All rights go to original author.
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"Hello?" Camila smiled into her phone with the anticipation of hearing the husky reply of Lauren Jauregui. The 'Jauregui' part had been added to the raven haired girl's first name in Camila's list of contacts. There was no reason for it really; she didn't know any other Laurens, she just liked the way it looked and echoed through her mind every time she saw it flash on the screen. Lauren Jauregui.
"Hello, Camila." Lauren's grin was already ear-to-ear the second she pressed the call button on her phone. It was the fourth time that day, actually that she had smiled like that.
The first time was caused by a text message she received on her way out the door of a coffee shop that morning:
I hope it's not too
early. Paper is
complete & handed
in. 'A' material for
sure. I'm nothing if
not modest, yeah?
You working today,
Laur?
Lauren thought about her reply for a good five minutes while she walked and sipped her coffee, a heavy bag pulling on her shoulder.
I'm always up at
this time, well, not
on the weekends
of course.
Christ. She deleted what she had just written. Why don't I just give her the fucking set-points of my alarm clock?
She tried again.
I'm definitely awake.
Congrats on getting
the paper done. You
will definitely
Delete definitely...already used it.
certainly receive an
'A' . I can feel
it. Not working at the
shop 'til 4. We've got
a 400 pound man in at
6 to have his under
arm made to look like
an open mouth. Poor
Lily. : ( Have a
lovely day.
xxx
The second time Lauren couldn't suppress the wide and beaming smile from spreading across her face was while seeing one missed call from Camila and listening to one very rambling but adorable voice message:
"Hey, Laur. Just following through on my promise. I called you, see? And now you're not there. I mean, you're there, obviously. I'm calling your mobile phone so you are pretty much always there, with it...in your pocket or...I guess if you left it at your apartment, you wouldn't be with it, or more so, it with you, but now I've gone way off. (pause) Call me back then...if you want."
Not only was Lauren smiling like a fool as she listened to it, she also swore that she heard an exasperated "shit" at the end of the message right before it cut out, and that made her actually laugh out loud with delight. Definitely saving that one. The raven haired girl tucked her phone back into her pocket as she disappeared through the giant wooden doors of a large stone building.
The third time, it was late afternoon, and Lauren finally got the chance to check her phone as she walked back towards her neighborhood, towards the tattoo shop. She guessed that her lack of response had caused alarm in the brunette girl that she couldn't stop thinking about all day, so she quickly read the series of escalating texts, all six of them, before calling Camila back.
Text 1:
Ugh. Just heading into
my least favorite class.
My phone will be on
silent for the next hour.
I hope your day is
going well.
Text 2:
Just finished my last
class for the day. I
am completely free for
the rest of the evening.
I won't have my phone
on silent anymore, so
call me back when you
get a chance. No rush.
Text 3:
I just had an intense
craving for that curry.
Maybe we could go
again sometime
soon.
Text 4:
Perhaps my theory on
you leaving your
phone at home and
thus it not being with
you has been proven
true. Well if so; call
me back whenever
you reunite with it.
Text 5:
Sorry for all the texts.
Text 6:
Is everything okay?
I know you said you
don't start work til 4
so I just hope that
you're okay. You can
tell me if something's
wrong. Okay?
Oh Christ! Lauren waited for the brunette to answer her call as she smiled the fourth Camila-inspired smile of the day.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Camila." Lauren smirked and shifted her bag onto her other shoulder as she continued on her way.
"Hi. I was just thinking about you." Camila literally made herself blush as those words came out of her mouth before she could think of something less ridiculous to say.
"So I've gathered..."
"Yeah, sorry about-"
"No, I'm sorry. I was busy all day and my phone was turned off so I just got your texts and I'd love to go out with you...to get curry." Now it was Lauren's turn to blush.
"Yeah?" Camila cleared her throat and brought it down a notch. "Yeah, that would be great. I'd like that a lot."
"Good. Well, since you're free for the rest of the evening, and I'm on my way to go assist with a monstrous armpit tattoo, you can pick up the take-away and I'll see you at the shop at seven?"
Camila's stomach had turned at the mental image of the fat man's tattoo, but it quickly turned into a fluttering mess when she let Lauren's idea sink in. I'm going to see Lauren tonight. I'm going to see Lauren tonight. Lauren Jauregui. Tonight.
"Camila? Camila? Are you there?"
The brunette had forgotten to confirm Lauren's proposal. "I'm here! Sorry. Yes. I'll pick-up and seven. I'll be there at seven. Yes."
"Alright. See you then, Camila."
"See you."
The girls said their goodbyes. Lauren pushed through the shop door with its familiar jingle. Camila clutched her phone to her chest as she lay on her bed, looking up at the ceiling, starry-eyed, and suddenly realized I've nothing to wear!
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"Harry! Answer you're fucking phone you dick! I've been trying to call you all day. Christ!" Camila paused and took a breath. "I would really just like to talk to you, is all. I'm...I think I might remember some stuff from Friday and I just want to talk to you, okay? Alright, bye."
Camila snapped her phone shut and tossed it on her bed, which was littered with the entire contents of her closet. The brunette stared down at the heap of clothing, trying to focus on the task at hand. Okay...just take-away and hanging out at the shop. Casual.
Her phone beeped from its place in the pile. A text from Harry:
Sorry babes. Too loud
in the pub. Talk later.
Camila angrily typed a text back:
No prob. I'll tell Lily
you say hello.
Fuck! Harry was avoiding her and she knew it. During the last seven months since she'd moved to San Francisco, he had always made time to check in and chat a bit. At the very least, he'd send her obscene messages about what he'd been up to the night before, photographic evidence included. Please, I need to talk to you, Harry.
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"Stop flinching."
"I'm sorry, Lil. It just hurts real badly."
Lily rolled her eyes and continued on. The buzzing of the gun echoed through the tattooing room along with the stifled whimpers of the giant man laid out on The Chair, his under arm on full display in front of her.
Lauren, who was sat across, tried to offer some comfort to the big guy. "We're almost done now, Bruce. Remember the breathing exercises I showed you? Let's try it again." Lauren led Bruce through a few rounds of Lamaze. "There you go. Is it helping?"
Bruce nodded his head at Lauren appreciatively and continued the breathing technique. Lauren patted him on the shoulder.
Lily smiled wickedly when her needled hit a particularly sensitive spot and Bruce yelped in pain. "Sorry. Accident."
Lauren gave her a scolding look. "You're doing great, Bruce. Keep it up."
The bell on the front door rang out. Lauren practically leaped from her seat to answer it.
Lily eyes were on her as she raced out of the room.
As Lauren turned the corner, she was greeted by a ravishing brunette, holding a bag of take-away containers and wearing a sassy smirk.
"Hi!" Lauren was more than just a bit excited to see her, but then she noticed the smirk. "What?"
"Oh, nothing." Camila sauntered over to the front desk and placed the bag on it.
"Why do you have that look on your face then?" Lauren stepped behind the desk and stood across from Camila, who scrunched up her face as if to think something over. "Oh my god. Was Chrystal there? Did she give you a hard time?"
Camila raised her eyebrows and bit her bottom lip. "No. Chrystal was not there."
Lauren seemed relieved.
"But Britney was." Camila gave the raven haired girl a pointed look.
Now it was Lauren turn to scrunch up her face.
"Really, Lauren?"
"I go there a lot," Lauren offered as an excuse.
"Yeah. Obviously. All I had to say was 'the sexy green eyed girl from the tattoo parlor' and it was like I had spoken the secret password or something." Camila tried to play offended, but her smirk was showing.
"Why did you mention me at all?"
"How else could I have ordered? I got your usual." Camila gestured to the bag on the counter.
"Oh. Right." Lauren smiled that adorable crooked smile of hers, which was met by an equally adorable smile from Camila. They probably would have stayed there like that, grinning at each other like fools, if Bruce hadn't let another yelp break the moment.
"Is that the armpit man?"
"Yep. Thank god you arrived. He's lovely, but really, such a pussy." Lauren shook her head in disapproval. "I had to coach him through Lamaze just so he would calm down."
Camila's eyes were wide with amusement. "Since when do you know Lamaze?"
"Comes with the territory." Lauren gave the brunette a wink and picked up the bag of food.
She crossed over to the couch by the front window and sat on the floor, the coffee table in front of her, her back to the couch. Camila followed, but hesitated when it came time to decide which side of the table to sit on. Lauren made it easy for her.
"Sit by me. It's more comfortable with your back against the couch."
Camila did so as Lauren unpacked the food. "You got Cobras as well? Nice."
"Yeah, I figured that was part of your usual."
Lauren pulled her keys out of her pocket and used the bottle opener on the key ring. She handed one to Camila and opened the other for herself. "Cheers then." They clinked bottles and silence fell between them.
They both reached for the containers and tucked right into the delicious curry.
"So you think I'm sexy, then?"
Camila almost choked, but managed to swallow down the mouthful of food without incident. "Excuse me?"
"The sexy green eyed girl from the tattoo parlor?"
Camila blushed furiously. "I did say that, didn't I?"
"Yeah you did." Lauren was enjoying getting Camila on the hook and watching her wiggle.
"Well...I was trying to find the words to describe you without being disrespectful. But damn, Lauren. You're a sexy Jauregui." Camila continued to eat as if nothing was said. It was Lauren's turn to choke on her mouthful.
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The rest of their dinner was spent talking about one of Camila's favorite topics, injustice and she was particularly fired up on the subject due to a lecture from earlier in the day. Lauren sat quietly and listened to every word. She nodded and added "yeahs" and "uh huhs" every so often.
It wasn't that Lauren didn't have anything to say on the topic; she was just too enthralled by the passion and enthusiasm spilling out of the girl sitting so closely beside her that she couldn't bring herself to interject. Camila happily blathered on until she caught sight of a giant man towering above her.
Her eyes trailed up his giant frame and her mouth hung open in awe.
"So you all done then, Bruce?"
"Yeah. Thanks again, Lauren. Those breathin' things really helped."
"I'm glad. You did pick one of the most sensitive areas of the human body to get tattooed."
Bruce shrugged and lifted his arm to show off his new ink. "It was worth it though."
Lauren nodded politely. Camila dropped her fork and did her best not to look disgusted.
"Alright, girls. Lovely night." And with that, Bruce was gone.
Lauren and Camila squealed with laughter as soon as the door shut behind him.
"Jesus Christ!" Camila shook her head.
"Taylor's coming 'round."
The two girls' heads snapped up to look in the direction from which the voice came. Lily stood in the doorway, staring at them.
"What?" Lauren asked nervously.
"Taylor. Your sister."
Lauren rolled her eyes at Lily's non-answer and looked over at Camila. "It seems my sister is stopping by."
"Cool." Camila said 'cool,' but her expression was anything but.
Lauren got up from the floor and crossed over to Lily. "Can I talk to you for a second?" She grabbed Lily's arm without waiting for her to reply and pulled her into the back room.
"What the fuck, Lily?"
Lily stared at her and waited.
"I haven't really had a chance to prepare Camila to meet Taylor."
"And you haven't told Taylor that Camila can't remember your first night together."
Lauren looked down at the floor.
"I can't imagine she's going to like that very much."
Lily pushed past her and left her to panic on her own.
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So...i usually update about every six days but since school is starting for me next Monday,it might be backed up a little. I'll probably still update but it might be scattered in between the week. Anyways, hope ya'll liked the chapter! Until next time.~Val