In Love With My Best Friend (10 page)
Read In Love With My Best Friend Online
Authors: Sheena Binkley
rghhh.”
I looked around my room wondering how I got home. Did I drive or
did someone bring me here? I looked up and noticed Charles sitting
in the armchair by my TV, giving me a severe glance. Right now, I certainly didn’t need a lecture from my friend, especially since my head
was pounding and I felt sick to my stomach.
“How long was I asleep?”
“A while; as you can see it’s morning.”
“Did you bring me home?”
“What choice did I have? After you made a complete ass out of yourself at the party, I had to take you out and bring you home. What the
hell were you thinking, man?”
the next thing I knew I was punching Eric.”
“Yeah, you were jealous of him and Camille dancing. I’m pretty sure
after last night’s fiasco, everyone knows about you two.”
“What is there to know?”
“It was obvious. Listen, you’re one of my best friends. We have been
friends for years, so what I’m about to tell you is only in good faith.
Trevor, you need to call off this wedding. It’s clear you do not love
Chelsea, especially after the caveman move you made on Eric.”
figure out what to do at this second.
“You don’t understand, Charles.”
“No, I understand completely. You want your cake and eat it too.
You’re stringing two women along, and it’s starting to get out of hand.
Either you be with Chelsea and work out your problems, or you be
with Camille. Figure out something, because I don’t know how much
more I can take of this.”
wishing I hadn’t just yelled.
“From what I can see, it seems as if you’re not doing a damn thing.
Now you need to decide what you need to do,” Charles said as he
moved from the armchair toward the hallway.
I closed my eyes to shield some of the light that was shining through
my window. I rolled over to the side and looked at the picture of
Chelsea and me on my nightstand.
How did I get into this mess?
I thought as I picked up the picture. The
picture was from a happier time in our lives when Chelsea and I first
started dating. Now I wasn’t even sure if there was a wedding to go to
since I pretty much messed it up with my jealousy.
When I saw Eric’s hands all over Camille, I thought about the times I
was with Camille, touching her, kissing her. I didn’t want another man’s
hands all over her. I wanted to be the one to be near her.
That I couldn’t figure out. Maybe Charles was right. Or maybe I just
didn’t want to hurt anyone. Regardless of whom I choose, I would still
be hurting someone, and that’s what was killing me.
shouldn’t have drunk so much vodka last night.
That’s the reason why I don’t drink.
I lay in my bed a little longer, hoping that I could dismiss some of the
pounding that was going on in my head. Charles walked back into the
room with a glass of water and aspirin.
“Thanks.”
“So what’s your decision? Are you going to continue lying to yourself
that you want to be with Chelsea, or actually try to have a relationship
with Camille?”
on was what I really wanted.
Two hours later I was at The Corinthian getting ready for my wedding.
After sobering up at home, I told Charles I was going to marry Chelsea
and try to work out our problems. I knew we had a long road ahead of
us, but we could get through this. We had to.
At this point, I felt the same way as Chelsea did. We had put too much
into this relationship to see it fail. I wanted us to have the life that I’d
envisioned for us. With Camille, I knew we could have a great life too,
but I didn’t know if we were ready for that step.
As I was putting on my tie, my dad walked into the changing room
with a somber look on his face. He stood by me and put a hand on my
shoulder.
trying to accomplish?”
Thanks, Charles, for opening your damn mouth.
“I wasn’t trying to accomplish anything, Dad; I was drunk last night. I
wasn’t thinking straight.”
“I think your mind was perfectly clear. Why are you going through
with this? Save Chelsea the misery and stop this wedding.”
“No, Dad, I can’t.”
“Who says you can’t? Is it because her parents paid for the wedding?”
“It has nothing to do with that.”
“Then what is it?
“I don’t want to hurt her, Dad.”
“Don’t you think you’re doing that now? You’re carrying on with your
feelings for Camille. I think you need to let Chelsea go and figure out
what you want in your life. Maybe you just need to be alone until you
can see which woman you want to be with.”
“Son, I don’t want you to regret your decision. Think long and hard
about this before walking down that aisle, OK?”
I nodded my head as my dad came up to me and gave me a hug.
“Just think about it, OK?”
“I will, Dad.”
My dad walked out of the room, leaving me to question whether I was
making the right decision.
Camille
fter what happened last night, I decided not to attend the wedding. I didn’t want anyone to think I was a home wrecker if Trevor and Chelsea decided not to get married. Once I got home, I shut off
my phone, pulled the covers over my face, and tried to sleep. Just the
images of Trevor punching Eric and the look he had on his face kept
me awake last night, which only made me feel as bad as I did before.
I knew Tia and Eric probably tried to call me, but I didn’t want to talk
to anyone. The doorbell rang, making me even more annoyed. Instead
of going to the door, I rolled over onto my side and put the pillow
over my face.
The doorbell started to ring repeatedly, indicating I needed to get up
before the neighbors started coming out of their homes. I went to the
door and opened it to reveal Tia on the other end.
“I didn’t ask you to come in,” I said as I shut the door.
“I know, but you know I was going to. I had to check on you since you
didn’t want me staying last night. I tried to call you too.”
“I shut my phone off.”
“Cam, you have got to get ahold of yourself. It wasn’t your fault what
happened last night. You didn’t know Trevor was going to go into a
violent rage and punch Eric.”
his and Chelsea’s relationship going astray.”
“Why are you even bringing that up? Who cares what people think
anyway?”
I took one of the cups from Tia and began to take a sip.
“I know you’re not going to the wedding.”
“Is there still a wedding?”
“I’m afraid so. Charles called and told me.”
“Are you going?”
“No. I’m going to stay with you today.”
“If you want to go to the wedding, then go. Trevor is your friend too.”
“Cam, I’m not going to leave you alone. Besides, Trevor lost all my
respect after what he pulled last night.”
“Why would he still marry her after everything that has happened?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s a good thing he is.”
I sighed as I looked towards my window and noticed how gorgeous it
is outside.
“It’s beautiful outside. It’s definitely a perfect day for a wedding.”
“Don’t do this Cam. In fact, why don’t we go out and just have a girls
day. We can go shopping, get some lunch. I’ll even pay for everything.”
“You must really be trying to get me out the house if you’re paying.”
“Damn right. So, are you in?”
I smiled at my friend as I stood up from the couch.
“Just give me a few minutes to get ready.”
Tia was right; shopping did make me feel better. Two hours later, we
were sitting outside Clifford’s, a soul food restaurant in the area, getting ready for lunch. As I looked at the items I’d purchased, I looked at
my watch and realized it was noon.
Tia noticed I was checking my watch and sighed.
“Thinking about the wedding?”
“I didn’t really think about it until now.”
“At least I was able to get your mind off of it for a little while.”
I gave Tia a tiny smile as the waitress approached our table with our
meals.
We began to dig into our plates when Tia started to talk.
“I do have a confession to make.”
“What’s that?”
“Eric came by your house last night. I was on my way out when he was
pulling up. We talked for a little bit, mainly about you and Trevor, and
he kind of asked me out.”
“He knew you weren’t interested in him, so he decided to move on.”
“That’s fine and all, but with my friend?”
“I told him no, if you want to know,” she said as she looked down at
her food.
Once Tia said that, I knew she wanted to go out with him. For me, it was
fine considering I really didn’t have feelings for Eric in the first place.
“Tia, you can go out with him. I’m fine with it.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Thanks, Cam. I didn’t know how you would react to it; that’s why I
didn’t want to cross that line.”
“It’s cool, T.”
Tia smiled as she put a forkful of greens to her lips.
The thought of Tia and Eric going out only made me want to be with
Trevor more. I pulled out my phone and hit the photos app. I start to
scroll through the pictures when I stopped on one of Trevor and me
at the Aquarium. We had so much fun that night.
Tia put down her fork and set her napkin on the table.
“I’m going to little girls’ room. Be right back.”
“OK.”
Tia gave me a quick look before getting up. “Don’t do anything crazy
while I’m gone.”
“What could I possibly do?”
Tia gave me a smirk as she grabbed her purse and headed inside the
establishment.
I looked at the table and noticed Tia’s keys sitting there. An idea popped
into my head as I got up and snatched her keys. I ran to Tia’s Camry
and opened the door. I knew she’d be mad at me, but she’d get over it.
While getting into the car, I heard Tia screaming my name; I closed the
door and started the engine. She was trying to grab our bags as I tore
out of the parking lot, leaving skid marks behind me.
Trevor
fter my heart-to-heart with my dad, I continued to get ready
for the wedding. Although the doubts kept creeping back into
my mind, I decided to push them out, telling myself that I could get
through this. Now it seemed as if my mind was suddenly not my own
as I walked into the ballroom to wait for my bride.
“I’m going to ask one last time; are you sure about going through with
this?”
I gave my own unsure look at my friend. “Yeah.”
While the guests were still being seated, I noticed Camille’s parents
were seated next to mine. The looks they had on their faces summed
up how I was feeling—pretty miserable.
“Just as well. I wouldn’t want her to be here,” I said softly.
I straightened my stance, getting ready to start my new life with Chelsea.
I started to calm my breathing as the bridesmaids walked down the
aisle.
Once the last bridesmaid was down the aisle, I knew it was time for
the bride to enter. The “Wedding March” started to play and everyone
stood. I closed my eyes and counted to ten, trying to release the nervousness I was experiencing.
Once I opened my eyes, Chelsea was walking down the aisle with her
father. She looked beautiful in a floor-length white gown. Her hair was
styled in an exquisite chignon as she decided to not wear a veil.
When I looked at Chelsea, I realized my heart didn’t skip a beat nor
did it pitter-patter like it did with Camille. Instead it just did its regular
beating as if everything was normal.
one of his eyebrows while Ron gave me a hostile look.
Chelsea finally made her way toward the end of the aisle and turned to
me with a radiant smile on her red lips. I took her hand as her father
stood beside his daughter. Before the minister could begin the wedding, the door to the ballroom burst open and Camille ran down the
aisle.
Several people looked at her, realizing that she just cursed in front of
a minister.
“You can’t do this, Trevor!” Camille yelled as she came closer to us.
“Excuse me, but this is a private service,” the minister said.
Camille continued to walk toward me with tears streaming down her
face.
“Trevor, please don’t marry Chelsea. You, I, and practically everyone
here knows you don’t love her.”
“Camille, why don’t I get you out of here?” Claire said as she stood
beside her daughter.
“I’m not going anywhere, Mom! Trevor, you have to know that I love
you. I always have and nothing will change that.”
“Get her out of here now!” Chelsea yelled.
I looked at my best friend almost in tears myself. I hated to see her like
this. I couldn’t believe I caused her so much pain.
“Camille, this is not the time to do this,” my mom said as she stood
next to her.
“The only way I’m leaving is if Trevor tells me to.”
Chelsea put her hand to her head and let out a sigh. She went over to
Camille and grabbed her arm.
“I swear I will throw you out. Now leave!”
“Stop it!” I yelled.
Everyone looked at me, wondering what I would do to end this
situation.
“Let go of her.”
“Of course you would say that, Trevor. You wouldn’t want me to hurt
your precious Camille, would you?”
I went over to Camille and put my hands on her shoulders.
“I’m sorry Camille for hurting you like this.”
“You know this wedding is wrong,” she said through tears.
“Camille...”
Before I could say anything else, two security guards rushed down the
aisle and snatched each one of Camille’s arms and tugged her toward
the entrance.
and then at me.
“Are you going to do something, Trevor? This is your fault this is happening!” Claire said.
“This is not Trevor’s fault. If your daughter wasn’t such a skank…”
And that’s when Claire clocked Chelsea. She fell backwards onto the
red-carpeted aisle, falling onto the hard wooden floor.
“Oh my God,” my mom said as she looked at the minister. She
mouthed an apology for the incident.
“Let’s go, Claire,” Keith said as he took her away from the scene.
“Just go, everyone!” Mr. Parker yelled as he kneeled beside his daughter.
I shook my head at the incident, not knowing whether I should go
after Camille or see if Chelsea was OK. I took the former and started
toward the door.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Parker, but Camille’s right. I’m in love with her.”
“You son of a bitch!” Ron yelled as he tried to come after me.
“Come after me all you want, but it’s not going to change how I feel.”
While the entire wedding party was in chaos, Charles looked at the
wedding party and came up to me. “You better go before they start
burning you at the stake.”
And Charles and I ran out of the ballroom.
