f.m. ~camren

chapter 22

Camila doesn't have time to linger on the whirlwind of emotions going through her head or the growling of her empty stomach when she returns to the office. Stella is back from her meeting by then and immediately demands a recap of the weekend before taking a copy of Camila's report. It's late afternoon before she can catch a break from her desk again and of course it's only so she can use the main level's mail machine before the day's post goes out.

An unexpected, yet very familiar voice causes her to halt on her way back to the staircase from the mail room.

"I don curr bout the rules, Sadie. Camila is coming down here or you are gonna let me up there. This is an emergency," Dinah commands to the receptionist.

"You have no authorized purpose to be in the building let alone -" Sadie begins to explain before Camila turns the corner and alerts them to her presence with a clearing of her throat.

"Is the conference room down the B wing in use by chance?" Camila asks, addressing Sadie first.

"Not at the moment," she confirms after running a finger down the daily schedule map for the building.

"I need to meet with Dinah for a few minutes. If Stella buzzes down for me, can you give her that room's extension, please?" Camila requests quickly before motioning for Dinah to follow her.

"Will do," Sadie agrees before returning her attention to a previous task she had been working on, designing her own business card.

Once Camila and Dinah are seated beside each other in two leather chairs surrounding a large meeting table, the purpose of Dinah's visit is revealed.

"I don't even know how you could do Lauren like this, Mila," Dinah admits with disappointment in her tone as she displays a picture from a tweet on her phone that shows Camila's hand in Ariana's at the restaurant hours earlier.

"Come on, Di, you know me better than anyone. The story that picture tells couldn't be farther from the truth."

"Then tell me what I'm not seeing," she insists, "because Normani was bout ready to flip a table when she called me."

Camila lets her fingertips dance against the table as she gathers up the nerve to tell her side of the events while simultaneously panicking that Normani has probably already told Lauren, too. This will mark the second time in three days that Lauren is catching her mingling with another woman when they're supposed to be convincing everyone they're wrapped up in each other. Partnered with the knowledge of how Lauren's last relationship ended, she feels like a complete asshat.

"Ariana must have put a reservation under my name. When the restaurant called about it I suspected it was something Lauren set up. If I knew what my ex was up to I wouldn't have showed. I didn't immediately leave when I saw Ariana at the table because I was really hungry and I thought we might have a civil conversation. Turns out she only brought me there to launch her coming out press story. That's why they picked a photo with that angle where you only get my side profile. If you could see my full expression, the story would be completely different."

Dinah listens intently to Camila's recap of the events and shakes her head in disbelief at Ari's audacity.

"I'm gonna be real with you. Normani's pissed and I can talk to her now that I know what went down. But Lauren...you better pray she picks up when you call cause if I was her, after seeing this I def wouldn't wanna be seeing you," Dinah explains with a sympathetic look.

Camila takes a deep breath before raising from her chair and pushing it back into place under the table.

"It'll be at least an hour and a half before Stella takes off. Can you find out from Normani if Lauren's willing to meet at my apartment when I get home tonight?"