Lightning (Camren)

Chapter Thirty-One

Lauren was awoken by the force of someone shaking her. When she opened her eyes, she saw that it was Dinah and that she had fallen asleep in the same position that she had been in since the phone call with Mr. Holland. She was still curled up against the wall in the hallway, and she had no idea how long she had been there.

"Lauren? What are you doing sleeping on the floor? Did you and Camila have a fight over something stupid again?" Dinah asked her.

Lauren shook her head and replied, "No, it's not that. I just got a phone call about a job offer that I can't refuse."

"Job offer? But we have to be in Los Angeles in like five days for 'The Voice'. Unless you plan on dropping out of the competition, that is."

Lauren let out a sigh, then explained, "Okay, but I need you to not say anything to anyone yet. When I was in nursing school, I was given an objective to take care of a young, blind girl. Her name is Annabelle, and I recently found out that she was diagnosed with some type of cancer. The man who originally assigned me to take care of Camila knows that I have experience with helping the blind, so he called me up and offered me a job to take care of her. Annabelle and her family have been keeping in contact with me ever since I took care of her, till it suddenly stopped. Now that I've figured out why, Annabelle really needs me. That's why I've decided to stay here and take the job."

Dinah, who had a sad look on her face, replied, "That's really sweet, Lauren. However, I think you should tell the others. That includes Camila. It wouldn't be right to hide this from them."

"But it'll hurt Camila to tell the truth. She'll get angry with me if she finds out that I'm dropping out of the competition to do this," Lauren worried.

"But imagine how she'll act if she finds out any other way. If she hears it from anyone that's not you, then she'll be furious. You have to do the right thing here, Lauren. She knows about your passion to help people, so I see no reason why she'd be upset. The only thing that I can think of that she'd do is be sad that you two will be apart. It's not like she will leave you if you didn't come with us. She loves you way too much," Dinah tried to convince Lauren.

Lauren nodded and replied, "You know, you're right. What's the worst that can happen as long as I'm doing the right thing by saying the truth?"

"Exactly! Now go in there and give her the news! I'll be right here to listen to the whole story when you're finished telling her," Dinah said excitedly.

Lauren picked herself up off of the floor, then went inside her and Camila's room. Camila was still sleeping in bed, but Lauren had no other choice but to wake her up if she was going to know the truth now. She lightly shook Camila awake, causing her to groan with exhaustion.

"Is it dinner time?" Camila asked in a sleepy, raspy voice.

"No, not yet. I have something that I need to tell you though, Camila."

"You sound serious. Is something wrong?"

Lauren replied, "I wouldn't say that something is really wrong, but I know that you're probably not going to like it. Mr. Holland called me not too long ago today, and—"

Camila interrupted, "It's my mother again, isn't it?"

"Actually, no. This time, it's me. He offered me a job, Camila," Lauren finally said.

"I'm confused. Why would I not like this?"

"Because, it involves me staying in Miami. By taking the job, I wouldn't be able to go to Los Angeles anymore, which would separate us for a while."

Camila said sadly, "I don't want to be separated though. Why would you leave 'The Voice' to take any old job?"

"This isn't any old job, Camila. The patient is someone who was very important to me at some point in my life. She's a little girl named Annabelle that I took care of a few years ago during nursing school as a part of a term project. Like you, she's blind, and I was able to help her make the best of it. Ever since I graduated from nursing school, I had always kept in close contact with Annabelle and her family. But up until recently, we stopped talking because Annabelle was diagnosed with cancer. That's why I need to take this job, Camila. I hope you understand," Lauren explained to her.

There was a long pause between them, and Lauren't heart felt like it was going to explode. She didn't know what to expect from Camila, but she was just glad that she did the right thing no matter what the consequences were. The silence was broken by Camila letting out a loud sigh, and Lauren prepared herself for whatever Camila was going to say to her.

"I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't upset by this decision, Lauren. However, I'm not mad at you. You're justified in your reasoning for wanting to stay and take the job. Rather than being angry, I'm more proud of you. You're staying true to who you are by taking care of those who need your help. Although I still need you, I'd agree that Annabelle needs you more. And as much as it pains me to do this, I don't want to tie you down to me while I'm gone," Camila said.

"What are you going off about now, Camila? We'll only be apart for a few months, and I can handle the long distance."

"But I can't, Lauren. What if I get far enough into the competition that someone offers me a record deal? I doubt that it'll happen, but what if? I'd be apart from you even longer than intended. It would be a lot on me to keep you from pursuing your dreams to the best of your ability. Not only that, but I would hate to keep you tied down to someone who is on the opposite coast of the country than you. Long distance just doesn't work out for me. We can still have these last five days together though, but after that, things will be different," Camila explained.

Tears began to run down Lauren's face. She saw where her girlfriend was coming from, but she just didn't like it. Long distance isn't for everyone, no matter how much you love the person. Some people need to be together all the time, and some can deal with the distance. Camila was the clingy type, but that didn't bother Lauren until the time came that they needed to be apart.

Lauren asked, "So in five days... that will be the end of us?"

"I won't call it an end. It's more of a postponement," Camila admitted. "I still love you and all, but I think that we should use this time apart to explore our options. If not, we should use it to focus on what is going on in our lives right now. You focus on taking care of Annabelle, and I focus on getting that record deal. Our paths are very different, and we need to give them our all. And don't think for a second that we'll stop talking while I'm gone, because if you remember, I want you to be the first thing that I see when the week passes by. Nothing has changed about that fact. I'll have the girls help me Skype you when the moment comes. Would you like that?"

"Of course I would," Lauren answered honestly. "But what about the twins? We need to care for them still. Nothing has changed about that."

Camila replied, "Well what do you want to do?"

"My mother still offered to watch them while we pursued our dreams, so why not keep them here with me while you guys are in Los Angeles? I'd have them with me when I was home from work, then I'd bring them to my mom while I was with Annabelle. That's only if it's okay with you. The twins are ours, not just mine," Lauren proposed.

Camila nodded, then pulled Lauren into a hug. They stayed in each other's arms for some time, until Lauren decided that it was best to tell the others about what was going to happen. Ally and Normani still didn't have a clue about what was going on, and Dinah only knew about half of it. 

Lauren stood in the doorway and said before leaving the room, "I'll let you know when it's dinner time. Get some more rest."

Once she had left the room, she was greeted again by Dinah, who had been waiting for her to exit the room. 

"What happened in there?" Dinah asked Lauren.

Lauren sighed and finally answered, "I think we just broke up."