A Knock in the Heart

E L E V E N

    It's been a few days since Lauren went on her trip from work, for National Geographic.

    "Thank you" Lauren gets out of the cab that brought her to her home from the airport, grabbing her bags from the trunk. The cab pulls away and Lauren looks at her home, takes a deep breath, and walks up to the front door.

    She unlocks the front door and walks in, all the lights are off, and not a single noise can be heard in the house.
   
    "Hmm"

    Lauren frowns and opens the front door once again looking at their driveway checking that she did see Camila's car parked next to hers.

    "Maybe they are taking a nap" she whispers to herself. She grabs her luggage and makes her way upstairs first to her bedroom to leave her suitcases. She closes her bedroom door and turns around, feeling a bit dizzy, maybe from the sudden movement she thinks as she holds the door handle and a hand on the wall.

    Once it goes away she takes a deep breath and makes her way to the guest room where Camila sleeps now after their fight.

    She knocks but receives no answer. "Camila?" she knocks again and opens the door to an empty bedroom.

    "Okay" she mumbles to herself and walks towards the next door, Ariel's bedroom. The time she doesn't knock in case the little girl is sleeping, she peeks inside the room which is empty as well.

    Lauren lets it go and goes back to her bedroom to unpack and take a much-needed shower before some rest.

    Meanwhile, Camila, Ariel, and Ariana are on their way back to Camila's home. Ariana had offered to give them a ride since Camila had walked to the park with Ariel.

    Camila and Ariel had met Ariana on their second visit to the park. Ariana had noticed Ariel's reluctance to play at the playground and had approached Camila offering some tips, they clicked right off and continued talking.

    "Thanks again for the ride, you didn't have to" Camila says once again as they park in front of her house.

    "It's no problem really"

    Camila looks at her house and then back to her new friend. "Hey, why don't you come in and we can keep talking some more" Camila says with a friendly smile Ariana looks at her with tinted cheeks and then to the front of the car before turning off the engine. "Sure why not" she says with a smile, turning to look at Camila.

    The girls get out of the car, Camila with Ariel in her arms and soon they are inside the house.

    "Do you want anything to drink?" asks Camila as she sets Ariel in the living room where her toys are, then looks at Ariana who is already looking at her.

    "Yeah sure, water is fine" she responds looking around the living room and its decoration.

    "Come, I need to prepare lunch for Ariel" Camila says and they make their way toward the kitchen diving into conversation once again.

    "So what do you do for a living?" asks Camila as she cuts some fruits for little Ariel.

    "Oh, I'm a preschool teacher" Ariana answers once she takes a sip of her water. "Wow, I see why you are so good with kids"' Camila says looking at her as she finishes preparing Ariel's lunch.

    The girls go back to the living room where Ariel is.

    "Monkey, come eat" Camila says and Ariel quickly leaves her toys behind. "Yum-yum" she says as she makes her way to the coffee table with a smile on her face.

    Camila and Ariana go back to talking while Ariel eats her lunch while watching some cartoons.

    "You should put her in preschool, it would help her being around other kids her age" Ariana suggests after talking with Camila about Ariel.