One Shots [Rated R] Book 2

The Man With A Midas Touch [Straight]

The Man With A Midas Touch [Straight]

* Trigger warning-implications of sexual assault of some degree. No graphic details or scenes of it. Just the implication of it *

Camilla Hall takes another sip of her Coke and glances around the pub. Like the bird of her call sign, her eyes flutter about the place clocking in everyone. Couples, very few singles and a majority of groups. All normal. Quiet. But then again it is a Thursday evening, not exactly the prime time for a packed pub. Plus it's the week before pay day so for most of the blue collar folk around this area they're not rolling in it enough to be out celebrating.

Camilla isn't either but until recently the Spitfire that is her life had taken a shot to the engine and she'd been sent spiralling out of control. She'd landed hard on the ground and spent a long time lying there staring up at the skies she'd once soared over. Then her step-sister had held out her hand and she'd been lifted from her frozen state. Now, almost two years later she's on her way to feeling okay...ish. At least she has direction in life now. In fact she'd surprised even herself when her admission to UCL had been accepted. The essay and test she'd had to do wasn't easy and things had definitely changed a lot since she was at school but when that acceptance letter had come through Camilla felt herself soar again for the first time in a long time.

Maybe it was the high of that or maybe some screw had come loose in her head that made her agree to her step-sister's excited insistence on (God forbid) dating. Sophie had done so much for her already Cam didn't have the heart to say no. So she'd given in to the younger girl's whims, especially since Cam doesn't exactly have much to do these days but wait for Uni to start.

The first date she'd been a nervous wreck on and when the guy wasn't interested in a second, Cam hadn't taken it personally. The second one was better on her end but a complete disaster on his. And since then it had been a rollercoaster that never quite reached a peak. The tree-surgons, the plasterers, the bricklayers they'd all been content with her RAF past right up until the point she'd reveal she plans on going to University. Cam could pinpoint the exact moment they realised that for some reason she might be above them due solely on that fact. Suffice to say they weren't interested in a call back. But those blue collar guys, she could handle. It was the suits that she had a bigger problem with. The posh boys who'd thank her for her service to the country but couldn't imagine dating a woman who's ex-air force. The ones who'd dismiss her intelligence or drive for not starting a career. Or even worse, the ones who would stare in disbelief, questioning her very prior career just because she doesn't fit into their stereotypes of a military woman.

What had that left?

The nerds? The 'footballers'? The hipsters? The artistic types?

No. Not compatible with her at all.

Thank God Sophie hadn't matched her with any of those types.

Cam circles the rim of her glass with a finger exhaling a small breath. This is the last one she decides. Maybe she's just not cut out for this love stuff. After all, none of her 'relationships' had ever made it past a month. Then again she never grew up witnessing a stable relationship, not within her home and not within her council estate surroundings. By the time her mum had met Sophie's dad Cam was already miles away mind already sculpted. It's not like she's not aware of her biases. She knows not every guy is like her dad and she knows she's not her mum but getting attached to someone like that is...difficult for her to say the least.