f.m. ~camren

chapter 10

After Dinah takes Camila to deal with her broken car, her and Lauren part ways for the rest of the weekend. Lauren picks up some extra hours at the bookstore and works on her story in the evenings. Camila spends the majority of Saturday catching Dinah up on her relationship with Lauren, drama with Ariana, and the chaos at work. She spends her Sunday reading the rest of The Client and ignoring a few more texts from her ex-girlfriend. It's after 10 PM and Camila is getting ready for bed when she hears her phone buzz from the counter while brushing her teeth. She finishes her evening routine before checking her phone, assuming it's just another text from Ariana to delete. When she does get around to reading the screen, she is pleasantly surprised to see Lauren's name at the top of her messages.

I hope this isn't too short of notice. There's a really laid back, free painting workshop at a studio down by my place that's scheduled once a month. The next one is tomorrow night and I would like to bring you along. It starts around 7:30. Just let me know.

Camila smiles down at her phone as she tucks herself into bed and reaches over to turn off her lamp. She adjusts so she is in a comfortable position, laying on her right side in her dark room as she types out a reply.

I must have neglected to mention my preschool art skills. You sure you're up for the embarrassment?

Lauren, who is still wide awake and trying to decide how to introduce a new character into the story she is writing, pauses what she is doing when her text tone goes off. She reads Camila's response and chuckles to herself before responding.

Every month they focus on a different style of painting, and the instructor teaches under the assumption that nobody has any prior knowledge or skill in that particular style. They also serve wine on these nights so if you're really that horrible I can pour myself through a bottle and claim it's responsible for my poor choice in date.

Camila can feel herself drifting into sleep when her phone buzzes again, but she can't bring herself to wait until morning to read Lauren's text, so she slides it off her bedside table and squints upon encountering the bright light of the screen in contrast to the dark room.

You're lucky the studio's within walking distance. It may take two or three bottles to handle me. I'll try to be at your place by 7. Good night.

Camila has a hellish Monday as usual. She is still playing catch up on paperwork while also listening to her boss rant on for most of the day about expediting the process for setting up a new band she heard over the weekend with studio time for her to introduce them to the label. There are about a dozen hoops to jump through between drawing up the proper paperwork, making the right phone calls, and drafting a temporary producer to work on their demo track. It's nearly 6:30 when she leaves the office and the light traffic is her only savior in making it to Lauren's place at the time they arranged. When Lauren opens the door for Camila she can tell she is stressed and briefly wonders if she should cancel the date. Painting is a stress reliever for Lauren, but for someone artistically challenged it may be less appealing.

"Can I get you anything? A snack? A glass of water?" Lauren offers after Camila removes her jacket and takes a seat on the couch.

"May I borrow some clothes? I probably shouldn't wear this around paint," Camila concludes, gesturing toward her professional work attire.

"Sure, let me grab you some."

Lauren goes down the hall and turns into her bedroom. She returns a few minutes later with some black track pants and a plain red t-shirt with an Old Navy logo.

"I know these are nothing fancy, but the pants have a tie on them and I only ever wear that shirt to bed because it's snug around my chest. You can try them on and let me know if you prefer something else."