SWEETER THAN HONEY

CLOSED . 

january something something, northwestern memorial hospital @camillercdriguez​

“AHT, aht, aht. Now, before you say anything,” Brandon had his hands up while he spoke, still sporting the blue medical gown and the thick uncomfortable bandage that was covering the wound that landed him here. He wasn’t trying to get defensive, or be unappreciative of the concern, but he’s done this song and dance before so he was trying to get everything out before she could get started, letting the words flow from him like he was reciting them off a paper, “I’m doin’ just fine. No, I didn’t see what happened. No, I don’t remember much of it.” Lie. He’d be going over every detail he could remember since the accident but he couldn’t just tell Camille that. People didn’t come to visit you in the hospital after getting bad news just to hear more bad news, so he was settling for something easy with a narrative he could control. “I was just heading to the garage to cool off for a bit, next thing I know I’m in the hospital.” He was chalking everything up to faulty luck, wrong place wrong time. “Docs said I got hit but all I can remember is champagne and confetti, so,”  Brandon lowered his hands and shrugged off something nonchalant. “—Yeah. Now my life’s all about green Jello-O and bad daytime TV.”

...

where: streets of chicago

who: open!!

Antonio’s recollection of Chicago before his return came in bits and pieces. Parts of his childhood when his house was a united one both parents under the same roof, then a lot of summers where the heat paralleled the excitement of the life his father was introducing him to. He’d forgotten about the cold of course and still without a car he was relying on cabs, ubers and his feet to get him from point A to B. This morning he awoke with the sudden urge to find a diner his father took him to, with no thoughts and just nostalgia guiding him a half hour later he found himself in front of upscale restaurant nothing from the flashes in his memory. As if remembering he could have checked this online he pulls out his phone, “This has got to be a joke,” he says aloud before sighing. “Maybe they changed locations…” still speaking to himself he tries his best to remember what name accompanied the bright flashy letter that read diner that day.

Camille walked down the street, looking at her phone as she read the texts from her older brother talking about how he wasn’t able to get a hold of her younger brother. He was wondering if she could check up on him and the only thing she could think of was the chaos of New Years. She turned her head when she heard a voice, slowly putting her phone down by her side. “What are you looking for?”

closed.

new year’s eve ╱ the grand ballroom

@camillercdriguez​​

THE ESCAPE FROM a gaggle of graying women puffed in fur shawls and perfumed in the kind of scents that made Brandon’s nose scrunch didn’t come easy and he couldn’t remember much of it after the fact, just a dull thump of flashbulbs exploding in his face from vintage cameras meant to give off an authentic touch and the freeing sensation of finally being released from a death tightening grip from a woman who, quite unfortunately, resembled his nan. He found himself ducked behind a waiter, using them almost like a shield until he was safely blended amongst the crowd for the first time since arriving with his luck putting him in the same path as someone familiar. “Why is it that every time I run into you I’m dressed like a jackass?” First Halloween and now this; a suit that looked too pristine, his hair slicked back. He smoothed a hand over velvet fabric that coated over his torso and let out a sigh, “Please tell me you’re freed up for a bit.” A quick glance over her shoulder told him that she wasn’t with someone at the moment, but he wasn’t one to just make assumptions. “If I have to take one more photo with the retired nurses of ‘89 I think I might just cancel the new year altogether.”

...

Camille turned her head when she heard Brandon’s voice. The first thing she did was let her eyes look him up and down before she let a smile come along her features. “You look great, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She reached up, fixing a strand of his hair as she dropped her hand down to her side. “Although the slick back hair does kind of make you look like a jackass.” She teased. She turned her head to look around her as she nodded her head. “Me and all my invisible friends are busy at the moment,” she joked as she reached for the glass being placed on the surface of the bar in front of her. She let her eyes drift back to Brandon as she tilted her head to the side. “You don’t like taking photos with retired nurses?” She teased.

As for the events that led to this moment, the dark-haired woman couldn’t remember exactly how she ended up like this. Her eyes blinked open to feel an incredible weight on her stomach, her hands dropping down to the pillar laying on top of her. A small groan leaving her lips as she tried to push it off her body. Her eyes moving towards the ceiling only to see a pair of eyes looking back down at her. “What... What happened? Can we get this off me, please? Please get this off me.” She knew in any normal situation, her own mind would have clicked in the fact this pillar weighed more than a single person could lift and she would have spoke more rationally but right now all she could think about was getting out from underneath this thing.

CAMILLE RODRIGUEZ | NYE EVENT OUTFIT

❝BEER, NACHOS. You can have whatever you want.❞ If she was to win and considering the hope he had for that to not happen, Brandon felt nothing malicious when giving out false promises. Basketball, ring toss. There was even a shooting game completed with a toy gun and a moving mechanical red n’ white target. Stands of all kinds lined up along the pier and they managed to slot into one at random. When Brandon looked up to see where their luck had placed them, he dropped those blue eyes that were so transfixed on the words BALLOON DARTS and had them fall back onto Camille. That arched brow of hers caused the corners of his lips to lift upwards all smirk like as he circled to the other side of her, ❝And I spend my time keepin’ people together until we reach an ER.❞ He slipped his hands back into his pockets while the smile that poked at his features widened into something much more saccharine. ❝You ain’t the only one with agile hands, Rodriguez.❞

...

Camille turned her head to look over at Brandon. “You should never tell a hungry woman she can have whatever she wants.” She teased, knowing how possible it was for her to lose this entire thing and make an ass out of herself. She walked past some of the stands, waiting for the perfect game to catch her eyes. She stopped at the stand with the balloons and the darts, turning herself to face the man who was walking next to her. She leaned her hip up against the stand as she let her dark hues rest on Brandon. “You do some amazing work out there so I can’t say that you probably won’t beat me at this. You got some life saving hands there.” She joked as she picked up the couple of darts with one hand, dropping some change with the other. “Alright... You ready to eat your shoes, Shapiro?”

11: Do you like someone?

"Um...”​

22: Do you want to have kids? How many?

“Yes and no... Sometimes I think yes because it’s something I’ve always wanted but then I think no. Because... Chicago feels like no place to raise kids.”

33: Do you have trust issues?

“I should but I don’t.”

55: Are you mean?

“I don’t think I am.”

66: Do you have a friend of the opposite sex who you can act your complete self around?

“I like to think I am myself around everyone.”

39: How old were you when you had your first kiss?

“I was fourteen and it was the night of homecoming. I went to kiss my date on the cheek and he did that cheesy thing where they turn their face so you kiss their lips instead... God, he thought that was so smooth.”

52: Do you believe everything happens for a reason?

“I guess it just depends on what it is.”

60: Do you wanna get married?

“I do.”

70: Is there anyone you would die for?

“There’s a whole list of people... It would take me all night to list them.”

Lucia couldn’t help but laugh at the memory, those times seeming much simpler. Her and Camille would walk aimlessly, all their snacks in tow, not a single worry furrow their brows. “We thought we’d be jet setting and having our own private planes by now!” she grinned, something comforting about the innocence of their younger selves. Lucia even let herself admit she sort of missed it. “That is important work.” she nodded the irony that they literally stood on opposite sides of the not so inconspicuous line in the sand between Syndicate and the law. “Unfortunately that’s pretty short story too. I think I’ve become even more jaded than my high school self!”

....

Camille pushed her cart slowly, leaning her arms down against the handle as she glanced at the items on the shelf. “God... If only.” She laughed, shaking her head at the dreams they had when they were little. All Cami wanted was to make enough money to keep her dad’s business floating and keep her brothers out of trouble but she hadn’t succeeded in any of that. “I’m trying,” she told her softly as she turned her head to look over at her. “Why do you believe that?”

Lucia reached down for some chips and some lollipops. “It is nice, I used to go through a whole bag of Vero in a day,” she mused more to herself. “Do you need the whole ‘you’re young and work isn’t everything’ speech?” she turned to her with a raised brow. “Work is work,” she repeated with a bit of a laugh. “Didn’t think being a landlord was in my future but here we are!” she smiled, “I like it though, I always enjoyed taking care of things I guess.” It wasn’t a complete lie but the job was a front and one that didn’t cause too much suspicions. Her apartment building in the city didn’t ask too many questions when she applied for the job, and seeing as she didn’t have any competition it was an easy in. 

...

Camille leaned against the front of her cart, lifting her foot to rest on the bottom of it. “Remember those days where we’d just hang out and eat chips like there wasn’t a single care in the world.” Sometimes she missed those days and it was mostly because back then her little brother wasn’t tangled in a life where she would flinch every time the phone rang. “Uh,” she laughed softly. “It’s hard not to make my whole life about work. There are families out there who deserve to know what happened to their loved ones and it’s my job to help figure that out.” She put her foot down and started to push the cart towards another aisle. “What about your love life? Got anything for me to live through?”