A Light in the Dark

Chapter 80

Her fingers were drumming on the steering wheel as she glared at the cars in front of them. She hated driving under pressure. Especially when her parents were waiting for them at the restaurant and her father would judge them for every minute they arrived late. He hated tardiness with a passion and while this meeting wasn't the first one between him and Lauren, it was still important to make a good first impression as a couple.

She wanted to show him that Lauren was perfect for her. Not Jacob. Not some other guy. Lauren. Maybe he would understand that gender didn't matter when he saw how happy they were together. It had worked with her mom, hadn't it? Why couldn't it work with her father too?

"Did you know that Miami-Dade is the seventh most populated county in the United States?" Lauren asked from the passenger seat.

Camila hummed distractedly and kept her eyes on the road as she took a left turn. At first she had tried to answer some of Lauren's questions about her parents' professions as best as she could, but after the fifth one, she wasn't needed anymore.

"It also has the largest prosecutor's office in Florida and the fourth  largest in the nation with over 300 lawyers... holy shit, did you know that? It's huge!  Your dad is the boss of one of the biggest prosecutors' offices in the US!"

Apparently her answers hadn't been sufficient and Lauren had proceeded to google  it. And quite frankly, listening to someone – her girlfriend no less – fawn over her father like this was weird and distracting. Lauren had turned into some kind of... groupie.

Camila held back a shudder and tried to concentrate completely on the road. She didn't need those frightening thoughts... but she couldn't ignore Lauren's voice even if she wanted to. It was as if her brain was programmed to always listen to it, to always pay attention whenever Lauren thought something was worth sharing. At times like these it was awfully irritating.

"Damn, since your dad has been the state attorney the crime rate dropped approximately 35 percent, Camz! For how long...? Oh, here it is. He's been in the office for about twelve years now... that's long... isn't it? That means you were... seven when he won his first election?"

Narrowing her eyes at the car in front of her, Camila huffed in annoyance as it stopped at the next traffic light. If it weren't for that nutcase, they probably would have already been at the restaurant! And  Lauren would have stopped with whatever she was doing. Where did that guy get his driver's license from anyway?! He was a danger to the general public! And to her sanity...

"Before that he was supposedly one of the best lawyers they've ever had... I bet he's not popular in prison..."

For real, were all Miami drivers this bad? Had she been this bad? Well... probably. But that didn't mean anything. She had been new to this. The others should know better. Not using turn signals, changing the lane in the last possible second... did they want to die or something?! Camila gritted her teeth and glanced at the clock. They only had a few minutes left, but thankfully the restaurant wasn't that far away anymore. They could still make it on time.

"Do you even listen to a word I say?"

"Of course," she answered truthfully before hitting the steering wheel as the car in front of them stopped again. "COME ON, YOU ASSHOLE!"

Lauren snorted next to her. At least someone found this situation funny... "I didn't know you had road rage..."

"We only have six minutes left and this IDIOT is stopping at every fucking light! GET YOUR GODDAMN FOOT OFF THE BRAKE, GRANDPA!"

"And here I thought you were supposed to do that..."

"Not when it's STILL YELLOW! YES, I'M TALKING TO YOU, SLOWPOKE!"