Restart

Chapter 6

Lauren walked out of the restaurant and made her way to her car. She got in quickly, putting the key into the ignition and soon pulled out of the parking lot and started down the road. She was on some sort of adrenaline kick from everything that had just happened with Caitlin and her thoughts were all over the place.

Why was she so shocked that Caitlin had proposed? Just earlier Lauren had been considering doing the same thing. She shook her head. The truth was, Lauren wasn't ready to be engaged to Caitlin. She wasn't sure she ever would be. Lauren had seen the ring on Camila's finger this morning and she panicked. She had thought that Camila had clearly moved on from her and she was embarrassed that after all these years she hadn't been able to do the same, not fully anyways. It wasn't that she didn't care about Caitlin, because she did. They had been together for over a year now. Lauren and Caitlin's relationship was extremely superficial. Because of Caitlin's dancing she was always out of town, and when they saw each other it seemed like they spent half of their time in bed. The other half was spent on fancy dinners, shopping sprees, vacations; all things that were Caitlin's idea. She had expensive taste. That had really never bothered Lauren seeing as she had the means to make those things happen, and she had always enjoyed taking care of and spoiling people. But Lauren had always found herself a bit bored with their relationship if she was being honest. There was just something missing. She craved something deeper. She wanted the intense emotional connection. She wanted passion. Lauren knew exactly what she wanted because she'd had it once before.

She wanted what she had with Camila all those years ago.

Back at the restaurant, when Caitlin had asked if Lauren's feelings toward Caitlin had changed because of Camila she had panicked. Lauren had never told Caitlin about Camila, and the fact that she thought there might be going on after only seeing the two of them together for only a few minutes just confirmed to Lauren that there must still be something there between the two of them. Even Caitlin could see it. Of course Lauren's complacency toward Caitlin's proposal had something to do with Camila.

It had everything to do with her.

Which is why Lauren now found herself standing outside of the door to Dinah's apartment. She remained frozen, still not exactly sure of what she was going to do or say once she saw Camila. Her heart raced as she raised her hand to knock on the door.

"Lauren?" Camila said as she opened the door, the surprise evident in her face.

"Hey," Lauren smiled, trying to hold back her nerves.

"What are you doing here?" Camila questioned. Not that she was mad to see her; it was quite the opposite actually. Just seeing Lauren again put butterflies in her stomach and she felt a smile of her own spread across her lips.

"Can I come in?" Lauren asked timidly.

"Yeah of course," Camila replied, stepping aside and opening the door further so Lauren could walk in.

"Where's Avery?" Lauren wondered as she looked around the empty and apartment.

"Dinah took her out to get ice cream," Camila explained. "I think she was a little jealous that you're Avery's new favorite person."

"She's adorable," Lauren laughed lightly. "She's definitely one of my new favorite people as well," she added with a smile.

"So what's up?" Camila asked as she sat down on the couch, patting the spot next to her and inviting Lauren to take it. Camila's eyes widened a bit as Lauren pulled out her wedding ring that she had taken off at her house earlier. She realized she must have left it on the kitchen counter.

"Thank you," Camila said as she took the ring out of Lauren's outstretched palm. "For finding it, and for bringing it to me."

"Actually," Lauren started, "I didn't find it," she added with a grimace. "Caitlin did."