The Cam Girl

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Prologue

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Mackenzie cursed under her breath. The rain had soaked her feet as well as the lower part of her stockings. She put away her flimsy umbrella and went to the ticket machine.

The station was very busy, as morning rush hour was upon her. Most people barely gave anyone or anything a second glance, as they went about their business. A group of school boys were the exception, failing to be even remotely subtle as they ogled her.

Dream on. Mackenzie thought, sighing. She knew why they were staring at her, but chose to ignore it as she did whenever it happened. Her clothes always did that.

Getting her ticket from the machine, Mackenzie stated to descend the steps that led to where the barriers were. She queued up behind a man wearing a suit. He was completely drenched from top to bottom, his curly hair dripping onto his suit jacket. Well, I could be worse off, then... Mackenzie reflected, suddenly thankful for her flimsy umbrella.

The soaked man passed the gates, as did Mackenzie shortly after. They were both headed for the same platform.

Mackenzie seated herself, waiting for the train to arrive. By the corner of her eye she could still see the school boys talking excitedly amongst themselves, even pointing at her, from across the tracks. Oh, for fuck's sake!

She turned her head away from the pathetic display. To her left were the stairs she'd come from. Quite a few people were still descending towards the platform, however what caught Mackenzie's eye was an old lay at the top of the stairs, with two heavy looking bags on either hand. She appeared to handle them well enough but she needed to help herself up with one hand, forcing her to try and lift the two bags with only one hand, which was proving to be impossible.

No one helped her.

Just as Mackenzie began to lift herself to go and assist her, the soaked man passed right in front of her. He went up the stairs and exchanged a few words with the old woman, who nodded gratefully. He turned himself around, grabbing both bags as he accompanied her pace down the stairs.

As he did so, Mackenzie got to look at him for the very first time. He was a tall young man with slightly tanned skin. His face looked as if it had been chiselled for hours, his jaw line well defined, his cheek bones protuberant. And as the old lady told him something during their descent, his face showed nothing but a permanent pleasant smile.

The train arrived. Mackenzie felt quite self-conscious as she followed the two people she'd been snooping on.

'You don't have to carry all of them, dear.' The old lady told him.

'It's nothing. Do you have someone to help you with taking this home?'

Despite his best efforts to hide it, he couldn't quite conceal that English wasn't his first language. Italian, she guessed. She sat down in one of the chairs of the carriage, keeping an eye on the two of them standing next to the door with the bags near their feet.

'My son is waiting for me at the station I'm getting off at, don't worry.' She assured him. 'Where in Italy are you from?'

'The accent?' He asked her, looking disappointed in himself for not hiding it better.

'The accent.'

'How do you know I'm not just a son of immigrants?' He asked, amused.

'Most people that are exaggerate their accent, they don't hide it. And no one from these parts helps out an old hag like me.'

He blushed before replying.

'I came from a small community near Naples.'

'Beautiful place, I went there on my honeymoon.'

They exchanged a few more pleasantries until the old lady left at her stop. The man leaned back against the subway's wall, running a hand through his moist hair. When he leaned, his white shirt tightened against his body, revealing a very broad and toned torso. Up close now, Mackenzie could see the sawdust like stubble, as well as the brown fading into green in his eyes.

Mackenzie found herself licking her lips.

She managed to stop doing so, but not from looking his way.

As the next stop was reached, the train slowed down, and the man looked back at her. Blushing, Mackenzie looked away quickly. She waited a moment before looking again. He hadn't looked away either, making her feel like a creep. He smiled, though. He flashed her with a dazzling sweet smile that seemed to suit his face. Mackenzie felt herself return the smile.

The doors opened and, still with a half-smile, the gorgeous figure turned, exiting the train. It started moving again and Mackenzie sighed, unsure of what that had been about.

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Part 1 of 4 | "All the other colours are just colours, but purple seems to have a soul – when you look at it, it's looking back at you." |

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Jarno ducked quickly beneath a building balcony, as the skies began to water again. "Goddamnit!" His watch showed him it was 7:30 PM. A few passers-by opened their umbrellas and continued their paths, not noticing or caring about his annoyance.

It had been a long, tiring day. Meetings and interviews had maintained him occupied throughout. All he wanted was a hot shower and a good night's sleep back at his hotel room. The downpour that had soaked him during the early hours of the morning did nothing to improve the outlook of a very boring day.

His clothes had dried, but the late afternoon rain was looking as though it wanted him wet again. Jarno wondered if it would be best to make a run for it or just attempt to wait it out until the rain went away.

'Today is just not your lucky day, is it?'

The voice came from underneath one of the umbrellas, whose carrier had stopped just in front of him. Jarno recognized her instantly. It was the girl from the subway. Of course he'd recognized her instantly. She was shorter than him, her eyes level with his shoulders. Her clothing choices were a bit bold, a low cut white vest covered by a blue shirt (which highlighted her large breasts), a patterned above-the-knee skirt, as well as some black stockings. It was odd, yet strangely alluring.

Her most noticeable feature, though, was the purple hair. It was a deep dark purple, reaching below her shoulders. And now that he was close to her, Jarno realised her eyes were dark blue and had only seemed purple due to the combination with her hair.

'It's still an ongoing experience...' Jarno replied, friendly.

'Well, you are getting wet again, here.' She said, failing to hide her amusement.

'Your concern is touching.'

She shrugged with a sideways smirk. God, she looked adorable!

'They don't call me a people person for nothing...'

'Who calls you a people person?'

'Uh, people.'

'But of course.' Jarno conceded with a mock bow.

Fidgeting with the umbrella between her fingers, she appeared to have decided to make him beg for it.

'Where are you heading to?' He asked her, conceding.

'Home.'

Jarno snorted, closing his eyes momentarily. When he reopened them, she was smiling innocently.

'People person, was it?'

'Yep.'

'Anyway, would you happen to be going anywhere near the Hilton?'

'Not really.' She replied, leaving him not knowing how to respond for a beat. 'But, uh, if you wanted to kill some time, I may help you with that.'

'What do you have in mind?'

'Want to go for a walk?'

Jarno thought about it for a few seconds. His desire for a bath and some sleep had been very quickly overshadowed by the desire to be around the force of cuteness and awkward humour that was this purple haired girl.

'I'd love to.'

He got underneath her umbrella, having to lower himself to her height so that they were both covered from the rain. He also placed his arm around her shoulders to balance himself. Well, he'd also wanted to do it to be close to her, but since that sounded a little creepy even to himself, he would pick the first reason if she asked. She didn't though, but smiled knowingly at him.

'Thanks for the lift.' He said, as they started to walk through the crowds of people. 'I'm Jarno.' He pronounced it as it was meant to be, "Yarno".

'Don't mention it. Nice to meet you, name's Mackenzie.'

'Mackenzie?' Jarno tested the name. As he suspected, the pronunciation wasn't too good and she laughed.

'Sorry, you probably hate having people do that...'

He did, but he felt there was very little Mackenzie could do to make him stop smirking at her.

'Don't worry about it.'

'You can just call me Mac, if you prefer.'

'I'll try to keep practicing Mackenzie.'

'So, where are you from?' She asked.

'Italy. And you?'

As soon as he had said it he felt like an idiot. Obviously from here, you idiot...

'It's not that obvious, actually.' Mackenzie laughed, understanding his mistake. 'I'm from Toronto.'

'Canada?'

'That's right. I've been living here for almost seven years.'

'Was it difficult moving here?' Jarno asked, interested. Her voice was soft and smooth, and he was enjoying listening to her speak about herself.

'At first. I came alone, so it was a bit lonely at the beginning, but I've made a few good friends.'

'Sounds like you enjoy living here...'

'I do. This is home for me now.' Mackenzie said, whilst guiding them across a zebra walkway, before looking at him. 'Do you have anywhere to be, or can I get you for myself for a while to grab a bite?'

He looked back into her eyes, feeling as if he would do anything to be around her for as long as he could.

'Not really. I'm yours for the next couple of hours.'

Mackenzie seemed amused by something.

'This way.' She said in a slightly raspy voice.

Leading the way, Mackenzie guided Jarno through the streets, edging away from the main street they were on to more secondary ones, through a path she seemed familiar with. It wasn't too long of a walk, despite being forced to wobble together slowly under the umbrella.

'Over there.' Mackenzie pointed towards a small corner diner. It was a cosy little place that reminded him of something off a stereotypical American movie. "Mike's Diner" was what the sign above it flashed, as the night descended on them.

They got away from the downpour by entering through the door. As Mackenzie closed her umbrella, Jarno looked around. The place had a rustic, old school feel to it, with all the American movie style of furniture, just as he suspected when viewing it from the outside. It was also quite close to a full house.

Mackenzie had identified a vacant table and guided him to it. They sat down at their booth, Jarno looking around in wonder.

'What do you think?' Mackenzie asked, smirking.

'It's pretty awesome, not gonna lie...' Jarno confessed.

'Looks like I got you a new regular, Mike!' She beamed at a middle-aged man passing by. He was quite obese. Well, that would be understating it. He was the fattest person he'd ever seen, with more double-chins than he could count, and neatly cropped blonde hair.

'You shall forever have my gratitude, honey.' He said, stopping with a notepad and a pen in front of their booth.

'Don't tell me I'm getting the privilege of being served by the boss himself?' Mackenzie asked him, with a playful look on her face.

'I saw you get in and just had to come serve my best customer. And I also saw that hand there, fella!' The man pointed at Jarno with the pen. 'One complaint from the lady and they'll never find your body.'

Jarno felt himself blush at being called out, but eased again as he noticed Mackenzie was looking at him with an amused expression.

'Yes, sir.' He said.

Mike laughed loudly.

'Hey Robbie! Ya hear that? I'm a sir, now!'

Someone behind the counter shouted: 'I'll greet you as Sir Porkshop from now on!'

'We've been over this, Robbie: it's either Sir Fat Ass or nothin'! He turned back to Mackenzie. 'What's the order then, for you and pretty boy here?'

'Mike, I want you to give us the greasiest, biggest, most likely to shorten our lifespans considerably, burgers that you've got.'

'So, the usual?'

'Are you questioning my life choices?'

'Will you be wanting large fries with that?' Mike asked, still not prying his eyes away from the pad he was writing on.

'Do you really need to ask that?' Jarno put in, trying to keep a straight face.

The large man shot him a quick look, before telling Mackenzie: 'He's gotten himself a point.' He started to leave but first gave him a rough pat on the shoulder. 'Still on the negatives though, pretty boy.'

After he left, Jarno could tell Mackenzie was enjoying the show.

'I think you've passed the test.' She said, her hands up her sleeves next to her face which hung sideways. It was her cutest pose yet, which was saying something.

Still on the negatives apparently.' He managed to say in a normal voice.

'I never said it was his test.'

He didn't know what to respond to that, and, not wanting to blush yet again in front of her, Jarno changed the subject.

'This seems like a friendly place.'

'It is.' She smiled genuinely, looking around. 'When I got here I didn't really have anyone, and Mike helped me out. I would have been very hungry in those first weeks if it wasn't for him.'

'Why did you move here?' Jarno asked. What had been the motives behind her going here if it had been so difficult at first?

'My parents kicked me out.' Mackenzie curtly said, a shadow passing across her face.

Regretting asking it instantly, Jarno squeezed her hand to comfort her.

'I'm sorry I asked.'

'It's not your fault I have assholes for parents. It's okay.'

Mackenzie closed her fingers around his hand, a smile making its way back onto her features. Once more, Jarno felt slightly overwhelmed by her beauty. It was the eyes, he thought. He felt a strange serenity transmitted by the two dark blue dots in front of him.

Their food arrived just then. Mike gave him a glance but said nothing as he placed their orders in front of them. Mackenzie hadn't been lying about the burgers in her order description: they were both disgusting and delicious looking at the same time. He took a bite.

'What's the verdict?' She asked him, as she bit down on her own burger.

Jarno made a show of chewing, carefully placing his food back down on his plate, before looking at her with a neutral expression.

'I can almost feel my lifespan shortened by a few months with the first bite.'

'That's how you know it's good!' Mackenzie laughed, reaching over for two fries. 'Now, come on! I've told you my life story leading up to here. Now it's your turn...'

'Alright.' He considered how to begin. 'Well, I was born in the middle of a very pretty nowhere in Italy. It was a cool place to grow up in, but since I was fifteen I've been living in the UK for my job.'

'What's your job?'

'I, uh...'

'What?' Mackenzie was intrigued by his hesitation.

'I'd rather not say.' He muttered apologetically.

She leaned forward.

'Are you a hitman?' Mackenzie laughed, making him chuckle as well. 'Crack dealer? Professional thief? Come on, dude, give me something...'

'Yeah, yeah... Very amusing. It's not that it's bad, it's just that you'll treat me differently, maybe. And I'm enjoying you at ease and natural for now...' Jarno admitted.

'Are you?' She asked mischievously. 'Are you enjoying me?'

'Yes. Are you enjoying me?'

'Yes.'

The simple word made him feel lighter.

'Would you mind if I didn't say what I do, either?' She continued after a pause.

'Why?'

'It's like it is with you: it's not bad, I'm just not sure if you'll treat me the same after you know...'

Jarno wondered what she could possibly fear from her secret, feeling curiosity fill him. Then he realised those were probably the same feelings that had gone through Mackenzie's head about him, which made him feel slightly hypocritical.

'Okay.' He simply said. 'There is something I need to ask you, though, and if you say no it will seriously scar my opinion of you.'

Mackenzie looked puzzled. Jarno signalled her to lean forwards, as he did the same.

He whispered: 'Do you like Tarantino movies?'

Her unrestrained laughter was one of the sweetest sounds he'd ever heard in his life.

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'No way!'

'I'm telling you.'

'How can you think the first season of Digimon was better than the second?' Mackenzie asked.

They were walking from Mike's Diner back to her house, as Jarno had insisted on making sure she got home well. The rain had stopped whilst they were having dinner.

'It had the original characters!' Jarno replied.

'The second had the original and new ones...'

'Alright, this will convince you: I watched the second one in English but the first in Italian.'

'Sounds promising... Go on.' She commented, as she walked next to him.

'In the Italian version they obviously recorded the lines with every actor during a few days, getting all the material they needed. And afterwards, they realised there were a few lines missing.' He shot her a glance.

'Oh dear...'

'There is one particularly memorable scene in which an eight-year-old boy suddenly goes through puberty and his voice goes all Tommy Lee Jones for a line before instantly returning to its normal high pitched self.'

Mackenzie giggled, stopping on her tracks. Jarno realised they were next to a building doorway, meaning they were probably at her place, and so stopped as well.

'That does sound better than the version I saw... You'll have to show it to me.'

'You got it.' He smiled.

They stared at each other for a moment.

'So, did you enjoy not getting wet?' She asked.

'I did. I was looking forward to not getting wet again sometime soon.'

'Well, they predict better weather for the coming days...' Mackenzie flashed her trademark sideways smirk, which indicated she wasn't going to make it easy for him.

He put his hands inside his pockets, knowing it made his shirt tighten around his well-defined six pack. It made him feel vain, but he noticed her shift her eyes there quickly.

'I'm rubbish at this, but I'm trying to ask you on a date.'

'"Rubbish"?' Mackenzie smirked.

'I've been in England for five years, shut up.' He replied good-naturedly.

The sentence was barely out of his mouth, before hers was on his. He felt one of her hands in his hair, pulling him to her. Mackenzie kissed him with enthusiasm, parting his lips with her tongue. Jarno was about to take his hands off his pockets and grab hold of her, when she let go of his lips.

Opening his eyes again, Jarno saw her beautiful blue eyes inches away from his, her nose grazing his. There was determination all over her face.

'We've already been on a date, just now.' Mackenzie informed him, with a whisper. 'That was how you asked for a second.' He felt her place a piece of paper in his pocket next to his hand. Then she stepped back, and turned her back to him, walking home.

Feeling himself open-mouthed, Jarno closed it and realised the paper had her phone number.

'I'll call you.' He managed to gasp out.

'You better.' She replied, not looking back. Jarno noticed her amused tone, though, just as the entrance door to her building shut behind her.

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Despite his best efforts, Jarno couldn't wait too long before calling her. Not only was he in the US for a limited time, but he thought that playing difficult to get was a terrible idea, especially since it was perfectly obvious that Mackenzie knew he was interested in her.

So, less than twenty-four hours after Mackenzie had kissed him next to her door step, she received a phone call.

They arranged to take a sightseeing trip around the city, Mackenzie serving as a makeshift tour guide for him as they wandered through places she knew to be of interest. There were moments when they would pass by locations she clearly had no back story for, but that didn't stop her from getting around the issue.