Never Say Never

Chapter 6

Camila plans to spend her Saturday morning at New York City's Natural History Museum. She's a museum nerd, and though she'd visited the city a handful of times when she'd been in college to catch up with her sister, they'd never made it there, and Sofi had promised to take her the first weekend she could.

But when she arrived at Maggie and Sofi's apartment that morning, it was to be met with an apologetic Maggie, who had told her that Sofi had had to rush off to a crime scene but would try to join them later.

Maggie offered to take her instead, and Camila was only too happy to spend some time with her sure-to-be future sister-in-law. It's a bright, sunny day in the city, and there's a spring in Camila's step as she and Maggie make their way downtown.

"So, how's your first full week been, Mila? Are you enjoying it?"

"Yeah, it's really great." She only has to think about her job and Leo and can't help but smile, can barely believe how lucky she is, to have gotten a job that makes her so happy and pays so well. "It doesn't even feel like work, most of the time. Leo's a great kid, and spending my days in that apartment isn't exactly a hardship."

She loves the views, most of all – that balcony is her favorite place to sit, and she and Leo often sit out there, Camila sometimes sketching the city skyline, and at night the view of the stars is breath-taking.

"I would kill to see the inside of that place," Maggie sighs wistfully. "To see how the other half lives."

"If I thought I could sneak you in without Lauren finding out, I would." Maggie grins.

"I'd be too scared to touch anything."

"I was for the first few days," Camila admits – that first day had been a bit daunting, to say the least. "And then I broke a vase, and Lauren was actually really cool about it, didn't care at all even though it probably cost a lot ." She'd been playing with Leo at the time, and had knocked it clean off the table it was resting on – it had shattered into a dozen pieces on the hardwood floor.

It was the first time she'd made a mistake, and she'd been dreading Lauren's reaction; when Lauren had come home Camila was quick to apologize, and offered to replace it even though she was sure she'd never be able to afford anything that Lauren owned, but Lauren had been quick to wave her off.

"Did anyone get hurt?" She'd asked, and Camila had been quick to shake her head – she'd been startled but Leo had merely giggled at the look on her face before he'd carried on playing. "Then it's fine, Camila. Everything in this apartment, they're just things – easily replaceable, but you and my son are not." Camila's cheeks had warmed a little at that. "Just don't make a habit of it – although if you do want to break another, choose that one there," Lauren had nodded towards another vase, "my mother got me that one, and it's hideous."

"And how's your hopeless crush?" Maggie asks, though there's a wry smile on her mouth that suggests she already knows the answer.

"Getting more and more hopeless by the day," Camila sighs. "But at least Lauren hasn't figured it out yet." She pauses. "I think." Maggie laughs at the expression on her face. "Or if she has, she hasn't mentioned it."

"Well, I definitely envy you – your boss is smoking hot, you get to have fun all day, and your office is a ridiculously fancy apartment. It for sure beats the bullpen at the precinct." Maggie wrinkles her nose. "I swear half of the cops I work with don't own deodorant."

"At least if you get them for secret santa you'll know what to buy?"

"I like the way you think, little Cabello." Camila grins at the nickname, practically bouncing up the steps as they reach the entrance of the museum. "So, where to first? I've never actually been here before."