ode to life | cameron dallas

Chapter 14

Manhattan, NY

It was a big night for Cameron as well as the rest of the cast and crew of their new movie which was called, Chasing Love. The cast spent about an hour taking endless photographs on the red carpet that led inside the famous MacHaven Amphitheatre.

Eventually, celebrities, critics, authors, hopeless romantics, as well as Ariel and Grace, all piled up into the theatre where the first ever look on Chasing Love premiered. It was a two hour film which resulted in the entire amphitheatre in tears and threatening sobs. It was definitely the chick flick of the era, perhaps even better than The Notebook.

The private premiere party, which was solely for those invited by a cast or crew member, happened shortly after the movie and was held in a ballroom at the famous Garisson Gala.

There was music and elegant dancing, as well as extravagant foods being passed around by several butlers.

Cameron had scoped out the whole ballroom, looking for Ariel but she was no where in sight. It was twenty minutes into the party, and still no sight of her anywhere.

Suddenly, a gentle grip grasped Cameron's shoulder, impulsively making him jump to assumptions on who he wanted it to be. He turned only to see Nash with a big smile on his face.

"Oh, what's up, bro?" He said taking a sip from the glass he held.

"Guess who's here?" Nash beamed, and before he could actually guess, ten familiar faces, pried out of the dance floor causing Cameron's face to light up in utter joy.

"You guys made it!" He exclaimed, slapping hands and hugging all of the guys.

"Are you kidding me? We wouldn't miss it for the world," Jack G. said scruffing Cam's hair.

"Yeah, and can I just say your movie made Shawn cry like a little bitch?" Taylor Caniff added.

"Man fuck you, alright. Any movie directed by Nick Cassavetes will make anyone cry," Shawn fired back.

Cameron laughed. "I'm just so glad everyone's here."

"Yeah, congratulations man," Carter Reynolds said slapping Cam's arm.

"I still fucking hate all of you," Matt Espinosa added. "But in the end, we're still family."

They all erupted in laughter. "I can cheer to that," Nash said, raising his glass of wine. A butler with a tray of wine glasses came around the perfect time, handing out wine to all of them, without asking for age limit. Although, all of them were over 21 now.

"To this corrupted ass family," Cameron cheered, and they all rose their glasses together and drank.

"Hey, isn't that Ariel, Cam?" Carter asked pointing to the entry doors. Cameron immediately turned his head to where Carter had pointed, and indeed it was.

Ariel and Grace gave their coats to one of the butlers and entered the ballroom steadily.

"Ariel!" Carter called. He caught her attention and gestured her to come over to the group. She spotted Cameron from a far and took a deep gulp. I can do this, she thought. And so she grabbed Grace and approached the boys.

"Ariel!" They all greeted her almost in unison. Cameron was the farthest from her and remained silent, but never took his eyes off her the entire time.

"Guys, this is my best friend, Grace," Ariel introduced. In her peripherals, she could sense Cameron's intense gaze.

"I was in one of your guy's shows in L.A. three, or four years ago. But you probably don't remember me, because you're Magcon and you're all famous-- wait sorry. You guys aren't Magcon anymore. Wait, why is that, by the way? I really did enjoy--" Grace babbled on. All the guys chimed in conversation with her, causing Ariel to completely zone out.

She quickly peeked up at Cameron, who was still staring directly at her. While Grace and the rest of the boys talked, the two played the staring game for about five minutes. Cameron won each round, causing Ariel to break eye contact every time.

Suddenly, without even thinking, Cameron walked over to her, slipped his hand into her waist and mumbled into her curled hair. "Dance with me."

No one had noticed, not even Grace since she was so indulged in conversing with the guys. Ariel didn't have any choice but to follow Cameron's lead. He led her into the dance floor where about forty other couples waltzed to a classical tune.

"I-I don't know how to dance," Ariel murmured.

"That's okay." Cameron took one of her hands and placed it on his back. Then, he took hold of Ariel's waist with his left hand and held her available hand with his right. And they began to move.

Ariel broke the silence. "You were incredible in the movie, Cam. The whole time, I was like Oh my God, I actually know him in person!" Ariel laughed. "I am so proud of you."

"Thank you," Cameron said. He smiled wearily. "So, how are you? How is everything?"

"Well, I'm a year closer to my doctoral degree, that's always something to be happy about in my world."

"Of course. And, your shop?"

"Amazing. In the past year, I've inked Andrew Garfield, Johnny Depp, and Kylie Jenner."

"Wow, I'm impressed. So you're really in there with celebrities aren't you?"

"Not necessarily. I've had plenty more opportunities, but for some celebs, they take one look at me, think I'm an amateur and then bail."

"Really?"

"Yeah, well I don't blame them. It's hard to trust a tattoo artist with no tattoos. It's blissful irony."

"Why don't you have any tattoos? I don't think you've ever told me."

"It's simple. Most people view their body as an empty canvas, or a blank journal and they document their lives with tattoos that symbolizes different meanings and time periods," Ariel explained. "I view my body as a temple. I don't need symbolism in my temple, for my temple is a symbol in itself. The symbol of self property. Your body is one of the only things you can claim your own, so you should treat it right. And to me, tattoos aren't symbols, they're vandalism. So why would I vandalize my temple?"

Cameron just gazed at her. He had the deepest, most down-to-earth girl in his arms at that moment, and all it did was cause an etching pain in his chest. He pulled Ariel closer now so that their faces were inches apart.

"Why," Cameron whispered, "did you have to cheat on me?" His gaze burned right into Ariel's eyes, as she realized how much that lie actually pained him till that day. And for the first time since Prague, did she actually regret ever telling him that.

"Cameron--"

"We were so fucking perfect, Ariel," he whispered, still inches away from her. "You're so fucking perfect to me, and you have no idea how badly I want to kiss you right now. But I can't, because you fucking cheated on me."

Ariel was in a loss of words. She possessed the uncontrollable desire to kiss him as well, but then that would have meant that this was all for nothing. She had to stay her ground, she just had to.

But before she could say anything else, Cameron spat, "Fuck it." as he grabbed her hand and led her out of the ballroom.