The Dancing Girl in The Painting ** (Camren)

Chapter 73: A Week Later

Narrator's POV

Lauren went back to her apartment when she could not meet Camila in person. She tried to call her and texted her but there was no answer. Camila did not read the texts nor answer the calls. She could not sleep pacing around the apartment. She did eat and she ate a lot. She ate her comfort food. Lauren stopped contacting Camila when Camila did not answer her. She felt helpless and decided to talk to her tomorrow in the office. She hoped Camila would not reject her. She was trying her best to rest and she fell asleep after midnight.

On the other side, Camila was different from Lauren. She stayed in her room and did not want to be disturbed. She even stayed away from Leo as he reminded her of Lauren. She could not eat much and she could not fell asleep. Her anger turned into sadness. She was sad crying her eyes out. She did not cry in front of Sofia but she told her that she wanted to be alone and Sofia who just turned eleven yesterday understood. She could see her sister was not in a good mood and sad. She wanted to call Lauren but she did not have her phone yet which her sister promised her she would get next year if she was being good. Sofia went to bed earlier as she could not play with her sister.

.

Monday morning, Lauren arrived at the office one hour earlier than usual. She slept but she did not sleep long. She got her morning coffee and started her day earlier. She was working but her mind was on Camila. When it was fifteen minutes before nine, Lauren contacted Hailee asking Hailee to inform her if Camila arrived in the office. Hailee called Lauren at nine telling her Camila was not coming today. Ending the call, Lauren felt like crying as she was frustrated. She texted and called Camila but it was the same as yesterday, no response.

Lauren did her work professionally today. She could not stop thinking of Camila but she had no problem finishing her work. She was just quieter than usual. She tried to contact Camila during lunch and dinner, but it was the same. She was thinking to call Dinah but she did not. She would try again tomorrow.

The next morning, Lauren came at the same time as yesterday. She started earlier and called Hailee. Hailee told her that Camila would stay and work from home until further notice. The only different thing was she was wearing sunglasses and stayed in her room all day. Lauren was more frustrated than yesterday. She asked Normani to have dinner with her as she needed somebody to talk to. They met at one of their favorite places.

Normani saw Lauren who was sitting by the corner of the restaurant when she entered the restaurant. She smiled and walked to Lauren, but she was shocked, "Lauren! What happened?" Normani was looking at Lauren's face.

"I am fine, Mani. Have a seat, please!" Lauren said asking Normani to sit as Normani was shocked and drew other guests' attention.

"What happened to your face?" Normani was worried looking at Lauren's bruised face.

Lauren sighed. She told Normani what happened. She told her about what happened in the locker room, at the Cabello Land's front gate, and Jason's visit last night. Jason punched Lauren when she opened the door for him. It was not once but several times. Jason was so mad that Lauren had hurt Camila. He was there and he saw it. Whatever the reason was, Lauren disappointed him. He was like a furious father who wanted to kill whoever hurt her daughter.

"Lauren... it's so fucked up." Normani sighed heavily.

"Did Dinah say anything?" Lauren asked.

"No, we last contacted each other on Saturday." Normani had a date with Dinah on Saturday but they did not contact each other since Sunday, "Do you want me to ask Dinah?"