The Hook-up

Chapter 16

Lauren barged into her mother's house early in the morning Thanksgiving day holding containers of food and bags of ingredients. "I'm hommmeee!" she yelled through the large home. The house wasn't a mansion by any standards, but it was large, had a pool, a guesthouse and was zoned for Beverly Hills Schools.

"Oh, let me have those!" her brother in law, Jake, grabbed the bags from her not even noticing the containers.

She sighed throwing them down on the counter. "Hello to you, too." She laughed glancing over at the table seeing her father's face buried in his cell phone. "Umm....okay." she said to him sitting down next to him. "Are y'all like hooking up now, or what?"

"Lauren Elaine! No. I'm home for a few weeks and haven't seen you. Your mother was kind enough to ask if I wanted to come over for dinner. You know I make the best pies." He said drly. He never got her sense of humor. She loved him and everything he had done for her, but after Justin they just hadn't clicked as much. Shit. This means he's going to find out about Bruno.

"Yes. I was just being nice to your father. We have a family after all." He mother Rose said to her youngest daughter. "Plus. I'm sure he'd love to hear how you've been lately." She raised her eyebrow talking about Bruno.

"Yes/ How has work been? Have you been looking into Atlantic? You would be great at anything there." He said.

"Dad. I really don't want to do anything behind a desk. I want to be reporting, digging, writing about fantastic things." Lauren told him.

"But music is fantastic, Elle." He told her.

"It's not me. Quit pushing me in that direction." She said abruptly getting out of her seat taking her phone and her jacket outside sitting by the pool dangling her feet in the water dialing Bruno. She listened to the first few rings knowing he was busy and not going to answer.

"Lauren?" he suddenly picked up the phone. "Happy Thanksgiving, baby." She could feel his smile over the phone instantly making things better.

"Did I ever tell you I hate my father?" she asked him.

"No....why?" he asked her.

"Because I do. I just want to leave this house right now. Just go back home and curl up in my bed and sleep." She told him.

"Well that's not the holiday spirit, Elle." He laughed.

"I'm serious. And it's the first time I've seen him since I put your story together. I just want to punch him in the face." She told him.

"Lauren...come on. You and I both know I wasn't ready then. It wasn't the right time. Plus...we wouldn't be together if that had happened." He told her.
She paused to think about everything he just said. "How are you always right?" she asked him.

"I'm just awesome." He sang to her.

"Okay, Mr. Mars. Thank you for talking to me. Have an amazing day. You deserve the day off." She said sweetly.

"Lauren..." he paused before saying anything else.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Don't yell at your dad when he finds out about us. " he responded.

"I'll try not to." She smiled. "Good bye, Bruno." She clicked the phone walking back in the room.

"Were you talking to your boyfrieeennndddd?" her sister Larissa asked.

"Yes. Now leave me alone." Lauren answered with a laugh pulling her sister into her old bedroom.

"What?" Larissa asked.

"He was signed to the label. Dad dropped him. It's weird. I don't even know what to do." Lauren said in a hushed tone.

"Do I have to even tell you how many of the people on that label that I've slept with, Laur?" Larissa asked.

"But that's you, Riss. Not me." She answered.

"Oh. I forget." She answered. "You're so dumb."

"Shut up! I still see him every once in a while!" Lauren yelled.

"Then be better than him. Do something with Bruno. Make it noticeable so he gets jealous. Don't use Bruno to get him back, use Bruno to get back at him. If he can play games you can too." Larissa told her.

"You're right. I will." Lauren said walking back into the living room

"So, little miss, tell us about your boyfriend. When do I get to meet him?" her father asked putting down his phone.

"When are you going to be here?" she asked him.

"I have a trip the first week of December and won't be back until February." He answered.

"Then you're going to have to wait to meet him. He won't be home until the 9th." Lauren answered.

"Oh. So he's a traveler." Her father raised his eyebrow questioning her even more.

"Dad...." Lauren tried to figure out what to say. "You know him. Or you did. You dropped him in 2004."

"Oh. I did, did I?" he asked. "And how is he doing now? Well I assume." He answered. Her father always hoped for the worst when he dropped artists from the label thinking that if he couldn't do anything for them no one could.

"He was signed by Elektra about a year ago. You've probably heard the song." She answered.

"Hmmmm...." He thought intently trying to figure out who it was. "The boy with the hair. The one that could dance."

"Yes." She answered.

"Interesting." He said standing up to go into the kitchen.

"Well, it went better than expected." Rose said under her breath.

"He's just waiting until they meet to be an ass, mom. That's what he always does. He just can't figure out that I've moved on." Lauren told her.

"Don't worry, Sunshine. Your father is hardly around anymore. Ignore him." Her mother reassured her daughter.

"Okay. I'll try." Lauren replied.

"That's all I'm asking from you." Her mother said cutting into the sweet potatoes for dinner placing some on her daughter's plate.