"What do you want Anthony?" Camila asked once Dinah left the scene.
"How have you been?" Anthony asked casually on purposely avoiding Camila's question.
"Why are you so interested for?" Camila kinked her eyebrow up at tall guy in front of her, intimidating him on purpose.
"Nothing, I'm just here trying to be friends with you and that's it." He held out his hands in front of him and took a step back from Camila.
Camila looked at him with anger in her eyes and he just looked at her with a sign of hope and kindness in his eyes. He has changed physically and that Camila can definitely say is something that he achieved quiet well. The previous varsity player have changed his body build, he is now much bigger then he used to be, he probably even grew a little taller, his hairstyle is now more sophisticated, neatly cut down the sides and brushed out on the top. He surely is more attractive now than the times when he and Camila were together.
Camila swallowed hard, her mouth now dry, not having any idea on what to say next. She grew more and more uncomfortable around him and quickly made something up in her head to leave the awkward interaction.
"I have to go." Camila blurted out once she stood there frozen for quiet a long time.
"Can I at least ask you to go dinner with me before you leave?" He asked, smiling brightly, in the hopes of Camila wouldn't reject him.
Camila stared at him, a little baffled with his invitation. Surely she didn't want to risk things and make him expect things from his ex girlfriend.
"It's just a casual dinner, no strings attached." He chuckled. "Please?" He added after a while and smiled brightly.
"Ugh." Camila groaned and ran her fingers through her hair. "Fine. I'll go." She agreed but on purposely avoiding his gaze.
"Great. Tomorrow? I'll text you the place." He took his phone out of his back pocket and handed it to Camila for her to save her contact in it.
Camila took the device and typed her information quickly.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" He smiled and met Camila's gaze instantly.
Camila sighed and smiled at Anthony before speaking another word.
"Don't get too excited." Camila commented and walked away swiftly from Anthony to where Dinah stood watching the interaction from afar.
"Nice talking to you!" He called out after Camila.
"He's a jerk Mila." Dinah stated once Camila reached her.
"Let's just leave." Camila tugged on Dinah's arm firmly and lead her friend out of the music store.
Dinah took a glance back to check whether the newly transformed man was still there. Dinah caught his gaze watching both Camila and Dinah leave.
"What did he want from you?" Dinah asked, once they were finally out of the music store and on their way to the lower level of the mall.
"To become friends." Camila stated simply.
"Are you sure?" Dinah asked. "I mean he looked like he wanted something else plus he asked for your number." Dinah reminded Camila.
"I know but if he does want something from me then why not go and find out what it is right?" Camila shrugged her shoulders at Dinah.
"Just a little reminder here my friend, your girlfriend is in a hospital bed still unconscious." Dinah informed Camila as if the smaller girl wasn't aware of it already.
"And you think I don't know about that?" Camila asked sarcastically, "let me remind you one thing here, he's my ex and I don't think I could ever forgive him about what happened back in the past." She added.
"Just be careful, we both know what that asshole can get into." Dinah sighed.
"I will never do such thing that will put my relationship with Lauren on the line." Camila stated matter of a factly.
"I know." Dinah smiled at Camila and followed her friend over to the yogurt stand.
They gathered their toppings for their yogurt and sat at a table to enjoy the cold food that they just made.
"Have you decided on whether or not you're going back home for college or not?" Dinah asked once they finally settled down on their seats.
"Nope." Camila popped out the last letters of the word easily.
"I thought you applied for Juilliard as well." Dinah stated and took a spoonful of yogurt to her mouth.
"I did." Camila's eyebrows knitted together, remembering her application.
"Well?" Dinah asked, waiting for Camila to continue.
"I don't know." Camila shrugged her shoulders at Dinah.
"Did you even mention that application to Lauren?" Dinah pressed on.
"No, I didn't."
"Why not?"
"Because it's not something I should be discussing with her just yet." Camila replied simply.
"You know sometimes I wonder what goes in that little brain of yours." Dinah commented and pointed to Camila. "It's either you have a really clear idea of where you're heading or what to say or you either go and leave it all up to fate." She added.
"Good point." Camila agreed.
"You must've gotten something at least from Juilliard." Dinah pressed on, wanting to know about what happened to Camila's application.
Camila just shrugged her shoulders at Dinah.
"Ugh, it is impossible to get something from you right now, really." Dinah groaned and finished the last spoonfuls of yogurt.
They both finished their treat and continued on walking around the mall to buy useless and unnecessary things while chattering away loudly. Camila soon forgot about her interaction with her ex and just enjoyed her quality time with her best friend. Surely she still has some sort of worry and anger in her to what happened to her in the past and how she truly believes that she has wasted her year and a half on a guy that only left her in pain.
Camila is or was in a happy place already and she definitely does not need more problems in her life, right at that moment.
After a long day at the mall, walking around, chatting and unwanted run into Camila's ex boyfriend, their time to watch over Lauren that night at the hospital finally came around. Camila and Dinah have now switched with Clara and Mike and settled down on the couch inside Lauren's room. Camila draped her legs across Dinah's thighs as they watch some movies on Camila's laptop wrapped up in a blanket.
"I'm hungry." Camila commented but Dinah ignoring her on purpose.
"Dinah." Camila whined. "I'm hungry." She then added.
"Mila." Dinah sighed loudly, a little annoyed as well. "What do you want?" She asked, pausing the movie.
"Food." Camila smiled brightly.
"Ugh, I'll go buy some downstairs then." Dinah pushed the table aside in order for her to get out of her seated position.
"Thanks! I love you!" Camila called out after Dinah.
Camila sighed and stretched out her limbs freely once Dinah left the room. The smaller girl walked up beside Lauren's bed and took a seat on the vacant chair next to it.
"Hey babe, you know that I bumped into my ex today? Oh god that was something awkward." Camila chuckled, brushing Lauren's hair lightly. "The things is that he asked me to go out for dinner tomorrow and that is why I'm telling you about this." Camila continued on stroking Lauren's hair gently, letting the dark locks wrap around her fingers. "Is it okay if I go? I don't want anything to do with, honestly but he insisted plus you know how much I don't want him. So is it okay? I promise that it will all just be casual and nothing else." Camila then grabbed Lauren's hand. "I love you."
Camila just stayed there, seated in the chair, looking at Lauren lovingly before Dinah came back in the room with a couple bags of potato chips in her hands.
"Can we finish the movie now?" Dinah asked and settled back down on her previous position on the sofa.
"Yes, I'm happy now." Camila smiled and walked over to Dinah and sitting on her previously assigned position.
"You asked Lauren for permission didn't you?" Dinah asked, looking at Camila before starting the movie once again.
"Of course, she has the right to know where I'm heading tomorrow night." Camila replied simply and reaching out to press play.
"I would've said no but since Lauren can't response to that, I guess she's fine with it... well at least for now." Dinah chuckled a little, trying to make the event for tomorrow a little lighter.
"You're not Lauren so you don't get to tell me if I can go or not." Camila scrunched up her nose and stuck her tongue out at Dinah.
"Be quiet, I can't understand what they're saying." Dinah placed a hand on Camila's mouth to stop her friend from talking.
Camila mumbled something on Dinah's hand and rolled her eyes at Dinah before fixing her attention back on the screen in front of them.
A few more hours later and Normani arrived at the scene and joined in with Camila and Dinah's moment. Normani brought in a few blankets and pillows to make themselves comfortable for the night and a few books for Camila and magazines for her and Dinah to read. In no time the three of them shared the room with Lauren and read to their hearts content.
Silence in that room was deafening but it was the kind where they were all comfortable around one another.
After Normani had enough looking at pictures and reading about a few interviews from the magazines she had decided to break the silence and ask about what Dinah and Camila have been up to the entire day. Camila have filled her friend in and on purposely leaving out the information about running into her ex boyfriend.
"Hang on a second here Mila." Dinah interrupted Camila once she was nearing the end of her story about Dinah nearly tripping over in front of a very attractive guy in the shoe department. "You're leaving one vital information out." She then added.
"What is it?" Normani asked, looking interested and desparate in knowing what that information is. She looked at both Camila and Dinah and waited for one of them to continue on talking.
Camila threw a look over to Dinah's direction.
"What? Tell her." Dinah practically raised her voice and surrounded the room's silence instantly.
Camila sighed loudly and ran her fingers through her hair.
"Anthony, my ex, asked me to go to dinner tomorrow night." Camila explained briefly. "No strings attached, I promise plus I told Lauren about it anyway." She then added.
"Well then..." Normani trailed off not knowing what to say. "And this ex of yours is aware of the fact that you have a girlfriend here in a hospital bed still unconscious right?" She asked.
"Not really..." Camila trailed off. "I mean I'll casually bring it up tomorrow night." She added reassuringly.
"Wait what?" Normani asked, still a little baffled and lost as to what Camila was thinking about when she responded to the offer. "So you're going?" She added.
"Yeah I mean I guess I should go." Camila replied not certain as to what she got herself into. "I kind of told him that I will go."
"This is something Camila. I'm not sure if it's right or if it's not but I'm not gonna stress this topic out any further." Normani commented honestly, before adding, "as long as you feel that this thing will not affect your relationship with Lauren then I guess you should be fine." She smiled.
"I'm committed to my relationship with Lauren and so is she so I'm not going to do anything that will risk my still building relationship with my girl." Camila reminded Normani.
"That's all I need to hear." Normani told Camila firmly and nodded her head in approval.
"You sound like her mother." Dinah chuckled at Normani. "I mean no offence to Clara, she's an amazing mum but how you just responded to that just made you sound like a really overprotective mother." She laughed and stretched out her limbs freely.
The other two girls laughed and shuffled around the sofa to find a comfortable position for the three of them to fit and sleep for the night. Dinah took the middle spot while both Normani and Camila rested their heads on Dinah's shoulders with the blanket wrapped around the three of them and pillows around them.
The next morning, Clara and Mike came by early to take over to watch over Lauren and let the other three girls go to do whatever it is that they needed to do that day before they come back to watch over Lauren again.
Camila said her goodbye to Lauren and promised to be back later that night but also to play it cool that night when she goes to dinner with her ex. Then they left the sterile building and went back home to grab something to eat. Normani did not join Camila and Dinah and drove back to her own place to get some proper needed sleep.
Once they were back at their own place, Camila prepared breakfast for both herself and Dinah while Dinah got ready and took a shower upstairs.
"Dinah! Breakfast is ready!" Camila shouted from the kitchen, Dinah's loud music made impossible for Camila to beat the blaring music that surrounded the house.
"You know what, I'll just eat now and let you be." Camila gave up after a few more tries of calling out after Dinah and started to divulge the French toasts that she had made for the two of them.
Camila grabbed her phone from her back pocket and scrolled through her social medias mindlessly while eating on the other hand. She looked at the updates and different events that's been happening with the rest of her family and friends before getting a text message from Anthony.
Anthony: "Don't forget about tonight, 7 pm at Osteria del Teatro. See you there."
Camila rolled her eyes after reading the text message and didn't bother replying back.
"Why am I going to dinner with him anyway?" Camila asked herself and sighed loudly when she didn't think of any acceptable reason as to why she is going to dinner with her ex. She then returned to commenting and replying back to some messages a few family members and friends left her before she heard loud footsteps that sounded more like dancing steps coming down the stairs while singing loudly on the top of their lungs.
"Oh I wanna dance with somebody, I want to feel the heat with somebody..." Dinah sang along to the loud music blasting out of the portable speaker that Dinah has with her. "With somebody who loves me."
"Your breakfast is cold!" Camila yelled once Dinah entered the kitchen, she rolled her eyes when Dinah continued on singing loudly.
Once Dinah walked closer to Camila with the speaker in her hand, Camila took the opportunity to lower the volume down. Dinah glared at Camila obviously not happy about her perfect concert being disrupted.
"Hey!" Dinah whined. "I was enjoying that."
"Well my eardrums didn't." Camila commented and continued on eating the rest of her breakfast.
"That's not my problem." Dinah scoffed and turned the volume up louder but only stopped by Camila who threw a glare in her direction. "Just a little bit? I'll even play Ed Sheeran songs." Dinah tried bargaining with Camila.
Camila thought about it for a minute to play with Dinah's anticipation and mood before she smiled at Dinah who took it as a signal to let the music take over the silence of the empty house once more.
"Now play an Ed song." Camila commanded.
Dinah played an upbeat Ed Sheeran song and Camila happily sang along to the song while doing the dishes. For the rest of the day, the two girls lazily waited for the day to just pass by before it was time for Camila to leave and go to dinner with Anthony.
As she was getting ready, Camila stopped in her tracks to look at the outfit that she has chosen; a black shirt dress that showed quite a lot of cleavage with red heels and dark makeup. She also let her hair to fall down to her waist in its natural state. She stopped in front of the mirror and looked at herself, sighing loudly as she realised that she might have went a little too much just for a casual dinner. Dinah walked in the room and stopped, amused eyeing Camila up and down.
"What are you wearing?" Dinah asked, walking up to Camila to get a better look of the smaller girl's outfit.
"Too much?" Camila asked and turned to her heels to show Dinah her outfit a lot better in the light.
"Well it definitely says; I'm not interested in anything you will say." Dinah mocked and pointed at Camila up and down.
"Ugh, I'm changing." Camila groaned and started unbuttoning her blouse to reveal he black singlet.
"No don't. Just leave it, I'm pretty sure that no matter what happens he will still end up looking at your boobs." Dinah chuckled and Dinah threw a glare at her direction.
"I'm sorry but we all know what is the one thing that he wants from you and you cannot deny that." Dinah scoffed and took a seat on the bed to help Camila get ready.
"Not gonna happen, I'm sorry." Camila laughed and fixed her locks that are in their natural state at that moment run through her fingers.
Camila grabbed her purse and vacated the room to grab the car keys.
"I'll be waiting for you to come back but I'll text you if Mani and Ally are picking me up to go to the hospital." Dinah informed Camila as she went down the stairs.
"Yeah okay. Bye, please tell Lauren I love her." Camila smiled and opened the front door to go to the cab that has been waiting outside and descended on the seat quickly.
She informed the driver about her destination as he drove off to the direction of the restaurant.
Upon her arrival, she immediately noticed Anthony waiting in front of the restaurant and smiling brightly as he noticed Camila's cab pulled up at a curb just outside the restaurant where Anthony was standing.
"Well hello there." He greeted and opened the door for Camila to exit.
"Hi." Camila greeted bluntly.
"Shall we?" He gestured to the direction of the restaurant and let Camila lead the way.
He was in his best attire for the night, her wore slacks and a black business shirt with his hair brushed neatly in place. His blue eyes shined brightly against the night sky, his facial features were now clearly visible, he had a beard going on and groomed neatly. Camila could also smell his perfume from far away, the strong scent is definitely imprinting on Camila's memory.
He opened the door for her and Camila entered the place swiftly. Anthony followed close behind and informed the receptionist his reservation.
"Reservation for two, under Anthony Williams." He smiled and the lady looked at her list and nodded in approval.
"Follow me." She smiled and lead both Camila and Anthony to their table near the window.
He pulled the chair back for Camila to take before he sat across the table from her.
"Welcome to Osteria del Teatro. Perhaps I could offer you a menu or would you like the chef's choice?" The waiter, who dressed up neatly offered them.
"I think we will take the menu please, thanks." Anothony replied before Camila could even say anything.
Camila grabbed the menu and smiled in return to the man. After a while they have finally chosen the food of their choice and the man walked away with their orders.
"So what have been up to lately?" Antony asked, once the man have left the scene.
"Vacation mostly but yeah been quite busy lately." Camila replied briefly.
"Really? Like what? How busy?" He pressed on.
"My girlfriend and I..." Camila started to explain but was cut off by Anthony immediately.
"Wait your what?" He asked amused and laughing loudly, not believing what he just heard from Camila.
"Yeah my girlfriend. I have a girlfriend." Camila repeated more firmly this time.
"Wow, I never knew you were... you know..." He commented.
"A lesbian?" Camila half asked, half stated. "Yeah I didn't either."
"Since when?"
"The start of vacation."
"Well this is new." He breathed before continuing. "So what happened? I'm sorry for cutting you off."
"We were in a car accident and she suffered a head trauma and still unconscious in the hospital up until now." Camila explained and looked down on her hands, feeling a little guilty for not having to spend time with her girlfriend that day.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you okay now? Is she stable at least?" He asked, a hint of concern in his voice that Camila quickly recognised.
"Yeah I'm fine and she's fine." Camila smiled warmly at Anthony. "What about you, what have you been up to lately?" She asked, looking at him a little more interested this time.
He laughed a little and met Camila's gaze instantly.
"Trouble I guess." Camila chuckled and took a sip of the champagne from her glass.
"No actually, I have been working as a trainee psychologist at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Centre." He laughed a little. "I know it's quite weird but I took psychology when we were together but I wasn't taking it seriously back then and then after the break up, I took more interest in it and now I'm here." He explained proudly.
Camila looked at him with some sort of proudness in her eyes. The guy that she used to think was the guy that would throw away his life now have turned around and became more successful and living happily.
"Wow..." Camila replied, a little lost for words as to what Anthony have achieved so far. "So I'm guessing you have been taking your studies seriously then." She teased.
"Yeah well, I have to if I want that degree." He laughed. "You look stunning by the way, looking more mature now." He complimented her and looked straight into her eyes.
Camila felt her face flush with embarrassment and felt a little overwhelmed with the compliment.
"Thank you, you look different too..." She complimented back, "I mean good different like really good different."
He laughed light heartedly at her.
"Anyway, so how's your life in the love department? Girls have been all over you lately?" Camila asked casually.
Anthony laughed and cleared his throat a little uncomfortable with where their conversation is going and Camila sensing it straight away.
"Yeah no luck whatsoever at the moment." He replied.
"Really? I mean come on there must be someone, you've been working out and I can see that." Camila pressed on.
"No, no I'm still single." He laughed it out.
"For how long now?"
He swallowed hard and took a quick sip from his champagne glass, obviously not wanting to answer Camila's question.
Camila waited for him to talk after a brief pause before realising something.
"Don't tell me you haven't dated anyone since the break up." Camila quirked up an eyebrow at his direction, obviously interested as to what he would say.
"Honestly..." He trailed off. "No. I haven't been with anybody since you broke up with me." He replied, mumbling the last couple of words.
Camila stopped and looked at him straight in the eyes, she could see that he has been hiding something and that he must've been really affected by their break up.
"I guess you need to get your game on then." Camila tried encouraging him as he just continued on chuckling at her enthusiasm towards his life before their order came around.
They started divulging the three course meal that they have ordered and chatted with one another happily for a quite some time before Anthony paid for their bill before leaving the place to go outside the restaurant.
"Hey, thanks for the night. It was really nice catching up with you." Camila thanked him sincerely after walking in silence to the curb.
"It was nothing, it's great that I caught up with you too." He smiled before they came to a stop in front of the restaurant, waiting for a cab to drive by.
Camila started to walk away to hail a cab to get her back to the house.
"Can I at least offer to take you home?" Anthony asked before Camila walked away completely.
Camila then heard her phone buzzing with what she assumes to be a texts message, in her purse and quickly took it out.
Dinah: "Mila, I'll be at the hospital tonight so if you want you can come by after you're done with your dinner, I left the car at home. Normani picked me up. Be safe."
Camila groaned quite loudly than she expected and placed the phone back in her purse.
"Is everything alright?" He asked concerned.
"Yeah, it's just that Dinah left me home alone tonight." Camila informed him.
He raised an eyebrow at Camila as if she should be worrying about herself right now being home alone.
He then hailed the cab that drove by and opened the door for Camila to get in. He soon followed her lead and gestured for her to inform the driver her address. Camila rolled her eyes at Anthony and leaned in to tell the driver the address as they drove off swiftly onto the main road back to Camila house.
During the entire cab ride, the two of them stayed silent in the car. Camila looking out the window the entire time as he switches between the view outside and taking quick glances at the young girl that sat beside him.
Once they finally reached their destination, Anthony opened the cab door and held it open for Camila to vacate. He then paid for the fare and waited as the driver drove off to another destination.
"Well..." Camila started and looked at Anthony. "My place." She then gestured towards the house and walked along the path that lead up to the front porch. She quickly rummaged through her purse and grabbed the house keys, unlocking the front door. Camila opened it widely and waited until Anthony entered the house before locking it securely behind them.
"You want something to drink? I think we have a few alcoholic ones in the cupboard." Camila walked towards the kitchen and turned the lights on her way.
"Anything will do." He followed her, looking around the house.
Camila took out a bottle of vodka and two glasses from the cupboard, filling them just enough before handing one of the glasses to Anthony.
He took the drink and toasted with Camila before drinking the alcoholic drink in one go.
Camila looked at him amused and mixed her vodka with a little soda before taking a sip out of it.
"Okay then, slow down a little." She chuckled once she saw Anthony filling the glass once more.
"Sorry it's just that champagne did nothing to me." He laughed and placed the bottle down on the bench.
"Well remember that you still need to get home." Camila kinked an eyebrow at Anthony and took another drink from the glass.
He smiled warmly and stared into Camila's chocolate orbs deeply.
"You still look amazingly beautiful, you know that right?" He breathed.
Camila averted her gaze instantly and took in the drink in her hand in one go, filling the glass up quickly with more drink after.
He then chuckled as he watches Camila make another drink and consuming half of it straight away.
"You're the one who needs to slow down." He teased. "Look at you already finishing two glasses of vodka."
Camila finished the drink quickly and made another glass.
"Yep okay. No more." He took the bottle from her after she successfully added more alcohol in her third glass of vodka with soda.
"Why are you back Anthony?" She asked once the silence between them made an appearance.
"I don't know." He replied honestly.
He then looked at Camila once again who had her eyes fixed firmly on the guy sat next to her on the stool.
"I really did love you Camila." He breathed. "You changed me for the better and I always look for someone who could make me feel the same way you did." He continued.
"I... I... I did... I did love you too..." Camila replied just above whispering.
He looked at her deeply this time and tucked in the stray hair behind her ear before leaning in a kissed the young girl in front of him on the lips.
Camila wanted to push him away but her body is not responding the way she wanted it to. Soon he deepened the kiss and stood up from the stool, lifting Camila up on the way.
He started to make his way to the living room, pinning Camila on the walls on their way, cupping her face as her small frame crashed into his built frame.
Once they finally reached the living room, he started unzipping her dress and Camila started unbuttoning his shirt, their mouths never leaving one another. Anthony then unbuckled his belt and unzipping his pants, throwing them somewhere in the area along with Camila's dress.
He pinned Camila on the couch, now the two of them in their underwear and battling against dominance with their tongues. He took off Camila's bra swiftly and then followed that by taking off her panties. He teased her for a bit before taking off his own underwear and slowly slipping in Camila's folds.
Soon Camila and Anthony were on top of one another, feeling each other in them for the rest of the night before falling fast asleep in each other's arms.
A/N:
I'm sorry for this chapter and for letting Camila have sex with her ex boyfriend and for possibly breaking your little Camren feels but please forgive me. I love you guys though!
- J xo