By the time we had to leave, I was feeling much better. Funny how playing mind numbing video games can do that for me. The others were all just the way I'd left them, unfortunately, though Dennis didn't throw any more annoying questions at me. In fact, he all but ignored my existence altogether. It was a pleasant change.
All six of us piled into the limo - well, by 'piled' I mean 'entered the spacious limousine one after another' rather than 'squeezed' - and off we went.
The first performance was a Ray Charles tribute, and I found myself enjoying it in spite of the fact that Dennis kept whispering to Cameron all the way through. His performance was scheduled for Saturday afternoon, but I wished he could be up on the stage for the entire thing. I did manage to sneak into the seat on the other side of Cameron's, though, so I got to keep an eye on what was going on between them. That certainly provided me with an interesting distraction.
It was late by the time the show ended and we returned to the Peckford house. The youngsters all made their way back to the living room as soon as we walked through the door, but I was beat. I excused myself - not that anyone was really paying attention - and went to bed.
I usually take an hour or so before bed to wind down, reading a book or something along those lines, so that's what I was doing when I heard a knock at my door. I looked at the clock and saw that it was past one a.m. "Who is it?" I called out.
"It's me, Cameron. Are you decent?"
I rolled my eyes and put the book down. "I'm never decent," I said. "Come in."
The door opened slowly, and Cameron stuck her head around the side. She looked ready to run if she saw that I was naked or something.
I raised my eyebrows and folded my hands across my stomach, which was, by the way, fully covered with one of my favourite t-shirts. "Something I can do for you?" I asked.
She seemed satisfied that she wasn't about to be scarred for life, so she stepped inside and closed the door behind her. "Yes, there is," she said. "You can tell me why you're giving Dennis such a hard time."
Okay, that wasn't among the things I'd thought she was going to say. "I've been giving him a hard time?" I said. "He's been pushing my buttons ever since I got here."
"What buttons? He's just trying to be friendly, to include you in..."
"Include me?" I laughed in disbelief. "When was that, when he kept bringing up my age, or perhaps when he kept hinting that I'm no more than a cripple?"
"You have no idea how to interact with people, do you?" she said, folding her arms across her chest. She was really looking mad now. "You'd probably be happier if no one spoke to you at all for the rest of the weekend. Or does your enjoyment come from being rude to people and belittling them until they get angry with you?"
"When have I belittled anyone?" I didn't even bother asking about the rude part.
"Oh, please, the piano thing?"
"I was just joining in!"
"You were trying to show him up."
"Oh yeah, and why would I do that?"
Cameron sighed and unfolded her arms to rest her hands on her hips. "I really don't know," she said. "It just seems to be a habit with you to try to make everyone around you look inferior. For once in your life, couldn't you just act like a regular person? Just for the next couple of days, so that my friends don't walk away from this thinking..." She stopped before she could finish her sentence and looked down, chewing on her lip as she tried to reign in her emotions.
"Is this really about me?" I asked, narrowing my eyes as I studied her carefully. "Or is this about you and Dennis?"
She looked uncomfortable at this question and shifted her weight from foot to foot. "There is no 'me and Dennis,'" she said.
"But there was once, wasn't there?" It wasn't really intended as a question, though. The answer was pretty obvious.
She folded her arms again and avoided meeting my gaze. "Yes. Once. A very long time ago."
"And you're still interested in him now?"
"Maybe."
I looked down at my hands and cleared my throat. Then I looked up at her again and said as gently as I could, "You do realize he's a spoiled jerk, right?
Her expression turned cold in an instant. "You don't even know him."
"Maybe not, but I don't really need to know him to figure that out," I said. "He reminds me of Vogler... all money, no substance."
It was obviously the wrong thing to say. Cameron set herself in a mad-as-hell stance and said, "You want to know why Cuddy made you take this vacation?"
I certainly hadn't expected this twist in the conversation. I barely had time to look confused and shrug before she continued.
"It wasn't because you're stressed out," she said, "it was because she's stressed out. You've done everything you can to make her life miserable ever since Vogler showed up, and everyone is suffering for it. She needed to get you out of her hair for a few days so she could actually concentrate on her work for once."
I could hardly believe my ears. This was coming out of Cameron's mouth? I would have been impressed if she wasn't aiming her comments at me. "And is that why you invited me to tag along with you?" I asked. "As a favour to Cuddy?"
"No! I invited you because... because I'm too nice for my own good sometimes."
I had to snort at that. "No kidding." That was, I'd always believed, her greatest fault, and one I'd tried to cure her of time and again.
"Believe me, I'm regretting it now," Cameron said, edging for the door. "I tell you what... the tickets we have are all-inclusive, so you can go to any event this weekend that you want. Instead of going to see Dennis play tomorrow, why don't you go to some other performance? That way we can completely avoid each other until it's time to go home. Sound fair?"
Wow. Cameron was trying to get rid of me. For some reason, that really stung. "Yeah," I said quietly. "Sounds fair." Even though it didn't. Not one little bit.
Cameron didn't say another word. She bolted from the room like there was a pit bull on her tail.
I could feel the hurt starting to settle in, but I refused to let it linger. What did it matter, anyway? So Cameron didn't want me tagging along after her anymore. So what? I never should have come in the first place.
Locking all of my unwanted thoughts and feelings away at the back of my mind where they belonged, I reached for my Vicodin and popped one into my mouth. Then I turned out the light, got comfortable, and let myself drift off to sleep.
The next day dawned bright and... well, rainy. That was fine, though. It suited everybody's mood.
Cameron seemed determined to avoid me at any cost, even making sure we sat at opposite ends of the breakfast table and later the limousine. Dennis, meanwhile, seemed determined to be as close to Cameron as possible at all times. I was surprised he didn't try to jump into her pants right then and there.
The other three seemed a little bit more alive than they were the day before, though, so I hung with them. At least they didn't seem to hate me. Yet. Sam even asked me to teach him how to make the little boats I was making out of the napkins at breakfast. He was a cool kid once you got to know him.
Despite the unnatural silence coming from Cameron's direction, things went pretty well until we arrived at the place where Dennis was supposed to play. That was when Cameron turned to me and made it quite clear that now was the time for me to am-scray.
Too bad I wasn't in the mood to comply. I just got out of the limo along with everyone else and followed them into the building.
Dennis disappeared as soon as we were inside, as he went backstage to join the other musicians. That was fine by me.
Until I looked at Cameron's face.
There are very few things in this world that can intimidate me. The look on her face at that moment was one of them. I felt like a first grader who'd just been caught by the teacher throwing spitballs at another kid. And yes, I know what that feels like first hand.
I shrugged and tried not to show how uncomfortable I was under her gaze. "What?"
"I thought you were going to a different performance," Cameron said.
"No, you suggested I go to a different performance so we could avoid each other. Just so happens that I don't want to avoid you, so there's really no reason for me to miss dear ol' Dennis' big number, is there?"
She rolled her eyes and turned away from me.
The next four hours were full of great music and great fun, yet I felt about as entertained as if I was having a root canal. Cameron had made sure as we were all finding our seats that Sam, Beth, and Jenn were between the two of us, and I couldn't help but feel snubbed. Damn that woman for having so much power over me. I wouldn't even have cared if it had been anyone else.
Once the performance was over, we met up again with Dennis and decided that we'd leave for a while and come back for some of the later performances. Again Cameron looked at me as if offering me a chance to go off on my own, but I didn't bite. No way was I letting them ditch me completely.
So, off we went to the nearest restaurant to celebrate Dennis' wonderful performance. Little did I know that the trouble was only just starting.
