Ignite Me: Shards of Glass, Part One (22 page)

“Thanks!” I picked up the bottle and undid the lid. The soda hadn't done much for my thirst. I drank a quarter of the bottle before screwing the cap back on. I felt refreshed now. “Ah that's better!” I used my hand to clean the dribble of water off my chin.

He raised a brow. “Don't fill up on water, you won't be able to eat the pizza!”

I sighed. I understood his issues but I wasn't his little sister, I didn't have an eating disorder. “Cameron, I drink a lot of water! If I don't keep hydrated I get horrible bags under my eyes cause I'm so pale!” I placed the bottle down.

He grinned. “Oh... I see! I'll keep that in mind! Right, so I've weighed out flower, so all we need to do is add the yeast water I've made that up already and mix it in!”

I grinned and picked up the large mixing bowl and wooden spoon. “Right okay! Let's make us a pizza!” I made a little indent in the flower to pour the water into like I had seen chefs do on TV. I slowly poured a little water in at a time as I mixed. First off it was easy but as the dough started to form it got harder to stir it around. “Getting a work out doing this!” I grinned, I was determined to do it without asking for help.

He stood behind me and placed his left hand on my waist making me draw a breath in and placed his right hand over mine helping me stir. “Two hands are better than one so they say!”

I tried to concentrate on the mixing but he quite deliberately bumped me a few times distracting me.

“I'd say that's done! All dough looking! We need to roll it out now don't we?!” I reached into the bowl and picked up the dough. It felt kinda warm. I loved the small too, the yeast and the flower combined took me back to being a kid and making pizzas with my Dad.

He let me go with one last bump and walked back to his place at the worktop and sprinkled flower out so I could place the dough down.

“What shape are we aiming for?! Round-ish?!” I asked as I placed it down and picked out the wooden rolling pin and flowered it so the dough wouldn't stick.

Cameron raised a brow. “You've cooked before, I like it! And yeah just a round shape will do fine!” He stood back and let me do the rolling.

“I cooked a few times as a kid, all the rest is from watching cooking programmes on TV!” I grinned as I rolled the pizza dough out. Turning it every now and then to keep the round shape. I stopped when I got it to the right size.

“Think that's about it!” I stood back admiring the almost but not quite perfect round shape.

Cameron grinned as he picked up the pizza tray. “I'm impressed! We will need to leave the base to rise for half an hour so you wanna check out the rest of the rooms?!” He slid the base on to the tray.

“Oh yes please!” I was excited about seeing the other rooms.

He placed a clean tea-towel over the pizza base and held his hand out for mine.

I placed my hand in his with a grin.

He frowned slightly then smiled. “What?! Do I have flower on my face or something?!”

His confusion made me smile even wider. “No, I'm just happy is all! I never thought I'd find that again you know?! Like to feel just happy because of someone else!” It was true after all the bad things with Sean I never ever thought I'd feel truly happy again. I wasn't sure how long it would last but I was hell bent on making sure it lasted as long as possible.

His whole face lit up, his eyes sparkled at me. “I'm glad I'm able to make you feel happy! You make me feel happy so it's only fair!” He smirked. “Come on I'll show you the other rooms!” He led me back into the hallway and we walked to the left leaving the park wing behind us. We walked past the entrance hall and down into the city wing.

“So the first four doors are spare bedrooms, mostly I don't have guests so they aren't used but the last one is Georgia's, when she stays over. She has one of her own, I let her decorate it.’’ He rolled his eyes.

“Ah so all the other bedrooms are down here, away from yours! I guess that gives you privacy.”

I wondered if I was allowed to see inside since it was technically his sister’s room.

He pushed open the door. “Even though I told her not to she still put posters up!” He shook his head.

We walked in. I grinned seeing various bands that I knew personally tacked up on the walls around the room. “Oh wow she really does like her music!” I wandered in and looked around. There was a cast iron bed in the centre of the room with a brightly coloured duvet set on it and a little dressing table and wardrobe off to one side. I grinned looking out of the window. “It doesn't seem to matter where you are in this place you always get a wicked view of the city.” I glanced out of the expanse of glass.

“Yeah it was partly why I brought the place. Also if I'm honest only 10% of the people that own apartments in this block actually live here so I'm never crowded with people, I like being alone.”

I turned back around. “Does your sister come often to stay?”

He pulled a face. “I think she'd like to move in given the chance but she'd drive me nuts! I like things organised!’’

I smiled. “She’s still at school right?! I get so confused by the schooling system over here!”

He laughed. “Yeah not quite as simple as the states is it! She's 14 so she's got another year of her GCSE's that's like your high school diploma I guess! Then she has the option to do A Levels instead or college! If she does that she can go onto university!” He shrugged.

I blinked. “Oh so GCSE's and A levels combined is pretty much the whole American high school diploma and then college is university?!” I pulled a face. “Kinda hurts your head!”

He smiled. “Well we have college too! You don't have to go to university you can do a further education course at college then do university” He laughed.

“Wow my head feels like it's gonna exploded with all this education! I didn't even go to college!” I knew without even asking he had gone to some Ivey league of equivalent university.

“No you didn't but you graduated high school with honours! Most people just graduate with a standard diploma so you could have gone to any university you wanted! So don't put down your achievements! I went to university to keep my parents happy, I didn't even want to go!” He opened the door again. “Well you've seen the reception area, and my office now the bedrooms so Library next!” The smile played at the corners of his mouth.

I stood with my mouth open in shock that he knew I'd passed with honours. I sighed, I shouldn't have been surprised though he seemed to know me so well. “How do you get to know all about me yet I know very little about you!”

He licked his lips. “You simply need to ask me and I will tell you!”

I would hold him to that. “Over pizza then?! I can quiz you on your life and you won't hold back?!” I raised a brow.

He smirked. “Within reason I will answer you what I can! Now let's go check the library! You might find some interesting things to look at! If you look in the right places!” He grinned.

He was being cryptic but I would look over every inch of that room if I had too. “I adore that you have a library! I love books!” I really did. We headed back to the park side of the apartment and I started to see a pattern. He had all his work life down in the city area, including elements of his family life whereas all his personal space was down in the park side. He pushed open the first door on the left.

“Welcome to the library!” He stepped in and held the door open for me to pass by.

I smiled as I walked past him. It was a fair sized room with a large expanse of glass at one end with blinds. As I walked in, I was awe struck. The room was lit by an abstract central light and had several other standing lamps. It screamed Cameron! It had a variety of ornaments and knickknacks around the place. The wall to my right was lined with book shelves all made to fit. I wandered in further and glanced around unsure where to start my investigation of the room first. The left hand side of the room had the addition of a desk built in. Above the desk was two old wooden rowing ores, with some kind of gold lettering on them.

“You're eyes are alight! What do you think?!” Cameron's voice echoed around the room.

I span around to face him only to find he wasn't there. I frowned and turned around and saw him sat down with one leg crossed over the other in the reading chair he'd spoken about. In front of him was a small round table with more knickknacks and a full sized skull.

I raised a brow at the skull. “A friend of yours?!”

His fingers where pressed together making a steeple but his palms didn't touch.

“Someone brought it for me! I figured it suited best in here!” The smirk played at the corner of his mouth.

I glanced around the room. “I wish I had this many books! I mean it's like floor to ceiling! I'm impressed! Do you mind if I take a little look around?!” I grinned at him. I didn't want to assume I could just snoop around.

He smiled. “Of course! Investigate all you like! Like I said this evening is an ask and I'll maybe tell you kinda evening!” He laughed softly. He was enjoying this.

“Hmmm okay!” I walked straight over to ores above the desk. And tiptoed to see the gold lettering. Most of it was all worn off but I could make out some of it. “Oxford University Boat Club...” Oh so he had gone to a good university, I doubted he'd have these for any reason other than that it was linked to his college days.

I turned and glanced at him. “So where you part of the team?! Cause even I know about the race between the universities!” I could imagine he'd been sporty in his college days. He was just the type!

He smiled. “I was indeed! The ores are from early on in the races history, they came up for auction a few years ago and I won them! For the most part I didn't choose Oxford it's a male tradition in our family that all males go there! I wanted to go to America and study but it wasn't permitted!”

I frowned. “But you enjoyed it?!” I guessed he'd got on okay, because he had a smile on his face as he looked up at the ores.

“I tolerated it! I joined the team and made that my passion! Of course my father and my grandfather where over the moon! I was part of the winning team but they'd never actually say well-done! No, not the done thing!” He rolled his eyes.

“Well that sucks for you! I mean my Dad used to display my school reports on the tour bus and of course at home he has a whole room with all my school trophies in and what not! Kinda embarrassing!”

I turned back around and walked along the wall looking at all the photos hung up. I noticed his school photos straight away and giggled.

“I'm glad my school wasn't the only one that made you do one normal year photo and one bizarre one!” I was of course mentioning that one of the photos was just all the boys in the photo lined up neatly the second was at the end of the year all laying around or wearing silly hats, my school had done the same.

“Yes it was a tradition I think! Again I didn't choose where I went to school! It's a given! I went to the same school as all the male members of my family have done dating back to Christ knows when!” He spoke with a bitter hint to his tone.

I made myself busy looking at the rows of boys. I was looking for Cameron. “Ah I've found you!” I pointed to a young man of 17 with messy brown hair and a slight smirk to his smile.

“So you have!”

I moved along the wall until I found his university photos. “I bet the girls at Oxford adored you! They must have thrown themselves at you!”

I thought about what he'd said. He'd been controlled his whole childhood no wonder he had control issues now.

“So I am taking a guess that your parents don't approve of your involvement with the record label?!” I glanced at some of the platinum discs that where at the end of the wall.

“No they hate it! They wanted me to be a barrister or judge like my father is! But I hated it! I didn't want to be that, I didn't want to follow in my brothers footsteps! I was smarter than him! I always have been! I knew I could be successful in my own terms so I after university I moved to America, I got a job in a large corporate law firm and worked my arse off to learn everything I could!

By the age of 20 I had started my own corporate law firm, I knew all my competition and I went out to kill them off slowly then when they were on their knees I bought them out too! I moved back over to London in 2011 and bought this place and bought the controlling shares in the record label!

I run my law firm from London now! The American branch has a very driven manager back in the states so I know it's safe but I do check up on it every now and then!”

He paused, he was proud of his success and I knew he was ruthless in getting what he wanted. He'd made that clear when we had had dinner at The Shard.

“Music is my passion! I adore it! It wasn't easy, you would know how hard the industry is better than anyone but I fought for my label and what we stand for! By the end of 2012 the record label had gained international success and artists where coming to us in their droves! I also either own or invest in several different business here and abroad! I work hard and I play even harder for my money. I didn't get where I am by being the nice guy! The harder I work the more success I have! I'm well off and I don't really have to worry about money now!”

I grinned as I turned to walk up the other side of the wall to study the books. I stopped mid step. “The Internet lied to me! It said you were 27! How old are you?!” I didn't care I just wanted to know.

He tilted his head. “Will it make a difference to you and me?!”

I shook my head. “No why would it?! I don't care how old you are! I just wanna know!”

He smiled. “I'm 30 this year! I guess I look older for my age and the Internet always lies!”

I attempted to work out the age gap between us in my head.

“That's a 10 year age gap! Tell me what you’re thinking Evan.” He looked worried.

I smiled and shook my head. “I wasn't thinking anything other than I'm really bad at mental math!” I laughed. “Your age doesn't bother me! My age doesn't bother you! It makes little difference to me!”

Age didn't mean shit to me but I knew my Dad wouldn't approve. I was almost 21 after all and Cameron wasn't like Sean so I hoped my father wouldn’t have issues with me being with him.