Prank Gone Wrong (Camren Non-AU)

Chapter 6

"Why aren't we in our beds?" Camila mumbled tiredly and rubbed her eyes. "It's the middle of the night and I think we deserve at least a few hours of sleep before we go to Paris..."

"You shouldn't have jumped around all night, I told you," Lauren answered with a smile and brushed some hair out of her girlfriend's face. "Maybe this is payback for singing that stupid song all night long..."

"I wanted to go to a club on my last night here," Dinah complained on Camila's other side. "And not sit in this boring conference room in our hotel. Calling for a meeting at this hour... doesn't he have a life?"

"This type of success doesn't come on its own," Ally said next to her. "I just hope that whatever this is about, it's not anything bad..."

"It's probably about Camren," Normani answered. "I'm blaming Dinah Jane."

Lauren nodded. "I second that."

"Me too," Camila called out.

"Same," Ally said quietly.

Dinah looked afronted at the other girls. "Hey! I thought we were gonna blame Lauren for this? Where's the loyalty?!"

"Nah, it's not like she made a sextape with Mila and published it online," Normani waved off. "They kept it private. But you, on the other hand, decided to pull a prank on her during a livestream."

"How was I supposed to know that Mila snuck into her room?!"

It was only good-natured banter between the girls and they all knew it. No one was blaming anyone for the situation they found themselves in. What happened, happened. It was over and done with.

"The real question is, how do you know that we don't have a sextape?" Lauren asked amused and giggled as Ally, Dinah and Normani shuddered. "Oh, come off it. That was a joke!"

"I'm relieved to hear that, Lauren. Good evening, girls," Simon Cowell greeted them joyfully as he walked into the large conference room. The other girls laughed when Lauren blushed in a bright shade of red. "I'm sorry that I asked you to come here this late at night, but I wanted to talk to you personally before you leave for Paris tomorrow."

Ally smiled sweetly at him as the others tried to look more awake than they actually were. "It's not a problem."

"Thank you. First of all," Simon started and sat down in front of them, "I'd like to congratulate you for the success of your new single. It's been doing amazingly well here in the UK and I'm now more sure than ever that you girls will take over the world by the end of this year."

"Thank you," they chorused, but their smiles were a little strained. A last minute meeting in the middle of the night with one of their ultimate bosses couldn't mean anything good. They all waited for the other shoe to drop.

"And this brings us already to the topic." He sighed and folded his hands on the table. "We at Syco Entertainment and our partners at Epic Records have huge plans for this album. 'Work from Home'  is your biggest hit yet and while its predecessor has already opened some doors for you, we believe that this will gain you worldwide attention. We are in a very, very delicate position and cannot allow any negativity to slow us down."

The girls tensed slightly and shifted closer together. Simon looked from Ally at the far left, to Dinah next to her, to Camila in the middle of the group, to Lauren who was glaring at the table and his eyes settled on Normani on the far right before his gaze swept over the group as a whole.

"On the first day I met you girls as a group, I told you that the faster you befriend one another, the better. I told you to always be authentic, to never lose yourself in the business and to put your sisterhood above everything else," he continued solemnly. The girls exchanged quick looks. "I have no influences over your personal lives and neither has L.A. Reid, no matter how much he wishes to have it at the moment. Your image is a job for your remarkable publicist Miss Hastings and I know of her plans regarding your current situation. And I agree with them."

Camila and Lauren relaxed after he smiled reassuringly at them. Ally closed her eyes and she sacked into her seat while Normani and Dinah looked at him, stunned.

"You don't care?" Normani blurted out. "No offense, but... Janet told us that we might lose sales over this. We've been long enough in the business to know that labels only care about money and how many records their artists can sell..."

"None taken," Simon answered graciously. "It is not a secret that L.A. and I do not always see eye to eye and I'm afraid that this situation is not different. I plan on getting more involved in your career this year and to get Syco Entertainment more involved in your music."

"You mean... L.A. doesn't want us to come out?" Lauren concluded and the other girls narrowed their eyes. "After all these years of him doing only what was necessary and having none interest in our group at all, he suddenly wants to tell us what to do?"

"That's because we're now making good money for his label," Normani continued, disgust plain on her face.

"Ladies," Simon held his hands up in an attempt to calm them down, "let me assure you that I have everything in control. We at Syco Entertainment always say, 'Any type of publicity is good publicity.'  The more people talk about you, the more advertisement we get. By the end of this year, everyone will know who Fifth Harmony is, no matter their age and residency. So by all means, Lauren and Camila, show as much affection in public as you want. Post pictures on social media, tweet each other, be seen together in your free time. If we want to do this right, and I'm quite sure Miss Hastings will agree with me on this, you have to build momentum before you come out on Ellen."

"Let me get this right," Dinah said slowly. "L.A. doesn't want Camren to come out because he's afraid that our sales are dropping and you want them to come out because you want to exploit their relationship and make them some kind of lesbian power couple?"

"Girls, you know how much you mean to me, but we cannot afford to lose an opportunity like this," Simon explained with patience. "If you don't like the plans I made with your publicist, you are welcomed to only think about all those kids you're going to help by coming out. Being a lesbian power couple, as you nicely put it, is not a bad thing if you use the power to speak up for equality. The times are changing and while L.A. doesn't agree with me, the world is ready for you. Think about it."

"So what, you want us to become the next Ellen and Portia?" Camila asked him in disbelief. "Sir, that's... that takes it a bit far, doesn't it?"

Simon merely leaned back and looked between her and Lauren with a smile on his face. "We will see, but I have a very good feeling about this. And my feelings tend to be right most of the time."