Ink ➳ Camren

Chapter Fourteen

All rights go to original author.

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Lily had mercifully left her pack of cigarettes on the steps in front of the tattoo shop and Camila couldn't find a reason not to have another one before heading back inside to answer more of Taylor's endless questions. Christ, this does feel like a job interview. Not that she had ever been on one; she just imagined it would feel like this. A stranger, holding all the cards, looking at her, judging her, asking her things that would determine if she was right for the job or not. The job being Lauren's...friend...date...suga mama? Camila knew the answer, she knew the title, she just couldn't think about it right now.

Talking about that night, their night, had once again stirred up the feelings of trepidation that the brunette had been pushing aside ever since that first time the green eyed girl's name had bubbled up from inside of her, slipped past her lips, and out into the front room of the shop. The perfect sounds those letters had made together, bouncing off of every wall and back into her ears. Lauren. Her name is Lauren. Camila had only thought she had forgotten it, but it was there.

Camila shook her head in an attempt to clear her mind. She took a long drag and exhaled the smoke slowly. She picked up Lily's pack of cigarettes again and turned it over in her hand. There were pictures drawn on every side of the cardboard box in black ink. Some people might call them doodles, but Camila saw the artistry, the undeniable talent that the box displayed and which, upon the last cigarette  being smoked, would eventually be tossed into a rubbish bin.

The images were dark and lonely, an angel with broken wings looking up to the heavens, a tiny sparrow on the branch of a dead tree, no pretty butterflies or flowers for this girl. Camila turned the pack on its side and there she saw, "Lily's Keep Out," inscribed there and that's what did it. That L. That capital L on the pack of cigarettes was the same one tattooed on her best friend's wrist. Harry had Lily's L.

She knew that somewhere, possibly, somewhere she had kept far, far away from her conscious thoughts, she held the suspicion of what Harry's L might stand for. She had immediately dismissed the theory, of course, and instead focused on anything and everything else. But now, as she sat there, her eyes memorizing every curve and slope of Lily's script, she couldn't push it away any longer.

But, so what? Harry fucked some tattoo artist chick in her chair and got a tattoo to remind him of the conquest. Big deal. He's like that. He lives impulsively and does whatever the fuck he wants to. He's Harry. He doesn't even remember getting the tattoo so I'm sure he hasn't even given it a second thought.

Camila flicked the ash off her cigarette and paused before letting it reach her lips. He remembered her name though and he remembered-

Camila didn't want to think about it anymore. Enough! It didn't matter. It doesn't matter. In their drunken state, they had managed to come up with a lie and she was going to stick with it to the end. Los Angeles. The L is for Los Angeles, plain and simple.

She would think you're insane, you know? She would think that you're crazy and never want to speak to you again, you fool. You fucking fool.

"You've been out here a while."

Camila spun around in surprise. She had been so wrapped up in her head, she hadn't heard the bell on the door jingle as Lauren came out to find her.

"Hey." Camila looked away and took another long drag to finish off her cigarette. She stubbed it out on the step and flicked the butt into the street.

Lauren sat down on the step next to her. "I don't blame you." Lauren took the pack of cigarettes out of Camila's hand and flipped open the top. "I'd rather be out here too." She pulled a cigarette out from the foil and placed it between her lips. "Fewer questions."