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Chapter 14

Camila had never in her life seen anything even close to resembling Ariana Grande's New York City apartment. It was incredible. Every single thing was grander, more polished, and brighter. It was like Santa Claus and the Magical Band of Unicorns had teamed up to create the Headquarters of Happyville. If Camila had to describe it, she'd say it was intensely sparkly. She was almost afraid to touch anything, even though Lauren assured her that Ariana was insured to the max. Having that knowledge really didn't help much, though. She was still in awe of everything. Even Ariana's monogrammed napkins looked like they cost more than Camila's whole outfit.

Camila had greeted all of her coworkers from Seattle. They seemed as overwhelmed as she was. Well, everyone except Selena, who had brought a flask and was celebrating prematurely at the day's successful pitch. She was glad everyone seemed to be getting along so far. It gave her the opportunity to watch Lauren. Camila just couldn't get enough of Lauren. And the way she had walked in here and took charge was making Camila look even more forward to getting her back home.

They had finally all settled into their seats and were awaiting dinner, when Camila noticed all Ariana's awards. One whole wall of the Grand Dining Room was a glass display case of various trophies. The trophies seemed to be accompanied by large framed photographs of Ariana accepting each award. In some photographs, she was laughing. In some, she was crying. In one, she was doing both in a face so contorted, she was barely recognizable. The best part, in Camila's estimation at least, was the little glitter cannons that shot every few minutes, covering everything in gold. She watched in amazement until she felt Lauren tap her elbow.

"You okay?" Lauren asked her in ear.

"Yeah, fine," she said without taking her eyes off the display. "That's incredible."

"Don't look at that too long, babe, you'll have nightmares. That kind of demonstration in self-congratulation will eat at your soul."

Camila's head whipped around to face Lauren, "You called me 'babe' again."

"Yeah, I meant to that time."

"I like it."

"I like that you like it," Lauren said as she drifted closer.

"So when will this be over?" Camila asked as she massaged Lauren's knee under the table. "Soon?"

"Dinner, a tour of the master closet, then we're out," Lauren cleared her throat and checked for an audience. "We should be home free unless Ariana decides to sing or something. Even so, we'll sneak out as soon as she dips into the chorus. She goes into a fucking Ariana Grande induced coma at the sound of her own voice."

"Good," Camila nodded happily in view of everyone else, yet she was drawing intricate duck shapes on the other woman's upper thigh under the surface. "I can't wait."

Lauren breathed deeply, "Me either."

"Psst, Milz," Dinah said as she stretched across the back of Lauren's chair, breaking them out of their trance. "What is that guy's name again?"

"Who?"

"Eyebrows Galore over there," Lauren said, her eyes shifting down the table. "He's wiggling them at one of us like they're going out of style. Which, they did, in 1972."

"Oh, that's Louis. Louis Tomlinson," Camila answered. "And considering he's bi as a rocket ship, he's probably trying to flirt with Dinah."

"Of course," Dinah smiled and did a finger wave in Louis' direction. Louis blushed and looked away quickly. "What's his story?" Dinah asked.

"Great guy," Camila told her. "A bit on the boring side. And when I say a bit, I mean Level 5 Snoozefest. Like, you'll fall asleep in the middle of a sentence. Like, he's one of those dinosaurs that only eats plants. But, he's super nice, has tons of hair product, and a bowtie in every color of the rainbow."