Dark as midnight sun, Smoke as black as charcoal Fills into our fragile lungs.
Cause when our demons come, Dancing in the shadows, To a game that can't be won.
cameron Bishop; 35 yrs | owner of mariner's marina
TW: cancer, child death, parental neglect, parental death
Jeremiah and Somone Bishop were very much on track to living the American dream. Somone was a oncologist and Jeremiah had inherited a small pharmaceutical company from his father. When they had their first child, Gemma, their dreams seemed to have come true and they were ready to be the perfect, happy family
That dream was shattered a year later when Gemma was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia. The next four years of hospital stays, chemotherapy, and other treatments tore Somone and Jeremiah apart. When Gemma finally passed away at the age of 5, there was little love left between the couple
Somone couldn’t bear the thought that she hadn’t been able to save their daughter. She buried herself into cancer research. Jeremiah threw himself into getting investors and investments to grow the company so that he could finance his wife’s research. Eventually growing Gem Pharmaceuticals (newly rebranded and renamed after their deceased daughter) into a multibillion dollar pharmaceutical company
What started with such good intentions though, quickly turned… not so good. Jeremiah was determined to grow the company, no matter the cost. He made a lot of shady deals, paid off politicians, etc. The company was mostly successful because of these dealings
Cameron was born three years after his sister died, with parents who were more concerned about having a child to carry on the family name than anything else. Sure, it was almost a defense mechanism after all the heartache they went through with his sister’s death, but that didn’t excuse the lack of attention or warmth towards Cameron
While Cameron grew up with what many would consider a silver spoon. His sister’s death was constantly held over him, and Cameron knew he had to do good by his older sister, he couldn’t waste the opportunity she didn’t get to have
He studied hard, went to business school at MIT, all with the intention of taking over the family business, of which he knew nothing about his father’s less than reputable dealings
When he was old enough, Cam worked his way up in the company. As he did so, he started to actually legitimize the business & is FREAKING GOOD AT IT!! soon, things start going so well that they don't need his father's shady dealings anymore to succeed.
When Cameron was 28 years old, Jeremiah died & Cameron completely took over Gem Pharmaceuticals. He refused to continue any old shady agreements or business & pisses a loooooot of people off
He was obsessed with making a name for himself, with legitimizing the business, he literally dropped everything else for the sake of running the business
Until things changed with Halime
Their relationship was one of the only real relationships Cameron had ever had
When she left, it devastated him far more than he would’ve ever admitted
He buried himself in work, to the point where a year and a half ago, he completely burned out
His psychiatrist put him on a mandatory leave of absence and told him to leave New York, leave anything to do with his family’s business behind for the foreseeable future
His family owned a beach house in Isle Bay Estates in Siesta Keys, where he often spent summers as a kid growing up, so Cameron came here, looking to find himself outside of his newly created legacy
He bought Mariners Marina to try something new and hopefully keep himself busy
starter for: @henryxmonroe
location: spring festival arcade
"Don't tell me you've lived here all this time and you haven't been to one of these before?" Cam asked incredulously as he picked up one of his mini basketballs and shot it neatly into the hoop in front of him. Okay so maybe he was being harder on Henry than was completely necessary. He knew there were tons of annual festivals and the like back in New York that he had missed over the years he lived there. And he had been a NYC resident for a lot longer than Henry had lived in Siesta Keys. Life just got busy. Especially when you were a professional athlete with professional training to keep up with. As he picked up another ball, Cameron added, "I heard fucking Taylor Swift is headlining the concert this week." He was still trying to wrap his head around how an artist as big as her doing a show in Siesta Keys.
"Your—" pool house? The owners came home? She didn't expect someone around her age to own such a big house. Then again, her age didn't have much credibility to begin with. She owned three long tees and a few torn stockings. She had little to nothing with no guarantee she'll ever be anything more than a vagrant. "I didn't know the owners came home. Not that that's an excuse." She sucked in a deep breath and relaxed against the wall she was pressed against. Her heart rate was going down now as the fear of being bludgeoned with a golf club subsided. "No harm, no foul, right? No one was here for months. I didn't steal or break anything... So you don't have to call the cops." She couldn't tell if he was a reasonable person or not. Although if she were in his shoes, she would definitely call the police. It was creepy, but she wasn't a drug addict or a criminal. Kind of. Petty crimes and marijuana, but nothing more. "It's dark out! Like, can I at least stay here one more night?"
He watched as realization seemed to spread across the woman's features. And as it did, he placed the golf club he was holding against the nearest wall. He didn't want to make her feel any more threatened than she already did. "You've been staying here for months?" he asked, almost letting out a chuckle. How terrible was the security around here if someone like her could get in and out of here without raising suspicions for months? Cam jerked his head up at the mention of the cops. Like hell was he about to get them involved. There was a better chance of them believing she lived here than he did. But what was he supposed to do? He ran a hand down his face as he tried to figure out a plan. He glanced out the window, noting how dark it really was out there. She didn't look threatening enough to really be safe if he sent her out on the street on her own at this time. "Why have you been staying here, anyways?" he asked.
He nodded "Right till I came here It was so hard to find!" he held up his bottle. "but they have good hook up to get the bottles from like Mexico I think" he smiled glad that they did that here. It was crazy how different one drink could be that really was the same thing just on what sugar made it. "Yeah this place is amazing the tacos are banging and it's cheap and they got drinks too" he eyed towards the bar and smiled at him. "Nah it's just good and the people are nice and they keep things cheap so it's a deal" he said so people could get a lot of tacos for cheap, so they didn't make a lot on each taco but with how many people came in it worked for them. "Or maybe they just spoil me since they are that amazing?" he looked at the kitchen you could see into "Is that true Joey you just love me you give me killer deals" he shouted out and the chef laughed saying yes. "So maybe you need to be good with me to be good with them" he joked. @cameronbishcp
Cam considered the coke in his hand, "Well, looks like I know where I'll be going to get in my weekly cane sugar coca-cola fix." he chuckled. Watching the interaction between the guy and the chef, Cameron shook his head with another laugh. "Good to know. I'll make sure to stay on your good side."
once upon a time, life had been kind enough to halime. it had given her a healthy relationship with cameron, a steady job, a name to uphold... and then, everything came crashing, and when it did, it took away her sanity and all the good things she had. it took her a few years to rebuild herself, and it would have been horrible of her to ask for him to wait, because deep down, halime knew he would have. but that's the thing about love: it shouldn't force people to wait for one another, right? it shouldn't make others put their lives on hold on behalf of wounds that, til this day, hadn't completely healed.
but... it was nice seeing him. too nice, actually, and for a second there, halime almost wished she didn't have to go back to her table. "you... moved here?" she blinked a couple of times. it almost felt too good to be true that she was once again in the same town as her boyf—ex-boyfriend. she mentally corrected herself. "that's—really? i've been living here for a couple of years now. new york... wasn't for me anymore." too many sad memories to be relived. cameron being one of them. "i'm--with a co-worker. would you like to join us? the sunset here is really beautiful. it would be a shame to miss it." ( @cameronbishcp )
It was beyond weird, seeing the one person you spent the last five years trying failing to forget in person again. As memories of their time together seemed to flood back to him, Cameron actually had to work at staying present. "Yeah, uh- needed to take a step back from the company and I used to spend a lot of summers here at my parents' vacation home in Bay Isle, so it seemed like as good a place as any to take a break in." His explanation was the understatement of the century. And it killed him that Halime would actually probably be the one person who could uniquely understand the pressure he had been under, and who would be a good person to talk to about what all had happened. But he couldn't talk to her about it. She had made it clear she didn't want to be that person for him five years ago. So he bit his tongue, keeping his response surface level at best. He wished that he could ask more about her situation as well, but clearly, that wasn't the case. "Kinda crazy that we both ended up moving here, huh?" His gaze lingered on her for a moment before he dragged it away, turning to face the skyline in front of them. "I suppose it would be a shame and since it doesn't seem there's anyone else here that I know..." he trailed off to glance back at her as if to check the offer was really serious. "I guess I could join you guys... you sure you don't mind?" ( @halimeyazici )
Climbing over the fence into the massive yard complete with a large pool and patio furniture, Stella was none the wiser that someone had returned to their house after being away for so long. She'd been squatting here for a few weeks, sleeping in the pool house, tanning poolside, and even skinny dipping with the privilege of a high fence and ultimate privacy.
After turning on all the lights and grabbing her travel bag beneath the bed where she's been storing it —Stella takes a shower and changes into her sleepwear. She barely manages to get her shirt on before the door swings open. Quickly pulling down her shirt, she takes several steps back until she's against the wall. Her bag is on the floor and inside is the switchblade her brother gifted her. He knew the streets on the south side weren't as safe as everywhere else in Siesta Key, so he made sure she could protect herself if it ever came to it.
She was surprised with herself that she hasn't screamed yet. Even after seeing a man in the doorway with a weapon in his fists. "What the fuck do you want! I don't have anything!" Her stomach was doing flips, and she felt like she was going to throw up, but as her flight or fight instincts kicked in, she was seconds away from going for her knife.
Cam blinked a few times as clarity started to trickle in and he could process what he was actually seeing. He glanced around the pool house, noting the open bag on the floor with what appeared to be the woman's belongings and the fact that she had very clearly just gotten out of the shower. If he had to guess, he would assume she was planning on staying here, not robbing the place. Slowly, as he steadied his breathing, he loosened his grip on the golf club, lowering it a bit but still holding onto it, just in case. "What the fuck do I want?" he echoed, cocking his head to the side a bit and trying not to laugh at the fact an intruder was asking him that as if he was the one breaking in. "I wanna know why a stranger is walking around my pool house acting like she owns the damn place??"
open to: everyone @siestastarters (assume connection if you wish)
location: hotel (you could have attended the party or maybe you're at the hotel for different reasons)
“Ugh.” Last night’s hotel party was rough. Adem drank way more than he should have and made out with more people than he knew there. He should have taken it easy considering he has work this morning, but that’s what coke is for —and coffee. “Yo, can someone put on a pot?! My head is killing me.” While most people decided to stay asleep or leave the room, Adem ventured out to the lobby to see what he could find. "Hey, you. Coffee. Do you know where they're hiding the complimentary shit? I mean... who do I have to fuck for a coffee and biscuit."
Since purchasing the marina, Cameron had been thinking about hosting a gala of some sort to sort of introduce himself and to showcase the new renovations he planned on making at the marina. He'd asked around and had been told about one of the local hotels that had a 'ball room' he might be able to use. He had just finished getting a tour and meeting with the manager of the hotel when a familiar figure stumbled out of one of the nearby rooms. "Adem Kaplan," he greeted, shaking his head at the man. "Shoulda known I'd run into you around here sooner or later." He took a few steps forward to approach the man. "How's it going, man?" he asked. It wasn't that the two were necessarily friends. But with a long family history of their fathers working together, they were pretty familiar with each other.
— setting: perspective rooftop bar ; saturday early evening
— availability: closed starter for cameron bishop | ( @cameronbishcp )
it wasn't always that yzc tech's own ceo decided to visit halime in siesta key, but whenever she did visit, the two liked going up to perspective rooftop bar and enjoyed watching the sun set while having a few drinks here and there. not only her father's company had an excellent ceo, but the two had also managed to become friends, so of course, there were questions of how halime truly was, if there were plans to go back to new york, this and that... and as much as she loved the big city, siesta key's calming bayside had become welcoming enough for halime to want to call it home.
they were on their second drink when hali excused herself to go to the restroom, and on her way back to the table, she ended up colliding with someone... a very familiar face, that made her heart jump and hit the back of her throat as if a punch had been thrown to the pit of her stomach. "c-cameron?" she blinked a few times, before realizing she was still holding onto his jacket, the one she'd gripped on when she stepped in false and her ankle gave in, thus holding onto the first thing she saw not to fall flat on the ground. "sorry." halime immediately let go of his clothes, her hands running down the fabric to smooth it as she chuckled nervously, almost embarrassed for what had just happened. "me and high heels had never really gotten along." she mumbled, almost to herself. although, cameron would know how much she disliked wearing heels. "i—wasn't expecting to see you. it's um... been a long time... hasn't it?" since you broke both his and your own heart in return? yes, halime. yes it had. "how have you been?"
Cameron had heard that perspective was the best place to go for sundowners. And after a good week at the marina, he needed a nice way to wind down, reward himself for not getting too caught up in work. Plus, he figured it would be as good a place as any to socialize. Something he rarely let himself do enough of back in New York.
He was too busy glancing around the bar, trying to see if he spotted anyone he knew, to notice the person he was literally on a collision course for until it was too late. The impact of seeing her face was felt far more than the actual physical impact of running into her. "Halime." Her name came out as more of a question than a statement. Obviously, it was her. There was no way he could ever not recognize her. Her face was seared into his brain no matter how hard he tried to erase it from the memories that still plagued him.
It wasn't until she let go of his jacket that he realized he had reached forward, holding onto her upper arms to steady her. His gaze fell to his hands and slowly, almost reluctantly, as if he had to force himself to, he let go. "Don't worry about it, I shoulda been watching where I was going." he admitted with a shake of his head. He couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him at her comment about heels. "A truer statement I haven't heard." he teased.
But he sobered up at her following words. It felt like the cuts she'd left him with had only just started to scab over but were now being ripped open again at the reminder of what had happened between them. "Yeah, a real long time." he answered, with a nod of his head, doing his best to keep his head in the situation and not letting himself get swept away by the emotion she still managed to drag out of him. "I've been fine, just moved down here a couple weeks ago, so still settling in." he explained. "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked, cocking his head to the side a bit, a smile coming to his lips. It was a little difficult to reconcile seeing her here, of all places. @halimeyazici
Bright had always been one to work hard for what he got. That he had many times he clean or do some takes to get a meal to get by or a place to sleep for the night. So once he was able to really start earning money and having a some what normal life he was happy to be able to give for once. After years of not being able to give or help out he was glad he was able too now. He still was far from rich but he was working hard to have a good life. "No prob!" he smiled as he watched the other guy. "Right ? I love it for that another reason why I love coming here" he tapped bottles with him and took a drink. Cane Sugar drinks were always so good and he loved it. "Sure go a head " he moved his hand across from him. "I swear I had fight this old lady for a seat she almost hade me" he teased only kidding.
"I can't remember the last time I had a coke made with cane sugar." he admitted, tapping his bottle to the other's and taking another sip. He let out a satisfied sigh, it was simply that good. "Thanks." he said as he took the seat opposite from him, chuckling and shaking his head a bit at the image. "I'm kinda new to town, so I had no idea this place got this busy." he replied. "Is it usually like this?" he asked, waving his hand around them to indicate the crowd of people inside the restaurant. "Or is there a special or something that I missed?"
It’s been far too long since, Cami’s last seen or heard from Cam. Mostly her fault, though. Which she aimed to change by ambushing him at his place of work. Victoria kept going on and on about the boat they currently owned and claimed a yacht would be better. Camila tagged along to help her browse but only because, she planned to sneak off and track down Cam herself. She caught him on the dock, near one of the yachts, drenched from the scorching rays of the sun. “Well, well. If it isn’t Mr. Bishop. Planning to sail away again? If so, I’m begging you to take me with you.” She could use the vacation, frankly. Her life was a total shit show at the moment. An ocean escape sounded pretty nice right about now. “Victoria’s heckling your employees. It’s only a matter of time before she spots you, too. Here’s a tip: save yourself.”
A definite perk of the move to Siesta Keys was the closeness it afforded him to Cami. Cameron couldn't deny that he appreciated getting to see her a bit more often, although their schedules still didn't allow their catch ups to be too frequent. So when her familiar voice snapped him out of his trance like focus, Cameron couldn't help the grin that came to his features as he turned to face her. "You already know I signed the 'can't take any vacations without Camila' contract now that I moved down here." he replied, giving her a look that said he was almost offended she'd think he'd go off without taking her with him. He glanced over her shoulder in the direction she had come from, keeping an eye out for Cami's mother. After working for several hours in the hot Florida sun, he wasn't sure he was mentally prepared to handle that kind of interaction. "You think she'll notice if I jump off this pier if I see her?" he asked, teasing of course. Cameron had been raised to be much more polite to his elders, even if they were a handful. Cameron reached up to wipe away some sweat from his brow with the back of his arm. "What's got you needing an escape so bad, huh?" he asked after a minute, a smirk tugging at his lips because he knew she had hoped he'd let that one slide without asking too many questions.
Elle's grin widened as she watched him overshoot the hole. Not only because it put her at a great advantage to win the game--but also the sheer delight of watching someone hit a bright pink ball with such zealousness--though delight wouldn't be the word she would use for his reaction. "oh come on now, C--don't count yourself out. your image might take a hit--no pun intended--but everyone loves a comeback king." she winked as she lined her own putt up. now it wasn't as if Elle was much better at putt putt--but tenacity was a funny thing. "Now, if you're looking for lessons, remind me to give you my card after this." widing up, Elle took a gentler approach, hitting her neon blue ball...with about as much finesse as a spooked elephant. ping, pang, bing, bong the ball shot around the course like a pinball....only to land....right in front of her as if she hadn't ever hit it. "uhm--ok, maybe 2nd times the charm?" She chuckled lightly.
He laughed at her response, shaking his head. The competitive side of him would have a hard time accepting being a 'comeback king,' But, he reminded himself, he needed to pay more attention to being in the moment, enjoying things. Not focusing so much on if he was successful at something. So he tried to reframe his thinking a bit, he was enjoying getting to hang out with Elle. Their get togethers were quickly becoming a highlight of his month. It was just so nice to have someone around who was experiencing living in Siesta Keys for the first time too. Turning around to face her, he chuckled at her teasing. "Oh, big man on campus offers lessons now, does she?" he teased right back, enjoying the ease with which their banter came. That was probably one of the things he valued most about his relationship with the woman; the ease with which all of it had progressed. It had been easy from their very first conversation in the plane to Florida. And that didn't happen too often for Cameron. He watched as she made her shot and couldn't help but throw back his head in laughter. He threw his arm around her shoulder in a show of camaraderie. "We're a pair of real professionals, aren't we?" he asked when he'd finally managed to stop laughing.
starter for: @stellatravers
location: cameron's house
Cameron had had a pretty productive day, so he was in a good mood as he went about cleaning up his dinner and winding down for the night. His psychiatrist had specifically told him to work on not measuring his day by how much he got done, but you know... it's a process. As he finished loading up his dishwasher, a flash of light from the back window caught his eye. He quickly turned off the kitchen lights to better see out his back windows. There was definitely a light moving around in the pool house. Shit. He'd been lulled into a false sense of security by how small the town was. When he'd moved in, he hadn't worried that there might be the chance of squatters or worse, and hadn't even bothered to check on the pool house yet. Clearly, he had been wrong.
Quickly, the New Yorker in Cam came rushing to the surface. Like hell was he about to let someone break into his home. He mentally scanned the house trying to think of anything he could possibly use as a weapon. In the end, all he could find was one of his father's golf clubs. As quietly and quickly as he could, Cam made his way out to the pool house. He took in a breath, calming any nerves, before throwing the door open, holding the golf club up high as he burst into the pool house. "Not today, motherfucker! Don't make me beat your ass!!"
Cameron focused on the hole he was currently trying to putt his fluorescent pink golf ball into. The competitive side of him couldn't stand that it had taken him six shots to get even this close to the hole. He played actual golf for fuck's sake, you'd think mini golf would be a breeze. With far more power than was necessary, he overshot & his ball went flying up a ramp and over the boundary lines of the hole. "Fuck!" he swore under his breath. Turning in embarrassment, he finally faced Eloise. "I don't know what to say, but this is not good for my image." he said with a shake of his head and a chuckle.
Bright was happy to have a good check burning a hole in his pocket for sure. That he had his pay day and was wanting to run around and make sure to put that fire out. That being going to dos locos tacos and getting some killer tacos. He loved tacos so he was glad he had money to get some. He had spent a lot of time at dos locos tacos so they did know him. He walked up with a smile and they knew him and placed his order for his first place of tacos. "I love you guys" he smiled as he walked over to a table to wait for his food to be ready. He sat himself outside after he grabbed himself one of the classic glass bottles of coke and it was the good kind made with the good cane sugar too. He popped that top off and held out another "they always give me one free so here you go" he winked being friendly.
The taco joint was pretty crowded, normally Cam would have taken one look at the crowd and taken his food to go. It wasn't that he was anti-social by any means, it was just that after the day he had had at the marina, it would have been nice to go home and not have to socialize for a while. But his psychiatrist had strictly forbidden him from getting work obsessed like he had done back in New York. And the whole reason he had come to Siesta Keys was to discover himself outside of work. So, he would stay. After placing his order, Cameron glanced around, looking for an empty table. He was about to change his order to to go after all, when someone handed him a coke. "Thanks, man." he opened the bottle and took a sip. "Oh, they got the good stuff, huh?" He took a better look at the bottle, Cam couldn't remember the last time he had coke that was clearly made with cane sugar. Dragging his gaze away, he turned back to his new companion. "Hey, do you mind if I share your table? Couldn't find any open ones."
