The Hook-up

Chapter 82

Lauren ran down the stairs that she had carefully gone down just a few hours ago. She wiped the tears from her eyes reaching her hand out to get a taxi back to Bryant Park. She told the driver where she was going burying her head in the coat that she was wearing crying to herself. What the hell was I doing? I should have just stayed at Bryant Park. We cannot go more than a week without arguing about something. This is bullshit. She pulled at the necklace he made her earlier in the day taking a deep breath as she arrived at her destination. She paid the driver stepping out of the taxi feeling small flakes of snow falling at her feet. She shivered burying herself in the coat again catching his smell at certain places on the outerwear. She walked quickly past everyone into the bathroom to fix her make-up. Ugh. This is shit. She thought to herself pulling out some make-up remover from her Louis Vuitton bag starting with a blank slate in the swanky hotel bathroom.

"Are you okay?" a model wearing jeans and a t-shirt stood next to Lauren watching her clear her red face.

"I think so." Lauren answered completing her make-up.

"Okay. I just wanted to make sure. I saw you coming in crying. And I hate seeing sad people in the audience." The model responded.

"Britt! Hurry up!" they heard another model yell.

"I'm coming!" the girl at the sink yelled. "Feel better, girl with the pretty coat." Britt told her. As the other girl walked toward the door to get Britt Lauren listened to their conversation.

"You would not even believe that she went over to his studio...." the other girl said.

Lauren faintly heard what the models were saying. No way. It can't be her. She thought wandering to where her seat was/

"Laurennn!" Diem exclaimed from their seats. "Come sit down!" Lauren pushed her way to her seat in a daze from the information she just received. "Did you get your nap?" she asked.

"Yeah." She said still trying to decide if the models were talking about Damaris.

"Good." Diem said oblivious to what Lauren was thinking.

**'

"Hey...." Bruno heard a faint voice from the same place he had last heard Lauren's voice. "What's wrong?" he heard again.

"She's being a pain in my ass, Damaris." Bruno said in a frustrated tone holding a small drink of whisky making a funny face as it went down his throat.

"Let me have some..." she held out her hand taking a sip of his drink not blinking at the taste. "Then tell me about it." She responded sitting down on the couch watching him fill up the glass again.

"She's just being stupid. She had a full schedule today even though it's Valentine's Day. And I had all this shit planned tonight and she just squashed it all."

"That's stupid. She should have known that you had something planned for the two of you..." she agreed with him.

"And she uses the babies as an excuse to be moody." He told her all about the things she snapped at him for and the things she yelled at him for.

"I'm sorry, Bruno." Damaris told him standing up in the same place Lauren was before rubbing his shoulders. She doesn't smell the same. He thought to himself as he felt her hands all over his back.

"That feels really good." Bruno told her.

"It always does." She said to him moving her hands further down his back feeling him pull her closer. He stood up turning around looking into her made up brown eyes and penciled in eye brows that were a stark change from the light features he found so endearing in Lauren. She smiled at him seeing him smile back with them both knowing that they were going to do something they would regret. He reached over for the glass of alcohol taking another drink handing it to her to finish. She handed him the glass back moving her hands to his shoulders holding him tightly feeling him lean in to kiss her. Through the kiss he glanced over at his phone seeing Lauren's name pop up.

I'm sorry.

"Ignore it, Brunz." Damaris said throwing her scarf over the phone returning to his lips.