A few days later
"Is everything ok Camila? I know you're usually quiet when we have our sessions but not even a greeting." He slightly smiled at her.
All Camila did was glare at the man in front of her. The only reason why she even showed up is because being at home alone was going to drive her crazy. She was officially on break from classes but, has no thoughts of going back to Miami.
Yet, at least.
Due to the holiday rush she quickly got hired at the bakery, which kept her busy at least part of the afternoon.
So far things are going great for her at the new job if it wasn't for the evil glances from her coworker. Should she even mention that it's Ally. They work together but are not on speaking terms. At least Ally isn't. Anytime Camila tries to get a word out of her about how Lauren's doing she gets the cold shoulder. She still hasn't given up though.
"I saw that you came alone this time. Doesn't your girlfriend usually drop you off?"
If looks could kill he would be dead on the floor and, he knew it. Although, it didn't change the fact that he expected it.
"I meet up with my ex if you're wondering." Camila decided to mention so he could get a clue on why Lauren didn't come.
"I'm guessing that didn't go well?"
Wow, she thought maybe all those degrees actually mean something.
"I hope you weren't expecting for it to go well either. I'm not sure in the way you handled it but, just know that something's might get more difficult before they get better. Now tell me something, after your talk with your ex how do you feel?"
Nothing.
After all of that Camila felt like it didn't do anything. If it did anything at all, it made her urges for a drink even stronger.
But of course she wasn't going to tell him that.
"We said, what we had to say to each other."
That they did.
Flashback
"Camila, what the hell is she doing here." Lauren gritted through her teeth as calmly as possible as someone could be in this situation.
"Lauren, just hear me out..."
"Yeah Lauren just hear her out." Vero mocks.
Camila turns to face her, "Can you not make things more complicated."
"Those are my exact words to you." Lauren says facing Camila in disbelief.
"Lauren please just let me..." a hand slapped Camila right across the face sending her a step back. As she brings her own up to where the burning sensation she feels a cut with a dribble of blood. Probably from a ring but, Lauren doesn't wear any rings.
"Wow, who knew you had it in you shorty." Vero says surprised but amused.
"Ally, don't." Lauren grabs the shoulder of the older girl who was ready to hit Camila again.
"Where are you going?" Camila manages to say even though her face is in pain. When she notices Lauren grabbing a few of her things and start putting them in a bag she gets worried.
"Camila, I don't even want to look at you right now." Lauren's voice cracks, clearly on the verge of tears.
Camila swallows the lump in her throat and holds back her words. She quietly watched as Lauren grabs her things, and ignores the death stare Ally has her in.
"Lauren..."
Before Camila knows it Lauren storms out, Ally following quickly behind.
Minutes after Lauren stormed out of the house with her car keys and, tugging Ally's arm she left without a word. No matter how much Camila tried to get her to listen Lauren refused.
"How long are you going to stay staring at the door? I don't think she's coming back." Vero lets herself into the kitchen as she opens a bottle of water waiting for Camila to snap out of it.
Camila doesn't know why but, she walks towards her and smacks it out her hand sending the bottle flying across the room.
Vero was amused and put a smirk on her face. Instead of feeling threatened she takes a step forward to Camila. "I forgot how attractive you are when you're angry." Vero suddenly pulls on Camila's shirt and crashes their lips together.
She should have pulled away as soon as possible and she did.
"What the hell are you doing!"
"What? It's not like she's coming back any time soon. Might as well take advantage of the alone time."
"You know damn well I wouldn't do that. I'm not like you. I won't purposely cheat on my girlfriend."
"We'll see for how long she'll be your girlfriend. By the looks of it, it seems that you two were just never meant to work out. I wouldn't have agreed to come out here if I didn't think I still have a chance with you." Vero tried to kiss her again but Camila was quick to dodge her touch.
"You know what, just get the hell out of my house. Up until this point I thought I needed closure with you because I felt bad, when in reality I needed to let it go and move on."
"Camila, if you gave me another chance we..."
"Just stop talking, I'm officially done with you."
-
"The person you're trying to reach can't answer the phone right now. Please leave a message after the beep..."
"Lauren, please answer my call it's been three days. Call me as soon as possible." Camila threw her phone on the passenger side not caring about the loud noise it made as it hit the car door. She took in a deep breath trying to calm herself. After her session with her therapist and, some not so nice words of exchange she quit. She now was in her car contemplating her next move. Lauren wasn't answering any of her calls and it was driving her crazy.
The only contact she had toward her was through Ally. Last night she went to the apartment but the only words she said was 'the dog'. Apparently Lauren wanted him and but didn't want to see Camila.
What else was she suppose to do. Not wanting to make Lauren anymore upset Camila handed him over to Ally who took him without anything left to say.
Since he wasn't home Camila had no reason to go back there. On the first night alone she was so anxious of even being home alone she sat in her car.
Exactly what she is doing right now. Luckily the new job kept her busy the last few days. After a few minutes she found herself already driving there even though she wasn't suppose to be there for another hour. When she got there she parked next to a familiar car. She knew well that Ally purposely changed her work schedule so she would have the first shift. She didn't want them to run into each other and she wanted to make sure if that. When some time had passed Camila got out of her car as soon as she saw a certain someone coming out of the back door.
"Ally."
The second she saw the younger girl, Ally rolled her eyes. She ignored her as if she didn't see her and made her way to her own car.
Camila wasn't giving up though.
"How is she?"
Ally just got her keys out like she heard nothing. When she opened her car door it was shut by Camila who blocked her way.
"Please, at least let me know how she is."
Finally looking up at Camila, Ally noticed the bags under her eyes. Knowing Camila for a few years, Ally also noticed that she was desperate. She loves both her friends equally but, in this case Camila was in the wrong. She has witnessed how Lauren was handling her emotions the last few days and, it broke her heart to see her friend in that way.
"Why don't you ask her that yourself."
"You know damn well she won't even answer my calls." Camila raises her voice getting frustrated at the situation.
"Then I guess that's your answer. You better go inside now or you're going to be late."
"Ally please, at least tell her I love her."
Ally said nothing but the look on her face showed she was considering it.
Camila reluctantly got out her way. She knows where Ally lives and, would go to Lauren herself but, she knows forcing herself on her isn't a good idea.
When she sees Ally pull away, she feels defeated. This wasn't suppose to be the ways thing went. All she could do now is wait until Lauren was ready to talk to her.
Camila headed inside the store before she would be late. Good thing this time around was when the store would be busy. It was the only time in day where her mind would be completely distracted. Almost to distracted that she didn't realize who walked in. Just when it was about closing time a few customers walked in.
"Hi, my name is Camila what would you like to order?" Camila said without looking up getting ready to write the order down.
"Oh, hey it's you." A man says.
Camila was left confused for a second until she saw who was next to him. Her heart definitely skipped a beat.
"Hi, there." Camila looks down at the familiar looking girl. "How you been. You remember me?"
The little girl smiled and waved at Camila with her hand that was not covered in a casket. The last time Camila saw her, she was full of energy. The few minutes Camila saw her she was so talkative, but that was before she found out about her mom.
Camila looked back up at the father who seemed to have been doing better since the last time.
"I didn't get to really thank you properly last time for staying with Anna before I came to pick her up."
"No problem, it was the least I can do. Um, if you don't mind can I ask how she's been doing with everything." Camila was curious to know.
"She's getting there. Every once in a while when she's upset she asks for her, but she's beginning to understand now. She just sometimes shuts herself out."
The little girl paid no attention as she was playing with the sleeve of her sweater ignoring the conversation about her.
"You don't mind if I say something to her." Camila nervously said, she didn't want to cross any lines.
"Go ahead. She actually asked about you a few times."
Camila makes her way around the counter towards Anna.
"Hey Anna, do you remember my name?" Camila gets down on one of her knees to be eye level with the small girl.
"Yeah, it's Camila." She said very quietly.
"How you been?"
Anna stays quiet.
"You know things will get better." Camila said.
"How do you know that?"
"Because I lost my mom too. But I knew she loved me and want me to be happy, just as I'm sure your mommy loves you and wants you to be happy." Camila smiles at Anna hoping she gets through this rough patch in her life at such a young age.
"Are you still sad about it?"
"Yeah, I mean she was my mom. We are allowed to feel sad about things that affect us but, at the same we have to realize that they would want us to be happy. If you ever need to talk I'm sure you have someone there for you, who loves you." If Camila was being honest she wasn't sure to who she talking to anymore.
It's so easy to give out advice, but apparently it's hard to follow it yourself. Camila feels like such a hypocrite saying this while she herself still closes off every once in a while.
"Ok."
"What?"
"I know my mom would want me to be happy. She always made sure I was. She would have liked you."
Camila was caught off guard once Anna wrapped her arms around her neck. She quickly reciprocated the hug back.
"Where's your friend?"
"I'm sorry what?"
"The pretty friend that was with you that night. She was your girlfriend right?"
"Anna." Her father says in a warning tone.
"No, it's fine. Yeah she's my girlfriend."
"I thought so. She looked at you how my parents use to look at each other."
All Camila did was smile. She didn't know how to respond to that. She wasn't about to tell a little girl all about her problems.
With one last hug Camila knew she was going to be fine.
-
After that encounter Camila felt a bit lighter. Since the accident the girl well being was at the back of her mind. It left feeling at ease after she saw her leave with a smile. Although, when she brought up Lauren Camila's mind began to fill up with the thoughts of her. She was missing her like crazy and felt like an idiot for hurting her that way. If it was the other way around Camila wouldn't even know if she could ever trust her again. Which worried her even more if Lauren doesn't forgive her.
When Camila closed up the store and headed to her car she began to get an uneasy feeling. It was currently eleven at night as she walked out. When a sudden loud noise came from behind the dumpsters she quickly walked as fast as she could.
When the noise appeared again, louder this time she nearly had a heart attack when something jumped out at her. As soon as she saw what it was she began to laugh. It was a homeless cat that freaked her out. When she entered her car she found her phone right where she left it. Good thing she didn't expect anything from Lauren, because she didn't even try to contact her. She wasn't going to but, Camila needed to see her. First thing tomorrow she was going to try to talk to her.
When Camila saw a sudden movement next to her she started the car, thinking that it was probably the cat again. As soon as she drove away, someone appeared to come out from where they were hiding but, Camila didn't notice as she made her way home.
-
A/n: the book is almost coming to an end. The next four chapters are going to long and then the epilogue will be posted. Sorry if it takes me a while to post I've been busy with school stuff but I will finish the story. Sorry for any mistakes.