By Sun and Candlelight / CAMREN

Chapter 30 - The Shop

Camila walked into the hotel room and saw that the French doors to the veranda were open. She put down her purse and went outside to find Lauren sitting comfortably with her legs up on the ottoman looking out at the water. Lauren looked up with a grin and Camila leaned down and let their lips meet softly.

"How were your meetings?" Lauren asked as Camila pulled back from the kiss and sat in the chair next to her.

"Really good," Camila said, "I think we might have made some contacts that could turn into future collaborations. Your friend Ray is coming to dinner with us. It looks like we might get to work with Palm Tech after all."

"I haven't seen Ray in so long," Lauren said, "It'll be nice to visit with him."

"How was shopping?" Camila asked.

"Very productive," Lauren said, grinning, "I got a few new things for myself and I got a bunch of Christmas stuff done."

"Christmas?" Camila asked, giggling, "Thanksgiving is still three weeks away!"

"I would think you'd be one to get your shopping done early," Lauren answered, grinning.

"I usually do most of it online," Camila said, "And I don't have too many people to buy for so it's not that big of a deal."

"It becomes a much bigger deal when you have a kid," Lauren said, "This is the first Christmas where I think Lori will understand the whole Santa thing. I'm kind of excited about it."

"I hadn't thought of that," Camila said, smiling.

"So, what do you want to do with the rest of our afternoon?" Lauren asked.

"I was thinking we could go to the West End," Camila said, "Maybe get a cocktail, check out some of the stores over there."

"Sadly, I never really explored that area when I lived here," Lauren said, "I'd like that."

"You've never been to the West End?" Camila asked, "Are you sure you're gay?"

Lauren laughed loudly, "I think I proved that very well last night!"

"I guess," Camila said, giggling, "But really, how could you live in this city and be gay and not hang out there?"

"I told you I didn't do much partying," Lauren said, "And I wasn't really out in college. I mean, I dated women a little bit, but I didn't go to gay bars or any bars really, and then I had Lori. I don't know, Camz. I'm a nerd."

"Well, you're my nerd now," Camila said, standing and taking Lauren's hand and pulling her up, "And I'm gonna bring you to the West End."

Camila quickly changed into some jeans and a t-shirt and sneakers and they walked to the front desk. Camila asked the driver of the courtesy car to drop them at Lucy's, a restaurant with an outdoor bar overlooking the bay. They walked in and found an open bar table at the edge of the deck. Lauren looked around and smiled. Most of the patrons were women, and people were freely holding hands and being comfortable as couples. A waitress came to the table and they ordered drinks.

"What do you think?" Camila asked, noting Lauren's grin.

"I like this place," Lauren said, smiling, "For the most part I don't worry what other people think, but it's nice being somewhere where no one is judging. It feels good."

They had a cocktail and chatted about Camila's meetings. Camila's phone chirped and she picked it up to find an adorable selfie Dinah took with Normani, Ruby and Lori. She showed it to Lauren who immediately asked her to forward it to her phone as well. Camila grinned and asked Lauren for Normani's phone number. She created a group text for all of them and sent back a selfie of the two of them and their cocktails at the bar.