His Influence

24. Truth

At 10:58, Camila arrived at her front door. She quickly fished her keys out of her pocket before she shoved the key into the lock and entered. She slammed the door behind her and made her way into the living room to find her mum and some strange man, engaging in a deep moment. Camila growled and pulled her mother off the man, "Karla! What are you doing here? You should be at school!" Camila shook her head. "And you should be at work." She forced the man out of the house before glowering at her mother.

"Oh, what now?" Her mother groaned. "Where's the tape?" Sinu's eyes widened. "Wh-what tape?" She stuttered. Camila shook her head in disbelief of the woman, why was she trying to play dumb when she had just forced her to break up with Shawn three days before. Did the mother honestly think her daughter was that dense?

"Don't play dumb with me. The tape that you threatened me with on Friday. Where is it?" She hissed. Sinu gulped, clearly, she had realised she had been caught out. But she wasn't willing to give up. "Oh that. I-I-I threw it away!" She exclaimed, before looking away. Camila scoffed. "How dense do you think I am?" 

Sinu sighed and made her way to a drawer and pulled it open, reaching in to pull out the tape. She pulled it out and held it out to Camila. "Put it in the tape player," Camila demanded. Sinu moved over to the TV and turned on the player before handing the remote to Camila. She pressed play and the screen lit up to show a young Camila on the screen. 

"Daddy! Look at me!" She squealed. "I'm flying." She called as she jumped off the bouncy castle in their garden. Tears poured from Camila's eyes. There never was any blackmailing tape, all there was, was a video of her and her father when she was around eight. She had ruined everything she had and all because of her mother's trick. "Yes, angel." Her father laughed on the screen. "You're flying." He called as her younger self, bounced off the castle and into her father's arms. 

More tears poured at the sight of her father, she missed him so much and just seeing this video reminded Camila how her mother had banned all memory of her father from the house. Rage rose in her body.

"How could you do this to me?!" She screeched. "I didn't do anything wrong!" Sinu calmly stared back at her. "You're exactly like your father, never realising how much you actually irritate people." Camila gawked. "Well, I'm sorry I irritate but you're the one that wouldn't let me out of the house." Camila glared back. 

"Why did you always have to side with your father? He wasn't around, he never really cared about you." Camila scoffed. "He didn't care about me?" Sinu nodded. "Who's the person that would help me with my homework when I was stuck. Comfort me after I caught my mother in one of her numerous affairs?" Sinu's eyes widened at the fact that Camila knew so young in her life about her adultery. "It wasn't you. It was my father. It was always him. Don't you dare claim he never did anything because he did everything for me."

Sinu stared back, "Well, what are you gonna do now? He hates you. He thinks you don't love him. Why would he talk to you again, when you just broke your heart?" Camila remained silent. "Exactly. He won't want you back, not after what you did to him." Camila thought for a moment. Would Shawn want her back? She had completely broken his heart on Friday night. She had never seen him so emotional but there he was, completely destroyed by her lie.

Defiantly, Camila stared back at Sinu, "I can try." And with that, she turned and stormed out of the house. Once she was far enough from her mother's house. She pulled her phone out, hoping for a notification from Shawn. Shockingly, he had sent a text in reply to her voicemail.

Meet me at the pub at 11:30.

That was it, but it made her feel so relieved. She had a chance to explain, to tell him the truth. She pulled her phone out. 11:24. And her hope came crashing down again. She'd never get there in time, but she had to try.