YOᑌ ᗩGᗩIᑎ

Chapter 24.

Two days went by like two hours.

After Lauren dropped me off at home that night I saw Austin again who waited for me for a while. He was a little mad that I went to see Lauren but I clearly told him I could do what the hell ever I wanted and finally, he shut up. He wasn't up for going to the Christmas party as well. Just like Lauren, he wasn't ready to make a scene too but I knew he wouldn't. If they both stayed out of each other's ways nothing will happen. Because I trusted Lauren.

Some other events happened in these two days. Reyna gave me a surprise visit at my place with a box of pizza and beer while Austin was at work. She missed Allison so she wanted to come over. The three of us ended up watching Frozen for the hundredth time and we both groaned out loud when Allison suggested it. But the three of us ended up in the mall to shop for Christmas shortly after. I concluded one thing though, Lauren was right. We wouldn't be able to live with ourselves, knowing how we hurt someone like Reyna. She was so precious. No wonder why Lauren didn't want to leave her.

Lauren and I didn't talk. Maybe it was unintentional or maybe on purpose but Lauren didn't call or text and I didn't make any efforts either. I heard from Reyna that she was indulged in her office work because they had a new project coming up and that was why she couldn't concentrate on anything else. Who works on Christmas breaks, right? I took a deep breath and nodded because no matter what, I'll see her at the Christmas party at my mom's. If she decided to come.

Today was Christmas. Everywhere was excitement and love. But at our place, we all were still asleep. Austin and Allison were in a deep slumber while I laid on my bed and looked at the ceilings. I thought about my last Christmas with Lauren. It was such a perfect day and both of us were pretty sure of spending the rest of our lives together but here we were, with different people in a different country. I tilted my head to look out the window. Since Miami didn't have snowfall, people made sure to put fake snow in the neighbourhood just to get the Christmas vibes. My apartment building had some decorations like those. The whole parking lot was full of fake snow and a huge Christmas tree was at the middle of it, circled by fake present boxes. It was beautiful.

This season used to be my favorite. I used to wake up early in the morning and would run downstairs to open my presents but ever since Lauren was gone, all the excitement was gone with her. Maybe I had grown up and Christmas was just for kids but even then Allison Marie was fast asleep. She was hyper yesterday, she found out it was Christmas tomorrow, she was out of the world happy but now looking at her I don't think she even knows what Christmas was. I took a deep breath and rubbed my face to push the sleep away and grabbed my cellphone from the side table to check the time. It was almost twelve but the thing which caught my eyes was the text messages I received. Taking a sigh, I opened them one by one. 

Taylor: Merry Christmas! (:

Laura the boss: Wishing you a Happy Holiday and a joyful New Year. Best wishes from your friends at People's Magazine.

Gage: Christmas greetings, friend. Call me up whenever you're free :)

Dinah: Ay, Chancho, when are we going to your mom's?

Megan: Happy Christmas “Camz”  ;)

Reyna: Christmas greetings baby!

Sofia: Be on time or mom will kill you.

Crystal: Merry Christmas to you and your family, Camila :)

Normani: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

I smiled throughout and then took a deep breath to open Lauren's threads. I was kind of afraid to hear from her after two days but I wanted to see what she said. Biting my lip hard, I opened her texts.