I sighed, and said softly, “Cameron, it seems like we’re just incompatible. We start fighting as soon as we meet. You should go back, I don’t want to argue with you.”
I didn’t want to carry the memory of fighting with him to a war-torn place.
If, as he said, a bullet came and hit me on the head, I don’t want the last thing I remember before dying to be his furious face.
“You clearly have male colleagues.” Cameron held his head, his voice hoarse. “Why don’t you let them go?”
“Brian?” Now, I was even more certain that Holly had tipped him off.
“He’s the only child in his family, he has elderly parents, and he’s about to get married. He has too many concerns. Someone with so many concerns can’t focus properly on work. War is not child’s play. If he’s distracted by family matters while working and gets into danger, who will take responsibility for that?”
“So you’re the one suited for it?” He widened his eyes.
“Yes.” My heart ached, “I’m all alone, with no attachments.”
“You have no attachments? Say that again!”
Cameron must not realize how childish he looked right now. His eyes were wide, filled with disbelief and anger, his tightly pursed lips trembling slightly. I could almost hear the sound of his teeth grinding.
To outsiders, he was always calm and indifferent, but I had seen his angry outbursts countless times.
I looked out the window. “Cameron, I have no family, just a father who’s serving time for murder. I have nothing, so I have no attachments!”
There was an awkward silence in the car.
It felt like the calm before the storm.
I kept my head down, afraid to meet his eyes, but I could feel his gaze burning into my face and body, like fiery lasers, almost piercing through me.
“Fine.” After a moment, he muttered out the word.
His face had returned to calm, his eyes icy.
There was a hint of mockery in his smile. “Very well, Laura,” he said. “No attachments, nothing to lose… Well, I really didn’t understand you before!”
“Since you put it that way, then go ahead! I won’t stop you. Holly called me wanting me to talk you out of it, but I see there’s no need! You want to make a name for yourself, you want to prove you have what it takes to be a chief journalist, right? Then go ahead, go!”
He suddenly grabbed my shoulder, glaring at me fiercely, biting out each word, “Laura, I misjudged you!”
It felt like something inside me collapsed.
Tears welled up, but I held them back with all my might.
“Cameron, you didn’t misjudge me,” I chuckled lightly. “I’ll show you I’m capable of this job. Well, we’re not family now, but the past bonds still remain… So I’ll work hard to prove myself. Thank you for your support.”
“Laura, you know exactly what I meant by ‘misjudged’.”
“Yeah, I know.” I continued to pretend, to keep smiling. “I understand what you mean. I’ve known how to read your expressions and act accordingly since I was a child.”
“Cameron, can we end this now? Can you take me back? I have a lot of data to organize…”
“Get out of the car!” Cameron’s voice was cold and sharp.
I was stunned, looking at him. His profile was grim, his hand already on the steering wheel, ready to start the car.
“I said get out of the car!” He shouted angrily, not even looking at me. “Don’t you understand?”
“Cameron, this…”
This was a mountain road, not to mention how far it was from the city center, just the rugged terrain would make it impossible to walk without a car, especially before nightfall.
But this man was actually kicking me out of the car?
“Cameron, what do you mean?” It was unbelievable. “You brought me up here, aren’t you going to take me back?”
“I brought Laura up here,” he said. “The one I kicked out of the car is a heartless woman!”
“You…”
“Get out of the car!” He shouted at me. “Still lingering here? Want me to throw you out?”
I glared at him, opened the car door, and stood on the roadside, feeling annoyed.
I thought he was just throwing a tantrum and would come back for me, but this man actually threw my bag out of the window and drove away.
“Cameron!” I shouted after the disappearing car.
The car vanished within seconds.
I gritted my teeth, stomped my feet, and cursed Cameron for being rude and unmanly.
But it was no use. In the end, I had to walk down the mountain on my own.
It was undoubtedly the darkest afternoon of my life. There was no cellphone signal on the mountain, so I had to walk all the way down. I couldn’t catch a ride, so I had to walk back to the city center.
When I got home, I was utterly exhausted, with blisters all over my feet.
Holly walked out of the bathroom with her hair still wet.
“Where did you go? You scared me! Your phone was off, I called Cameron, and he said you…” She was both angry and amused.
“He said what?” I asked urgently.
“He said you were heartless and he left you in the wilderness,” she replied.
“I…”
I really wanted to curse him, really!
“Holly, from now on, don’t tell him anything about me. I don’t want him to meddle in my affairs!”
“Alright, I won’t interfere anymore!” She smiled sincerely. “But you really have to go to Alcostan this time. Get ready, we’re leaving the day after tomorrow.”
“What?” I was surprised. “The day after tomorrow?”
“Yes,” Holly nodded. “I thought Cameron would talk you out of it, and then I would quickly arrange for Brian… But Brian twisted his ankle and can’t move. No one else in the magazine is willing to go, so… Only you.”
“Okay,” I agreed. “Actually, I had already made up my mind to go, but I didn’t expect it to be so soon.”
“The situation there is very dire. I heard that armed militants even bombed foreign embassies!”
“Oh my God!”
“So we need to leave quickly. I’ve booked you a flight for the day after tomorrow, early in the morning, with the group of journalists from South Daily. There’s a senior colleague of mine among them, I’ll give you his number later. Look out for each other once you get there, and make sure to stay safe. Understand?”
“Understood.”
I felt touched by Holly’s care. She treated me like a sister, and I couldn’t let her down.
“Give me a message once you arrive,” she continued while packing my luggage. “Keep in touch every day. Oh, and stick with the main group, don’t go off on your own. Don’t risk your safety just to get news. We’d rather not have that news if you can’t come back safe and sound, okay?”
“I understand, I understand!” Tears welled up in my eyes. “Holly, why are you suddenly so naggy?”
“Laura,” she hugged me, “I’ll really miss you.”
“I’m going there to work, not to meet my demise. Don’t make it sound like a farewell to death.”
“Ugh! Don’t talk about death at this time!”
“Got it!” I chuckled.
“Are you sure you won’t say goodbye to Cameron?”
I shook my head with a smile. There was no need for that anymore. Didn’t he already say it? He threw me “into the wilderness.”
In his mind, the previous Laura had long died.
The woman who could say “having no attachments” at the mountaintop during the day, certainly wasn’t his Laura.
…
Two days later, in the early morning, Holly drove me to the airport. I hesitated at the security checkpoint, constantly looking back, hoping for something.
But I found myself ridiculous. What was I hoping for at this point? Was I really hoping for a familiar figure to come and see me for the last time?
“Aren’t you going in?” Holly urged.
“Oh, let them go first!” I glanced back again.
“Everyone else has gone through. It’s just you left!”
Finally waking up from my reverie, I slowly handed over my luggage.
“Is there anything else you’re hesitant about?”
“No, nothing.” I smiled and walked into the security checkpoint. “Take care of yourself, Holly.”
“You too, make sure to stay safe!”
“Don’t worry.”
And so I embarked on my journey to Alcostan.
We journalists traveled on a military plane, enduring a journey of over ten hours. As we neared our destination, I was almost emptying my stomach..
My fellow journalists whispered among themselves, saying things like, “This media outlet is really strange, sending a female journalist,” or “What can a woman achieve? Hopefully, she won’t cause any trouble!”
I leaned weakly against the seat, fully understanding their words but too exhausted to argue. Strangely, I heard Cameron’s voice in my ears, “There’s nothing wrong with a woman pursuing her own career. Don’t give up what you love, Laura…”