FOLLOW YOUR HEART

Chapter 10 - A Hard Day's Night

VISIT #3 - AUGUST

Shawn was exhausted. He had been filming a music video and doing a promotional photo shoot, flown to Toronto to have an early birthday celebration with his family and friends, then caught a flight out to London, getting in late in the evening. He hadn't seen Camila since her London show, she had been slaying audiences through the Europe leg of her tour and this was the week she was supposed to be having a family holiday in Tuscany but she would be at Unger Hall with him instead. A lot had happened since then.

Shawn blasted a two handed whistle, clapped and cheered as Camila left the stage, and he made his way backstage. When she saw him she ran up to him and jumped into his arms and he swung her around. They both went to kiss before they realised they had an audience and hugged instead. Nobody seemed that shocked by their reaction, they had been friends for years after all. And then he saw Sinu's face and he realised that time was up.

"Your Mom knows," he whispered in her ear.

"No way," she whispered back.

"You have to tell her, she's staring at us with a scary look."

"Fuck, ok."

They had both been swept into a group into one of the rooms and he chatted with her band and dancers, most of whom he knew. Sara was like the Spanish Inquisition trying to find out why he was there. At some point he saw Camila slip back to get changed and he followed her and closed the door behind him and locked it before anyone else could enter the dressing room. They embraced, and he kissed her, and she kissed him back and it was everything.

"Sara is suspicious too," he said.

"I know she has been grilling me since I came off stage," she grimaced. "Can I come visit you again tonight?"

He had booked into the same hotel for three nights, last night Camila had come knocking at his door, and they had spent some quality time together, and he would go back and wait for her tonight.

"You'd better, I miss you," he kissed her again and then the door knob started rattling.

"Mija, are you in there?"

"Shit it's Mama!" Camila whispered. There was nowhere to go. He sat in a chair and she unlocked the door.

"Why did you lock the door?" her mother asked, then saw Shawn. Camila closed the door and locked it again.

"Mama, we have something to tell you..."

She had taken it surprisingly well, and then Camila had called and spoken to her Dad. Shawn left his revelation until he got to Toronto, and the reaction was not as dramatic as he expected as both of his parents and his sister had known for a long time that he was in love with her, and they were just happy and relieved. The one thing neither he nor Camila could explain was about the terms of Garry's will, because they were prohibited by those same terms. So they said that they had promised the old guy to stay there once a month to manage it's upkeep until it was sold next year. He was pretty sure that none of the parents bought the story, but it was the best they could give.

He slept most of the trip and woke to the sound of the gravel beneath the tyres as they entered the driveway. It was too dark to see anything until they got right up to the entrance. Tally was standing waiting to open the door and help with his bags. He climbed out of the car and was almost flattened by the little whirlwind that launched itself at him. He hadn't seen her sitting on the steps in the dark but he found his arms full of her and he squeezed tight, closing his eye, breathing in the scent of her hair.