Once In A Limelight

13|Edward

My mother brushed a tear with the tip of her finger as she hugged Cami's left side. She was looking at me with a look that said Thank God we didn't lose this girl. We both knew she was a girl that you wouldn't find twice.

"How are you doing, sweetheart?" She pulled back to get a good look at her.

Julia Inez Vettel was glowing. Her long ash blonde hair was one of the many reasons she was an icon. She was taller than Cami by a few inches, even without the M&K heels she had on. The color of my eyes was inherited from her round blue grey eyes. Her beauty was said to have defied all laws of humanity. It did.

My mother was old Hollywood's most award winning female actress. She had an acting career unlike any other, including my father's.

"Never been better." She said cheerfully, resting her good arm on my mother's shoulders as she turned them around.

I knew that move strained her shoulder. I saw past her facade.

"Oh Goodness how I've missed you." My mother kissed Cami's cheek, making me smile with elation.

There's nothing that tops seeing the two most important women in my life get along.

"My boy." My father smiled at me as he descended the stairs. His black hair had more streaks of white than the last time I saw him.

"My old man." I hugged him with a smile on my face, his palm clapping me twice on the back.

My relationship with my father was as good as a relationship between a dad and his only son could be. Trying to live up to Valér Vettel was challenging over the years. Not because he expected me to surpass him, but because the public did. Julia and Valér Vettel were legends among the public. So it was expected for their only offspring to be a legend too.

I wasn't half as successful or lovable as they were. They were A list actors with a room full of just their screen acting awards. I was a college dropout who perused acting for no more than three years. I didn't have any award. I was just their son. Expected to be something but never living up to it.

But my parents weren't like the public. They loved me as I was.

"How's life going? I hear good things about you in the company." My father walked with me in our backyard.

I was a thousand percent sure he didn't hear good things about me in the company.

"They changed the board?" I asked. My father laughed.

I was to be the new CEO of Vettel Liquors Plc. after my father was made chairman. My father built VL as soon as he retired from his acting career. Due to his name, the company skyrocketed with high sales and demand. VL liquor became the first choice in the country, spreading worldwide too.

The company's board has been evaluating me to decide if I should take the job or not after my father. They were extra cautious against nepotism because I was the only heir. I did do a whole year of training in the company, but they probably forgot those 365 days. Pity.

"You're going to do it, Eddie. I believe in you son." My father said. 

I nodded at him, hoping his belief in me was enough for the both of us.

–– ⋅ ⋅ ── ── ⋅ ⋅ ––

A couple hours later, I was driving us back after a ravishing meal of my mother's making. It was out of this world. The usual.

I looked at the girl sitting next to me, so angelic looking in the passenger seat. A huff of a snicker escaped me.

"Nothing happened with Laura Hemmes on my birthday," I remembered the messages Laura sent me this morning, "The poor girl is innocent."

"If I remember correctly–which I know I did–she didn't exactly look innocent when I stepped foot into La Belle and saw her in my personal space after a warning that seemed to have slipped her pretty little mind." It was technically my personal space but to Cami, that meant hers too. "I went easy on her. She should be grateful." She rolled her eyes.

Angelic-looking Cami sent people to break the glass windows in Laura's atelier. Some very exclusive and irreplaceable items were stolen. Laura was having a crisis in her complaining thread of texts, but at least she didn't light it on fire, so I guess she did go easy on her after all.

"And you said I was wild when I destroyed Alex McIntyre's car." I shook my head, disbelieving. Granted, I had a truck run over the millions worth vehicle until it was no more than a sticker on the street, but he could get a new one. Laura's designs were original.

She just shrugged. A little vixen, that's what she was.

Taylor Swift's Getaway Car started playing. We glanced sideways at each other instantly. Ten seconds in, we gave in.

I turned down the windows, our voices mixing with the wind after I floored it. It was exhilarating.

"We should get tickets for her next concert." I turned to look at her as the song came to an end, my grin overtaking my face.

She nodded enthusiastically, moving her body slightly to the beat. She looked so fucking attractive. I couldn't resist intertwining our hands together, resting them on her thigh.

Cami looked out of the window, probably to attempt at hiding the creeping smile on her face.

Thank you, Taylor.

I had a silly smile on my face too. It had been too long since the last time we were anywhere near close to normal. To how it used to be. How it's supposed to always be.

An idea popped in my head, making me reverse the car to go the other way.

"We're not going home?" She had a confused pout on her face. It was one of those rare times where she was adorable. Camilla Rémon didn't associate with the word adorable. This was Cami.

The way she said home like it was ours...I loved it.

I just shook my head once, leaving our destination unknown even though she'd soon realize where we were heading. The place that witnessed our first love confessions to each other.

Our place.