The Blindside of Love (Camren) Altern Versión

Chapter 31

"What the hell was that?" Dinah demanded, wiping ketchup from the side of her mouth. She stared at Camila with a look of obvious disapproval.

Camila  glanced at her in confusion.

"What?"

Dinah used the remainder of her hotdog to point in the direction of their one and only "costumer" of the day. "You just gave your painting away to a total stranger," she said. "Do you honestly think she's going to mail you the money?"

"Doesn't matter," Camila replied, her gaze unconsciously returning to the stranger a few yards away. "She liked my painting."

Dinah shook her head. "You spent like forever on that piece. Why would you just give it away? And fifteen dollars? I thought you were going to sell it for thirty?"

Camila laughed, opening the bag of pretzels she'd purchased from a vendor.

Like the fifteen dollar difference would've done that much to impact her standard of living. Besides, art wasn't about making money. It was about self-expression and making other people feel .. something ... anything. Besides, the young woman had seemed .. nice.

It was such a beautiful day. People were out, the weather was warm without being disgustingly hot. A nice breeze was blowing through the air. People were happy and doing their thing.

"Why are you smiling?" Dinah asked suspiciously.

Camila simply shrugged and offered her friend a pretzel. They were good. Crunchy and satisfying.

"It's just a beautiful day. Maybe I'll just give away all of my paintings." She quickly glanced at the sketch of the Angel of Waters and made a grab for it. "Except this one." She tucked the paper away safely in her backpack.

"That's another thing," Dinah said, motioning with the can of Pepsi in her hand. "What is up with that drawing? What was that look you gave me before?"

"It's supposed to be a gift," Camila replied patiently.

"For...?"

Why did Dinah have to be so inquisitive?

Camila gazed at her best friend and chewed on her lower lip hesitantly. She's going to think it's stupid.

"Laura."

Dinah stopped chewing for a moment as light brown eyes darted to Camila's . She swallowed. "Laura," she repeated. "Online Laura?"

Camila rushed in to explain. "See, her screen name is PoetnAngel so I figured she probably likes angels. She's never said she does, but I can assume. Anyway, I thought I'd send her the sketch of the angel. Maybe she'll like it."

Dinah nodded slowly. "Don't you think you're getting a little too friendly with the lesbian?" she asked. "She might start to get the wrong idea. I mean, all-night online conversations, unsolicited gifts ..."

She paused. "Unless she's getting the right idea." She nudged Camila and winked.

Camila rolled her eyes. "It's not like that at all. You don't know her."

"Neither do you," Dinah pointed out, finishing the last of her hotdog. "She could be like ... a big fat ugly ... like old guy. With an eye patch and a beer belly. And he likes to burp the alphabet in public and prance around his apartment in the nude."

Camila chuckled. She couldn't imagine Laura doing any of those things. "She's a girl. And she's twenty-three. And she's a poet and an actress."

"So she claims," Dinah  argued. "You don't know any of these things for sure. Has she sent you a picture of herself yet?"

Camila considered. "Well, no. But I haven't sent one of myself either. She has no idea what I look like. For all she knows, I could be the old fat guy with the eye patch."