Faking It | Wattys 2022

Chapter 16

"And you are?" Vero gave Lauren a once-over.

Lauren didn't bother answering her question. "Is Camila around?"

"She just ran to the breakroom to get some more coffee," Vero answered. "She needs the energy,"

"Uh-huh," Lauren cocked her head to the side. "I didn't realize she hired prostitutes to work for her,"

"What did you just fucking call me?" Vero shot out of her seat and invaded Lauren's personal space.

"What's going on here?" Camila stood at the door of her office, her lips curved into a frown.

"Tell your little bitch to leave us alone," Vero snapped. "She came in here calling me a—"

"She's not a bitch and her name's Lauren," the dark-haired woman interrupted her. "Actually, it's Dr. Jauregui to you,"

"Mila," Vero walked over to her, placing an arm on her shoulder. "Just tell her to leave us. We were finally getting somewhere on the new draft up,"

"I think I'll stay," Lauren said amusedly, walking to the other side of the desk and sitting down in Camila's chair. "Unless Camila wants me to leave?"

"No, you're more than welcome to stay," Camila set her cup of coffee down. "Vero, why don't I just have Gwen do some last-minute touch-ups and she'll email it over to you?"

"But—"

"Great, it was nice seeing you again," Camila ushered her out of the office, closing the door behind her. "What the fuck was that, Lauren?" She said once she turned back to the older woman.

"Have you slept with her?" She asked bluntly.

The tips of her ears turned pink. "Where is this coming from? Why the hell are you even here? Aren't..." Camila checked her watch. "You supposed to be in your lecture right now?"

"I canceled it," Lauren looked at the pictures Camila had on her desk. "So, that's a yes, right? You did sleep with her?"

"A long time ago," Camila responded dryly.

"No wonder why she was acting like a dog pissing all over its territory,"

"Lauren..." Camila's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

She kicked her feet up on the table, her black heels sticking out like a sore thumb in contrast to Camila's desk. "After you had your assistant wire the money into my account, I sent Windfield a check,"

"And?"

"And they sent it to me right back saying everything's been paid off in full already. Some generous donation from a woman named Karla. So, I did some research and I found it fucking hilarious how the first thing that pops up when I type in Camila Cabello is your full name; Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao."

"So, you storm into my office and piss off one of my co-workers for that?" Camila flared her nostrils. "You could've just fucking called me!"

Lauren dropped her feet to the ground before stepping up to the dark-haired woman. "I didn't ask for you to do that. And I'm failing to understand why you think it's your place to meddle in my personal business when we're nothing more but a show for the world to watch."

Camila took another step closer, their chests lightly grazing each other. "In case you haven't noticed, Lauren, it's gotten past the point of just being a show, don't you think? We live together, we eat dinner together, I drive you to work every day, for crying out loud! We're friends, so stop acting like we're not."

"Friends don't sneak around each other's backs to do something like this," Lauren said angrily. "I don't need any more of your fucking money, Camila!"

"And I never said you did," she shot back. "But there's no reason why you should be using the money you're getting from this shit show to pay for something out of your control. I want to help you, why can't you just let me?"