The Therapist.

| Chapter 28. |

"Shit, shit, shit." Cameron heard Mario's voice from somewhere in the house, a series of loud banging following afterwards. He didn't move a inch, but thankfully, a few seconds later Mario appeared in the doorway of the living room from his overnight shift, with a ice pack pressed to his forehead.

"Cam. What are you doing up? It's nearly 5am." Mario glanced at his wrist watch, not receiving an answer from his friend.

He wasn't shocked though. Ever since he and Devin broke up, Cameron wasn't his usual self. Looking in from the outside, you would think his life was depressing. All he did was go to work and then come home. And even then, he never talked to his best friend. Just wallowed in his own sadness.

Mario knew the silence, not actually expecting a answer as he continued talking. "I stopped and got you a coffee on my way in. Black. The way you like it."

Cameron turned his head in Mario's direction. "I quit drinking coffee."

Mario raised a quizzical eyebrow. "What, why?"

"Devin and I had a bet. I'll stop drinking black coffee if she could start being more social around the other parents at Javon's school." Cameron shrugged his shoulders.

"Who won?"

He shrugged again. "I don't know."

"Cameron. Please. Talk to me. I don't like seeing you like this, bro." Mario sighed.

"Mario, I am sitting here with a broken heart. The one woman that I have ever truly cared for in my life- is gone. She hates me. I thought she would have called me back or something, but no. Nothing."

"She doesn't hate you, man. She's upset. How else is she supposed to feel?" Mario spoke, pulling out a cigarette and tucking it in between his lips.

Cameron lowered his head. "I don't know."

"It was the principle, Cam. The principle. The fact that you kept the lie going all this time. What did you even tell her your job was?" Cameron watched as Mario lit up the white stick.

"A obstetrician." He answered, lowly.

"She thought you were a gynecologist? Cam!" Mario shook his head side to side in shock.

"She compared me to her baby daddy, Mario. She compared me to him." Cameron's voice came out in a harsh whisper, as he changed the subject. Trying to hold back his tears once he remembered what Devin said to him that day two weeks ago.

Mario inhaled the nicotine. "You need a smoke. Here." He extended the cigarette out to Cameron.

Cameron shook his head. "I quit that too."

Mario sighed. "Go get some rest, man."

Cameron nodded his head, as he stood up from their recliner chair. "I'll do that."

Mario tried to say a few more things to him, but he continued walking and went straight to his room. He knew Mario was only trying to help and that meant a lot to him but that didn't stop him from feeling like shit.

-

Clutching on to her pillow, Devin let another series of tears fall from her moist eyes. Even though, two weeks had gone by- she was still feeling as hurt as she was the day that her and Cameron had broken up. He still roamed every inch of her thoughts, especially when it was late at night and she couldn't sleep.

She should have known. The smell of cigarettes, the coffee's, his accent. Those fucking eyes. She was so damn stupid and naive. All the signs were right in front of her face. She glanced at the digital clock on her wall, seeing that it was only 10 minutes until she was supposed to get up and ready for work.

She pulled the silk blankets off her body, trying to move. But she couldn't. She felt tired, sick, and most of all, heartbroken. She grabbed her cell phone from under her pillow, dialing the ten digits to the bank as she prepared to call in sick.

"Hello?" She heard Isaac's voice on the other line.

"Hey, I... It's Devin," She faked coughed. "Can you tell Mr. Mitchell that I won't be in today?"

She heard Isaac suck his teeth on the line. "Again? Devin, what's wrong?"

She wiped away a few stray tears. "Nothing, just sick. Hopefully, I'll be there tomor-" her phone beeped. She withdrew it from her hand, staring at the text message.

Cami- Hey. Are you up? How are you feeling?

She shook her head as she raised the phone back up to her ear. "Hopefully, I'll be there tomorrow. Talk to you later, Isaac. Bye."

Devin threw her phone down on the bed, doing the same with herself. But as soon as she laid her head down- her doorbell rung. She pulled herself up from the bed, waking Javon up as she made her way towards the front door.

"Why didn't you answer my text?" Cami scoffed, as Devin shrugged.

"I didn't see it." Devin replied, lowly.

"You're a liar. It tells me if you did or not. Why are you not dressed?" Cami crossed her arms across her chest.

"I'm not going to work."

"You have got to be joking. You called out again?" Cami stared at Devin, who looked like she hadn't gotten any sleep in the past few weeks.

"God. You are so freakin' lucky that I love you and that little boy in the other room. I'll take Javon to school today, okay? Please, just make sure you straighten yourself up, Dev."

Devin nodded her head. "Thank you, Mi."

"What are best friends for?" She rolled her eyes playfully, starting to shut Devin's bedroom door.

"And you should answer his phone calls, Dev. He loves you. Anyone with eyes can see that." She spoke.

"Oh, yeah? He never says it."

"Because he's scared! Men get scared too, Devin. And Cameron is one of them. So, please. Just hear him out. For me?"

Devin bit down on her lip, contemplating her response. But before she could answer, Cami was gone. She sighed, rolling over and going back to bed.

After a good 6 hour nap, Devin finally awoke. She stretched and yawned, checking her phone. She had over 10 missed calls from Cameron, and 7 text messages from him as well. She ignored them, though, as she got up to bathe. She began her stripping process, turning on the bath water.

Leaving a trail of clothes all the way from her bedroom to the bathroom, she took herself a calm and peaceful 65 minute bath. She climbed out, lotioned her body, put her bra and panties on and checked her phone. 5 more missed calls from Cameron. She couldn't help the smile that pulled at the corners of her mouth, especially when she heard the doorbell ring.

Because I mean, who else would be at her door but Cameron?

She grabbed her transparent robe, leaving it open as she quickly ran the comb through her wet natural hair. She checked herself out in the mirror, satisfied as she made her way to her front door.

"Cam..." She said his name, pulling open the door.

Only, it wasn't Cameron that stood in front of her. She peered into those brown eyes with a touch of light green and her stomach dropped.

She didn't think she would ever see those eyes again.