Chapter 32

welcome to the divorce era! don’t worry, in 3 more chapters everything will get better (unless i add more chapters, in that case in more than 3 more chapters)

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The months passed by quicker than Cameron could ever anticipated, and before she knew it, she had settled comfortably into her new editing job, and was on the way to publish another of her books. There was also something she had been working on in the back burner, sometimes she wasn’t quite sure if she would ever publish but something that was helping her through her unrequited feelings for her best friends (which is totally going away soon).

When the international dates for the reputation tour came up, Cameron jumped into the cue line once more to see if she could somehow surprise Taylor in Japan. Unfortunately, international swifties were as crazy as the American ones and Cameron found herself pouting in front of her computer screen midday, cursing the company wifi.

“Our wifi is actually not that bad when you compare it to other-” Jameson, a co-worker rolled his chair over to Cameron’s desk and made a face when he saw the sold out stadium tickets. “Oh.”

Cameron made a noise of frustration and closed out the browser as aggressively as possible before going back to the manuscript she was tasked with editing. Although she found herself looking online for plane tickets to Japan, it wasn’t a bad country to visit in November, they have a really breathtaking autumn season.

Which was how Cameron ended up booking an one week solo trip to Japan the week of Taylor’s concert, and decided that many she could use her face card to get into the stadium (Abigail teased her reluctantly for that, but it wasn’t like she could talk to Taylor about surprising Taylor in her own tour).

Summer came and went, and then Autumn swung in along with new news about Taylor and Joe’s relationship as they finally went public with it. Which also meant that Jameson, the life-long swiftie he claimed he is, was gushing over the relationship at least once a week.

“Cameron! Don’t you think they’re adorable? There’s news out there saying that he was actually there for her all throughout twenty-sixteen and that he pulled her out of the tough times,” Jameson shoved his phone into Cameron’s face, and she narrowed her eyes at the photo and felt her grip tightened on the armrest. “They’re my parents, oh my gosh.”

Cameron’s mind flashed through the earliest day of twenty-sixteen, when her best friend could barely pull herself out of bed and Cameron had to sit by the bedside and force her to just eat something. She thought of the way Taylor walked through the house like a ghost, and how Cameron used to wait up on Friday night in front of the television hoping the blonde would come out for their weekly movie nights. What did Joe know of that?

“You don’t like them together?” Jameson frowned, and pulled back his phone and he looked ready to argue with Cameron about why he was right and she was wrong, and she was in no mood for that. “I just think it’s sweet that he was there for her darkest time.”

I was there for her darkest time.

“I just think he is getting more credit than he deserved,” Cameron spoke through gritted teeth.

“And how would you know that, you weren’t there,” Jameson rolled his chair back to the cubicle and gave Cameron the finger. “I bet you’re one of those haters that pretend to like her now that Taylor is back and better than before.”

There was a moment where Cameron picture storming across the office and beating the shit out of that sorry excuse of a man, but she was in no mood to visit Waverly in HR and she liked the job too much to risk it all on someone’s opinion, so she settled for putting on her headphone and refusing to talk to him for the rest of the day.

Instead of calling Taylor that night, she called Abigail instead.

“I mean who does he think he is? HE WASN’T EVEN THERE AND WHAT DOES HE KNOW ABOUT JOE ANYWAYS?” Cameron chopped the onions more aggressively than needed, and turned around to her iPad on the island, where Abigail was sitting on her dining table, a spoonful into her own dinner. “And I love Joe, don’t get me wrong, he’s sweet. I mean at least he’s sweet whenever I’m there, but Lizzie told me that he thinks I would throw him into the sun if possible. So maybe it is all an act. Abby, what if he’s a horrible boyfriend and I just don’t know that because he acts really nice to Taylor in front of me?”

“Are you okay, Cammy? You never really cared about other people’s opinion that much before,” Abigail placed her spoon down and she looked genuinely concerned. Honestly, Cameron was also concerned for herself. “You know you were there for Taylor, and Taylor know you were there for her so-”

“Does she though? Does she really know?” Cameron couldn’t help but interrupt, and turned around to her chopping board the second she realized the words that slipped out of her mouth. She hadn’t meant to say them, and beside the tipsy conversation she had with Lizzie at the Christmas party, she hadn’t really given herself time to think about where the feeling was coming from.

Abigail was quiet, and maybe she was making faces but Cameron was too afraid to turn around and look. “Where is this coming from? Are you two fighting?”

“No, it’s just,” Cameron dropped the carrots into the pot slowly, before dropping in the onion and watching the food sizzle. “I don’t know, it’s nothing, forget it.”

“Cameron Mae Elsher.” Abigail’s voice was calm and Cameron turned around slowly. “What’s wrong?”

“I mean have you heard the album?” Cameron forced a laugh and dumped in her potatoes before putting the lid on top of the pot and facing Abigail for the first time since the confession. “It’s like, she wrote this whole album for Joe, and then they made their relationship public, which I have nothing against because I am never against Taylor’s happiness, and from what I know, they make each other really happy. And the fans are looking at this relationships and thinking, ‘oh wow, Joe is such a gentleman for helping Taylor through the toughest time of her life’ and it’s not like I need validation from the fans, but it just feels like everything I did was disregarded before, oh look, there’s Joe!”

Cameron took a deep breath, and felt something wet slid down her cheeks. She wiped the tears away and cursed herself for being weak.

“Okay, okay,” Abigail’s face remained stoic. “I really want to hug you know, Cammy. But I can see where you’re coming from, and as much as I want to be happy for you, I do not think she wrote Dress for either of her actual best friends.”

“Yeah, she didn’t carve my name into any bedpost,” Cameron laughed tearfully, and Abigail wiggled her eyebrow suggestively.

“Not any bedpost you know of. But I think you should really talk to her about it, I don’t think she meant to make you feel this way,” Abigail’s voice was soft, gentle, and Cameron turned back to her pot to add water and her curry block she had gotten in the Japanese market. “Maybe she actually has a vault of songs she wrote just for you but felt like it was too personal to share.”

Cameron closed the lid again and turned back to Abigail. “Maybe. I don’t know, I’m going to see if I can score any last minute tickets into her last Japan concert, maybe we’ll talk then.”

“Just call Tree,” the redhead suggested, and Cameron made a face.

“Right, and while I’m at it I’ll also call up Sandra Bullock’s publicist and ask if we can meet up,” the sarcastic comment slipped out of her lips before Cameron could stop it and Abigail sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’ll figure it out when I get to Japan.”

“Well, I can’t help you on either front but I am always up to fly to New York if you need me.”

“Thank you, you’re not that bad, Anderson,” Cameron flashed her two finger guns, and Abigail laughed loudly. They talked until Cameron’s curry was ready, and they stayed on call until they were getting ready for bed, and Cameron forgot her worry about Taylor for just one night.

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Unlike many people, Cameron enjoys long flights. Although she hadn’t been on many long flights, she could easily lose herself in writing stories and catching up on movies she wouldn’t otherwise watch. The trip to Japan was no different, and Cameron spent the majority of the trip on the airplane’s wifi trying to find Tree Paine’s number.

A few hours before they landed, Cameron gave up and decided that it wasn’t unreasonable to just stand outside the concert venue and see if she could get a security guard to bring her Tree Paine, which turned out totally unnecessary as Cameron managed to bump into the publicist barely a few hours after she checked into her hotel on the street.

“Tree Paine?”

Okay, in hindsight, maybe Cameron shouldn’t have called the redhead’s full name, but she was desperate and sleep deprived. “Do I know you?”

Cameron smiled and held out her hand. “Cameron Elsher.”

Tree shook her hand tentatively, and Cameron wondered for the first time if Taylor had ever mentioned her to her publicist. There never really was a need for a publicist for the two of them because more often than not they hang out in their shared apartment and go their own way in the morning, so maybe Tree doesn’t know her.

“Can I help you with anything?”

“Yes, actually,” Cameron beamed brightly. “I was wondering if there was any way you could get me into Taylor’s last concert, I wanted to surprise her but swifties are actually crazy this year around, and I had never had to fight hard for tour tickets, but obviously I didn’t get it. But I really want to surprise her.”

“Um, I’m not too comfortable about doing that,” Tree frowned, and she clutched her bag tightly around her body, and Cameron frowned at the well-dressed man she saw moving in on them.

“I’m sure Taylor mentioned me before,” Cameron laughed awkwardly, and Tree shook her head, and the brunette considered screaming into the sky. This was not happening. “Well, sorry to bother you, I guess.”

Cameron all but ran away before Tree could give her a response. She would never classify herself as someone who was afraid of an awkward social situation, but this was one moment in her life she definitely do not want to re-live.

Abigail laughed at her for five minutes straight after Cameron retold the story, and Taylor caught on to the change of scenery barely a minute into their facetime call.

“Are you in a hotel right now?” Taylor leaned closer towards her phone, before pulling back and raising her eyebrows. “Are you in Japan?”

Cameron would try to deny it, but Taylor had that look on her face that told Cameron there was no arguing with the logic. “You can’t prove anything.”

“Are you trying to surprise me on tour?”

“Okay, maybe I was. But I still don’t have tickets and your publicist is a fucking asshole, which I would be too if a stranger came up to me on the street, but that is besides the point,” Cameron grumbled and Taylor laughed. “The point is, I do not have tickets.”

“I thought I’ve told you that I can get you tickets any time you want to come to a show?”

“But I really wanted to surprise you,” Cameron pouted, and Taylor laughed again.

“You’re cute. So I’m assuming you’re the quote-unquote weirdo that Tree mentioned to me this afternoon?” Taylor raised her eyebrows, and Cameron gasped, somewhat offended. She was not a weirdo. “She told me that you were quite confident that she knew me.”

“I can’t believe your publicist doesn’t know me!” Cameron pouted and a new british voice that was not Emma joined the call.

“Don’t be offended, Tree didn’t know I existed until recently.”

“What’s the London Boy doing on our call?” Cameron made a face, and Joe laughed and Taylor pulled the blonde man into her side while staring at him with love in her eyes. “If you two are going to make out, can we do it after I’m off call?”

Taylor blushed and looked away. “Anyways, I’ll get you tickets, don’t worry. And stop teasing my boyfriend, I know you secretly like him deep down.”

“Right, really really deep down,” Cameron gave Joe a glare, and he hid out of screen. “Well, I’ll let the two of you make out now, I am about to brave the streets of Japan in hope that Tree doesn’t pop up again. And Tay, tell Tree that next time I see her I am fighting her because she called me a weirdo.”

“Will do,” Taylor’s face flushed brightly red and Cameron hang up before she had to watch the two of them kiss or something. Yep, this trip was turning out worse than she had anticipated. When she get her hands on Joe-

Get your shit together, Elsher.