CONSEQUENCES

Chapter 8 - Man With an Axe to Grind

Camila pulled her hand from Matthew's and slapped him hard across the face. He looked at her in shock. Yeah, buddy, NOW you actually look at me! He held a hand to his face.

"OW! What was that for?"

"What was....." she spluttered in anger, unable to put a coherent sentence together. "What was all that back there? What on earth are you doing?"

"I was asking you to marry me!" he said, rubbing his face. Good, I hope it fucking HURT!

"Why would you do that? WE BROKE UP OVER A MONTH AGO!"

He looked at her in confusion.

"Your mother was passing on your messages, she told me you were upset, that you regretted what you'd done, that you realised you had made a mistake and wanted to get married."

Now she was the one to look shocked. "My mother said WHAT?"

"Come on Camila, don't act all innocent, you told your mother you were ready to get married, that I was the one...."

"I. WASN'T. TALKING. ABOUT. YOU." She bit out between clenched teeth. "I was talking about SHAWN!"

"Shawn?" he looked confused again.

"Yes, you know Shawn, the guy I was running around naked with in LA, the guy I just spent almost a month in Italy with? The man I love? MY HUSBAND??"

"Your WHAT?"

"Everything alright back there?" The driver had lowered the privacy screen, obviously concerned about the yelling.

"NO!" Camila yelled. "Could you please pull over."

"We're almost at your house ma'am."

"PULL OVER!"

"Of course," he said, raising the screen again. A moment later the limo came to a stop on the side of the road.

"What do you mean your HUSBAND?" Matthew asked in amazement.

"Shawn and I got married in Italy."

"You and Shawn."

"Yes."

"Shawn Mendes."

"YES!"

"He's just a kid," Matthew shook his head. "Why would you do that?"

"Oh for fuck's sake Matthew, I love him. I've always loved him. You knew that, you knew it before I did. Last time I spoke to you, before I left LA, you were more than happy for me to call off our relationship. Where did this sudden desire to marry me come from, and don't say my mother, she might have contributed but you wouldn't have gone ahead with it unless there was a good reason. Oh, and don't say it's because you love me, I don't believe that either. If that's all it took, you would have asked me to marry you when we were together!"

He just stared at her, his mouth open.

"So you really are married."

"Yes!"

"What are we going to tell the press? The photographers are going to sell those photos and video of me proposing!"

"Well, you're going to look pretty stupid then, aren't you?"

"How did you get married in Italy anyway?"

She frowned at him. "What a stupid question. We had a civil ceremony."

"So your mother obviously doesn't know. Nobody does."

"Shawn and I do, that's all that matters."