Triple Point

Chapter 18: Brunch Break

The next time Elsie saw Camilla, it was to meet Mack for brunch. Elsie felt a little guilty for gossiping about both of them behind their backs, even though she and Jordan hadn't said anything completely terrible. Moreso towards Mack, because he had been nothing but nice to her. She must have felt so guilty, in fact, that she blurted her guilt to him over their third round of mimosas.

At first, Mack just stared blankly at her, probably not processing how they went from talking about preferred pancake toppings to Mack's family history.

"Sorry, what?" he asked, confused.

Elsie sighed before repeating herself. "I just wanted to let you know because I felt guilty, but Jordan and I were talking about you the other day and your... background."

Mack raised his eyebrows, but he didn't look mad... yet. "And why exactly did that come up?"

Jordan was probably going to be furious at her, but it wasn't like Elsie could lie.

"Jordan was just... concerned that you thought he was just some rich spoiled kid because of his family. And you wouldn't want to be friends with someone who was so different."

Mack looked at her as if he was expecting more. "And...?"

"And that you're not sure who your birth parents are," Elsie hurriedly said. "But I swear, that's it."

"Oh." Mack seemed to ease up significantly. "I thought it was something more... rude than that."

"No!" Elsie quickly assured. "Of course not! It just came up in conversation, and I felt guilty about talking about you when you weren't there."

Mack shrugged as he took a sip of his drink. "I wouldn't have known if you didn't tell me."

Elsie groaned. "I know, but I'm terrible at keeping secrets. And I'm a bad liar."

"Really?" Mack leaned in closer to her, intrigued. "Perfect. Then can you tell me exactly how I came up in conversation?"

There was no way Elsie could say that they were talking about Mack being a potential suitor for Jordan, so she clamped her lips together and shook her head furiously. Mack egged her on a few more times before her reaction seemed to be a good enough answer for him, and he leaned back in his seat to cut into his omelet.

"Alright, alright, keep your secrets." He chewed his food before continuing. "I guess I just have to ask Jordan myself."

Elsie jabbed her fork full of pancakes at him. "Hey, watch it. What happens at brunch, stays at brunch."

They left the restaurant about an hour later and were slightly tipsy with Camilla trailing Elsie at a distance, which Elsie was extremely grateful for. The Camilla of the Day was a stark contrast to what Elsie had experienced for the past few days, and she had been all pleasant smiles and happy chatter ever since Elsie saw her outside her front door. The sudden change gave Elsie whiplash, and it made her wary enough to want to keep some space between them.

"You drove, right?" Mack asked as his manager pulled to the curb as his designated driver. "Did you two need a ride?"

Before Elsie could even contemplate the offer, Camilla stepped in.

"Thanks, Ollie, but I can drive," she said, and Elsie didn't need to look at her expression to know that she was smiling. "It's part of my job, after all. And you know how pissy the Org would get if they found out I was slacking off." She waved a finger in a circle to indicate the crowd of potential witnesses that was beginning to gather around them as they chatted on the sidewalk.

Mack nodded knowingly, not even looking the slightest bit perturbed by Camilla's personality. "Right, you are. Anyway, I'll head off then. This was fun, Elsie. Maybe we can do this again sometime? Probably after filming ends though."

Elsie nodded. "Definitely."

She hugged Mack—apparently, everyone hugged in Hawaii, his home state, as she and Jordan found out on karaoke night—and watched in slight shock as Camilla happily hugged him too, then saw him off before leading the way to her own car.

The cluster of starstruck passersby followed them but kept their distance, seemingly satisfied with the friendly waves and blown kisses that Camilla sent their way. For a moment, Elsie was caught off guard before one of her own fans politely asked for a handshake. She pushed Camilla from her mind in favor of greeting the people that were actually happy to see her until they reached her car and Camilla got them on the road.

Almost immediately, Elsie could tell that something was off. Though it wasn't like it was difficult to notice with Camilla probably literally radiating energy as she nearly bounced around in her seat like she had just chugged a case of energy drinks. Elsie was sure that the warmth in the air wasn't because of the mimosas or LA's weather, especially since it was a chilly 70 degrees outside, but she wasn't about to mention it.

Just as Elsie was silently debating on which Camilla she would prefer on a long road trip, Camilla broke the silence.

"That was fun!" she suddenly exclaimed.

"That was brunch. And then an impromptu fan meeting." As much as Elsie adored every single person that supported her acting career, and she also thought it was amazing to see them gather on a random sidewalk like that, she forced herself to downplay it with Camilla to make a point.

"Brunch..." Camilla repeated, dragging out the last sound. Then, after a pause, she repeated the action with, "lunner..."

As Camilla quietly laughed to herself in the driver's seat over her combination of lunch and dinner, Elsie wondered who was actually the more sober one.

"You don't seem like a brunch person," Camilla said.

Elsie had to remind herself of her promise to maintain professionalism, even if Camilla didn't. "What makes you think that?" she forced herself to ask.

"You don't usually wake up before noon."

Elsie winced. Unfortunately, she wasn't wrong.

"I'm not a morning person." Elsie glanced at Camilla's peppy self. "But I'm guessing you are?"

Camilla squinted for a moment, as if that made her think better. "Not really."

Elsie did not believe that for a second. "So you're more of a night owl?"

"No," Camilla said simply, but she made no indication that she was planning on expanding on either of her answers, and Elsie didn't bother asking.

They pulled into Elsie's parking stall several minutes later, Camilla still looking like she was having the time of her life. Before she could get out of the car though, Elsie spoke up.

"Hang on, okay? I need to get something straight." Elsie waited until Camilla looked like she was as focused as she was going to get before continuing. "I don't know what's going on with you, and honestly, I don't care that much. But I told myself I was going to be professional with you regardless of the circumstances, and for me, that means being honest.

"When I'm with my family, can you please, please just be professional? Like, your stoic bodyguard self. Trust me, they won't care about this whole public persona thing you got going here. They're more concerned that someone's trying to kill me out here, and they'll be more comforted knowing that there is a very serious and strong guardian protecting me, okay? So please, for both of our sakes, just drop this... pep you got going on, okay?"

For a moment, Camilla stared blankly at Elsie before straightening her posture and letting a serious look take over her face. "Of course."

Elsie was shocked at the transformation; that is, until Camilla's mouth broke into a wide grin.

"Like that?" Camilla said happily.

"Yeah," Elsie sighed, getting out of the car. "Just like that."

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