Chapter 13
Music, laughter, singing, dancing, games, cue card holding penguins, heated discussions, and anything else under the sun could be found when you stepped into Everybody Eats. That was one of the reasons Camilla had avoided it after she and Gonzo had split.
As the audience members poured into it from the show, it was so crowded that Camilla knew she could easily hide. Carefully she made her way towards the back and sat at a table that had one chair left from the huge group that had stolen the others.
I can’t believe that Gonzo did that to me. I can’t believe… Camilla’s thoughts were broken off as the waitress took her order and then went to refill the drinks at the groups table.
“Okay,” said a male reaching carefully for his glass, “go over it one more time. How did Camilla look when Gonzo started the song and how did she look when she left? I want to make sure that I’m picturing this correctly.”
“Ed, she just killed him. The look on his face! Why must Camilla continue to torture poor Gonzo like this?”
Camilla’s attention was caught by the mention of her name. How anyone could believe that she was torturing Gonzo, she really didn’t understand.
“Ryan, what about the look on Camilla’s face?”
“Beth, really” Ryan looked incredulous as he stared at her, “it’s like she’s blaming Gonzo for everything that’s gone wrong in the world. I thought she loved him; taking sign language to make sure she could talk to him but now, she doesn’t even give him the time of day.”
Camilla waited on pins and needles for the next response that was interrupted as a newcomer joined the group and had to be introduced to all sitting at the table.
“Ahh, yes Melissa,” Ed said slowly from his chair, “I’m so glad you could join us tonight. Before this debate heats up any further let me quickly introduce you to those at the table starting on my right. First we have Beth, next is Sara and continuing on we have Lisa, Ryan, Beauregard, Leyla, Nyssa, Kathy, Claudia, Maddie and that brings us back to you.”
“Ryan, my wonderful other half, don’t you think your protecting Gonzo just a little too much?”
“Lisa! She’s the one that left him. Camilla didn’t appreciate anything that he did to protect Isabella and her, not one little bit.”
“It’s really very hard for a father to find his place in the NICU,” Melissa chimed in. “The environment is so charged there. I’m not surprised that they split. Especially after Isabella passed away. So many other parents split when their children make it without huge complications, but not until the child is out of the NICU.”
“Ryan does have a point though,” Beth spoke up as she leaned over to allow the waitress to place the dinner salads in front of them. “Camilla can’t possibly realize just how protective Gonzo was of them.”
“Yea,” Claudia spoke up, “we don’t have a clue as to what Isabella looked like. I bet it’s better than anything we could come up with for the pair of a whatever and a chicken. You also can’t forget the fact that we have no clue what caused her death other than, oh how did they put it tonight?”
“Complications of prematurity,” Beauregard spoke.
“I’m not saying that Gonzo didn’t do a good job,” Melissa edged her way back into the conversation again, “he did an outstanding job keeping the press at bay and working to support them all. I heard a rumor that he’s already paid of the hospital bill. That’s an amazing feat as just one night in a NICU can cost over fifteen hundred dollars and that’s just for basics never mind if one needs ventilators and other support. But the fact remains that neither one understands what the other did for the family.”
“How often do you see this in other families, Melissa?” Sara asked.
“Every time I work. And that’s just for a simple relationship. Thank goodness they had that and more support than they knew what to do with.”
Camilla stared quietly down at her soup as the group continued to debate about her and Gonzo and the show in general. Her mind couldn’t adjust to all the information she had gotten from the group. She couldn’t believe that the public didn’t know what Isabella looked like, or the cause of her death.
Still avoiding attention Camilla paid for her uneaten meal and rushed towards the boarding house. She knew that they were still cleaning up from the show at the theater, but couldn’t bring herself to face the whole group after she had run out yet again.
Thoughts raced through her mind and she felt a little more melancholy realizing that as much as she thought that Gonzo didn’t know or understand what had gone on between her and Isabella she too didn’t understand how everything had affected him.
Quickly she scribbled a note and placed it on the door for Gonzo. All she could do now was hope that he would agree.
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