I'll See You When I Fall Asleep

Chapter 10

Chapter 9

Part 2: The Girl

The sun caressed Cammie's face and her eyes fluttered open. She had a moment of disorientation, a pattern that seemed to be repeating itself each and every day as each night's sleep was an attempt to erase the day before. But Cammie's memory always came trickling back: she realized where she was, who she was, and what another day meant.

The anxiety, her constant companion since her birthday, returned as promised. Cammie closed her eyes and practiced basic breathing exercises, attempting to calm her rapid heartbeat. The conversation she had had with Jess the night before, the drive, and the girl all spun around in her head like a hive of angry bees. Guilt sweapt through Cammie as she recalled how wreckless she had been the night before. She had allowed her emotions to consume her, to control her. Her momentary lapse in judgement had almost cost her her life and she vowed she would not allow her emotions to control her like that ever again.

The conversation with Jess replayed itself in her mind. The last four weeks of fooling Adam also wandered in. The constant buzzing in her mind was going to drive her mad.

Cammie shot out of bed, deciding to spend the last day of her break doing something for herself. The last four weeks she felt like she had been unable to make a single move that would make her happy and each action was execusted for someone else's benefit. Cammie grabbed a book that she had been dying to read for months and hopped on her bike, heading to her favorite coffee shop.

Cammie peddaled her bike through the busy streets of Los Angeles, taking more care to avoid oncoming traffic and vehicles. The Grind, Cammie's normal study cafe, was full of customers. Cammie cursed under her breathe when she stepped through the door and swept the room, realizing there were not available seats. The baristas noticed Cammie and gave her an apologetic shrug of their shoulders. Cammie was at the cafe studying so often, each barista knew her and knew her exact order of drinks depending on the length of her study session.

"Sorry, Cammie." One barista said, scribbling orders on the side of carboard cups. "You can try a coffee shop a few blocks down. It just opened up down here. I'll write down directions."

Cammie thanked the barista for his suggestion. She really hadn't bothered to make herself a home at any of the other local cafes; she was a creature of habit and a creature of comfort. Once she had discovered The Grind, her mind was made up and she had settled there. The coffee shop had not been this full in a while and today was especially surprising because term had not started, so it wasn't bloated with its usually students. In the event that it was full, she would grab a to-go cup and head back to her school's library to study. Unfortunately, that equation would not work for her today.

Cammie hopped on her bright red fixie—her third one this year. If there was one thing L.A. was good at it was making her bikes mysteriously vanish. A ten minute ride and a few left turns later and she pulled up to the suggested coffee shop. The entire cafe was walled off with glass. She could see inside and found that it, too, was rather busy for a newer shop. But she spotted a few available seats and decided that it would have to do.

Cammie locked her bike securely to the bike rack outside and pushed open the door. She stood in line, studying the menu, but quickly wondered why she even bothered—she knew she was going to get the same thing she always did: an almond milk latte with two pumps of vanilla.

A creature of habit.

She stepped up to the register and ordered the drink. While she waited she glanced around the room, taking in the customers and the decor. She waited by the drop off counter, looking at nothing in particular. There were a few photographs and paintings on the walls advertizing sale from some struggling artists trying to make a living off of an unreasonable career.

Cammie rolled her eyes, thinking of Jess, whom she still believed made a poor choice studying art. Cammie herself had wanted to be a painter, but she knew that the odds of her being a successful painter were just about as good as her growing a second head.

I am happy, she thought to herself. Happiness for her was in security and routine. She would get that with her path in life. Jess most certaintly would not.

"Cammie, I have an almond milk vanilla latte," a barista called out.

Cammie snapped out of her pessimistic thoughts and turned toward the counter. She reached for her latte and looked up to thank the barista.

Her heart stopped.

A freckled face. Long brown hair. Tattoos up and down her arms. Deep brown eyes framed by long lashes.

It was the girl from her Dream. She was here. She was real.

Recognition crossed the brunette's face, but before the barista could utter a word Cammie spun on her heels and bolted from the coffee shop, bumping into a person on the way out. Cammie's only mission now was to get away.

*

Virgo whistled to the tune of the soft music pouring from the speakers above the espresso machine. She reached for the next cup in her evergrowing line. She studied the code on the side and ground the beans for the drink. She bent down, grabbed the correct milk and poured it into the silver cup.

She crafted the drink with professional expertise. Virgo poured the milk into the cup, tilting the drink and moving her wrist to decorate the top of the latte with a small floral design. She carefully placed the cup on the pass-off counter, admiring her work. She called out the drink, breifly admiring the name scrawled across the cardboard. A slender-fingered hand decorated by sky blue nail polish and a silver ring reached across the bar to snatch the drink. Virgo looked at the hand. On the wrist, at the base of the thumb was a silver scar, about an inch long.

As if time slowed down, Virgo's eyes slowly followed the arm up the body, her heart jumping into her throat as it pounded, demanding to be let out. The room began to spin and everything behind this person seemed to vanish, as if the girl was all that she could see.

There was the mole, just above the left side of the girl's collarbone; the waving blonde hair trickling down her shoulders, and the striking blue eyes framed by dark brown eyebrows.

Virgo was paralyzed.

It was her. After all of these years, here she was, right in front of her. The girl stared back at Virgo, unable to move, as if the eye contact made between the two girls kept them both in place. Both of the girls' faces were adorned with expressions of shock, but for much different reasons.

Virgo's face broke out into utter elation, a smile spilling across her face. The girl was finally here!

As Virgo opened her mouth to speak, the girl suddenly turned on her heels and dashed out of the door, bumping into a few irritated patrons on her way.

The scene was so shocking, that Virgo found herself unable to react. She was completely baffled. What had just happened? Virgo was sure the girl had recongized her. Why was she running?

Virgo followed Cammie with her eyes and noticed she was headed for the bike rack. She was leaving! Why?

Virgo pushed behind her co-workers and through the line of customers to make it out of the coffee shop. She did not know what had happened, but her Soulmate had just walked in her coffee shop. Her Soulmate was right here. After three long years or wandering, of longing, of dreaming, this girl was finally here.

But she ran.

Virgo could not understand why the girl had rushed out, but she would be damned if she let the love of her life slip away. Not now, not after all this time.

Cammie's fingers were shaking as she fumbled with the lock. The adrenaline coursing through her body, instructing her to obey the "flight" instinct was completely unhelpful when unlocking a bike from a rack required steady hands.

She cursed loudly when, for the fourth time, she missed the keyhole of the U-lock.

"Hey!"

Cammie glanced over her shoulder and noticed the barista had followed her out. She cursed again, this time successfully pulling her lock apart. She tugged it out, yanked her bike from the rack, and hopped on, pedaling so fast she was sure her legs would quit at any moment.

Virgo was left standing in the wake of Cammie's escape, completely baffled and heartbroken. Dumbfounded, Virgo wandered back into the coffee shop.

What had just happened? Why had she darted away? Could she have confused the girl with her real Soulmate? Was that a mistake? Did that even happen? Were there mistakes?

"You okay?" A concerned coworker asked Virgo when she stepped behind the counter, noting the dazed look in the girl's eye.

"Yeah..."

Virgo glanced at the abandoned drink on the counter, the only proof that Virgo's Soulmate had ever existed. She read the name again.

Cammie.

*

Cammie peddled fast down the streets. Her legs burned, begging her to stop, but she would not allow her body any reprieve. She had spent the last five weeks convincing herself that the Dream was a fluke; that there was no way another woman was her Soulmate. So far, Cammie would have liked to believe that she was on the winning end of her battle with fate. Until today. Today that changed. Today she had seen the woman from her Dream. She was real. And she was here in L.A., working a few miles from where she lived.

She started to hyperventilate.