Boy Next Door

The "D" Word

Camila found herself crying on the way home from Robert's office. Not because she was sad, but because she finally had confirmation that she wasn't crazy. Anytime she would call Zachary out for his behavior, he would always resort to calling her dramatic or oversensitive. It happened so much that at a certain point she started to believe it. She genuinely thought maybe she was just overreacting every time he would do something to hurt her, but now she had confirmation that she hadn't been. Even his own parents could agree that he was toxic and abusive.

By the time she got home, she knew that Shawn would be arriving shortly after her. She was giddy with excitement for their celebratory date night. Part of her worried that her excitement was purely a side effect of the so-called 'honeymoon phase', but a larger part of her couldn't imagine a world in which she wouldn't feel like a middle school girl with a giant crush anytime she was around him. She took a shower, slipped on her favorite robe (which barely closed now thanks to her growing baby) and began to blow dry and curl her long, brunette hair. She didn't put the effort into doing her hair and makeup often, but when she did she enjoyed the small boost of confidence it gave her—even though she personally preferred the natural, bare-faced look and she was pretty sure Shawn did too. She opted for a short and flowy dress as it was one of the only nicer outfits that still fit her. She didn't mind, though—she loved the way the dress looked on her.

"Honey, I'm home!" Shawn said in a jovial, sing-song voice as he walked into her apartment. Camila giggled and peeked her head out from her bedroom.

"Just putting my shoes and and then I'll be ready!" she shouted. Shawn sat on the couch and busied himself with his phone as he waited for her. "Ok, now I'm ready." Shawn looked up and smiled at her.

"Damn...look at you. You're stunning, as always." Camila could feel herself blushing as she took his hand in hers and walked with him out to the car. Most of the car ride to the restaurant was spent sharing excitement over the fact that Camila had landed a publishing deal. "It's still crazy to me that it was Zach's dad who recommended you," Shawn said in disbelief.

"Yeah," she sighed. "About that...I actually stopped by his office to talk to him after I left the coffee shop this afternoon."

"Oh...?" Shawn asked, clearly intrigued to hear how the encounter went.

"I'm really sorry...I don't know why I did it and I know I should've asked you first but—"

"Camila," Shawn said, cutting her off. "You don't need to apologize and you didn't need my permission." She sighed and nodded.

"Right, sorry." Shawn glanced over at her. "I mean...right. Just right. Not sorry," she corrected herself. Out of all the bad habits she was trying to break, apologizing when it wasn't necessary was definitely the most difficult for her.

"So how did it go?" Shawn asked.

"Better than I expected, I guess." She shrugged. "He apologized for everything Zach did and for not doing anything to help. He mentioned that although it was hard for him to read my poetry he still thought it was really good, hence why he recommended me."

"Sounds like it was a good conversation then...?"

"It was," she said before clearing her throat. "He also...um, he also told me that Zach is in jail." Shawn's eyes widened as he looked over to her. "...for domestic assault."

"Jesus..." he groaned. "I mean, I can't say I feel bad for the guy. He deserves to be locked up for a while." Shawn looked over and noticed Camila silently staring out of the car window. "He didn't ever...hurt you...physically, did he?"

"He never hit me," she said as she shook her head. "But there were definitely times where I could tell he wanted to." She heard Shawn let out a disappointed sigh as he squeezed her hand in his. "Shawn?"