Thursday evening after locking up the café and making sure it was safe for her to leave, Joan walked down the street to get to the bus stop where she could take a bus straight home.
Camila has been staying with her these past days because she didn’t want her to be alone during these times. It was difficult for them all and the last thing she wanted was Camila wanting to do something crazy. Her father left when her mum was diagnosed with the deadly disease and never thought of calling or checking how they were holding up.
Camila hasn’t forgiven him for that and since she literally has no family to go to, Joan didn’t want her to be alone.
It was pretty late in the evening and the air was cold against her skin as she walked.
“I should have brought my jacket” she complained whilst rubbing her arms for warmth.
Joan continued on her way to the bus stop. Many thoughts swirled in her head, centered on Sofia and how she was coping with all these. She isn’t sure if she is giving her the best support as a friend. She wished she could do more and doing more means Isabel not dying but what can anyone do? They’ll have to continue her burial process.
She thought of buying take-outs for them to eat instead of eating, so she looked around for the nearest diner to get something. She spotted a small diner with ‘Fisher’s Lick’ engraved at the top entrance.
The name sounded Eekie but there wasn’t any other in sight so she proceeded to cross the road.
After a moment, she was done with buying all that she needed to buy, so she left the diner to get to the bus stop. A car stopped by the roadside, the driver rolled down the window and called out to her.
“Joan!” she stopped in her tracks to see who called. “Here Joan,” he waves and she was able to spot Miles sitting in his car with a smile on his face. He drove closer to where she was and then unlocked the door from inside for her to get in “Mind if I gave you a ride home?"
Joan looked up front to see that she was just a few steps away from the bus stop and wasn’t sure how long the bus would take to get there. She shrugged then opened the door and got inside the car.
“I wouldn’t mind” she rubbed her arms “I need to be away from the cold weather” she chuckled but only got a weak smile from him.
He drove from the side of the road towards her home.
She hadn’t stopped to know more about Miles and his intentions towards her friend but you don’t need to know someone so well to know that something is up with how they behave.
She noticed that in him and thought maybe he was just too concerned about Camila and how she was holding up.
“I know you are worried about Camila” he glanced at her “I know Camila enough that she’ll pull through no matter what the case may be,” she let out a sigh. “I have seen Cam go through the worst and still, she didn’t let that hinder her or make her spirit down”
“She’s free-spirited and fun, and loving, and bold and fearless, and… she’s just the kind of girl you will want to be friends with” Miles smiles as he mentions all the amazing things about the woman he grew to love.
“She’s a really strong girl. I think she’s leaning on me because of this terrible news of her mum but no, she’s the one I am leaning on. Camila is just that person you can lean on whether you or her are having a bad day. She has her ways of lighting up the room” Joan comments with a grin.
Miles smiled and the car ride became quiet. Joan thinks of what she could say so they don’t just stay in complete silence throughout the car ride and Miles thinks of how he could say this to Camila when he sees her.
He held onto the steering wheel like it would slip out of his hand. He was nervous and didn't know how to face Camila to talk.
Joan noticed the nervousness radiating off him.
“Are you fine?” he broke out of his worry reverie and then glanced at Joan “You are holding the wheels too tight and you’re sweating” she pointed to his forehead. “It’s below 20 degrees outside and the heater is barely doing anything,” she informed.
“Err, it’s… it’s nothing actually. I’m just…” he let his words hang in the air, not knowing what else to say.
They arrived at her home in no time and he looked at her again.
“Camila is in now?”
Joan could hear the shake in his voice and didn’t know if it was the cold or if he was nervous about something.
Then it crossed her mind and she smiled.
“You really don’t need to be shaken up if you’re going to talk to Camila about it” she smiles.
Miles frowns, his heart’s rate now picked up.
“You know about it?” Joan nods “Oh my GOD” he lets out a distressed breath of air and covers his face with his palms.
“What?” Joan chuckles lightly “Why are you so shaken up about it? Not like it’s a bad thing” she shrugged.
He peeks a hole and looks at her with wide-open eyes.
“You think so?” she nods again. “Oh GOD” he mutters to himself, once more covering his face. “I don’t think you understand the depth of what’s going on”
Joan was quiet for a moment “Well, I might not but I don’t think it’s difficult to love someone you’re not sure if they love you back or not”
Miles froze for a second then dropped his hands and turned to her with confusion lacing his features.
“Lo—wait, th-that’s what you’re talking about?” she nods yet again. “Oh no, that’s not the case”
Joan frowned, slowly he could feel her face warm up with a tint of embarrassment. ‘How could I have thought he was in love with Camila the whole time?”
She tried not to let her embarrassment show, so she looked away for a minute.
“I thought…” she faced him again. “I thought there was some kind of thing going on between you guys, sorry for assuming wro–”
“Oh no, please don’t apologize, and yes, I do have feelings for Camila. I haven’t told her yet but that’s not what’s getting me so worked up”
Her lips formed an ‘oh’.
“What’s the problem then? Is it work-related?”
“It—it’s about Camila’s mum’s death”