The old Camila would have run the moment they stepped out of the car with her tail between her legs. She would have made up excuse after excuse in an attempt to get out of it and eventually, Lauren would have caved and lied in order to save face.
But the new Camila stood before the door with her nerves evident but her resolve firm. This was the only way she'd be allowed into Natalia's life and because Natalia was a part of Lauren's life, that was of the utmost importance to the young celebrity.
Ashley opened the door with a bottle of wine in one hand and a beaming smile, remnants of laughter filling the apartment and Lauren was surprised at how airy everything felt. Ashley could be a firm woman sometimes, she could be hard to please and she was proud of it.
Evan must be quite the man if he managed to get laughter out of Lauren's ex-wife on a night like that.
"Hey Laur," Ashley stepped aside and ushered the pair in. "Evan was just telling me about the time he thought he'd jumped the fence thinking he'd successfully snuck back home after a drunken night only to realise he actually ended up jumping his neighbour's fence and got attacked by a doberman."
"The had the same pool put in as us!" Evan was quick to defend and Camila felt her heart settle a little at how lighthearted everything felt.
"Sorry," Ashley managed to sober her laughter for a moment finally took a look at Camila. "You definitely look a lot taller on TV."
"I actually get that a lot." Camila chuckled lightly, looking to Lauren as the green-eyed girl rolled her eyes. "I'm Camila." She offered her hand to the woman with the pixie cut.
"I'd be a fool not to know who you are," Ashley shook the offered hand nonetheless. "It's good to finally meet you though, I've heard good things."
"You talk about me?" Camila looked to Lauren.
"I meant on interviews," Ashley eyed her ex-wife with a devious smirk. "Everyone seems to love you."
"Oh-I-uh-"
"I'm Evan," The dark-eyed boy offered his hand to Camila, seeing how distressed the girl looked. "She doesn't mean to come off so abrupt, it's a side-effect of her personality."
"You learn quick," Lauren chimed in after watching the man shake hands with her best friend. "I'm Lauren."
"I know," Evan offered his hand with a gentlemanly smile settled on his lips. "Your pictures are kind of everywhere," He gestured around the apartment. "You guys are big on family trips."
"Well, if we had it Lauren's way, Nat would literally only ever go camping at the one spot every year." Ashley scoffed, arching a brow at her ex-wife in challenge. "So I arrange for us to actually go places where she can experience different cultures."
"She's still too young to appreciate them in the way you want her to." Lauren rolled her eyes. "But arguing with you about this never leads to a resolution so...I relent."
"That's a first for you." Camila giggled softly.
"We compromise," Ashley found two more wine glasses and went about filling each. "I mean, we're both stubborn as fuck so it's hard for either of us to get our ways. So, I get to pick family holidays and Lauren gets to have damn near full custody while she's at school. Come school holidays though, the little gremlin is all mine." She offered a glass both Lauren and Camila.
"Yeah, so she comes home with a whole other attitude that I spend weeks getting out of her."
"She's a kid."
"That doesn't mean we get to be lax about teaching her manners."
"She has her whole life for that."
The day I knew you'd stay
Start from the beginning
