28. Cameron
28
CAMERON
H anwell Park was more of a parkette. A pocket park that was easy for the busy New Yorkers rushing by to miss. The tall iron gate obscured the beauty inside, which meant it was mainly a spot for in-the-know locals like me.
And more importantly, Felicity.
Hanwell was part of a preservation movement in the late 1960s to introduce a new kind of public space in the city, an urban oasis that featured shade trees scattered around and English ivy coating the brick walls of the adjacent buildings. Most visitors didn’t realize there was an additional empty parcel beyond the vertical walls of ivy. I hadn’t noticed it either, until the day I’d come to the park with Boris, and I’d spotted the weed-filled plot just out of sight. Boris and I had hung out for longer than we should’ve that day, probably because I was hoping Felicity would come by. It was depressing that my only hope of connecting with her had been an accidental run-in. Until now.
The day before, I’d called Ideal on their main line and asked to be transferred to Felicity, so she’d have no chance to screen me. She’d come close to hanging up on me after she heard my voice, but I managed to get her to agree to meet me in Hanwell.
I hadn’t expected to feel so damn nervous about seeing her. Nothing made me sweat. I’d dined with kings and presidents, given speeches in front of thousands of people, appeared on live television defending Veritique during our bleak days, and negotiated million-dollar deals without a noticeable change in my heart rate. But this meeting had my gut turning inside-out and my palms damp.
What if I was wrong? What if I’d taken this crazy leap of faith for nothing?
I turned to glance behind me. Well, it wouldn’t exactly be for nothing. There would be beneficiaries to what I’d done, even if Felicity decided to walk away from a future together.
I glanced around the park. As usual, there were moms and nannies chasing after children, people on laptops sitting at little metal tables, and couples wrapped around each other. It was a place of happiness for anyone who visited. Hopefully for me as well.
There was a chance Felicity wouldn’t even show up. But she was a woman of her word. If she said she was going to be here, I believed her. I turned to pace and stopped dead when I saw the silhouette watching me.
Felicity was standing in the entrance, arms crossed and back straight, like she was headed into battle.
How could she be even more beautiful, despite the sadness I could read in her eyes from across the park? She didn’t look like the Veritique Felicity I’d gotten used to, though. She was dressed in a black hoodie and black leggings and was wearing the most ridiculously colorful sneakers I’d ever seen. Was it camouflage, to keep CamLicity truthers from noticing her? There was something fragile about her as she waited just beyond the gates, like she was afraid to set foot in the park.
I understood why—we didn’t have a great history in New York’s green spaces.
I smiled at her, and she took a deep breath and headed for me.
“Hi,” I said, trying to keep my voice even. “I’m glad you’re here.”
I was way more than glad, but I didn’t want to scare her off by being overeager.
Her mouth went tight. “I’m not sure why I came, to be perfectly honest with you.”
I ignored the wariness in her voice. “There’s so much I need to say to you, but before I do, I want to show you something.” I resisted the urge to take her hand. “It’s right over here.”
She frowned but followed behind me anyway. I led her to a vine-camouflaged door in the iron gate on the far corner of the park.
“This is for you,” I said as I swung it open. “And everyone.”
Felicity stepped through the entrance and sucked in a shocked breath. “ What ?”
I watched her expression as she walked closer to the fairy tale treehouse perched about three feet above the ground, between two old trees.
“This was the empty patch of land…did you…?”
I braced myself for the speech I’d practiced a dozen times.
“I know you and I have a terrible track record when it comes to parks. I wanted to change that. I thought this might be a start.”
It was like she couldn’t hear me as she examined the treehouse.
“It’s magical ,” she said. “Like gingerbread, and the Swiss Family Robinson, and Peter Pan, and Tarzan, all wrapped into one structure. It’s incredible!”
“I’m glad you like it.” I still refused to allow myself to be hopeful. I pushed on. “This patch of land was basically forgotten, so I did some research to figure out who owned it. I made the offer to buy it with the stipulation that I would donate the land to the city, so long as they let me design and build what went on it.”
Felicity had turned away from the treehouse to watch me as I explained. I didn’t dare hope that I saw softness in her eyes.
“I know that a treehouse was a special refuge for you when you were younger, and I wanted to provide that same sort of space for children in the neighborhood. And you too, if you ever felt the urge.”
She hid a smile.
“This treehouse is designed by a former Disney architect, and if you look closely, you’ll see characters from all sorts of fairy tales and books worked into the design.”
She stepped closer to it to examine the details along a railing. “ May all of your dreams come true.”
Her smiley expression slipped for a moment, and I wished I knew what she was thinking. That perhaps it was possible for her? Or that her dreams were out of reach?
Felicity climbed up the steps to check out the inside. I let her explore on her own, hoping that she was as taken with it as I’d been. When she came back out, she had tears in her eyes.
“It’s wonderful. And incredibly generous.”
“It’s just the beginning, actually. Come sit with me.” I pointed to a bench tucked between two shrubs. “There’s more I’d like to say to you.”
Felicity walked like she was in a daze.
“First, I want to apologize for how I acted that day in Central Park. I was childish, and rude, and hurtful. There’s no excuse, but I would like to give you an explanation. I told you about my relationship with Carolina. Well…Central Park was where I proposed to her.”
Felicity’s eyes widened. Whatever she’d been expecting, it hadn’t been this.
“Being back there had me thinking about my relationship with her,” I continued. “How perfect it seemed at first, how awful it was when everything fell apart. How much I hated myself in the aftermath for getting caught up in all the parts that felt good and ignoring all the ways it was bound to self-destruct. So when Lucie thought I was about to propose to you—be spontaneous and romantic and reckless the way I was back then—I flipped out. I lashed out at you when you were the last person who deserved it. I’m mortified that I put you in that position, in front of so many people. I obviously can’t take it back, but I want you to know that I regret every second of it.”
Her eyes welled. “You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to hear that,” she whispered.
“I know,” I said, my voice raw with emotion. Damn it, I needed to keep it together. I had so much more to get through. “And I’m sorry it took me so long to say sorry.”
She bit her lip and stared at the treehouse.
“I jumped on the excuse to run away from what you made me feel because I was afraid that love would hurt me again the way it did with Carolina. But you know what? We all have been wounded by love. I knew I was falling for you, but I didn’t want to admit it. I fought it. And all it did was hurt me even more. Because I lost you, and I thought it was too late to make things right. That’s why I’m so happy you’re here, Felicity. So I can say something I should’ve said ages ago.”
The tears were now flowing silently down her cheeks. She sniffled and looked up at me with a heartbreakingly open expression.
I took Felicity’s hands in mine. “I need you to know that I fell in love with you.”
Her body hunched with a tiny sob, and she brought her hand up to her mouth.
“There’s more.” I reached into my jacket pocket. “I want to make a promise to you, using this ring. I had Clara design it just for you.” I held up the delicate platinum band set with diamonds that looked like constellations in the night sky, and Felicity gasped. “This is a symbol of my promise to wait for you as long as you need. Until you you’re sure you know you can count on me, always. You can wear this ring on your right hand, and when I’ve finally convinced you that I’ll do anything for you—that I’ll put in the work and stay right by your side forever—switch it to your left.”
I held the band out to her so she could put it on herself. It wasn’t an engagement ring, so it wouldn’t feel right slipping it on her finger.
Hopefully that day would come very soon.
“Cameron,” she whispered, staring at the sparkly band and then up at me. “It’s stunning. But…I have to be completely honest with you. I’m just not sure yet. No matter what you say now, I’m still worried that when things get tough, you’ll walk away.” Her bottom lip trembled. “Like before.”
I steeled my heart. I knew she’d react this way. I was ready.
“I understand. And I’m going to do everything I can to prove you’re wrong. Including making myself accountable.”
I stood up and walked over to balance my phone on the treehouse ledge, so that I was framed on screen. Felicity was out of the shot but could see what I was doing. I wasn’t much for social media, but I’d figured out the basics of the Veritique social media accounts. I navigated to the proper app, took a deep breath, and pushed the “live” button.
“Hey, Veritique friends, it’s me, Cameron O’Connor coming to you live for the first time ever. I’m sure many of you recognize me from the CamLicity stuff.” I struggled to maintain a neutral expression. “I wanted to first apologize for how things went a few weeks ago. I behaved badly. No, let’s be honest. I acted like an asshole, and I hurt someone I care about.”
I paused a beat and watched as the viewer number quadrupled by the second. I glanced over at Felicity, and she was gazing at me with her mouth hanging open and her eyes shiny with tears.
“I take full responsibility. I’ll admit I have some baggage, and it made it hard for me to handle my feelings in a healthy way. My past made me afraid of love, and that fear made me lash out. But I don’t want to be afraid anymore, so there’s something I need to say. I’m in love with Felicity Rhodes. Did you hear that? I’ll say it again.” I caught her eye and held her gaze. “I love Felicity. And that love has made me stronger—strong enough to face any of the challenges that might come and to see them through. Because the love I hope I’ll be rewarded with in return will be worth it.”
I expected to feel buzzed and jittery as I confessed my feelings, but I was totally calm.
Because I knew every word I was saying was true.
I glanced at my viewer count and nearly choked at the number. Was the entire world watching me? The comments were flying so quickly it was impossible to read them, but there was no missing the nonstop hearts and kissy emojis crowding the right side of the screen.
“That’s everything I wanted to say,” I continued. “Thanks for listening, I hope I’ll have an update for you?—”
I felt a hand slip up my back, and before I could even pause to think, Felicity was kissing me, hard.
I pulled her closer, circling my arms around her waist and lifting her into the air as our mouths connected. It was the sweetest kiss I’d ever known.
It was proof that I’d won my Felicity back.
She finally pulled away from me as I set her down on the ground. Felicity placed her palm against my cheek.
“I can’t believe I waited so long to say it, but I love you too, Cameron. So much.”
We crashed against each other again and within seconds all I could think about was getting her home and making love to her. My hands roamed her back and slipped lower, and right as I grasped her perfect ass, I remembered that we were still being watched.
“We have an audience,” I murmured against her mouth.
She started laughing, which made me laugh too. We pulled apart reluctantly.
“Hi everyone,” Felicity waved at the camera. “We have to go now, we have a very important, uh, business meeting we need to attend.”
I growled softly against her ear, making her laugh again. She pushed the “end” button on my phone.
“Look,” she said simply, holding up her left hand.
The ring sparkled on her finger.
“Yeah?”
She nodded, smiling shyly. “Very much.”
I dragged her to the doorway of the not-so-secret park.
“Hey everyone,” I said to all of the people gathered in the old section. “Consider this a ribbon cutting for the new Rhodes Treehouse Park. Please go in and enjoy yourselves!”
I heard a few people whisper about CamLicity as we sped from the park and down the sidewalk, holding hands and giggling like fools. We were just blocks away, but we couldn’t get back to the building fast enough.
We waved at Carl as we jogged through the lobby, and we could hear his laughter echoing behind us as the elevator doors closed. He knew exactly why we were in such a hurry.
“I can’t wait,” I said, pressing Felicity against the wall.
She kissed me back with a pent-up passion, which made me want to strip her down right then and there. I picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around my waist. I cradled her ass in my palms as our kisses turned feverish.
I couldn’t believe how much I’d missed this. And that I’d almost lost her.
I carried Felicity down the hallway to my apartment, kissing her the entire time. Daniel had offered to take Boris, so nothing was going to slow me down once we got home.
The minute the door shut behind us we tore at our clothing, like we were in a race to see who could get undressed first. I was a little too impatient and got tangled up in my jeans. By the time I extracted myself, Felicity was out of sight. I followed the trail of sneakers, leggings, and a sweatshirt, and discovered a gorgeously naked Felicity waiting for me in my bedroom. A second later I joined her, sweeping her back into my arms and showing her with my body that there was no way I was ever going to let her go again.
We were the lucky ones.