Who Am I Without Him? (Laurmani)

two.

OMNISCIENT POV

Lauren awoke to the sound of a toilet flushing and for a moment she thought she was home. It filled her with a deep feeling of dread, and she sat up quickly, almost as if she was being awakened from a nightmare. Her heart thumped against her chest rapidly, until her eyes focused on her surroundings. Heaving a sigh, the brunette fixed her bun and stretched each of her limbs then stumbled over to the bookshelf as if she'd been in a drunken stupor. When she reached the bookshelf, she ran her hand across the charger that her phone had previously been connected to, then looked on the floor behind the shelf and grabbed her phone that had fallen behind it.

She powered on her phone and watched as a bunch of calls and texts from her husband flooded the notification center and rolled her good eye before she checked the time, 6:04 AM was what the time had read and finally she'd let out a sigh of relief as she realized that she was in Normani's apartment. Glancing down at her phone once more, she noticed how much she'd missed her high school sweetheart. Shaking her head clear of the thoughts of the man that had hurt her so many times before, she placed her phone back on the shelf and retreated back to the comforts of the couch then snuggled back up withe the single pillow and blanket. She forced herself to fall back asleep until her alarm blared multiple times an hour later.

The Latina stood up and stretched, letting out a bellowing yawn as she folded the blanket then placed it over the back of the couch. She fluffed the pillows individually then placed them across the couch then made her way to the bathroom to do her morning routine. When she walked past the kitchen, she could hear the soft music coming from the older girl's phone, it was a song that she's never heard before but the song had a catchy chorus. It'd most likely be stuck in her head later that day.

She smiled slightly at Normani's profile, the girl had her hair curled to perfection, and she was dressed as if she had been taken straight out of Vogue magazine. Finally, Normani looked up from her phone and her eyes, that reminded Lauren of hot chocolate on a snowy day, locked with the Latina's bright greenish blue kaleidoscopic eyes for a second too long then she cleared her throat and pointed to an envelope in front of her.

Lauren walked over to the table and sat in a chair catty-cornered to the dark skinned woman. She cleared her throat and continued eating her cereal, then watched as the younger woman opened the envelope. Inside it, was a single key.

"It's for the apartment, I have the address on the envelope so that whenever you decide to run back to him, you don't have to do much work to send it back," Normani rolled her eyes and poured the milk into the sink then put her bowl in the dishwasher. Lauren's mouth had run dry at her former friend's words.

"Thanks," Lauren replied quietly, she watched as Normani applied lipstick as she looked into the front camera of her phone, "A-are you done in the bathroom?"

"Yep. Do you need any toiletries?"

"No. I grabbed what I would need from home," Lauren answered and tapped her fingers on her thighs as she watched the older woman hum and walk away from her. This was the most awkward a conversation had ever been for her, but the Latina wanted to converse with the girl for as long as she could, "S-so uh, what do you do? I thought you were going to school in Texas."

The older girl looked even more annoyed at that question, "I dropped out. I work as a fashion consultant for some higher classed women her in New York and on the weekends, I work part-time."

Went back to fixing her hair and touching up her make up as if the other girl weren't even there.

"Well, uh, I do have a job and I can pay you the $200 a month or more if needed. I work at a nursing home not too far from here, in something along the lines of housekeeping. Full time, but not quite. I'm looking for something with a different feel as well as better pay. I've had a few gigs here and there at coffee shops and a few of those 5-star restaurants since I've moved here, but nothing has really worked out quite as I'd planned," Lauren chuckled lightly then quickly cleared her throat, "Well nothing except a jingle for female condoms. Not really my style if you know what I mean."