Her eyes were fixated upon the almost blank word document that was displayed on the screen of her laptop. People came and left the café but still she was unable to form a single sentence other than the title. The empty coffee cup sat beside her on the table, she needed a refill but was too lazy to get up from where she was sitting to walk all the way to the counter in order to buy a new one. She should really finish – or rather, start this article that she was meant to finish by the end of this week yet somehow, her brain seemed to like the idea of failing her whenever she needed it the most.
“‘The One’, huh? You still write articles for the magazine, Camila?”
A voice from behind startled her; she quickly sat upright with a jolt and turned to meet eyes with familiar friendly ones.
“Ally!” She exclaimed, grinning from the pleasant surprise of meeting her old time friend here in this café. Ally showed no signs of aging although her hair was now long and brown compared to the short and blonde hair Camila was used to seeing in the past. “Oh my god, how long has it been!? How are you?”
“It’s been a while, huh, Mila?” Ally grinned back, sliding into the seat opposite Camila.
“It’s so great to see you again! Have you been well? What are you doing here? How was Texas? How are things with Troy?”
Ally laughed, “Slow down, Mila! One question at a time.”
“Sorry.” Camila smiled, “I got so excited when I saw you that I just wanted to see how you were doing.”
“I’ve been great, Troy and I are on vacation here in California but he’s visiting some of his relatives at the moment so I decided to take a look around town to see if anything’s changed.”
“Nothing has, unfortunately.”
“Nope, everything’s pretty much the same since Troy and I left for Texas.” Ally said, “I’m surprised you still live here. I thought you left for Miami?”
“I decided to stay.” Camila said softly, smiling to herself. ‘Because of her.’
“I see.” Ally chuckled, “So what’s this article you’re supposed to be writing about then? ‘The One’?”
“Oh, my supervisor wanted something refreshing about young love or something, you know, when you find ‘The One’” Camila made air quotation marks, “Personally, I find it cheesy and I’m stuck on what to write.”
“I’m sure ideas will come to you after a while, they always do.”
“I hope so.” Camila let out a small smile.
“In other news, I heard from Dinah that you have a girlfriend now!” Ally suddenly exclaimed, “Is it true!?”
“Yeah.” Camila blushed at the thought of her beautiful girlfriend. “Her name’s Lauren Jauregui.”
“Cuban girl?” Ally raised an eyebrow, “I guess you Cubans have to stick together.”
“She moved to California when she was 9.”
“Nice. How did you guys meet?”
“At a bookstore.” Camila giggled at the memory, “She was trying to reach for this book that happened to be on the shelf above me and it slipped and fell on my head.”
“Uh…” Ally gave her a weird look, “Why do you look so happy about the fact that she almost gave you brain damage?”
“Well, of course I was a little bit annoyed at the time but she treated me to dinner later that day to make up for it.”
“So food as an apology for the damaged brain.” Ally smirked, “Nice.”
Camila shrugged, “She apologised a few times during dinner.”
“Uh huh…”
“And she bought these beautiful pink roses the next day.” Camila said dreamily, “Did I mention that they were pink?”
Ally laughed, “I should’ve known that’s what made you fall in love with her, you’re a sucker for anything remotely pink!”
“N-not true!” Camila pouted, “But to be fair, they were nice roses.”
“Because they were pink.”
“Whatever.” Camila said, taking a sip of her coffee.
“What’s she like anyway? This Lauren girl.” Ally asked, leaning forward onto the table in interest.
“Lauren? Where do I begin?” Camila paused to think, “Well for starters, she’s sweet and caring.”
Tears surged in her eyes when she finished reading the last sentence of the book. She hiccupped slightly and placed down the book to reach over the table for a tissue.
“Oh my god, are you crying?” The raven haired girl had entered the room in the search for her missing left sock but had instead found her girlfriend sitting on the bed and bawling her eyes out.
“I-It’s beautiful!” Camila wailed loudly, wiping her tears.
“What’s beautiful, honey?” Lauren asked softly, sitting down on the space beside the brunette.
Camila pointed to the book beside her, Lauren chuckled.
“It’s only a book, Camila. Fiction.”
“I-I know b-but-“ Camila felt like she was choking, “H-He promised! and then they kissed in the rain b-but in the end, he couldn’t- he lost the battle with cancer!”
Lauren embraced the still sobbing Camila, “It’s okay, Camz.” She stayed in that position until Camila calmed down a few minutes later.
“That kiss in the rain was so romantic.” Camila mumbled, “It’s such a shame things like that only happen in books and movies, it was so perfect.”
“I guess so.”
“Don’t you want to experience a kiss like that, Lo?”
“Wouldn’t you just catch a cold from staying out in the rain?”
“Lauren!” Camila pulled away and slapped her girlfriend gently on the shoulder, “You’re no fun.”
Lauren laughed and checked the time, she had to leave now or she would be late for work. “I have to get to work now so I’ll see you tonight?
“Okay, bye Lo.” Camila sighed a little as Lauren quickly pecked her on the forehead and left. She picked up the book again and reread the kiss scene one last time before she too, left for work.
---
“You have a visitor, ma'am.” Her assistant entered her office with a smile.
“I do?” Camila looked up from her work, “Send them in, please.”
“Will do.” She left, closing the door behind her. Camila continued to type into her computer.
The door opened again shortly after.
“Hey there.”
Camila smiled at the voice she knew all too well. She looked at the door and her smile widened at the sight.
“Shouldn’t you be at work?”
“Is that how you greet someone who sneaked out of work just to see her girlfriend?” Lauren pouted, entering the small office.
“Sorry, I mean hi Lauren.” Camila grinned, “But seriously, why are you here? My shift doesn’t end until an hour later.”
“It’s dark outside and it’s raining, I thought I’d bring you an umbrella and accompany you home like the awesome girlfriend I am.”
“But I still have an hour-“
“Nonsense! I’m sure they can handle an hour without you. Besides, it’s getting dark and I don’t want you to go home in complete darkness. It’s dangerous for a girl like you to be wandering around the streets at night you know.” By this time, Lauren had already made her way over to where Camila was sitting and was pulling the girl out of her seat.
“But-“
“No buts! Follow me.” Was the last thing Lauren said before they left Camila’s office.
---
“Wow, it’s raining pretty hard.” Camila commented, feeling the rain with the palm of her hand.
“I told you, didn’t I? Good thing I brought this.” Lauren replied, gesturing at the umbrella she was holding.
“You know it’s weird because I checked the weather forecast today and it said it was going to be windy all day.” Camila said, “It didn’t mention anything about rain.”
Lauren laughed a little, “Well, you know, you can’t trust anything the weather forecast says.”
“I guess so.” Camila laughed along with her. The two of them walked hand in hand down the street with Lauren holding up the umbrella for the two of them. The rain may be cold but holding hands with Lauren always warmed Camila up.
Camila smiled, it was nice to spend some alone time with Lauren just walking in the rain with the droplets splashing onto the concrete delicately, acting as their soothing melody.
They stopped walking when they were under a street lamp. Lauren purposely dropped the umbrella, allowing nature’s crystalline rain to fall freely onto the two of them, drenching their bodies.
Lauren gave her a soft smile; her hands reach up to cup Camila’s face.
As if by instinct, Camila closed her eyes and concentrated on the warmth of Lauren’s palms. Lauren brought their faces closer, she too closes her eyes and leaned forward, her lips coming in contact with-
A jet of water.
Lauren pulled back and wiped her face from the sudden stream of liquid in annoyance. Just when everything was going so perfect, this had to happen.
“Hey! I warned you not to do that!” Lauren yelled into the shadows.
Camila’s eyes fluttered open. What was going on?
“Sorry! It slipped!” Came the reply.
Camila glanced around in search of the owner of the third voice. She noticed that the heavy rain from earlier had suddenly weakened and was now reduced to nothing.
“I told you to be careful with that thing!”
“It’s not my fault! My arm sort of had a spazz attack!”
“I guess it just reflects its owner then.”
“Hey!”
“Lauren?” Camila interrupted Lauren’s argument with whomever it was she was talking to. “What’s going on?”
‘Crap.’ Lauren thought, she had forgotten that Camila was still there with her. “Uh, nothing.”
“Lauren…” Camila furrowed her eyebrows together and stared at the blatant lie from her girlfriend.
A phone rang in the shadow which was quickly silenced as the owner answered their phone.
“Hello? Mani baby? Where am I? I’m helping Lauren with- Oh god! That’s today!? I’m so sorry! I’ll be right there!” The figure from the shadows hung up and stepped into the light with a panicked look.
“Dinah?” Camila stared at the tall brunette with confusion.
“Idiot.” Lauren face-palmed herself as she watched Dinah struggle to come up with an explanation to Camila.
“Uh… I have to go!” Dinah said quickly.
“Hey! Come back here you giant oaf!” Lauren screamed after the tall girl that was now running halfway down the street.
“Sorry Lo! Mani’s angry with me! I’ll see you at work tomorrow!”
Lauren glared at the back of Dinah until a voice behind her captured her attention.
“Lauren… what is the meaning of this?”
Lauren turned and hung her head down low, unable to meet Camila’s eyes. “I… I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what? I really don’t understand what’s going on.”
“I tried- I couldn’t- You said you wanted to experience the rain kiss so I tried to make it happen but the weather forecast said that it wouldn’t be raining for another two weeks from now and I didn’t want you to wait that long so I borrowed Dinah’s portable rain machine and tried to-“
“Wait a second, this was all you?”
Lauren nodded silently.
“You did all this for me?”
Another nod.
Camila felt touched that Lauren would go to such great lengths just to make her happy.
“I’m sorry it failed so badly, but I-“
Lauren was stopped when her ears were filled with waves of Camila’s rich laughter. She looked up and was immediately engulfed in a tight hug by the brunette.
“Camila?”
“You idiot.” Camila buried her head into the crook of Lauren’s neck, “I can’t believe you did all this just for me.” She let out another laugh.
Lauren looked at the girl in surprise, she was expecting a disappointed look or a frown from Camila but instead, she was being hugged.
“I don’t care whether I experience a kiss in the rain or whether I have a kiss behind a garbage truck, as long as it’s with the person I love, then it’ll always be the best kisses to me.”
Lauren slowly grinned, “Me?”
Camila lifted her head up and met eyes with the raven. “No, another Lauren-of course it’s you!”
“You really mean that?” The light from the street lamp above them illuminated Lauren’s features, outlining her appearance that never fails to be less than beautiful in Camila’s eyes.
“Every word.” Camila whispered before pulling Lauren in for a deep and long kiss.
Camila grinned widely to herself at the memory of the kiss. That day turned out to be one of the best days of her life.
“Okay, so she’s sweet and caring.” Ally said, “Anything else?”
“She’s nice.”
Camila continued to stare at the unwrapped bar of chocolate in Lauren’s hands as Lauren continued to talk to her. She hadn’t had anything to eat since lunchtime and it’s been nearly 3 hours since then so staring at the piece of deliciousness in Lauren’s hand was beginning to make her hungry.
“And then he said…” Lauren continued to talk, not noticing the longing look in Camila’s eyes.
“Can you believe that!?” Lauren exclaimed and threw her hands in the air, the chocolate bar almost flying out of her hands, panicking Camila a bit.
“Oh, um, yeah.” Camila sighed in relief when she checked that her precious treat was still intact.
“And he even went to…”
“Mhm.” Camila nodded absentmindedly along, not paying attention to any of Lauren’s words. ‘It’s going to melt.’ Camila thought, her eyes never left the slightly gooey chocolate in her girlfriend’s fingers.
“Camila.”
Camila looked up, “Yes, honey?”
Lauren chuckled a little, handing over the chocolate bar to a more than happy Camila.
“If you wanted it, you could’ve just asked, you know.”
Seconds later, Camila was happily munching on the chocolate bar. A grin permanently plastered on her face for the rest of the day.
“You’re too easy to please.”
The smile that came in response confirmed Lauren’s statement.
“She’s funny.” Camila beamed.
Camila and Lauren were cuddling together on the couch watching some chick flick that Camila had suggested despite Lauren’s many protests. Camila was in Lauren’s arms with her head resting against the crook of Lauren’s neck whilst the raven girl softly played with Camila’s hair. Though Camila was watching intently, Lauren had her mind on basically everything except the movie. She just couldn’t seem to enjoy the delivered cheesy lines that were designed to make people laugh nor could she enjoy the constant whine of the main actress’s character in her attempt of finding a boyfriend. All in all, Lauren was bored.
“Hey, Camila?” Lauren ran a hand through the locks of Camila’s hair.
“Hm?” Camila lifted her head slightly to look at the girl.
“If someone left their plate of cheese in front of you, what would you call it?” Lauren asked her, the corners of her mouth beginning to twitch.
“What are you talking about?” Camila raised her eyebrows and eyed Lauren in confusion. She knew what was coming, it was probably one of Lauren’s random musings the girl seemed to enjoy doing when she was bored.
“You know, what would you call cheese that wasn’t yours?” Lauren bit her lower lip to repress the approaching laugh.
“Um, I don’t know? Wouldn’t it still be called cheese?”
“Nacho cheese!” Lauren said before letting out the loud, bottled-up laugh that she had successfully held up until now. “Get it, Camz? Nacho cheese!” She repeated, exploding in laughter at her own joke.
“Lo,” Camila smiled at her silly girlfriend, “I get it. It’s not that funny though.”
Lauren dismissed her with a wave of a hand, still laughing. It was at times like these Lauren wondered why she wasn’t a comedian yet because that had to have been the funniest joke she had told so far.
“Okay, Okay, why are fishes so smart?” Lauren composed herself and asked Camila.
“I don’t know Lo, why are fishes so smart?”
“Because they live in schools!” Lauren laughed loudly.
Camila rolled her eyes, “How did I get stuck with a cheese ball like you?”
“Because I’m funny and you know it.” Lauren grinned.
Camila gave her a look of disbelief.
“Okay, fine. Funnier this chick flick.”
“Just watch the movie.” Camila smiled before turning back to the movie.
“What do you mean by funny?” Ally asked her.
“She… has the most amazing jokes.” Camila smiled to herself, “Maybe you should hear them someday, I’m sure you’ll be wetting yourself with laughter.”
“And you do?” Ally raised an eyebrow.
“Maybe.” Camila answered. To her, Lauren may have extremely lame jokes, but the fact that Lauren gets so happy and excited telling them to her makes Camila happy too.
“Oh!” Camila clapped her hands together, “She’s an extremely good cook!”
“Are you hungry, Camz?” Lauren called from inside the kitchen whilst Camila sat at the table, reading a book.
“Yeah, a little.” Camila answered, “What are we ordering tonight? Pizza? Chinese?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! We shall have none of that!”
“Then… Korean?”
“No, no, I mean we’re not ordering take-out tonight.”
“Then are we going out to eat?”
“Nope.”
Camila almost dropped her book in surprise. They always either ordered take-outs or went out to eat since none of them could cook. If they weren’t doing any of that then that must mean…
“Why would we do such things when we can have a nutritious home-cooked meal?” Lauren said, coming out from the kitchen with two plates of food.
Camila knitted her eyebrows together, this was the first time that Lauren had attempted to cook for the both of them so she had no idea what the food would taste like.
“Voila!” Lauren said, placing the plates down onto the table, “Spaghetti á la Jauregui, cooked to perfection in a brilliantly rich tomato sauce.”
“Um, Lauren…” Camila said, staring at the brightly coloured sauce of her spaghetti. “This is just boiled pasta and ketchup.”
Lauren pouted, “It’s the thought that counts, right honey?”
“So does she cook for you every day?”
“You could say that.” Camila smiled, ‘She attempts to.’
“Okay, tell me more about her.”
Camila stopped momentarily to think before answering, “She’s creative.”
Camila was busy proof-reading the newly written article about a local poet that had sold more than a million copies of his poetry when she felt slender arms being wrapped around her waist and a chin being placed on her shoulder.
“What are you up to?” The melodic voice asked her.
“Just checking for any mistakes.” Camila leant back onto Lauren and let out a small sigh in satisfaction. She had been working all day and the tiredness was starting to get to her.
“Poet, huh?” Lauren said, “I can write poems too.”
Camila tilted her head slightly to look at Lauren, “Really now?”
“Really,” Lauren answered, “Want to hear one?”
Camila laughed a little, “Go on then.”
“Roses are red, blueberries are blue
Milk comes from cows for your information,
Did you find that imported shampoo I’ve stocked up on in the bathroom?
It’s made from the tears of Tibetan mountain yaks hidden in the ancient temple of time,
Lauren thought that your hair is worth more than being washed with normal shampoo,
In return, all she asks is that you stop watching those over-dramatic dramas,
Because it inspires you to make Lauren do all these weird cheesy things that ends up failing,
P.s Lauren writes the best poems,
And is struggling to find words that rhyme with ‘poems’.
I’ll finish this with a potato.” Lauren stopped, “Did you like it?”
Camila laughed, “Lauren, that whole thing didn’t even make sense nor does it rhyme.”
“It doesn’t have to. Life’s better this way.”
Camila laughed loudly and slapped Lauren lightly on the shoulder, “Idiot.”
It was at times like these that Lauren would brighten up her day no matter how tired Camila was and she was grateful for that.
“She’s cute.” Camila paused shortly, “Especially when she’s sleeping.”
Camila let out a yawn as she wandered around hers and Lauren’s shared apartment in search for the older girl.
“Lauren come on we should go to bed soon-“ Camila stopped when she entered the bedroom.
Lauren was sprawled across the bed with a book covering her face. Camila sighed, knowing that Lauren had fallen asleep whilst reading again; a lift of the book confirmed her suspicions. She went inside the cupboard and brought out a blanket to cover the girl with.
When she was done, Camila realized that Lauren had been drooling all this time onto the mattress beneath her. She giggled and her heart melted a little at the cute sight.
“I’m surprised you haven’t drowned in your own drool yet.” Camila mumbles to herself in amusement. She dug into her jean pocket and fished out her phone to take a picture so that she could tease Lauren about it later.
Click.
“Done.” Camila smiled and admired the nearly taken photo with satisfaction. She later decided that it was worthy enough to be set as her phone background so that she could be reminded of this moment every time she unlocked her phone.
“And lastly, Lauren is special.” Camila giggled.
“Well, that’s obvious since you fell in love with her.” Ally shook her head.
Camila held in her laugh, ‘She is special to me but I’m not talking about special as in feeling.’
Lauren and Camila came out of the movie theatre after just watching some 3D movie that one of their mutual friends had suggested. It was one of those movies where the audience had to wear special glasses in order for the 3D effect to work. When they had exited the theatre, Camila had already disposed her glasses whilst Lauren kept them on.
“Lauren, aren’t you going to take those off?”
“Camila…” Lauren said slowly, eyeing her surroundings.
“Yes?”
“Camila, guess what?”
“What is it, Lo?”
Lauren grinned and gave her a brief glance before exclaiming loudly, arms in the air, “Everything’s 3D!!”
“It sounds like you like her a lot.”
“She’s such a dork and at times she can say the dumbest things that don’t even make sense.” Camila smiled, “My girlfriend is an idiot but I love her.” She added lovingly.
Ally noticed the way that Camila spoke about Lauren as if she was the most amazing person in the world. She sighed inwardly to herself, ‘And you say that you find the whole ‘The One’ thing cheesy and don’t know what to write for your article. If you would just write down everything you were talking about just now and what you were thinking of when you said those words then the article would be perfect.’
Ally’s phone beeped, indicating a text. She took out her phone and checked for the new message. “Oh, it’s Troy.”
“It’s getting late and he wants to see his ‘bunny’?” Camila teased.
“Shut up.” Ally blushed at the accuracy of Camila’s statement.
“Well, I guess you better go, it’s starting to get dark.” Camila said, glancing at the clock on the wall, “I should probably get going too.”
“What about your article?”
“I’ll start it tomorrow.”
Ally nodded, “Call me sometime, okay? My number’s still the same.”
“Will do.” Camila smiled, “Enjoy the rest of your vacation and tell Troy I said Hi.”
Ally laughed, “I’ll do that and I think you also have somebody waiting for you.”
“What do you mean?”
Ally gestured at the figure outside. Camila looked to find a certain girl, grinning back at her through the windows of the café.
“Is that the ‘Lauren’ that you adore so much?” Ally eyed the woman; she looked about the same age as her, maybe slightly older. She was indeed beautiful, like she had expected.
Camila blushed as the raven entered the café.
“I’ve missed you. God, it’s freezing outside. Have you finished with your article yet, Camz?” Lauren instantly wrapped her arms around Camila and shivered a little from the temperature change.
“I should get going; Troy’s going to get worried.” Ally told the couple, “See you guys later.” After quickly bidding the couple goodbye, Ally left the café.
“Who was that?”
“An old friend; her name’s Ally, I’ll introduce you guys sometime.” Camila replied, packing up her laptop so that they could go home.
Outside, it had already begun to snow and the whiteness covered everything like a giant blanket and decorated the once boring street into a winter wonderland. Lauren took the spare scarf that she had brought along with her from inside her bag and wrapped it around Camila’s neck, like she always did when she knew that Camila had forgotten to bring one. Camila gave her an eye smile, silently thanking her.
“What should we have for dinner tonight, Camz? How about that amazing pasta dish I made the other day? What do you say?”
Camila paled a little at the thought of Lauren’s ‘amazing’ pasta dish, she didn’t have the heart to tell her girlfriend that it was anything but ‘amazing’ since Lauren had put in so much effort in making it. Camila had concluded that love means sacrifices sometimes and in this case, she was sacrificing her taste buds.
“You know honey, I was thinking,” Lauren laced her fingers with Camila’s loosely, “What if there are actually no aliens in the world? Like, there is but they’re not called aliens because to them, they’re ‘normal’ whilst we’re just here and everything we do is strange to them. Have you ever thought about that, Camz? Maybe we’re the aliens and everything is just a misunderstanding. I was thinking about this during work today and it actually-“
Camila laughed, “Maybe you’re right, Lauren. Maybe we’re the aliens.”
Her girlfriend is above all, irreplaceable.
Suddenly, the article that Camila had been struggling to write was becoming easier because she realized from her talk with Ally today that Lauren’s the one.
End