Risk & Reward

Twenty-Six

Shi turns the ignition off, slumping slightly in her seat. She'd left the office in LA later than intended and the drive home had ended up half in the dark, which had awoken the beast that is her night driving anxiety. She'd called Paul when it felt like it was getting out of hand, and they'd talked most of her way home from there, finally making solid plans for next weekend, a subject that was not necessarily helpful to her anxiety, but helped her feel calm in knowing they'd be properly celebrating Sabi's life on the anniversary of her death.

Undoing her seatbelt, Shi collects her phone and purse, stepping out of the car and rounding the back to pull out her duffle bag and work bag from her five days in LA. Part of her had wanted to go back to Calum's tonight and call tomorrow a wash, but she knew that would be irresponsible. She'd neglected her first job thus far to appease the new one, and tomorrow she had to be at the site for their new client meeting.

"Oh, there you are." She jumps noticeably as she steps onto the landing her apartment is located on, looking up to see Cam leaned against the wall next to her door.

"Can I help you?"

"Caleb sent me to give you some papers tonight, before the big meeting tomorrow. He said you should be home by now but I've been waiting a while."

"Traffic from LA was rough, sorry you got stuck waiting. Where are the papers?"

"They're in my car, I'll get them." He turns towards the stairs, jogging away from her quickly.

Not waiting to invite him into her apartment, and feeling very uneasy about the whole situation, Shi sets her duffle next to the door, pushing her own doorbell to make sure the video surveillance is on while she waits for him to come back.

"I must have left them at the site, I was sure I had them." Cam comes back up the stairs a couple minutes later. "Why do you look so nervous?" He adds as he steps closer to Shi.

"If you don't have the papers then go home, Cam. I haven't been home in a few days and I have things to get to before tomorrow." She entirely ignores his question, not sure what to think of the fact he definitely put on cologne while down at his car.

"Don't rush me, I want to be friends too, Shilo. Can't we chat for a bit?" His voice has changed slightly, becoming a bit more agitated.

"You work for my company, and frankly I find it really unprofessional how pushy you've been with me. I have a boyfriend, I am your boss, and I need you to respect my boundaries or I will file a sexual harassment charge and fire you." She pushes on.

"I haven't done anything to warrant that, I've simply tried to be your friend. And as for this boyfriend, I heard. You're dating Calum? Really? Like we're all supposed to believe that's true?"

"I never said his name, and you can't trust everything you read on the internet, Cam." She sighs, knowing she would be dealing with the rumors now that she's home from LA. Calum had told her not to engage with them, but that's easier said than done when you've been on 5sos twitter as long as she had. She'd gained over 500 new Instagram followers last she'd looked, and a few thousand on Twitter. All because of those rumors based around a silly Instagram follow.

"I heard it on good authority actually, someone who heard you confess it personally. Plus, I knew I recognized that voice when he was here a few weeks ago."

"Excuse me?" That catches Shi's attention, no one knew Calum was in Bakersfield a few weeks ago except her and him, and Tay and Ashton, but still, not Cam, or anyone who could have told him.

"I followed you home to make sure you got here safe, it was chivalrous. And you stepped out of your car into the waiting arms of a tall man, I thought I recognized his tone of voice but I couldn't place it at the time."