Calm Before the Storm

Part 1

You know that feeling when you're in love and you could practically feel your heart beating out of your chest? That loud thumping inside of you that you can't get to stop no matter how hard you try because you're just so fucking in love? You try to control it but your heart just keeps racing as you look at the person who made you fall in the first place.

Well, that's how Camila felt that very Saturday night. Not because she's love but because she just so happened to be stationed at the bar which was stupidly placed right beside one of the speakers that blasted music every weekend. The thumping inside of her wasn't her heart but was the feeling of the base pumping through the speakers in her chest.

It could get obnoxious at times but she worked at a club and couldn't do anything about it. It wasn't like she could ask them to turn down the music at a fucking club. Plus, she was used to it anyways. It was just annoying to have to scream at customers trying to get their order. That contributed to the reason her heart was racing. As they moved deeper into the night, the music got louder which only increased Camila's frustration as she could barely hear the customers. It slowed down orders and made people leave to one of the other four bars in the club. She had less customers and less customers meant less tips and she needed those tips.

Working as a bartender at one of the biggest clubs in New York, the Lasting, definitely gave Camila enough money to live alone, paying off her student debts in a small apartment not too far from the club. But life wasn't that easy. On top of student loans to pay, she had a family to support. Her daughter, Ava who had come into her life as a surprise almost five years ago.

She found out she was pregnant with her daughter at the age of nineteen, the summer she was supposed to go off to college to study her passion, music. Her life had changed drastically that summer. Her plans blew up in front of her as she was faced with the responsibility of taking care of a child. What was worse is that her parents didn't approve of it at all. They insisted that she marry her boyfriend at the time right away-- which Camila knew that it was what they wanted all along.

Her ex, Jason, was filthy rich. He was known all over the state of Miami as one of the richest men under thirty. He was only a couple of years older than Camila and he was already so successful which was what her parents admired the most about him and the money, of course. They had met when she was an intern at his and his father's office during her last year of high school. It was a paid internship so she used the money to save up for her tuition.

What ultimately ended their relationship and caused Camila to run off was when she found him in bed with another women. She was starting to feel something for him when it all happened which was why it hurt so much. When she ran to her parents upset about it, all they said was to suck it up because he was a wanted man. They reassured her that he wanted Camila though, as if it was supposed to make her feel better or something. They then proceeded to tell her to fix herself up or else he might replace her.

Camila realized on that day that no one was on her side. No one ever was and she left. She didn't just leave to go to a friend's house across the street. Instead she packed her bags and drove off to New York to the only person she could trust, Dinah. Camila left without a trace, not telling anyone where she was going so they couldn't find her.

Dinah was the perfect place to go because that's exactly where she stayed for the past few years with her daughter, working mornings at her family's diner and evenings during the weekends as a bartender.

It was tough at times, working all those jobs could take a toll on a person's body but all she could think of was her daughter and the life she wanted to give to her. It also helped that the club gave off a good energy and vibe. She wasn't sure if it was the music or just watching people have fun but she always seemed to come home in a good mood after working there.