The Red String

Chapter 3. First Encounter

"Lauren has always been distant, Clara, and she's never shown any desire to establish an emotional connection with us."

"But we love her," Clara stated, the pain was palpable in her voice. "She's our baby girl, Michael. And she doesn't love us... and I don't know if she ever will."

Clara's tears started to flow, and the man watched the scene with a heavy heart, attempting to find the right words to bring her comfort. All knowing that deep down, he felt the same.

*****

Brooklyn, New York
2 hours later

"And we're going to share the same room?" Sofi asked again, surprised by what she had heard from Dinah and Camila.

"You'll be sharing it with Regina, and Camila will be sharing it with me," Dinah replied, giving her a playful wink.

Sofi looked at Camila, who nodded with a smile, before turning to her best friend, who flashed her a grin.

"Now we'll be together all the time, Sofi. We'll be best friends forever, and we won't have to wait for school to see each other," Regina said, holding her hand.

Sofi's smile widened. "Yes, and we can play together every day!"

Camila shared a smile with her sister, catching Dinah's smirk. Listening to the girls make plans, Camila realized that perhaps it wouldn't be too hard after all. She was going to work hard and move forward, providing her younger sister with the best life possible—the kind of life their mom would have wished for her. A few minutes later, the four girls exited the restaurant, following Milika's instructions to retrieve Camila and Sofi's belongings from their apartment, all while observing the dark clouds gathering in the sky above. They needed to hurry up.

~~~~

"Fuck!" Lauren cursed angrily as she slammed her hand against the steering wheel before glancing at Normani and Ally, both of whom stared at her from the back seat, partially hiding behind the white fabric with scared expressions on their faces.

"What now, Lauren?" Normani asked wearily with a sigh. "Could you turn on the radio and give us a break from your profanities?"

"Shit," the green-eyed woman cursed again, paying no heed to Normani's request. "This is a fucking nightmare..."

"Lauren, your vocabulary leaves a lot to be desired," Ally admonished.

"Didn't you hear anything?" Lauren huffed, raising her voice in frustration. "Has the fabric muffled your ears or what? One of the tires just got a flat."

"Yes, maybe I'm a bit deaf because you've been screaming nonstop for the past two hours," Normani remarked sarcastically before shrugging. "But I'm pretty sure I didn't hear anything."

"If you and Ally could just keep your mouths shut for a second and stop talking about the trip to Japan, maybe you might have heard," Lauren retorted before opening the car door, prompting her friends to exchange a worried look. That wasn't good, they thought, only to be proved right when they heard Lauren swearing again. Yup, that was definitely not good.

Five minutes later, the trio was staring at the flat tire, their faces aghast. Normani's gaze flicked from the car to Lauren, and then to their surroundings. A pristine Porsche Macan would definitely draw unwanted attention in a neighborhood like Bushwick.

"What are you waiting for?" Normani said with urgency, addressing the green-eyed woman.

Lauren furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"