The offer

"Deep breaths, Cami. Deep breaths," Camila exhaled a long shaky breath, her nerves still tingling.

"Camila," a gentle voice had suddenly broken through the panic. It momentarily helped Camila focus on something other than the fear gnawing at her insides.

When she turned around, the most handsome face and devilish grin made her heart stop, and time froze.

Camila had forgotten how to breathe.

Bzzzt!

Camila hit her alarm clock with her fist, snapping her eyes open with a groan. It immediately stopped blaring, causing a moment of silence for Camila before she broke it with an exasperated sigh.

Blinking, she turned to the bright sunlight coming from her half-opened window. Below it was a crumpled paper.

Camila remembered why she had gone home early yesterday.

The crumpled paper was a letter concerning her dismissal from the publishing company she had worked her ass off for three years.

She was fired all because she tweaked a few words and added more feelings to the context of a written chapter submitted by a dimwit writer.

However, she was well aware that it was the only excuse her supervisor could think of to get rid of her after repeatedly rejecting him.

Curling her hands into fists, Camila buried her face in her pillow.

She was 25, jobless and single.

Collecting her phone from under the pillow she was lying in, she briefly checked for messages and found a dozen.

Most of them were from her landlord, reminding her of the payment due in three days. On top of that, she saw the last message from her ex, who broke up with her last night.

It contained two words and two words only: I'm sorry.

Willing herself not to cry, Camila was about to toss her phone and roll out of bed. She needed to find a new job before the day ended.

She had bills to pay and a family to raise.

Since her sister had married and her brother was also trying to make things work, it landed on Camila to support her aging parents.

She had been too busy trying to be a good daughter and sister to her family and surviving on her own while also trying to keep her depression and anxiety in check that she apparently became a bad girlfriend.

She was cheated on.

It was supposed to be their second anniversary—almost two years of being together.

Camila stared at the unopened box of cupcakes sitting on the bedside table. A few black ants had crawled all over it.

Throwing the covers off of her, Camila got out of bed. She grabbed the box, which was supposed to be a surprise. However, she had to take it home after catching her boyfriend sleeping with his boss's fiance in his apartment.

Putting her anger on the innocent sweet dessert, she threw the whole thing into the trash bin.

"You're not going to cry, Camila," she stated, lifting her chin to prove a point. But then, it only took a few minutes before the tears pricked her eyes, and they rolled down her cheeks one by one.

Camila was about to fall, crying her heart out, when her phone suddenly rang. She forgot to put it on silent mode.

Her small bedroom vibed with Naomi Scott's 'She's so gone.'

"Perfect," Camila murmured. "Just perfect."

–

"Asshole!" Bethany exclaimed, slamming her fists on the table. People inside the cafe glanced her way. But she didn't care.

Camila didn't care either.

She and Bethany Myers had been best friends since kindergarten. She was used to her outbursts and did not care what other people would think of her actions.

With her sunglasses on, Camila had to hide the obvious fact that she had spent the entire evening crying.

She was no drinker, so she fell asleep after getting tired of bawling her eyes out, mourning everything that she had lost that day.

"Did you take pictures?" Bethany inquired.

Camila shook her head.

"First, their faces didn't deserve a space in my phone. And second, gross. They were both naked, you know."

Bethany gasped.

"Shocking. But you should have taken a picture. I'd like to see how he'd react if he saw his face and his mistress spreading on the internet. I'll make the public hate him."

Camila knew that she wasn't bluffing. Bethany Myers was one of the successful directors in Hollywood.

But she had no intention of wasting any thought about the man who doesn't even know the difference between your and you're.

"That's very… thoughtful of you, Beth. But there's no need. I will let karma decide their fate and move on."

Bethany pouted.

"Oh, honey, but I am karma in the flesh. Just wait and see. I'll find something even dirtier on him."

Camila couldn't help but chuckle.

"Beth. He might sue you for defamation."

"Cami, he's no actor to sue me for such. Besides, I would simply let the people know who he really is; in case he might try and seduce another innocent soul out there. I'm a concerned citizen. They should praise and thank me later."

Camila blew out a sigh.

"I'm serious, Beth. Please don't do it."

Bethany looked at her friend and nodded.

"Alright. Fine. That wasn't the only reason I asked you to meet me here."

"Yeah, I had a bad feeling about this."

Bethany opened her mouth and then closed it. She turned to her friend, her eyes pleading.

"Cami, I have a very huge favor to ask of you."

Camila looked at her friend suspiciously. She narrowed her gaze, trying to read what might have in her mind.

"Why do I have a feeling that my premonition was right?"

"This isn't a bad thing. I swear. In fact, this is an opportunity."

Camila only narrowed her stare.

"What kind of an opportunity would this be? You said favor and then opportunity next. That somehow already implied that you are up to no good."

Bethany leaned a little closer to Camila. She made sure to lower her voice as well.

"Cami, I swear, I have your best interest in mind."

Camila wasn't convinced. But she trusted Bethany. Still, she knew she wouldn't like the favor she would be proposing.

"Alright. Let's hear it, at least. Then I can make a decision."

Bethany clapped her hands. She gently reached out for Camila's hands and beamed.

"Camila Louise, would you be so kind as to honor me with this request and be part of Miss Cupid?"