The Red String

Chapter 2. Unexpected Help

"You know, Lauren, maybe you should start being more receptive," he suggested.

"Alright, Freud," she said in a mocking tone, scoffing. "You're a successful man at... how old are you again?"

"Fifty-five," Narciso replied with a beam. "Way older and wiser than you."

"Right, you'd expect by that age you'd be wiser, but apparently, you're just an old man with questionable taste," Lauren quipped, gesturing toward the runway. Narciso burst into laughter, while Ally watched their exchange with a horrified look.

"Critics think otherwise, honey." He shook his head with a grin. "We can compare if you want."

"You know I'd win," she stated with a self-confident smirk. "I'm an attractive woman who's damn good at her job. And losing isn't in my vocabulary."

Narciso watched as Lauren settled herself on the couch and sipped her wine slowly, while his whole team was busy preparing to showcase his designs. He couldn't deny the amount of success and recognition Lauren had earned. After all, she was undeniably talented.

They had become really good friends ever since Lauren's college days. Their age difference was never an issue when they both shared the same passion and talent for fashion. And when the two found out about each other's sexual orientation, their relationship only grew stronger. Marcus, his boyfriend, adored her. They were a perfect blend of brilliance, sarcasm, and narcissism, rendering their conversations unbearable for everyone but themselves. Narciso sighed, stealing her a glance.

Lauren was an incredibly gorgeous and fashionable woman, commanding considerable recognition in her line of work. But based on what he knew about her, her personal life was in shambles. He didn't even remember the last time Lauren had been in a serious relationship with a woman.

Correction, he didn't remember ever seeing her with anyone at all.

If she hadn't casually revealed she was gay at a college party when she was trying to get rid of a persistent guy, he probably would have never guessed. She was so quiet, secretive, and mysterious that not everyone could read her. But deep down, hidden underneath her cool exterior, he knew there was someone with a good heart.

Narciso knew about the substantial sums of money she would donate to charity and the toys she would send to kids in hospitals during Christmas, and all the other small gestures of kindness she carried out without anyone knowing or her admitting it. Like that time when one of her employees had lost her father and Lauren had given her financial support and days off work. She had arranged it to look like Ally was the one behind it, when in fact, it was the other way around. Those who knew her just enough knew she was kind and generous, but her true self was always hidden behind this façade that was difficult to see through.

Only two people had managed to achieve that, and those happened to be the two women sitting right next to her. Ally and Normani were like family to her. And despite the fact that Lauren sometimes made things tough and they had their disagreements, her emerald eyes would always soften whenever she chatted or shared a laugh with them—a look that no one else had ever seen from her.

Narciso understood that some people chose to keep their lives out of the public eye regardless of their fame, and Lauren fell into that category. She was extremely secretive, and he had always suspected that she carried a heavy weight on her shoulders, given her reluctance to open up about her problems.

Sometimes, Ally and Normani would engage in conversation and Lauren would just stay there, staring into the void, lost in her own thoughts. At the end of the day, she was just a girl living the life of an adult—a young woman burdened with responsibilities, who garnered both fear and respect.