was the afternoon currently.

She was a bit anxious to get off the plane because she wasn't sure whether or not Klay would actually be there. He emphasized he would be and it would upset her if he wasn't. She hated when people didn't do what they were said to, especially if they offered.

That's a big reason that she would never look at Maurice the same. He couldn't even tell her to her face that he was choosing to do something else. She had always chosen him and the one time she needed him to choose her, he chose himself.

Thinking about her past relationship turned her off completely, she couldn't sleep on the flight and it made her angst rise. When the plane landed, she sat uncomfortably, waiting for everyone to get off before she could breathe again.

"Ma'am?" Cameron looked up to see the flight attendant standing over her, "Everyone cleared your section."

She looked around to see business class was completely empty. Grabbing her blanket and her carry on, she quickly rushed through the aisle to off board. After finding her suitcase from the baggage claim area, she walked through the double doors to see just the man she had been hoping for.

"Hello beautiful." he smiled as he approached her for a hug.

This simple action was something they never done before. He always kept his distance, Klay wasn't much of a talker, let alone a hugger but, for some reason, once his arms wrapped around her waist, something was unlocked.

"I won't lie, I'm surprised you're here but, I'm glad though." Cameron was suddenly nervous. She felt small under his piercing gaze.

"Well, what else can I do to beat your expectations? You hungry?"

"Starving."

••••

Instead of eating out, Klay would be cooking for her. This was something that excited her becausse she hadn't had a home cooked meal in so long.

"What are you making?" She peered over his shoulder as he began cutting up various colored bell peppers.

"Oxtail stir fry."

She watched as he cut the vegetables, his muscles exposed in the sleeveless t-shirt he wore. Cameron could say she was unaffected by it, but that would be a lie. She sipped the wine he had poured for her slowly, not wanting to ruin her appetite.

Taking a break from prepping the food, Klay turned around to look at Cameron. She had her laptop open, her glasses on and the glass in her hand. "Do you ever take a break?"

"No." She giggled, "But this is the part of my job I like. I'm casually reading previews for books. Trying to find which is the next one people want to buy."

"Tell me about one." He leaned on the island counter to be closer to her, so she could see that he was listening, that he cared.

"Well, there's one called Infinity. It's about an interracial relationship between this white man and a black woman. I mean that's not the focus but it's definitely gonna draw people in, from the keywords it talks about trust, love, jealousy, then they're an emphasis on soul mates, I think it'll appeal to our young adults, ages 18-24 demographic."

"And what's the thing that's next? How do you decide?"

"I would have to read the excerpt they sent, from there I'll give a point grading and they can choose if they want a follow up meeting or they can make their edits based on the results of the scores. From there if it doesn't meet expectations, Harden is going to pass on publishing and editing. If it passes, then we'd begin meeting on how to get the book published."