The Vindicated With The Monstrous

Ten

Camila opened the hotel room door that night to be greeted by a strong aroma. She coughed then waved her hand to clear the air, "Lauren? What the hell is that smell?"

Lauren snickered as Camila approached her, getting the answer to her question with what Lauren was holding in her hand. Still Lauren smugly replied, "You never smelled weed before? Wow, such an innocent little flower."

"Lauren!" Camila angrily yelled, surprising Lauren as she had never seen her with such an intense emotion. Camila was usually pretty good at keeping her composure, letting her true feelings be a mystery, but as soon as she bursted through the door she acted unusually emotional. Lauren realized this, Camila didn't; "I can't believe that you're doing drugs?! What if I was an officer coming in to check on you? Your dumbass would be back in jail."

"Chill, princess," Lauren said as she offered up her joint to Camila, "I think you might need this." Camila didn't smile at Lauren's goofy grin, just took the joint from her hand and proceeded to walk to the window behind where Lauren was seated and throw it into the dim night sky. "That wasn't very nice, ya know. That shit's expensive and I only got one dollar left now." Lauren then looked off into the distance as if in thought then giggled, "Wow, I didn't think about that. One single dollar left."

Camila rolled her eyes, knowing there was no point in being here as she couldn't take Lauren seriously while she was under this influence, "Whatever, I'm leaving."

Lauren furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she watched Camila turn around, "Wait!" She said as she got up and grabbed Camila's arm, "Aren't you here to do your analysis thingy or whatever the fuck it is you do?"

"Lauren, I can't be interacting with you while you're high. We have serious business to do, this is a criminal case that I'm trying to solve," Camila said while pushing Lauren's arm off of her.

"Aw, c'mon, I'm perfectly fine. I can answer all your lame questions!" Lauren replied in almost a plea.

Camila just looked at her oddly then shook her head as she turned to walk away again, "Go to sleep or something." She took one step before Lauren quickly ran to be infront of her effectively stopping her from leaving again, "Lauren, move."

"No," Lauren replied, her pink eyes desperately looking into Camila's, "Stay, please," she pleaded, her voice cracking towards the end.

To say Camila was intrigued at her behavior would be an understatement, this was a total different attitude than Lauren's usual confident demeanor. Her glossy green eyes were longing and showed signs of despair as she looked expectantly into Camila's, "Okay," she agreed in a nonchalant voice as she sat down on the bed.

Lauren joined her on the bed but instead of sitting facing forward lien Camila was, she brought her legs up onto the bed and crossed them, turning her whole body so she was facing Camila side profile. "Let's play a game!" She said cheerfully, it was obviously the drug that caused this joyful emotion, since cheerful was a word Camila never thought she'd describe Lauren as.

Camila awkwardly turned her face, only slightly shifting her body as she didn't want to make herself too comfortable. She was met with Lauren's goofy grin that undoubtedly made her bit her lip to stop a smile forming on her face, "I don't think we should be playing games, Lauren. This is a professional relationship that we have."

Lauren rolled her eyes in disagreement but compromised in her reply, "Okay, but it's your job to get to know me and build a 'bond', wouldn't a game do that?"

"What game do you propose we play?" Camila asked after a few moments, knowing that Lauren made a point but still wasn't completely convinced that this was a good idea. This encompassing everything about their current interaction, she knows she should have just left. She has no business trying to work with Lauren while she is in this state, she knows that this could potentially dig the hole, which she has created herself, deeper. Yet why couldn't she bring herself to actually leave, why, in general, couldn't she bring herself to treat Lauren like she does with all her subjects? These are the true questions that ran through her head before she heard Lauren's reply.