Emerald's Eye (Lauren/You)

Chapter 17: Father's Advice

Warning: mentions of abuse in this chapter! If you are sensitive to this topic or it's a trigger for you, I HIGHLY recommend stopping when you get to my warning tag. I don't go in depth, but it is mentioned.

Otherwise, please enjoy the chapter!

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The time between her very first flight to Miami and the second trip back went by quickly, and five weeks later, Y/n found herself in front of a familiar screen looking for her flight arrival time. She had spent the past hour exploring the airport terminal and grabbing her usual caramel latte from a Starbucks that she had passed on her way to her gate.

The architect took a seat near the large windows by the door leading to the aircraft and took a sip of her coffee as she stared out the glass. She had opted for an earlier flight, the departure time being about six thirty in the morning since she actually preferred flying just as the sun came up. As she watched the sky turn from a dark navy to a light pink, she couldn't help but let her mind wander back to Lauren.

Y/n wouldn't lie to herself and say she wasn't nervous to lay eyes on the green eyed beauty once again, mostly because of how it ended the night they parted ways a month ago. She wasn't sure what to say when she finally saw her again. Should she say hi? Or maybe just flat out ignore her? No, that would make the situation even worse, and she didn't want the workplace to become even more awkward.

Flight 535 to Miami, Florida is now boarding. Those in group A can make their way to the front, please.

Y/n grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder, clutching her ticket and phone in one hand and her coffee in the other. After boarding the plane and sitting down in first class, she spent the remainder of her flight working on sketches for another project and drinking the plastic cup of wine that she had purchased from the attendant's cart.

The warm sun hit Y/n's skin and a light breeze ruffled her hair as Y/n made her way towards the awaiting car with her suitcase in tow. The driver's side opened suddenly and Y/c/e connected with green ones, butterflies immediately exploding in Y/n's stomach. The architect gulped as she saw Lauren's face break out into a wide smile.

"Welcome back to Miami. Kavinsky happened to mention you were coming back today and I may have volunteered to come and pick you up. Don't worry, you don't need to come into the office today, I'm just going to take you to your hotel."

Y/n grinned at the woman and threw her bags into the back of the black camaro, before slipping into the passenger's side and putting on her sunglasses to block out the bright streams coming in through the windshield.

"So, you volunteered to pick me up?"

Y/n's eyebrows wiggled suggestively, teasing the Cuban for obviously wanting to see Y/n first. Lauren eyed the architect over her own sunglasses and threw the car into drive before responding.

"Yeah. I wanted to see you."

Y/n turned away to look out the window to hide her smile and blush. The past five weeks that had consisted of her convincing herself to stop thinking about Lauren and to move on were virtually erased from her mind once she had made eye contact with the beautiful women; as well as any walls she had spent that time rebuilding. It was like the second that she was in Lauren's presence, all rationale was completely thrown out the window.

Y/n's smile faded; if things were different, this would definitely be a good thing.

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Y/n leaned back in her chair and stretched. She had spent the afternoon in her hotel room, working even though she had told Lauren that she would take it easy today. She flinched as she heard her phone ringer go off, the sound reverberating around the hotel room, indicating an incoming call. She answered without even looking at the screen and was delighted to hear the voice of her best friend.