Camille had been doing her rounds of the hospital and found her way up to the law department. She figured that she could end up working close by them so would introduce herself. “Hey, I’m Camille, I just started working in the HR department so figured I would come and introduce myself. I also spoke to some people up here around three years ago when my wife passed away, but I don’t remember seeing you. ” She felt like it was stupid now, she shouldn’t have even walked in here.
Camille was having a slightly off day and it showed in her work, it was somewhat sloppy. “Hey, can you just -- look over this for me. I can see something is wrong here, but I just can’t figure out what it is.” She put the paperwork down on her desk with a frustrated sigh, she took the pill bottle from her pocket and took a couple. “Headache, this is just stressing me out. Ce sera ma mort.”
Camille was sat outside of the hospital, she was on her break and she had just eaten her lunch and needed some fresh air. She was getting through her first week and it was hard being there. She looked at the doors, she remembered walking through them the night her wife died and she remembered walking out of them alone holding the burden of having to tell everyone that Amelie was gone. She felt a tear slip down her cheek and she looked away as she felt someone sit beside her.
when the drink was placed in front of her, emilia eyed it up sceptically. she picked it up and sniffed it like it might be poisoned before taking a sip. it wasn’t nearly as bad as she had expected. “huh.” her shoulders slumped, almost disappointed that no fanfare went off. it felt like a much more insignificant moment than she thought it would be. “it’s nice.” she took another sip. “a little… tangy? but it’s not so bad. do you drink these?” she asked, looking over to her companion. “or are you just a straight vodka badass?”
“Honestly, I usually just stick to just straight vodka but if I’m changing it up, I’ll put some lemonade in it.” Camille laughed a little bit and ran her fingers along the bar. “Do you feel different? I feel like I’ve just taken your alcohol virginity and I feel slightly weird about it.” She sipped her own drink and let her thoughts run free. This was the first time she’d been in a bar with someone that wasn’t her wife for many years. She let out an accidental deep sigh and ordered another vodka, it was a double this time, she needed it.
emilia worried because she knew people reacted differently to alcohol. would she be fun or just plain sad? she liked to think of herself as a relatively happy person so she had faith in herself. despite the fact this woman could be anyone, she had diligently followed stranger danger for twenty five years. it was about time she took a leap of faith. aside from that, it seemed sad to leave this lady drinking alone. “okay,” she gave in. “order me something nice. do they have names? the names always confuse me. like… what is tonic actually made of?”
Camille found herself smiling as Emilia spoke, she would try and order her something that she would like, but she was so used to just drinking vodka she didn’t know much about other drinks. She decided to order Emilia an Appletini since she clearly liked apple juice so much. “Try this and don’t feel like you need to drink it, honestly it’s fine, no pressure here.” Camille sipped her own drink and looked across to see Emilia’s reaction to the drink.
“doesn’t it taste bad?” emilia asked. it didn’t smell particularly nice so she made her assumptions. she shook her head, “nope. not a sip.” it was amusing to her that people were so shocked by that. maybe she looked like someone who should drink more, but it was probably just because she was well past the age of ‘first drink’. the question made her think, “i don’t know i just… cry and get on with it?” was that not normal? “you mean now? oh no, i couldn’t. i wouldn’t have any way to get home. i don’t like taking cabs alone it freaks me out.”
“I mean...it doesn’t taste good necessarily but that’s not really what people drink for.” Camille had never really thought about how to describe alcohol to someone who didn’t drink. “I could escort you home, make sure you get there safely, I wouldn’t let any harm come to you.” This felt like she was pressuring her and Camille didn’t want the other woman to feel pressured in any way. “You don’t have to but I’m not new to this, I can handle my alcohol and I can look after you if you need it.”
“So you’re new? I’m new too!” emilia, so far, felt totally out of her depth in her new job and it was obvious. she realised that was probably too eager and sipped at her drink. at the question she blushed and looked down at the glass. “um… i like apple juice?” she shook her head. “no reason. well… i wouldn’t know what else to order. i don’t drink. i mean, i haven’t ever had one. i don’t know what i’d like.”
“I mean that’s a fair point, if you’d asked me why I was drinking vodka I would also say it’s because I like it.” Camille tilted her head slightly and a look crossed her face, she didn’t know if it was confusion or bewilderment. “You’ve never drank? Not even a sip? Wow...Well that is — wow.” She really had no idea what to say, here she was drinking as much vodka as she could whenever she could and there was someone sat with her who had never touched a drop. “So when you go through a hard times, what do you do?” Her immediate reaction would be to go to the bottle, or the pills. “You could try something -- I don’t know, fruity. Just to ease you in.”
emilia was only at the bar because she was hoping to find some other interns to make friends with. it wasn’t an easy task, considering that they weren’t there, but she didn’t want to just go home and go to bed. so she sat at the bar, looking quite out of place as she ordered. “can i have an apple juice please? yes, just an apple juice,” she confirmed with a small smile. “thank you.” she had never had a drink in her entire life, although sometimes she considered it. looking around at the other patrons she was definitely considering it, but the thought of getting home safe worried her too much. “cheers,” she repeated, smiling at the woman next to her. her face was vaguely familiar, “hey, you work at the hospital too, right?”
“I do, I’m a HR rep so I’ve been doing the rounds of all the departments to get my bearings and see if there’s anything I can help with anything.” Camille looked down at the drink in her hand and then to the other woman’s. “Apple juice? In a bar? That seems a little — strange. Mind if I ask why?”
Camille was nearing the end of her first week in her new job and while it had been hard at times but she was finally getting settled, it was weird being in the hospital where her wife took her final breaths but she was learning to separate her job and her loss. Sitting at the bar, Camille sighed as she nursed her vodka, it was neat just how she liked it. “Cheers.” She said to no one in particular before downing her drink.
╰ ❛ 💉 — › elodie yung . female. she/her. . ╯ have you met camille allard yet ? this forty one year old sagittarius has been living in the seattle area for three years, she makes a living as a hr representative, which is best suited for their generous, forgiving, over confident, and blunt personality. red by taylor swift is one of their favorite songs, they're written by katherine/kat, 25, gmt, she/her, self harm
tw: death, spousal death. drugs, ptsd, baby loss
BASIC INFORMATION
Full Name: camille allard
Nickname(s): cam, cami
Age: forty one
Date of Birth: november 27th
Hometown: paris, france
Current Location: seattle, washington
Ethnicity: french/cambodian
Nationality: french
Gender: female
Pronouns: she/her
Orientation: gay as fuck
Religion: raised catholic
Political Affiliation: democrat if she could vote
Occupation: hr rep
Living Arrangements: a modest three bedroom house
Language(s) Spoken: french, english
Accent: french
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
Face Claim: elodie yung
Hair Color: brown
Eye Color: brown
Height: 5′9
Weight: not relevant
Build: sexy
Tattoos: none
Piercings: ears
Clothing Style: sexy
Usual Expression: resting bitch face
Distinguishing Characteristics: that sexy face/bod
HEALTH
Physical Ailments: none
Neurological Conditions: ptsd
Allergies: eggs
Sleeping Habits: doesn’t sleep well since wife’s death
Eating Habits: as above
Exercise Habits: doesn’t exercise
Emotional Stability: 3, will cry on the spot at any opportunity
Sociability: hates being alone but always seems to be
Body Temperature: cold
Addictions: prescription painkillers
Drug Use: as above
Alcohol Use: vodka daily
PERSONALITY
Label:
Positive Traits: generous, forgiving
Negative Traits: over confident, blunt
Fears: nothing now, all her worst fears came true
Hobbies: crosswords
Habits: nail biting
FAVOURITES
Weather: sun
Colour: green
Music: loves any french music
Movies: french romance films used to be her favourite but not anymore
Sport: football
Beverage: vodka
Food: cheeseburgers
Animal: pigs
FAMILY
Father: pierre allard
Mother: marie allard
Sibling(s): none
Children: none
Pet(s): none
Family’s Financial Status: wealthy ish
EXTRA
Zodiac Sign: sagi
MBTI: who knows
Anything Else:
camille was born in france and stayed there until she was almost forty, while she was in university she met amelie, amelie very quickly became the love of her life, amelie was half french and half american and camille knew that she always had plans to go back to america and live there. camille tried her hardest not to fall for the other woman knowing that she would just be leaving her when they graduated, but she really did fall in love and she fell hard. during their christmas holidays, camille and amelie flew to america so camille could meet amelie’s family and while they were there, they were legally married in a court house and went back to university as wife and wife.
after graduating, camille and amelie decided together that they would stay in france for at least ten years, they were in the honeymoon phase and were still utterly devoted to one another. ten years went past insanely fast and they were finally thinking about whether they would move to america or not. they decided to wait a couple more years. many years passed and when the couple were getting closer to being in their forties, they decided it was finally the right time to move to america, specifically seattle. amelie’s mom was sick so they wanted to be there when the inevitable happened.
just before moving to seattle, amelie became pregnant via a sperm donor and the couple were absolutely elated and couldn’t wait to tell amelie’s parents when they arrived. by the time they left, she was four months pregnant, camille had never been so in love with her wife.
a week after moving to seattle, washington, the unimaginable happened and amelie died suddenly after tripping over something and hitting her head. camille was beyond distraught, amelie was the other half of her, she was her soulmate and she was just gone. they hadn’t had enough time together and not only did she lose amelie, she lost their baby too. the death of amelie and their unborn child sent camille into a downward spiral and she started going to her doctor and getting painkillers on prescription for alleged back pain when really she had just become addicted to them and needed to get a fix every now and again.
now, three years later, the pain of losing amelie is very much at the forefront of her mind every day and she has started taking the painkillers again whenever she needs to feel numb, which is more of less all the time. camille picked up a hr rep position at seattle grace and knows that working in a hospital probably isn’t her smartest idea but this was the hospital that amelie died in so somehow she felt a strange connection to the place. camille has regular flashbacks and they have worsened since being around the hospital where amelie died.
