Faking It | Wattys 2022

Chapter 5

"Where the fuck is my coffee?" Camila barked at her assistant the second she steps off the elevator.

"On your desk," Gwen squeaked, pointing to her office. "And I put the..." She stopped talking when Camila slammed the door in her face.

Camila immediately took a sip of her coffee before tossing it into the garbage. "Nobody can fucking do shit around here," the dark-haired woman grumbled and began shuffling through the papers on her desk that Gwen left behind.

Harry poked his head in, not bothering to knock. "Why does Gwen look like somebody just tried to kill her family?"

"Maybe I should if that means she makes my fucking coffee right for once..." Camila said under her breath. "What do you want, Harry?"

"And why are you acting like somebody just shoved a stick up your ass?"

"I don't have a stick up my ass," she glared at him.

"Is this about your dad?" He grabbed one of the lollipops from the small cup on her table. "Don't tell me he's being an asshole for no reason when you've been staying in,"

"Harry," Camila sighed. "Just leave it. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"Don't you get tired of him controlling you all the time?"

"He'll be out of my hair by the end of next year,"

"That's a long time," Harry tossed the wrapper into her small garbage bin. "You sure you can hold out for that long?"

Camila finally looked up from the papers on her desk, a sad look in her eye. "I have to,"

-

The stylist spun her around, allowing the professor to get a real look at her hair. "So? Do you like it?"

Her hair still flowed down her back, covering most of it, but she figured a trim would be nice for her. A metaphor for new beginnings, essentially. "I love it," her face split into a grin.

"I would absolutely kill to have your hair," Shawn fluffed up the back before pushing it to the front of her shoulders. "I can't even fathom cutting it. I swear I fainted at the front desk when you said you wanted a trim."

"I just recently moved here, so I figured cutting some of it off would... I don't know, get rid of the bad juju,"

Shawn gave her a sympathetic smile. "Understandable. What brings you up to Boston?"

"I hated my old job and the city I was in. My ex was determined to make my life miserable or something while I was down there."

"Boyfriends are the root of all problems," Shawn rolled his eyes. "Jen is going to check you out at the front desk and then you're free to go,"

"Thank you so much again for taking me at the last minute," Lauren got up from the salon chair. "I really appreciate it,"

Shawn waved her off. "Don't worry about it—wait!" He said loudly enough that she stops walking away. "I never got your name?"

"Oh, it's Lauren," she answered politely.

"Nice to meet you, Lauren. I'm Shawn." They exchanged names and another smile before Lauren went to pay Jen for his service. She made it outside when she was immediately met with a gust of wind.

It was nearing the middle of September. Leaves were beginning to brown and winds started to pick up. Buttoning up her coat, Lauren internally groaned when she breathed out and a small trail of smoke came out of her mouth.

"God, it cannot possibly be this fucking cold already," she climbed into her car at record time, determined to make it back to campus with some time to spare so that she could prep for her next and last lecture of the day.