f.m. ~camren

chapter 3

It's Friday night and Lauren is just about to squeeze out the front door of their apartment when Normani appears in the living room and calls out after her.

"Aha! I knew it. You do have a date tonight," she accuses, a look of satisfaction appearing on her face from catching Lauren sneaking out.

"Mani, we've been over this. There's no reason to keep tabs on me. You don't see me insisting to know where you go all the time," Lauren points out.

"I'm just excited for you is all," Normani insists with a pout.

"Yeah, but I still haven't forgiven you yet."

"I bet your mind changes by the time you get back tonight."

Lauren shrugs and proceeds to make an exit without further protest from her roommate.

She meets Camila outside a cinema. They determined from texting the night before that they are both interested in the same new movie, so it isn't a burden on either of them to watch it together. Between the movie and dinner they manage to stay out a few hours, enough time for Normani to speculate Lauren is enjoying herself and also for Camila to decide what she can report back to Dinah.

Camila drives them to dinner, so she has to drop Lauren off at her car by the cinema afterward. They get carried away in their conversation and Lauren stays in the passenger seat for several minutes even after they are parked beside her car.

"I think one of the best sellers that surprised me the most was Fifty Shades of Grey," Lauren admits, continuing the topic Camila started by bringing up questions about her job at the bookstore.

"Did you read the series?" Camila replies curiously.

"No, I barely made it through the first book. It's like a caricature of so-called deviant sexuality. Whenever pop culture latches onto something solely based upon its taboo qualities, it's a breeding ground for unfortunate misconceptions," Lauren explains confidently.

Camila is impressed by Lauren's commentary, unable to remember the last time she had a thought-provoking discussion about literature. It's one of the downsides to having Dinah as a best friend. She's definitely a fun person to be around, but the last time she picked up a book was probably when her siblings were younger and begged her to read them 'Goodnight Moon'.

"I've been too busy to read lately. Sounds like I dodged a bullet not getting far enough down my list to read that one. There are many others I'm disappointed about putting off though."

"If you find the spare time again, just tell me what you're looking for and I'll use my discount. Although I don't imagine you're pinching for pennies with a job like yours."

Camila scoffs.

"You think assistants get paid big industry dollars? Try again. The compensation compared to their expectations is a joke."

"Why do you put up with it then?"

"A foot in the door at HYPE-R Records is better than a foot in the door at the nearest unemployment office," Camila defends with a slight humor to her tone.

Lauren nods her head in understanding before glancing down at her phone, which she previously laid on her lap, to check the time.

"I hope I haven't kept you too long. Do you have to go into work tomorrow?"

"No, thank God. The person I work for is in a travel phase right now. She's convinced most of the talent in this city has been drained, so she's exploring other avenues for talent discovery," Camila reveals.

"Shouldn't you be on the road with her then? You are her assistant, right? Not that I'm trying to shoo you away or anything. Our 'relationship' won't hold up well if you're rarely available."

"I handle more of the business side of things. I draft her deal memos. Set appointments. Schedule meetings. Whenever she doesn't want to contact someone directly, I step in and take over to fill the communication gaps. Anyway, it's all work better executed in an office setting. If she took me on the road it would imply she values my opinion and she's made it clear to me that's not the case," Camila explains somewhat bitterly.

Lauren frowns and barely realizes when her left hand reaches toward Camila, placing it on top of the other woman's right hand as a comforting gesture. She can tell it startles Camila, but she doesn't make an effort to pull it away.

"If your taste in music is anything like your taste in women, she'll regret that some day," Lauren insists with a wink.

Camila raises an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure if you just complimented me or yourself?"

"Both? Yeah...definitely both," Lauren concludes.

"Good luck winning me over for that third date - seems you're going to need it," Camila challenges, nudging Lauren to move her hand so they can finally part ways for the night.

AN: This will probably be the last update to this story for a little while. I need to work on my next chapter of Minor Treble and eventually Stunt Double, too. I neglected them to get this one off the ground. Thank you for reading!