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Chapter 6

It was definitely starting to get colder in Seattle. Camila had spent most of the day freezing. She should be used to it by now. She'd been here most of her life, but something about this particular year and this particular season was chilling her to the bone. When she arrived home from work, she even made herself a cup of hot chocolate and put on her deerstalker hat. Nothing was warming her up. Normani had even asked her if she had painted herself blue again. For most, that's a strange question to be asked, but not for her.

"You sure you don't want to hit the town with me and the boys?" Normani offered while she was primping in front of the mirror. "You can dance circles around us while we drink ourselves into oblivion."

"As much as I love getting the twin discount at Doubles Dive, I don't think I'm in a dancing mood."

"Hey, if Doubles Debby offers us free drinks to do a Twinsie Striptease, we take them," the woman said seriously. "You promised you wouldn't sell us out."

"And I won't, Manibear," the woman smiled. "I love Doubles as much as the next fake twin set, but just not tonight."

"Okay," she relented. "How's the girl?"

She did everything she could not to smile. She really did, but the mention of Lauren made the blush blaze across her face every time.

"That good?" Normani asked with a playful punch to the shoulder. "Go, Mila!"

"I don't want to jinx anything."

"That's just superstition, Camila, you can tell me."

She shook her head but still didn't shake the smile threatening to take over her face.

"I'm glad." she pulled her into a hug and tugged the flaps of her deerstalker. "Tell her I said hi."

"Okay."

She ate a quick dinner, she wasn't really that hungry. She pulled out her computer to look at some new designs Shawn had emailed her, but she was distracted by thoughts of New York. She checked the clock which seemed like every 30 seconds. Laurne's indefinite hours made it tough to predict when she would call. Actually, it made it difficult to predict whether she'd call at all. Camila got the impression that Lauren was completely at Ariana'sndisposal, no ifs, ands, or buts.

The call she had been anticipating all day finally came after she had sunk into her bed for the night. She had just pulled her blanket up around her neck and burrowed in. The fatigue she felt from the day lifted as soon as those notes from her ringtone hit the air. And now, Camila's head rested against her phone, which was lying on her pillow. It was just the right angle to not only hear Lauren's deliciously smoky voice but also to see the picture of the same woman on her nightstand.

So, maybe she printed it off. And it's possible that she bought a frame to put it in. And so what if she drew a little heart on it with a purple marker? It's not weird. Normani learned that the hard way, like with a kick to her shin hard.

She stared at the woman on the phone just like she'd been doing for a week now. Camila just wanted to touch her. That's all. Just once..possibly twice. She had almost booked an $800 dollar plane ticket to New York last night. It seemed like a great idea. She could fly in, meet Lauren, hold her hand, memorize the texture of her hair, maybe find out if those lips were as kissable as she imagined, and then hop back on a plane and be back in time for work. She probably would have, too, if Normani hadn't reminded her that the 800 bucks was her rent money...and that it was certifiably insane. So, she had to settle for a long-distance phone call and a rousing game of twenty questions.

"My turn," Camila declared. "Question number six: Do you believe in fate?"

"Not really," Lauren answered. "Doesn't that make free will null and void?"