The Choice (All Normani Ships)

5. One for the Road

Present

"Who is it?"

Normani had just gotten done brushing her teeth the morning after running into Lauren when she heard a knock at the door. She ran to the kitchen to let up the bread that was in the toaster. If she became distracted too long by the person at the door, her toast would burn due to the toaster's timer not working properly. She had meant to replace it months ago, but always forgot when she went to the store.

"An old friend."

Normani couldn't see who was standing at the door just by looking through the peephole, so she cracked the door open a little with the chain still attached. She was greeted by the smiling face of Ally prompting her to release the chain and fully open the door.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Normani inquired.

Ally answered, "The person leading the girls' camp at your church got sick, so Pastor Ward called me. I guess he had no one else to take her place."

"Uh...come on in. I was just making breakfast." Normani stepped aside so that Ally could come inside. "Would you like some toast and coffee?"

"No, thank you. I ate at Pastor Ward's house. He and his wife are letting me stay there," said Ally.

Normani went to her kitchen, placed her toast on a saucer, and poured a cup of coffee. "That's the least they could do since you came all the way up here to help him."

The model sat on her recliner while the pastor relaxed on her couch. They talked while Normani ate until they were interrupted by knocking on the door. Normani got up from her seat to answer. Recognizing who it was through the peephole, she opened the door.

"Hey, what's up, Lauren?" Normani greeted.

"I'm really sorry about yesterday," Lauren apologized. "I was serious, though, about you listening to some of the songs I just wrote. You were kind of my muse back in the day."

"Maybe another time. I have company right now." Normani opened her door wider so that Lauren could see inside.

Once Lauren saw a woman sitting on Normani's couch, the expression on her face saddened. "Oh. Okay. Sorry to disturb you. I'll see you later."

Approximately 5 years ago...

"What's got you cheesing so hard?" asked Lauren as she approached Normani walking along the sidewalk. The biology student had just checked her mail and was reading a letter she had gotten.

"I was accepted to one of the dental programs I applied to," Normani beamed.

"It's nice to see you happy for once. You've been walking around here looking like the world is about to end," said Lauren.

"Well, my girlfriend did walk out on me," Normani responded.

"You're better off without her. She was crazy and built like a stick figure," Lauren commented.

"Lauren..."

"She had a spaghetti body," Lauren continued.

Normani interrupted her friend. "I hope you don't think this is the way to win me over."

Lauren had a devious grin on her face. "I've already won you over."

Normani ignored Lauren's cockiness and kept walking to her apartment as Lauren followed behind like a lost puppy. She let Lauren come inside and watch television as she phoned her parents to let them know the good news. Then, taking Lauren up on her offer, they went out to eat to celebrate. Normani knew that Lauren had a crush on her, and she had a crush on Lauren, but she wasn't quite ready to enter another relationship so soon after her breakup with Camila. In actuality, it was taking her a long time to get over Camila because of the way she left. Normani was angry at her ex-girlfriend for not telling her that something was wrong and not giving them a chance to work things out.