Three weeks had passed since the whole incident at the Caine reunion. Cameron had toughened herself up and decided that she would no longer mope over a man. It simply was not her and she had found it tiring and uneventful. Nate hadn't called, no messages...no nothing. She was on her own and soon she would have to start job hunting, because Nate had fired her.

She sat at the counter of her favorite bar, with a glass of martini in front of her. Today she didn't come to get a man, she came because, it was her favorite place to be. Sighing, she took a sip of the drink and stared ahead at the big screen TV that had a game going on.

"Hey", a voice said from behind and Cameron rolled her eyes. She wasn't in the mood.

She turned anyway with a plastered smile on her face, but it immediately fell when she saw who it was. Nate.

Getting up from the chair, she attempted to move past him, but he held her by the wrist, stopping her in her tracks.

"Let me go", she hissed, looking at his hand on her, then at him, cocking her brows in challenge.

"We need to talk", he said in a flat tone.

"I have nothing to say to you", she ground out between tightly clenched teeth, then she sighed lightly. She was too affected by his touch to think straight. She didn't want to feel anything upon seeing him, but the feeling was way too powerful to go along with what her mind wanted.

"Cameron please", he exclaimed. For weeks she had been the only thing occupying his mind and he knew that he had to see her. He had forgiven her after realizing that her past was just what it was... The past, and he planned on making amends and starting afresh.

Cameron stood there, staring at him, while she swallowed the lump that formed in her throat. Seeing him again bought back the memories of when they were together, but she didn't want to hold onto those memories any longer. She didn't want to hold on to Nate. She had built walls, and he smashed them. Again, she had grown to love someone, and again, she had gotten hurt. She couldn't let that happen again. She couldn't, no matter how much her heart demanded otherwise...her mind couldn't do the same.

"You have no hold on me. I have no hold on you. We are mere strangers now", she told him in a firm voice, glad with the way her voice sounded.

Forcefully, she tugged her hand from his, giving him one final stare.

"Goodbye Nate", she said and turned to leave.

"I know you love me", he called and she froze in the spot.

She swallowed, briefly closing her eyes to prevent the tsunami of emotions from drowning her.

Turning to face him, she said. "Don't flatter yourself. You were just another lay. Love had nothing to do with it", she exclaimed, but the shakiness in her voice, told him otherwise.

Nate pretended to be unaffected by her words. "I don't believe that for one minute", he said with confidence to his words.

Cameron bit the walls of her jaw. Her eyes were stinging and her throat was burning, ready to break the dam in her eyes. She really wanted to leave before the tears fell...especially in his presence. She no longer wanted him in her life. She didn't want the hurt, and so, doing the one thing she knew would have him running, she pulled a man that was nearby and bought her lips to his. She cringed inwardly at the unpleasantness of the kiss, but she didn't let go.

The man, however, seemed to be enjoying the kiss as he wrapped his hands around the small of her waist and pulled her closer.

"Want to get out of here sweet thing?", he mumbled against her lips.

Cameron managed a stiff smile. "Seems like you read my mind", she retorted with a sly smile.

The man grinned and took her arms in his, walking with her out the bar. Cameron didn't turn to spare Nate a second glance, but she knew he was fuming...

And that he was.

Nate thought he'd burst into a million pieces as his eyes glued to the scene that was taking place before him. He had wanted to rip the man to shreds, but the shock coursing through his body was too immense for him to even move.

A voice in the back of his head, reminded him that this was truly who Cameron was. There was no room for change, and although he knew that she had done it out of spite, something in the back of his head told him that she would probably f*ck the man out of spite also.

Grinding his teeth, he scoffed. He had wasted his time, thinking that a person as promiscuous as Cameron Crawford would think of anything other than sex.

This was it.

He tried.

He failed.

He was done!.

As soon as Cameron reached the corner of the bar, she pulled her hands from the stranger's.

"I changed my mind", she said, walking off.

The man grabbed her arm. "What the hell! Come on!", he exclaimed in hysteria.

Cameron slapped his hand from hers. "Get the f*ck away from me!", she spat angrily, her voice cracking.

The man held up his hand in surrender. "Fine fine!", he exclaimed before he moved in the direction of the bar.

Cameron leaned against the wall, the sobs immediately breaking out from her throat. She cried because she knew she loved Nate, although she didn't want to. She cried because she knew she had made a grave mistake, the moment she kissed that man.

And she cried because she hurt. She was tired of hurting, but this time she was done.

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A/N: Thank you for reading!!!

Thank you for your kind words. You have encouraged me to write this chapter!!! 😘😘😘❤❤

Until next time...

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Xoxo

Juju