f.m. ~camren

chapter 21

"You took her to see a rock? Please tell me it was surrounded by beach paradise at least?" Normani criticizes after dragging some vague details about the weekend out of Lauren the evening of their return.

Lauren is laying back on the sofa, palm against her forehead with her eyes closed, trying to relieve some of the pain from the dehydration headache that developed over the long car ride home.

"Come on, Mani. You know I'm not into that cookie-cutter romance stuff," Lauren defends herself after a long sigh.

"Well, she still drove you back here so you couldn't have screwed up too bad," her roommate reasons as she leans against the wall between the living room and kitchen.

"You may not have trusted me to find my own girlfriend, but when it comes to the actual relationship can you maybe pretend to have a little faith in me please?"

"I'm sorry, Lo. You know I was just messin' with you though," Normani insists.

"And normally I'd be fine with the teasing, but this headache seems like it's about to turn into a migraine. I think I'm gonna go lay down in the dark in my room," Lauren declares as she sits up slowly and stands up from the couch.

"Hmm, sounds like somebody's weekend got a bit too loud," Normani replies suggestively.

"Um duh...I went to a festival full of rock bands?"

"I was refering to Cami-" Normani begins but Lauren quickly cuts her off.

"Good night, Hamilton."

Camila is exhausted when she drags herself into work on Monday morning, having managed to secure a pathetic 3 hours of sleep after staying up making detailed notes about her evaluations of the bands' tracks she reviewed. Stella is out to an important business meeting for half the day, giving her a few hours cushion to make sense of her own barely-legible night scribbles and organize them into a presentable report. It is around 11:30 when an incoming call rings out, jolting her out of her previous trance from proofreading the final draft.

"Stella Miller's office, Camila speaking, how may I assist you today?" She greets the caller professionally.

"Hello miss, I am calling to confirm your noon reservation for lunch at Délicieux," a male voice replies from the other side of the line.

Camila peeks at her copy of Stella's calendar and scratches her head, puzzled.

"I believe Ms. Miller has made other arrangements for her meal today. May I place you on a brief hold while I verify whether there's a different reservation she meant to place?"

"Pardon me, I believe the reservation is in your name. Are you Ms. Cabello?"

"I am, but I don't remember requesting to dine at your restaurant. May I have your address?"

Camila enters the address into Google Maps as it is read to her and discovers the restaurant is a quick five minute drive from her office. She decides to accept the reservation and check it out, hungry from skipping breakfast and not packing lunch in the aftermath of sleep deprivation. Her instincts tell her it could easily be something Lauren set up and she wouldn't want to spoil the plan by being a no show.

Finding parking near Délicieux takes longer than expected, but after a couple times around the block she manages to squeeze into a 2 hour space around the corner from the entrance. She briefly pauses to wonder if she is underdressed because of the minimal effort that went into her outfit but dismisses the thought as she opens the front door and approaches the host.

"Reservation for Cabello," she announces once his attention is completely on her.

"Good afternoon, Miss Cabello, your plus one is waiting at the table. It will be right this way," he gestures to her left and his right as she prepares to lead them there.

Camila freezes when the host pauses beside a table occupied by none other than her ex-girlfriend, Ariana. He pulls out Camila's chair and waits for her to sit down, alarmed when she doesn't immediately take her seat.

"Is there a problem, Miss?" He asks politely.

She takes a deep breath to repress the anger that came over her after the initial shock passed.

"No, sir. Thank you," she lies before sitting down and clearing her throat as he leaves them to be served by their waitress.

They both ask her for water and she takes off to fill their request, leaving them in awkward silence as Camila contemplates whether to stay or go. Ariana peeks over the menu and appears to make up her mind on an entree before she looks up to make eye contact with Camila again.

"Isn't this nice, MiMi? It's like what we talked about before...what you always wanted," Ariana reminds her with a grin.

"Are you suffering from a head injury?" Camila quips with gritted teeth.

Ariana chuckles and shakes her head.

"I know you think you're over me but I brought you here to prove you wrong," Ariana replied confidently.

Camila scoffs.

"Ari, I'm already seeing someone, and I thought I made it clear to you that we're done."

They are interrupted by the waitress setting their water on the table and asking for their order. Ariana replies to the waitress enthusiastically while Camila orders the first dish her eyes fell upon when she looked at the open menu in front of her. The waitress takes away their menus after writing down their orders before leaving them alone again.

"I don't think I got a fair shot to prove to you that I'm serious about us," Ariana expresses genuinely with pleading eyes as she reaches out to grab her hand on top of the table, "and just by being here, in public with you, right now, I'm demonstrating how I'm finally not afraid anymore."

"You're too late," Camila asserts just before she sees the flash of a camera, then another, and another.

"I think the paparazzi have a different story in mind," Ariana counters as she points toward the person invading their privacy from a short distance.

Camila pulls her hand from Ariana's grip, stands up from her seat, and shakes her head vigorously.

"I will not be a part of this...this stunt," she refuses.

"I'm coming out, Camila, whether you like it or not. You can either rise to the top with me or I'll make sure you never make it off the ground in this business," she threatens as Camila walks away, exiting the restaurant and refusing to look back.