Camila found that married life felt very similar to unmarried life except now Lauren proudly sported a ring that spoke levels of forever neither of them thought they would ever experience. And when Lauren would show off the ring, Camila couldn't help but feel a sense of pride she'd never felt before in all her life.
She was a wife. She had a wife. She had a daughter.
Her life had given her many things and in all those things, not always did she feel blessed, but now, here, in this space with her family, she felt a high she knew she'd be riding until her very last breath.
But still, she had to work. She had a career she was nowhere near ready to give up and so that meant she couldn't always be around her new family. And before marriage that had seemed fine, she could deal with it because it's what she signed up for, but now, knowing she had everything she ever wanted in her grasp...she felt disconnected in a way she never had before.
Lauren was constant in her messages, sending picture of her with their puppy and daughter together. Always reminding Camila how much they missed her and couldn't wait to see her, it was never-ending and Camila couldn't be more grateful to her wife for that. But it didn't quite alleviate that itch of just always wanting to be there. She was missing Natalia's little school choirs and taking her to dance classes. She was missing Bolt slobbering all over her face in the mornings and she was missing Lauren's fluttering eyes as the sun met her when she first woke. It's small things that all equate to big things in Camila's heart and they're making it ache in a way it never had before.
She was married now, she wanted to stay in her post-wedding bliss but instead she was in a studio recording a song she couldn't feel herself truly committing to. And it's not that she didn't love music. Music was a passion that drove her in every aspect of her life. It crawled under her skin and lived there like the warmth of the sun constantly keeping her alive. Music was exactly what Camila was supposed to be doing with her life and she knew this. There would never be a time when it wouldn't be the thing that kept her soul aflame with passion.
She just wished music didn't mean time away from who her soul belonged to.
It took Roger two hours to accept he wouldn't be getting the exact love he wanted from Camila in the song and he knew why, she had been vocal enough about it and he truly did wish he could offer her some form of solace. But the company was in Los Angeles, the producers were in Los Angeles, the studio was there. Everything that made Camila's career was in Los Angeles and though he loved his young artist, he knew there was no way to uproot everything for her. It made far more sense for her to travel.
Camila also knew this and so she never held it against her label. She knew no one was winning in this because she wasn't giving them the vocals they wished for and they couldn't give her the fairy tale she was so adamantly chasing. Both parties simply had to compromise but that day Camila couldn't feel herself compromising. In fact, she could feel herself slipping into a place she'd been working for years not to.
So of course, Roger turned to the one person he knew was close enough to offer Camila some support.
Shawn met her outside of the studio with arms crossed and his back leaned against the wall. He looked every bit the international star he'd risen to be and yet still, as Camila eyed him with a small smile playing on her lips, he was still the first boy to ever love her the way she was always supposed to be loved. He was still the boy that knew what she needed when even she didn't. He was still, just, Shawn.
"Roger said you were flopping." He teased lightly, tossing his arm over her shoulder and pulling her into his side.
"I'm sure there are nicer ways to say that." Camila groaned and buried her face in his chest for a moment. "I just really don't want to be here right now." She spoke into him.
