Three's Company

3

Cameren was laid back. He went to work and came home. He had two close friends, Kendrick, who he'd met in a fitness group on Facebook and Deon, his best friend since childhood.

Cam grew up a church boy, so he tried his best to continue what his parents instilled in him. He was in church most Sundays. Mostly, he just hoped he'd link up with one of the fine young women from the Singles ministry, so he could settle down.

Growing up, he was in love with a girl named Lauryn. She was the pastor's daughter and they were buddy buddy. Lauryn, Cam, and Deon were three peas in a pod. Cam asked her to be his girlfriend in the eighth grade and they dated all through high school, the true definition of high school sweethearts.

Lauryn was the most humble soul that he had ever known. They cared for each other deeply. She was his first everything and he was her first everything. If you had told him, he wasn't going to marry her back then, nobody would have believed you. They hung out daily, they went everywhere together, and they were in love. The kind of love that every person pictured for their life.

Lauryn was killed by a drunk driver after a football game their junior year of high school. She had severe head trauma and fell into a coma. He visited her in the hospital everyday before and after school, but she never came out of it. The next two years would be the worst years of his life. He fell into a deep depression. His grades fell off and he didn't care about much of anything after she passed away.

Lauryn's killer pled guilty to Intoxicated manslaughter and spent five years in prison. At his sentencing trial, Cam rushed him as the bailiff carried him off. Cam caught a misdemeanor assault charge that day and his parents knew they had to help him before he went off the deep end. They found him a therapist and that's really what saved his life.

After Lauryn, he didn't date much. He mostly kept to himself. Him and Deon were still tight but he was afraid to love again. When it was time for college, he followed Deon off to school. Deon got a baseball scholarship to UT, but Cam was still going through the motions. He was a football player and ran track, but he didn't care about either of those things anymore.

His parents suggested that he stay home and go to a community college but he didn't want to be there and be reminded of the love he lost constantly. Being in that city, going to that church kept all the memories at the surface. He couldn't do it.

It turns out that UT would be the best thing that ever happened to him. He struggled the first semester, but Deon encouraged him to try out for the track team. Cam earned his spot by having the fastest time of any walk-on that had ever tried out for the team in the 400m. He went on to break a BigXII record in the race. Track was his saving grace and getting away from home was exactly what he needed. He dated casually in college, but nothing was ever serious. He didn't let anyone get too close because he was always afraid he'd lose them.

He finished his degree with a 3.8 GPA, earned his Masters Degree and had a post-graduate job lined up before he even walked across the stage. He packed up and moved to Dallas and took on a new city. He found a new therapist in the city and for the first time in his life, he felt like he could move on. He knew that Lauryn was at peace, which meant he could finally be too.

******

Cameren: Good morning, Brandon.
Brandon: Heyyy, Cameron. I've got your coffee on your desk and Mr. Henderson left a message for you. He needs to speak to you rather urgently.

Brandon is Cam's twenty-two year old assistant. He was a marketing major with an Associate's degree, working his way through paying for his Bachelors. He was a good kid who looked up to Cameren.

Cameren: How was your weekend?
Brandon: It was cool, man. My girlfriend and I went back home for the weekend. I took her fishing for the first time and we went camping under the stars.
Cameren: Boy, you love that country life.
Brandon: You know it! How was your weekend though?
Cameren: Between me and you, bro, I think I may have met the girl of my dreams.
Brandon: Oh yeah?
Cameren: Oh yeah! Sexy, intelligent, bangin' body, the whole package!
Brandon: Oh snap!
Cameren: But let me get in here get some work done. Hold my calls for the next thirty minutes.
Brandon: Got it, boss!

Man...Jayden is gorgeous. She's sexy, educated, career and family oriented, funny, extremely sexual, and she loves to talk like me. I can't stop thinking about her. Her entire essence consumes me. The way her thick curls flow, and her illustrious smile brightens up the room, her silky almond brown skin against mine, the taste of her tongue when she kisses me, she makes my heart dance around in my chest.

In just a few short days, I'm imagining a life with her. I finally feel like I can move on from Lauryn. I'll never let her go but I feel like she'd love Jayden for me. She'd want me to be happy and find love again.

I'd gotten accustomed to going on a few dates with women and then just finding a way to drift apart. Everything with Jayden felt natural. She's steadfast in her feelings for me and it's easy for me to drift off into her world. If love at first sight is really a thing, I feel like I've found it.