Chapter 1
CAMILA
I am Camila Anderson. I am 25 years old, and I come from a middle-class family. My family is well-known in the community, though we are middle-class people, my parents earned respect. I’m beautiful, charming, and humble, but unfortunately, everyone has weaknesses, and mine are impatience and naivety.
I got married to a man named Paul Anderson, a 34-year-old military officer who also came from a middle-class family. With his passion for becoming a military officer, his family supported him through everything. We have known each other well since childhood. As we grew older, our relationship became stronger, and gradually we fell in love with each other.
Paul was always there for me to protect, support, and comfort me. Then we decided to get married out of love. After our marriage, sudden news arrived.
I was in the room when Paul rushed in and said, “Babe, there is bad news.”
Out of fear, I gasped, “What is it, baby?”
He sighed and said, “Honey, I have been called on duty.”
“You mean you’re leaving for your military service?” I asked.
He stuttered while responding to me with a pale face, saying sadly, “Yes, my love. I’ve been called to go to the military base in Syria.”
I slowly sat on the bed, overwhelmed and shocked by the news I received from my husband, Paul. It felt like my world had just ended.
While I was sitting on the bed, I sobbed and said to him, “But it’s only been a month since we got married. What about that baby?” I asked.
He ran out of words and said, “Baby, everything will be fine,”
pretending like he wasn’t hurt by the news he received. But I knew deep down how he felt about it.
Not wanting to make things hard for him, I had to act strong. I wiped my tears and said to him, “Baby, you’re right, everything will be fine.”
I love him, and I want the best for him. Becoming and working as a military officer was his childhood dream because he always spoke about it.
The next day, he left to say goodbye to his friends and well-wishers. I sat on the balcony with a bottle of liquor, thinking about him leaving and how life would be without him. As I thought about that, I sipped on the liquor over and over again until I got drunk.
He got back home and saw me drunk and weak. With my sleepy eyes, I looked at him and saw how sad and disappointed he was to see me in that condition.
He took me to the room and said to me, “Babe, you don’t have to do this to yourself,” he said calmly.
He kissed me on the lips, neck, and forehead and gently put me on the bed. I pulled him back while he tried to pull away, and then I whispered to him, saying, “Baby, let’s make love tonight.”
Then, in the morning, I woke up and saw him packing. It was already about time for him to travel to Syria for his military service. I helped him pack his things. While we packed, I made funny jokes just to make him laugh. Then I asked him about last night. He smiled and looked at me, saying, “Babe, last night was amazing, and you’re so sweet, my love.”
That got me shyly smiling. Then I said, “Last night was the best night of my life.”
He moved calmly towards me, kissed me on the forehead, and said to me, “Babe, I love you so, so much, and I promise you that I will come back home to you.”
“And I promise you that I will wait for you to return too, my love,” I said cheerfully because I was really happy about last night.
Although, on the other side, I was sad he was leaving me.
After packing his stuff, he took a shower while I prepared his favorite meal for him.
After everything, we drove to the airport, got inside, and waited a little for his boarding pass. It was time for him to leave, we hugged, kissed, and said our goodbyes.
I cried and drove back home. Without his presence in the house, everything feels empty, and it felt like my world had ended. I lay on the bed and wept continuously. I lost my appetite for food and felt weak.
As days passed, I became very lonely and bored with myself and everything, but I still tried to be strong. I decided to look for a job so I wouldn’t sit at home all day.
Days go by, and I couldn’t find a job. Then suddenly, I saw a restaurant with a vacancy.
I got employed, and there I worked as a cook. As days passed by, I continued working there as a cook, earning income and making new friends who cheered me up whenever I got bored.
There, I met a friend named Stephanie, a 28-year-old lady who worked as my assistant cook.
She is a very beautiful and cheerful lady filled with love and respect. She loves parties, clubs, and always wants to live a flashy lifestyle. She has many admirers at the restaurant and talks to a lot of different men. We became close friends, and people thought we were siblings because of how close we were.
Stephanie, being my close friend during that period, I trusted her with my problems and secrets, and she trusted me with hers. With Stephanie being older, I would go to her for advice and comfort, and I trusted her advice. Each and every day, we would hang out after work.
Stephanie introduced me to men I don’t know, I mean a lot of guys I barely know, while trying to get me a guy, but I turned down every proposal from these men I knew nothing about. She didn’t know I was married, and I was scared to share that with her.
Well, I need to let her know that I am married so she will stop bringing men to me and stop introducing men to me…