Lightning (Camren)

Chapter Thirty-Two

Lauren stepped into Mr. Holland's office the following day to discuss the course of action for her new job taking care of Annabelle. He was sitting in the same chair that he had been in on the first day that she had ever gone into the office. And just like the first time, there was an empty seat next to him for her to take. The only difference was an extra set of two chairs on the opposite side of the table. She immediately placed herself in the seat, hoping to get the meeting over and done with as soon as possible. Lauren only had four days left with Camila, Normani, Dinah, and Ally, so she wanted to spend as much time with them as she possibly could. 

"Hello, Lauren." Mr. Holland greeted her with a smile.

She returned the smile and responded, "Hello, Mr. Holland."

"Let's get to business. Your job with Annabelle will start on Monday, which is five days from now. As you already know, she has cancer and is blind. I'll also have you know that the job description is more than just nursing her, which is why I've invited her parents here to give you a better explanation of the situation." He explained to her.

Lauren nodded to acknowledge the fact that she understood him completely. But what did it mean that the job is more than just nursing her? What else was she going to have to do to help? No matter what it was however, Lauren was prepared to give it her all. 

"So while we wait, Lauren, I guess we could just talk for a bit. How are you and Camila doing?" He asked her.

"We're not." Lauren frowned, dropping her eyes to the floor to avoid making her emotions known to him. 

Mr. Holland frowned as well and asked, "That's too bad. I liked you two together. May I ask what happened?"

"It's distance. She doesn't like being away from me for a minute, let alone a few months. She also thinks that I should have my own time to explore my different options and focus on my work with Annabelle. Camila is proud of me for making a bold decision, but she just can't be apart from me for long periods of time. We've ended on a good note, so I suppose that it isn't as bad as it could have been." Lauren explained to her boss. She felt odd telling him everything that had happened, but she ignored the feeling.

"That really is too bad. I'm really hoping that everything between you two works out." He said.

The two were interrupted by a married couple that Lauren recognized instantly as Annabelle's parents. When they caught a glimpse of Lauren, they looked overexcited to see her again.

"Hi, Lauren!" Annabelle's mother named Susanne greeted her with a wide smile and a wave.

"How have you been?" Her husband named Thomas questioned Lauren.

Lauren responded, "I've been okay, how about you guys?"

"We're doing alright." Susanne replied as she and Thomas took their seats across the table from Lauren and Mr. Holland.

"Well now that the gang is all here, I think we should get to the details. Shall we?" Mr. Holland said, trying to bring everyone together in order to talk about the real meaning of their meeting. "I've already told Lauren that the job isn't just a nursing job. Would you two care to explain to Lauren what she has to do?"

Susanne explained the whole thing to Lauren, "I wouldn't exactly call this a nursing job, Lauren. To be honest, it's more of you giving her a reason to fight through her battle with cancer. Lately, she's been very discouraged and weak. We're beginning to think that she's giving up, even though her chances of winning the battle have been pretty high in recent appointments. When we thought of getting someone's help on this, you were the first person to come to mind."

Thomas added, "Because of how well you treated Annabelle a few years ago, we remembered how you gave our baby girl a reason to live. You showed her that being blind didn't mean that she couldn't have a good life. So we were thinking that you could possibly do that again with her cancer. Do you think you'd be able to, Lauren? Annabelle loves you, so I'm sure that it could happen almost instantly."

"I think I can do it." Lauren answered with a smile. "I'd do anything to help my favorite little girl battle cancer. She's been through so much, so I think that it's time that she gets all the help that I can possibly give her."

"That's good to hear." Susanne said. "We live at the same address, Lauren, so I'm hoping that you'll still be able to find us."

"Of course I remember. What time would you like me there on Monday?" Lauren questioned.

Thomas answered, "How does noon sound to you?"

"Perfect." She replied with an even wider smile.

"So I suppose everything is all set now. Lauren, I know that you have to get back to your house to spend time with your friends, so I'll let you get back to them." Mr. Holland said.

Lauren got up out of her seat and said her goodbyes to the three adults in the room. As she left, she realized how good of a deed she was doing for a family that has had so many misfortunes when it came to Annabelle. It was one thing to give someone a reason to live, but it was something completely different to actually save them by doing so. To her understanding, Annabelle just needed a friend that would make her want to keep on living in order for her to beat cancer. Lauren was happy to be participating in saving someone's life, even though she had to give up her relationship to do so. 

On the drive home, Lauren began to think about what she would do without everyone at the house while they were in Los Angeles. She would have the house to herself, where she would take care of the twins until someone was sent home. The freedom would be nice, but the loneliness would be painful. She wouldn't be able to bring herself to find new friends or a new significant other, since Ally, Normani, Dinah, and especially Camila have a special and permanent place in her heart. 

Once she got home, she was shocked to  find that no one was home. The house was quiet, and Lauren was actually beginning to worry about the whereabouts of her friends. She hadn't received any texts from them explaining anything, so she was pretty worried. But the nervousness fled her when she noticed a piece of paper sitting on the table in the kitchen. The piece of paper turned out to be a note that said:

Dear Lauren,

We decided to head out to Los Angeles a little earlier than expected since we were so anxious to get there. Laurie and Cameron are with your mother at her house, just so you know that we didn't leave them here unattended. We're sorry that we didn't get to say our last goodbyes, as well. We wished that we could, but we would have missed our flight. On the back of this note is another note that Camila asked us to write from her to you.

Love,
Your best friends Ally, Normani, and Dinah

Lauren frowned at the note, then turned it over to read what Camila had them write to her. It said:

Hey Lauren,

I wanted to apologize for my behavior and reaction from last night. It wasn't my intention to hurt you, but I was just caught off guard by the fact that you weren't coming with us to Los Angeles anymore. I hate to put the blame on my surgery, but I was really tired and exhausted from it when I said the things that I said. I'd really like to talk about things more in depth over the phone tonight if you'd like. Call me around eight o'clock if you'd like to talk about it. 

Lots of Love,
Camz

Lauren smiled at the note, happy that things might not be over between her and Camila. She was excited to get on the phone with her, even though eight o'clock was six hours away. All she wanted to do was talk to Camila again and make things normal between the two of them. 

To pass the time, Lauren decided that it was best to go visit her mother again. She didn't want her to be burdened with the twins all day, so she thought it was best to help ease the load. And on the car ride to her mother's house, all Lauren could think about was being able to call Camila her girlfriend again. 

A/N: I hope that you're all enjoying this story so far! I just released the first chapter of a new fic called 'Vigilante', which is yet another Camren fic. It has way more action in it, so if you're into that, check it out!