His Camelia [Completed]

Chapter 2-Ten Years Later

Every year, true to his words, Stefan sent Camelia a birthday card.

To her delight, he never missed a year.

It began as a tradition to stand in the foyer and wait on the eve of her birthday. When her father would come back from work holding a hefty pile of mail. In that stack held the card she anticipated.

It was a secret pleasure.  Similar to the feeling a child had when finding presents left behind by Santa Claus on Christmas Day. In her eyes, his actions were better than any gift she could ever receive.

....Camelia would never open it until she rushed to the safe confines of her room, plopped on her bed and carefully, like she was handling one of her most precious dolls, opens the envelope to find a card placed inside. Her heart burst in happiness and pure raw joy when she read the sweet words he wished her.

And like every year it was signed,
Your Knight, Stefan.

...Once Camelia finished reading the contents of the card the warmest smile would appear on her lips.  It stretched so wide her face would ache. Without even thinking of what she was doing, she placed it over her heart, welcoming the thoughtfulness while relishing in the simple happiness he gave her life.

Even after she heard he went into the military, it never stopped him from wishing her a very happy birthday. And happy it was, his thoughtfulness made it all the more special.

...All the cards she accumulated over the years lay enclosed in a shoe box kept in her closet. Tucked away like hidden treasure.

Camelia couldn't help but wonder, as she re-read every card he'd sent her over the years,  if he too was thinking of her like she was thinking of him.

...As Camelia got older, Stefan grew in her heart.  For he wedged himself deep into her DNA, to an extent, she thought of him every passing day. The image of his face stayed tattooed in her mind. The memory of him stayed penetrated in her brain, like a stain on a shirt.

...It was a personal tradition, when each night after celebrating her birthday, she would sit next to her window and look up. The sky would be dark and illuminated with stars, twinkling white like diamonds.  Camelia closes her eyes, clasps her hands as if in prayer, and wished upon a star that someday her knight in shinning armor would truly come back and sweep her off her feet...

10 years later...
Camelia puts the last touches of of pale lipstick on her lips, views herself in the mirror one last time, grabs her black clutch and darts out her bedroom. She slips in the awaiting Range Rover finding her father in the passenger seat while she and her mother occupied the back. The chauffeur driver closes the door swiftly and smoothly maneuvers them towards their destination.

Switching the vibrate button on her phone, she noticed her battery was running low and rolls her eyes in irritation. The 20% battery life left wouldn't even get her through two hours. 

She sighs, frustrated with herself yet again.

It wasn't texting or talking that made the battery run out so fast, it was from all the reading she did on it. She was in love with reading. May it be romance, adventure, vampire, werewolf...she was always engrossed in a great plot.

It was her only sanctuary. A nerd at heart. Preferring a good read over television was her life. She didn't even know what was going on in the world if it wasn't for the radio talk show she listened to when driving to school.