FOLLOW YOUR HEART

Chapter 13 - A Strange Man

VISIT #4 – SEPTEMBER

Shawn shifted slightly in the seat to get his arm around Camila who was asleep against his chest. They had flown in together from Los Angeles after spending the past week in her house there since she finished the Europe leg of the tour. She had a few dates in Asia then the South American dates and she would be finished by the end of October. But in the meantime, they had the whole month of September off. After their last visit, he had remained for almost a week supervising the repairs to the house and helping Tally with the clean up while Camila finished her European dates. She flew to Miami afterwards, visiting her family for a few days before meeting him in LA where he had just released his new album. It had shot to number #1, his fourth album to do so, and the single and music video had also had a successful debut. With no more sightings of them after the village festival, the rumours had faded but now they were back together, and they had no intention of hiding inside away from the public eye, they knew there was no doubt they would kick back into gear, and they were right.

They went out for dinner, they went for walks and coffee and shopping, and the paparazzi were always there. The media and haters were saying it was PR for his album and her tour, but they didn't worry about that. There would always be a tour, and album, or something that could be used as excuse for calling it a "fake" relationship. They were used to the paps following them too, it happened anyway, it had just ramped up a lot now there was a romance involved. And they were not shy in showing their affection in public, because they didn't care what everyone thought, and they got so used to the cameras they just ignored them. Photographers and reporters had been at the airport in LA, and waiting at Heathrow. They didn't know where he and Camila were going though, and even if they did, they couldn't get close because of the size of the property and the security measures, which had been updated when the repairs were done.

He stroked her hair, smiling faintly, remembering his fun birthday party last visit. Although they'd been together in LA, it wasn't the same as it was here, where there was nothing to do but be with each other. He looked out the window at the countryside as it sped past, coloured in the blues and purples of the falling dusk. His phone buzzed and he looked at it with his eyebrows raised. He had been trying to set up a new sponsorship for the Foundation, providing young women with scholarships in various male-dominated industries focused on climate change. The last piece had fallen into place and his team was working hard on moving it forward. He would have to do a zoom call with the various people involved tomorrow, as the face of the Foundation, and he needed to have meetings with his team and then search through the next lot of suggestions as well.

He moved his arm gently and started tapping into his phone, notes of things he didn't want to forget, which then somehow segued into song lyrics before he started scrolling through Instagram and found the latest photos of them, which made him smile, until he read some of the comments. He found himself getting stressed and angry and clicked on the Calm app and tried to find some peace with meditation and listening to ambient music. It worked to an extent, but it wasn't until he looked down to see Camila had woken up and was gazing at him lovingly with her beautiful smile aimed right at him that his soul was washed clean and he felt happy again.

"Hi there Sleeping Beauty," he said, bending to kiss her gently. "How are you feeling?"

"The headache has gone," she said, rubbing her forehead. "I feel much better now."

"We're almost there. I texted Tally and he has arranged dinner for us. Or should I say, Pam has."

"Pam? Scrabble Pam?"

"The same. She dropped off a whole tray of lasagne and her famous Victoria sponge, won first prize at the Village Food Fayre four years running apparently."