Fool Me

Chapter Twenty Four

Fool Me
Chapter 24

Normani has similar questions for Lauren like Dinah had for Camila as the roommates drive home together.

"You really had us going, Laur. I can't believe you made all that up," Normani confesses.

Lauren shrugs while maintaining her focus on the road as she drives.

"It wasn't that difficult. Camila and I connect well as friends, so neither of us minded stringing you and Dinah along a bit."

"You sure that's all it was?"

"Of course I'm sure. It's what we agreed," Lauren asserts, a little too defensively in Normani's opinion.

"I believe the first part, that yall walked out of the first date wanting to get back at Dinah and me. I might even understand why. But I don't think you gave up from guilt. I think you did it cause of fear."

Lauren is grateful that being in the driver's seat gives her an excuse not to make eye contact, because she's certain Normani would drag the truth out of her gaze if they did.

"Afraid of what?" Lauren questions, trying her best to sound clueless of the accusation behind the question.

"Don't play dumb, Jauregui. I know what you're like when you fall for someone. It hits you hard, and if there's any chance she doesn't feel the same way you're gonna distance yourself to avoid getting hurt."

They're back to their apartment complex at this point, so Lauren's using her concentration on pulling into their parking space as a way of stalling the conversation. Normani reaches to pull the keys out of the ignition as soon as Lauren twists them, knowing Lauren won't be able to rush out of the car like she suspects are her intentions if she doesn't have their apartment key to let herself in.

"Did you really just take my keys away?" Lauren asks rhetorically before letting herself fall back against the headrest with a sigh.

"You told Dinah and I the truth today. Now I want you to be honest with yourself, too," Normani explains as she clutches the keys in her right hand, holding them the farthest away from Lauren that she can.

"If I could start over with Camila and meet her under different circumstances, I'd ask her out. Happy?"

"Getting there. I think you should ask her out anyway though," Normani suggests while relinquishing the keys because she got the confession she wanted.

"You forgot one minor, little detail, Mani. Millions of people already think she's Ariana Grande's girlfriend. And with our fake relationship out of the way, there's really no good reason she shouldn't be."
It takes the press less than 48 hours to piece together details of Ariana's mystery lover's life and begin releasing stories that turn Camila Cabello into a household name. Camila disables all her social media accounts as attention from strangers begins pouring in, and the security at Hype-R Records is given strict orders to prevent all suspected paparazzi from entering or loitering near the building during work hours.

Stella keeps a closer eye on Camila than usual, as if she's waiting for the younger woman to fall apart in the midst of the new distractions. However, it backfires as Camila ends up being more productive than usual by coming in early and staying late to avoid calling attention to herself at the times when she's most expected to appear. She manages to avoid participating in any interviews or doing anything that would add fuel to the rumors until Friday rolls around and Ariana goes out of her way to visit the studio.

"Hey Stella, do you mind if I borrow Ms. Cabello for a moment?" Camila overhears Ariana request through the door that is cracked open between her and her boss's office.

All she can make out in Stella's reply is incoherent mumbling, but she knows permission was granted when additional light begins to pour into her office as the door is swung open by her ex-girlfriend.

"Hey babe," Ariana greets enthusiastically before leaning forward and pressing a quick, unwelcome kiss to Camila's cheek. "How's work?" She continues, partially sitting on a corner of her desk that's currently uncovered as she eyes her expectantly.

Camila still has a fairly clear view of Stella off to the right of Ariana's shoulder and can tell she has her ears perked up to listen in on their conversation.

"I'm keeping busy," she responds vaguely, knowing she can't say anything that's actually on her mind at the moment as long as her boss is present.

"I can tell. I'm not surprised you've given the press the run around, but I've been worried since you're not taking my calls," Ariana replies with a pout.

Camila moves the cursor on her desktop to exit out of the content she's working on and sets her computer to the lock screen.

"How about we hang out in the employee's lounge and call something in for delivery? I haven't had lunch yet," Camila suggests casually, knowing their chances of having company in the lounge are minimal as most employees choose to either eat at their desk or go out depending on the volume of work they need to get done.

When she receives no protest from Ariana, she stands, picks up a file she has stashed full of menus in it and leads them out into the hall until they reach the lounge's entrance. They settle on ordering some Thai food which Camila calls in before resuming their previous conversation.

"I don't appreciate being used," Camila begins, getting straight to the point.

"That's not what I want either," Ariana defends.

"Could've fooled me."
"You've given me the courage to come out, Camila, and I want you to get the credit you deserve for that. I know that distance made our relationship difficult, but that's inevitable no matter who I'm with. Sneaking around and keeping our love a secret is the only other part that went wrong, and it's something that I can control. So I fixed it," Ariana confesses.

Camila rests her head against her right hand as it is supported by her elbow leaning on the table.

"Did it at any point occur to you that perhaps I should have been given a say in all this?"

Ariana nods assertively.

"I came to your apartment, remember? I apologized and tried to explain everything. But you pushed me away," Ariana accuses.

"My girlfriend was there, too, or have you blocked that detail out?"

"I don't know how you got over us so quickly when I couldn't. I assumed she was just a rebound," Ariana admits.

"Why would you assume that?"

"Well, are you still seeing her now?"

Camila's instincts tell her to say yes, but she doesn't want to deal with the consequences of potentially getting caught up in another lie. Lauren would probably hate her for dragging her back into it right when they finally cleared the air with their friends.

"No, we broke up."

Ariana's face lights up at the news.

"Then nothing's stopping you from giving me, giving us another chance," Ariana concludes.