The Miracle of You

Camille stared at the rows of jewelry before her, scowling.

What in the world was that just now?

Such a close-minded person. It was as though Christian Callahan really believed that all the women he had dated were the same as the rest.

He sounded so sure of himself, too.

Of course, being materialistic wasn’t always a bad thing. But there was such a thing as a limit and a boundary. The world wasn’t all black and white. There were layers to everything.

The population was made up of several billion people. Of course not everyone was the same.

Just as the way Christian Callahan was also different from the other male population.

‘Like Noah…’ Camille couldn’t help but think, and she could feel her spirits dampening somewhat.

It was no use. No matter how much she tried to forget about Michael and not think about him anymore, it didn’t work. Eventually, she would find her thoughts drifting back towards him.

It was pitiful in a way. Why did she, a grown woman, keep thinking about a man and wishing to depend on him?

It was ridiculous.

But she had to admit… she did miss him a little.

“All right, I apologize,” Christian’s voice suddenly called out from behind her. A few seconds later, he slipped to her side and smiled. “Perhaps I should’ve been more tactful with my words, yes?”

“Not tactful, per se, but more open-minded,” she said flatly. “If you can stop acting like a know-it-all, that would be great.”

“Ah, my dear secretary. Blunt as always. But that’s what I like about you,” Christian said, seemingly pleased and unfazed at the same time. “Now, let’s see which of these accessories and makeup suit you the best.”

Despite Camille’s protests, Christian was persistent. He made her try hundreds of things, from jewelry to different shades of lipstick. From time to time, a female employee assisted them, but most of the time it was Christian who was in charge.

By the time they were done, it was almost three in the afternoon. Camille grumbled inwardly about the precious time being wasted while Christian paid for everything with his card.

She stared at the several shopping bags on the counter in dismay. She hadn’t missed the exact amount displayed on the cash register.

How could all of those be so expensive? It was really shocking.

When she was younger, she never thought much about jewelry and makeup. Her classmates put on makeup every day, but she just came to school bare-faced.

Not that she judged them for wearing makeup and accessories, since that was none of her business, but she personally found those things annoying. She didn’t feel like wiping makeup off her face when she got home and then removing jewelry from her body before going to bed.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

To her, time was precious and best spent being productive. She could use the extra time to study and check her schedules.

Her brothers often called her boring for this reason, but for Camille, people’s tastes and goals in life were different. It was who she was, and she wasn’t going to change just to be popular or ‘not boring’.

When they returned to the company, Christian had the shopping bags delivered to their home so that they wouldn’t have their hands full. Camille went to her desk and got right back to work.

“Hardworking as ever,” Christian commented before entering his office in a smooth stride.

“Shut up,” she mumbled as her fingers typed quickly on the keyboard.

Granted, she had to admit that the jewelry and makeup were nice. But honestly, did it really matter? It was a masquerade, after all.

What was the point if her face was going to be partially covered anyway?

‘Maybe I really am a boring person like Paul and Ben would often say,’ she grumbled internally.

Speaking of that social event, though…

Was Michael going to attend?

Was her family invited?

Camille felt her heart skip a beat at the thought. It was silly to be nervous when she knew that her identity was going to be covered, but still…

It was her family nevertheless.

What if her brothers came? She wouldn’t be able to resist going over to greet them…

‘Ah, let’s just cross that bridge when we get there!’ she scolded herself. ‘Right now, I need to focus on the company’s promotional strategy. Let’s save the backup plans for later.’

***

By the time Camille was ready for bed, it was now nine in the evening.

‘He really didn’t contact me at all after that day,’ she thought as she stared blankly at the screen. ‘He really left me alone as I wished…’

Even though it was what she wanted, it still hurt nonetheless.

But she didn’t blame him. Not one bit.

Michael, despite his impulsive tendencies, had always respected her wishes. Even when they were in high school, he knew what she liked and didn’t like. He paid attention to her words and expressions as they grew closer, which made her feel that he was often paying attention.

Despite his appearance, he was careful and kind. He was still a rebellious teenager, but he had his own morals and principles.

For some reason, she wanted to text him right now. Or even call him. She wanted to take back her words and talk to him and meet him.

She wanted to try it the way he wanted.

To rekindle their friendship.

But it would be foolish of her to take it back now. Not when she had already made the decision to protect him.

“Calm down, Camille,” she whispered to herself as she laid on her bed, blinking up at the ceiling. “This is what you wanted. Don’t ruin it because of your emotions.”

She wasn’t going to let Christian Callahan ruin him and her family any longer.

The moment he made her return to her hometown, the situation changed drastically. She no longer had the option of staying passive.

As she drifted off to sleep, she failed to hear the sound of a notification coming from her phone.

A new text message.

And it was from Michael.

On the screen, the contents were as follows:

‘See you soon.’