Mark (Camren AU)

Mark

Her hair was up in a messy ponytail and her quick steps were slightly unsteady. A fifteen minute walk was all it took to drain her from energy, due to the unbearable summer air. Walking into her building gave her the relief she needed from the heat. Her hands fumbled with the key to her apartment as she reached the familiar door. She was covered in sweat, and all that kept her going was the thought of her apartment's air conditioner and of dropping the rather heavy bag that was hung over her small shoulder to the floor.

"Camila!"

A voice from behind her made her flinch slightly, wishing she would've succeeded slipping into her apartment quicker. "Mrs. Osborn, hi." She replied politely, leaving the key in the keyhole of the still closed door, and turning to face her neighbor, a seemingly forty year old woman.

"I haven't gotten to see you in a while." The woman said, a kind smile plastered over her features. Camila just nodded, figuring that a literal reply from her might lead to a small talk, which was the last thing she needed; though Camila could swear that her last conversation with the neighbor was that morning, just a few hours before. Despite her obvious lack of interest in a conversation, Mrs. Osborn clearly didn't seem to get the message. "Have you met the new neighbor from down the hall?"

Camila raised an eyebrow and shook her head, bringing her hands up to fix her ponytail. "What about them?"

The woman scoffed slightly before replying with a bitter tone. "I'm surprised that you haven't figured by yourself, by now." She began, "It's a single mother, for all I know. A girl and her child. The thing is that the baby won't stop crying, especially at night." Mrs. Osborn told Camila. "The last thing I want to be is rude, you know me, but if the girl won't make the baby stop making noise, I'll go and pay her a visit myself."

"You should do that." Camila replied with a single nod, offering the woman another polite smile, before bringing her hand to the doorknob. This time, Mrs. Osborn got the message. Thankfully.

"Alright. I have to go pick up my kids. Goodbye, sweetie. I guess I'll see you." The woman stated, ending the small talk and turning to walk away, which sent Camila back to her original plan of stepping into her apartment, turning on the air conditioner, taking a cold shower and going to bed.

-

Normally, falling asleep was easy for Camila; and this time also, she fell asleep a minute after her head hit the pillow. Though she was never a heavy sleeper, and soon enough she was awaken by loud, rather heartbreaking sounds. That night she could confirm what Mrs. Osborn was talking about, and apparently the woman wasn't exaggerating. The sound of a baby crying definitely managed to keep her awake, subconsciously cursing the single mom from down the hall for doing a bad job at calming her baby down, unknowingly developing hate for the new neighbor.

After two more nights of burying her face into a pillow and praying that the noises would stop, Camila has had enough. She's had enough of the constant headache, and of staring at the ceiling in the dark, and of having to wake up in the morning after much less than an eight hour sleep. When the clock showed 3am and the loud baby was still crying, Camila stepped put of her apartment; with her purple pajamas on, and her hair all over the place.

And so she found herself walking towards the source of the noise in the middle of the night, with bags under her dry eyes.

Camila hated the stupid mom behind that door, who couldn't calm her own baby down. She hated her for three nights of praying for the noise to stop instead of sleeping and dreaming about far away places. She hated her for making her stand in the dark hallway instead of lying underneath her blanket on her soft bed. She knocked on the wooden door, before placing her hands on her hips, ready to let her frustration out on the new neighbor.