Lauren and I walked hand in hand into the building. After breakfast, I immediately received a call from Simon, asking me to for a meeting. I told him that I was already about to come, so it wouldn't take too long. I looked to my right to take in Lauren's appearance. She was wearing a David Bowie shirt with a denim jacket wrapped around her waist and denim shorts. God, I swear she's going to give me a heart attack someday. I was broken out of my daze by Lauren wrapping her arms around my shoulders.
She looked down at me, smiling widely, "You look great in my bomber jacket, Camzi." I smiled back and leaned up to kiss her on the lips. We were just about to walk in the elevator when I caught the glimpse of a familiar brunette. I smirked and I intertwined my hands with Lauren and pulled her as I ran towards the brunette. She stumbled a bit in surprise but quickly regained her balance. I was surprised that Cara wasn't with her right now.
"Camz?" Lauren spluttered. "She's the one that I've been talking about and another girl, although she's not with her right now." I said. She whipped her head around and grinned cheerfully when she saw me, "Camila! Is your meeting with Simon today?" When we were close enough, I gave her a quick hug and then went back beside Lauren.
I nodded quickly, earning an amused laugh from Kendall. "It's been a while, Kendall. By the way, this is my wonderful girlfriend, Lauren. Lauren, this is Kendall. We met a week ago." I introduced them to each other. Lauren smiled politely and waved shyly. "Oh, that's so cute. You guys are a beautiful couple." She complimented, holding her documents up to her chest. "Thanks." Lauren said, feeling flattered by her comment.
"By the way, where's Cara?" I asked, looking around the lobby. "She's probably smoking outside. I told her to stop but she's so stubborn." Kendall said, shaking her head in annoyance. I frowned but it was soon replaced by a pout, "Aw, I wanted to invite you guys to hangout with my friends and I." I mindlessly played with my girlfriend's fingers that were entwined with mine. "That would be great actually."
"Let's exchange numbers and then I'm going to tell Cara." I nodded cheerfully and we both gave each other our numbers. She also exchanged numbers with Lauren, showing that they're getting along pretty great. After a few minutes of talking, Kendall checked her wristwatch and clicked her tongue. "Shoot, I forgot I got something to do. I guess I got distracted." She laughed. "It's been great catching up with you, Lauren and Camila. See ya."
She said goodbye to us and then walked off elsewhere.
Lauren and I then went inside the elevator to the 10th floor. Silently, I pushed Lauren against the elevator wall and hugged her front. My heart was beating fast, and I could hear her heart beating rapidly too. I sighed as I lay my head against her chest. "You nervous, baby?" Lauren asked, rubbing my back comfortingly. I rested my chin on her chest, gazing up at her adoringly. I nodded quietly.
Lauren smiled and pecked my forehead. "How would Simon react? I just rejected his offer. What if he becomes furious?" I said. I heard Lauren sigh, "You don't have to please anybody but yourself, Camz. You don't need to meet somebody's expectation. If you're not ready yet, then you don't have to force yourself because you're afraid of disappointing somebody else. If you're happy with your decision then that's the only thing that matters."
I happily sighed, "What did I do to deserve such a smart girlfriend?"
"I could say the same to you." Lauren laughed adorably, making me smile widely. I pecked her jaw. It didn't take long for the elevator to open, "Good luck to me then." I grumbled, walking out of the elevator. We walked to Simon's office. I knocked on the door, dreading this meeting. Lauren sensed my expression and sent me a encouraging smile. Soon, Simon opened the door. He was wearing his usual attire, jeans and a plain white t-shirt.
He smiled politely. "Good morning Simon." I greeted politely. "Good morning to you too, Camila." Then his gaze turned towards my girlfriend, well he doesn't know that she's my girlfriend yet but I'm not planning on hiding it from him. If he doesn't accept that I have a girlfriend then I'm even more glad that I rejected his offer. I'm not going to lose her again because of some selfish mistake.
"And you are?"
"I'm Lauren. I'm her f-" I immediately cut her off before she could finish her sentence, "Girlfriend. She's my girlfriend." My heart pounded against my chest. Lauren was pleasantly surprised by what I said. She was stunned for a few moments before she smiled widely, not expecting that. We gazed at each other lovingly before turning our attention back to Simon. "I see." I blinked confusedly at his response. I see? Well, I guess that's better than nothing.
"Um... I can just wait here so I wont disturb you." Lauren stuttered, rubbing the back of her neck nervously, feeling intimidated by the older man. After hearing that, I sent her a subtle glare. There is no way you're leaving me alone with this intimidating man.
"Nonsense, you can come in Lauren." Simon dismissed with a wave of his hand. I sighed in relief, pulling Lauren with me. The room was fairly big. The floor was designed with black tiles in jagged patterns, the wall was painted plain maroon with different portraits hanging around. Although behind Simon's desk, which is at the end of the room, instead of cement behind it was a glass wall, revealing the city underneath. Stacks of paper were scattered on the table messily. A flat screen TV was hanging on the wall on the right side of the room. A big bookshelf filled with different books was behind Simon's black leather chair. At the corner the room stands a record player, underneath it was a box of vinyls underneath the table where the record player is.
There was even a cabinet full of wine and such. I felt slightly envious that I never had such a luxurious place.
"Please sit." Simon gestured towards the leather couch in the room. Lauren and I sat down. "So I take that you have already thought of your decision, Camila?" Simon sat down on his black leather seat, turning towards us with his hands intertwined on his desk. "Well, yeah- But before you say something, I want to apologize in advance if I offend you or anything." Stuttering, I made a move to grip Lauren's hands tighter in mine.
"Is there a problem?" Simon asked, his deep voice showing confusion. "No... I mean, kind of. It's just that... I don't think I would be able to accept your offer right now. Maybe in the future but not right now." I said. The older man hummed before asking, "May I ask what's the reason? Most people would have taken this offer in a heartbeat. Isn't singing your dream, Camila? You do know you're just going to waste your time in college, knowing that you rejected an offer most people would have accepted without even thinking about it."
"What if you regret it? It would be such a waste of great talent. I hope you understand that Camila. This is your dream that we're talking about. Don't tell me you're going to waste your talent on college. Most artists didn't even get to finish college." Instead of paying attention to the stacks of papers on his table, he turned his attention towards us, clearly not expecting for me to reject his offer. I was stunned. Hearing this from Simon made it even more hard to deny. Fuck, he's right isn't he?
Before I could open my mouth to talk, Lauren beat me to it, "Please stop pressuring my girlfriend. She thought of her decision long enough to understand the consequences. Before making an overall decision, she asked my opinion about it first and I told her to do what she thinks is best. And this was her decision. Please stop making it seem like you're the only record label that is willing to sign a contract with my girlfriend." Her voice was low and defensive.
"I'm sure there are other labels that would want to work with Camz."
I sat there, stunned. I didn't expect her to stand up for me. Even Simon was stunned by her response. He probably never expected someone to talk to him that way, seeing that he's always used to being in control. "Lauren..." I gasped. She turned to my direction, smiling encouragingly. Simon was silent for a few seconds before he sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Well, we can't have that happening anytime soon."
"What do you mean?" I said.
"We can't have you joining any record labels other than Syco. Maybe we can work things out and talk about another option." Simon said and looked at the both of us. "What do you say, Camila?" He said. Biting my lip, I looked at Lauren, silently asking for her opinion. She noticed and gave my shoulder an encouraging squeeze and mouthed 'Go for it.' Reluctantly, I answered, "Yeah, sure."
"Hmm... Since you value your education so much, how about let's forget about this meeting and start fresh?" He laughed, almost baffled by the fact that someone would choose education over his offer. I stopped myself from sending him a glare and said, "Are you saying that...?" Simon nodded, "Yes, after you graduate from college, give me a call. Let's arrange another meeting years from now, and talk about your new contract."
"Are you serious?" I laughed humorlessly in disbelief, looking between Lauren and him. Is he seriously considering this right now?
"Dead serious, Ms. Cabello." Simon nodded blankly, making me squeal and jump on Lauren. She was caught off guard for a few seconds before laughing and wrapping her arms around my waist to hold me closer to her. "Oh my gosh," I breathed out. "This is happening. I can still reach my dream. I thought it would have been over." Laughing, I buried my face in the crook of her neck. "This is happening right now, baby. You can still reach your dream. It's not over yet." Lauren reassured me, squeezing me tighter and kissed my cheek. "We still got time, Camz."
"Yeah, we still got time." I nodded against her neck.
We were relishing the moment when Simon coughed awkwardly, silently reminding us that he's still here. Lauren and I awkwardly separated before I grinned brightly once again. "Thank you so much, Simon. You don't know how much this means to me. I thought I might have offended you in some way by rejecting it but... Thank you so much. It's just a bit too early for me so I hope you understand."
"It's no problem, Camila. I can see that you and Lauren really love each other so I understand your reason." He said, making me smile slightly. I nodded shyly. "So I guess this concludes our meeting." He stood up from his chair and escorted us outside of his office, bidding us farewell. "Thank you so much, Simon." I couldn't help but thank him once again. He smiled politely and closed the door of his office.
I squealed after the door was fully closed and literally jumped on Lauren, wrapping my arms around her neck and legs around her waist. Giggling, she held me by my thighs and walked, carrying me as we headed towards the elevator while I was still wrapped around her body. "I'm so happy for you, Camz." She voiced out, kissing me on the nose. Luckily, there wasn't any people to see this weird situation with me being carried by Lauren.
I sighed blissfully before letting go of her. After my feet touched my ground, Lauren pouted adorably. "But I wanted to carry you." She whined, earning a laugh from me. I pinched her cheek and we entered the elevator. She pressed the button and elevator moved. We didn't dare let go of our hands once. "So I guess we're back to our normal life now, huh?" I said, smiling.
Lauren shook her head, "Nuh uh, this call for a celebration." She grinned as she did so.
_
3 Years Later
I groaned and slumped against my chair. I have locked myself in the library for the past 3 hours and my brain has already been fried. I have been having troubles with this one class, which is Art History, mostly because I hate memorizing with a passion. It's like I have the attention span of a goldfish. I was alone in this library. Finals is supposed to be next week and I wanted to prepare early because I don't like being under pressure. I still got 7 days to study.
Don't get me wrong, I love reading, I just despise reading textbooks. Dinah and Normani has been pestering to take a break from studying so I went to the library to escape them. I haven't seen Lauren yet since we left the apartment but she's probably just in the Art Room. Surprisingly, there's a lot of people in the library. They're probably preparing for the finals just like me.
I sighed, easily getting distracted. I picked up my pencil and balance it on my puckered lips with my feet propped up on the table casually. Luckily, I was sitting in the far corner where the librarian wont see me. She would have reprimanded me for laying my feet on the table. While I was busy balancing my pencil on my puckered lips, I didn't notice somebody sit on the chair in front of me.
"Aren't you supposed to be studying, Camz?" The voice who I can already tell was Lauren, said with amusement lingering in her tone. "I am." I said, and focused on not letting the pencil fall. "Yeah, because balancing a pencil on your lips is definitely studying." She said, her voice filled with sarcasm. I sighed and finally turned to glare at Lauren. "I'm taking a break, duh." I rolled my eyes playfully. She raised a brow with a small smile.
"What are you doing here? Wait... Where have you been this whole day?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at the girl. She held her hands up in surrender, "I was in the Art Room, like I usually am. And the girls has been restless so I decided to find you." She explained. "Fair enough." I nodded to myself.
"My brain is literally numb right now." I groaned, throwing my head back in annoyance, making the pencil fall from my puckered lips. I cursed but didn't even bother picking it up. "You don't have coffee in there by any chance, do you?"
Lauren rolled her eyes before she crouched under the table to get her coffee, knowing that I would have finished her coffee before she could if I saw it She gave me her cup of coffee, making me smile widely at her. "Be thankful that I'm in a good mood today." She grumbled. "Even if you were in a bad mood you would have given me coffee anyway." I smiled teasingly and took a sip.
She laughed, shaking her head.
"Do you mind if I join you in studying, m'lady?" She said and I couldn't help but smile. I tried hiding my smile as I drank from the cup. This only caused an annoying smirk to appear from her lips. She knew what 'm'lady' does to me. This evil woman. I set the cup down on the the table and smirked back, "Only if you help me study. I swear to God you guys are too carefree. I've literally been in this library for 3 hours."
"Aw, lucky me. I love Art History, so I'll help you study." Lauren smiled and took my textbook to ask me some questions. But then she raised her head from the textbook and smirked once again. "Only if you give me a kiss." She puckered her lips exaggeratedly. I rolled my eyes, "Touché." I mumbled before standing up and leaning over the table to kiss her lips repeatedly. I tugged on her lower lip and then gave her lips three more pecks.
"I suppose that's enough payment." I said and sat back on my chair. "Mhmm." She nodded enthusiastically like a child. She was about to ask me a question before I thought of an idea. "Wait, if I get each answer correct, will you give me a kiss as a reward?" I wiggled my eyebrows jokingly. "I'm definitely not opposed to the idea." She let out a heavenly giggle.
"Okay let's start. To which artistic movement does Paul Gauguin's The Yellow Christ belong..."
After 15 torturous questions and 10 kisses in total, I decided to finally take a break. "I want to take a break." I groaned, flapping my arms around like a child throwing a tantrum. "I guess that's enough torture for today." Lauren said, putting all of my books in my bag before walking over to me. "Aw, you poor baby." She cooed as she towered over me and pecked my nose and forehead.
I scrunched up my nose and stuck my tongue out at her. The photographer tapped on her chin in thought, "Since you've been studying like a good girl for three hours, how about we go back to our apartment and eat ice cream while watching Hercules. I know how much you love Hercules and ice cream."
I immediately stood up when I heard ice cream and Hercules. "You're such a child." Lauren laughed and linked our arms together, pulling me towards the exit. "You love me." I said. "Unfortunately." She joked, making me gasp.
Lauren drove us back to our apartment in 5 minutes and we headed upstairs to our room but not before greeting Big Rob who we gotten fairly close to. When we reached our apartment door, I could hear the faint sound of the television turned on. "I swear to God those girls are so annoying." Lauren grumbled and opened the door.
When we opened the door, they didn't even spare us a glance. They just continued staring at the television. Dinah, Normani and Ally sat on the sofa while Cara and Kendall sat on the carpeted floor with their backs resting on the sofa behind them, cuddling. I'm not even surprised anymore.
"What are you guys doing here?" I said with my hands on my hips. Lauren didn't bother acknowledging the five girls. She went to the kitchen and opened the fridge to get some milk. Ally was nice enough to acknowledge our presence and answered, "Well, Kendall and Cara have a day off so they invited us to crash in your apartment."
I stared at them, confused, "I won't even question your logic anymore." Ally smiled brightly and shrugged before turning her attention back to the television. Lauren then came back from the kitchen with a carton of milk in her hands. She tugged me down as she sat on the love seat and made me sit on her lap.
"Dude," Dinah muttered all of a sudden, which got the attention of the six of us. "We should totally go clubbing today."
"Dinah, we have a test coming up soon." I protested. "Who caaaares." Dinah groaned with her head tilted back. I rolled my eyes at the immature girl. "Then I wont be coming." I stubbornly crossed my arms across my chest. Dinah smirked, "You don't have a choice. We're going to Starburst after all."
Starburst, the same underground bar I have been working at for the past three years. From working only on Sunday nights turned to working every other day. I mean, I'm not complaining. Singing is my passion so I don't have a problem with my job. "Why won't I have a choice- Oh shit, I forgot I have to perform today." I gasped. "Exactly, that's why you have no choice." Dinah looked at me as if I was dumb. "Fine." I mumbled in defeat, earning a chuckle from the woman underneath me. She had one hand around my waist and her chin resting on my shoulder.
"Gosh, I feel like I haven't gone clubbing in years because of Simon." Cara complained with her mouth filled with popcorn. "He only gives you a hard time because you keep messing with him." Kendall giggled as she leaned on her. Cara made a 'you're right' face before shrugging. "So, I guess the whole gang is coming?" Lauren said behind me. "Which is not good. Things never end good when we're all together in one place." Normani pointed out.
"I blame Cara." Dinah shouted as she pointed at the blonde.
"Hey!"
_
The seven of us sat in one booth chatting, I'm not assigned to perform until 9:30 and it's 9:00 right now so I still got thirty minutes. For the past few minutes, I've been begging Lauren to do a duet with me but she's stubborn. "Come on, let's do a duet! It's one of your favorite song!" I begged, placing small kisses on her neck. I heard her breath hitch but she regained her composure, "C-Camz, it's embarrassing. You know I'm not used to singing in front of other people but you." She covered her blush with her hand while looking away from me.
"Hmm... If you sing a duet with me, I'll do whatever you want for a day." I smirked. Lauren raised an eyebrow at me with a smirk playing on her lips. "Anything?" she husked out, inching closer to my face. It was my turn to blush. "Y-Yeah. Anything you want. I just really, really want to sing a duet with you." I whispered the last one underneath my breath but it was loud enough for her to hear.
"Aw, why didn't you say so? I would've sang a duet with you if you just said that." Lauren chuckled and kissed my lips. I stared at her in disbelief, "What?! Now I have to do everything you say for a day!" I groaned, letting my head fall on her shoulder. She chuckled. "Nuh uh, it was a deal. There's no backing out now." I pouted at her before giving up.
"Fine."
I turned my head just in time to see Allysin downing three shots all at once. The girls, except Lauren and I cheered Ally on. Kendall noticed our confused expressions and laughed, "Since you guys were to busy flirting with each other, you totally missed Ally's craziness. She had to down five shots because she lost a bet with Dinah."
After thirty minutes, a voice from the stage called for everybody's attention. "Good evening ladies and gents. Tonight we have the always wonderful, Camila Cabello to perform a duet with her girlfriend, Lauren Jauregui." The announcer energetically said, making everybody roar in excitement. "Let's give them a round of applause." Everybody hollered and clapped, with all the five girls being the loudest.
I sent Lauren an encouraging smile and squeezed her hand.
There was a black piano on the center of the stage for us to play. I sat on the chair and Lauren sat beside me. She took a deep breath before saying, "This song is called, Beneath Your Beautiful by the Labrinth." We smiled at each other and she started singing the first part with her hands gliding across the keys, and I sat there, mesmerized.
"You tell all the boys no
Makes you feel good yeah
I know you're out of my league
But that won't scare me away oh no
You've carried on so long
You couldn't stop if you tried it
You've built your wall so high
That no one could climb it
But I'm gonna try"
Lauren looked at me as she sang, and I felt my heart flutter.
"Would you let me see beneath your beautiful
Would you let me see beneath your perfect
Take it off now girl, take it off now girl
I wanna see inside
Would you let me see beneath your beautiful tonight"
I almost missed my part because I was too engrossed with her performance. Lauren winked at me and we switched on playing the piano, so now I'm the one who is playing the piano. I then sang my part.
"You let all the girls go
Makes you feel good, don't it?
Behind your Broadway show
I heard a voice say please don't hurt me
You've carried on so long
You couldn't stop if you tried it
You've built your wall so high
That no one could climb it
But I'm gonna try"
Lauren stared at me in a way that I can't comprehend. She was watching me so intently that I felt self-conscious all of a sudden. I bit my lip and sang the next part.
"Would you let me see beneath your beautiful
Would you let me see beneath your perfect
Take it off now girl, take it off now girl
I wanna see inside
Would you let me see beneath your beautiful tonight
Oh, tonight"
I giggled quietly after, making Lauren smile and the crowd laugh too. Lauren and I then began to sing the next few parts of the song.
"See beneath, see beneath,
Tonight"
"I'm gonna climb on top your ivory tower
I'll hold your hand and then we'll jump right out
We'll be falling, falling
But that's okay
Cause I'll be right here
I just wanna know"
Lauren giggled and bumped shoulders with me playfully before we both started playing the piano together.
"Would you let me see beneath your beautiful
Would you let me see beneath your perfect
Take it off now girl, take it off now girl
Cause I wanna see you say
Would you let me see beneath your beautiful tonight
Tonight, see beneath your beautiful
Oh tonight, we ain't perfect, we ain't perfect
Would you let me see beneath your beautiful tonight"
After the song ended, we gave each other a hug. Soon, the announcer stepped on stage and said, "That was a magical performance by Camila Cabello and Lauren Jauregui. Let's give them a round of applause everyone!" The crowd began to cheer loudly. Lauren and I grinned and thanked the crowd before going off stage to the girls. They caught a glimpse off us and ran to us. The first one to talk was Kendall, "Oh my gosh, that performance was so beautiful."
And soon, the one and only mood killer talked, "That was also the gayest thing that I have ever seen in my life." Dinah said, nodding approvingly. I glared playfully at the Polynesian but we ended up laughing at ourselves. "Honestly. I definitely agree with Dinah." Cara said. "But seriously though, that was amazing. Right, Mani?" Ally said, looking at Normani. She nodded excitedly, "Definitely. I was mesmerized." Geez, I probably look like a tomato right now. "Aw, thanks Allycat and Manibear." Lauren cooed, squeezing the them both.
"Thanks guys." We all hugged each other.
Soon, the party went full on. The familiar tune of Despacito started playing and people went wild. Almost everybody was on the dance floor. Lauren dragged me to the center of the club. She grabbed my hips gently in her hands and we began grinding against each other to the rhythm of the song. But somewhat, we just ended up laughing together. I had to steady myself on her as we ended laughing. I had my arms around her neck with our forehead resting against one another. "I can't believe we're about to graduate soon." I whispered.
"Me too. This three years was the best of my life. Everything became better when I met all of you guys." She laughed, making me smile at her adorableness. "I feel the same way too. I didn't expect to see you again, honestly. I felt like I already lost my chance to redeem myself and I've given up. The guilt was still there, the love too. I'm glad I had the chance to meet you again."
"I love you." She whispered and leaned in to kiss me. I was taken aback and moaned by her roughness. The kiss was filled with passion and lust. My hand glided to the nap of her neck, slightly tightening my hold of it. She gasped and deepened the kiss. We had to break apart to regain our breath.
We started to dance again with the girls but after a few minutes, I was tired. I told Lauren that I was just going to our booth to rest for a bit and she nodded. She told me that she's just going to stay with the girls for a bit before she joins me. I smiled and gave her one last kiss before walking to our booth.
I sat there, tapping the metal table with my fingertips. I had a drink in my hand and I took a small sip. I turned my head just to see a familiar woman walking towards me. I smiled politely at her and scooted to give her some space to sit. She nodded politely before sitting beside me. An awkward silence lingered in the air. I didn't know why she was here or how to start a conversation with her.
But then she said, "So I guess next week, you will officially be an artist signed with Syco Records. Congratulations, you do deserve it." Julia smiled brightly at me. I gave her a thankful hug, catching her off guard. "Thanks. I've gotta thank you though. If you didn't invite me to sing here, I probably would have never got a call from Simon. It's a dream come true."
"It's no problem. You're really talented so you deserve it." She said and stood up. I looked at her, confused why she's leaving so fast. "My father is waiting outside for me so see you later." She said. "Oh, is that so. Well it's nice talking to you." I waved my hand goodbye as she disappeared in the crowd.
It didn't take long for the girls to tire out. Soon, they walked back to the booth and sat down. Lauren scooted closer towards me and smiled, "What did you and Julia talk about?" She asked, drawing circled on my thigh. I eyed her finger and answered, "She congratulated me for getting signed with Syco. She was nice, she didn't try to flirt with me." I assured her. Lauren furrowed her eyebrows and pouted. "Well, it's good that she never tried to flirt with you again after our first meeting." I laughed.
And by 12:30, we came home totally exhausted and wasted.