Taking Chances

Chapter Seven

"You know, that meeting wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The people there seem pretty nice and I didn't feel pressured to open up right away. Everything just felt so..natural."

Lauren spoke with much enthusiasm as she and Karla were sharing their excitement over the success of her first meeting. The skepticism that she held onto initially was now void.

"I told you. " Karla said confidently. "These meetings really do help a lot. It's so much easier to work through your problems with other people who have been down that road before." Karla smiled, placing her hand atop Lauren's as she pulled up in front of Normani's apartment building.

Lauren grinned a cheesy smile, completely overwhelmed by the soft touch of Karla's tiny hands. She glanced at the dashboard clock which read 11:30PM, deciding that she had better call it a night.

"Thank you again for coming with me I really appreciate it Karla." Lauren looked down at her hands to avoid staring at her new friend for too long.

"No problem. I enjoyed getting to know you, even if it was only through Addicts Anonymous." Karla chuckled. "We should do it again some time, though I'm not sure how your girlfriend would feel about us spending time together..."

Karla's voice trailed off, losing some of her excitement when the reality of what might be, set in. Lauren picked up on her demeanor change and quickly interjected. "Normani isn't really my girlfriend so it's fine."

Karla drew back surprised. "Really? But you two..."

"We're just roommates. I promise." Lauren cut her off.

Things had been so shaky over the last few days so it was hard to tell which direction things between Normani and Lauren were going. But it was clear that they needed to sit down and talk about some things before the communication wires were further crossed.

"Okay so next Friday at 8?" Karla asked, her eyes sparkling with the anticipation of Lauren's response.

As Lauren removed herself from the vehicle, she glanced up at Normani's fifth floor apartment window only to see Normani staring directly back at her. She turned back to Karla swiftly, a warm grin caressing her lips.

"It's a date."

___

Five floors above, Normani was peering out onto the dark street in front of her home trying to identify the stranger that Lauren was conversing with. balancing her phone against her ear was a struggle, which only allowed her to make out a dark blue Prius driving off into the dark. Defeated, she drew back her curtains and restarted the voicemail that she had tried listening to earlier.

"Normani Kordei-Hamilton, this is the last time I'm leaving a message. Why haven't you been returning my calls ? I don't want to read your texts I want to hear your voice and hear that you're okay. If you don't call me back by midnight tonight, expect a visit from me on Sunday. I love you honey."

Normani sighed, as she deleted the last but most heart wrenching voicemail that her mother had left her. She had been avoiding her mother's daily Friday night phone conversations for the last six weeks. Only sending her texts here and there to reassure her that she was still alive and well, but Andrea was no fool. She knew that something was going on with her daughter and she would make it her business to find out what it was. The hurt and confusion in her mothers voice was the driving force in her guilt.

Normani grew alarmed at her mothers ultimatum because she knew that her mother wasn't one to make idle threats or promises.

As she swiped away a few frustrated tears, Normani heard the locks turn and the front door swung open. Quickly getting up from her spot on the couch, she went to greet Lauren at the door.