Beautiful When You Don't Try

Chapter 78

"So, why isn't Lauren helping you with this again?" Dinah asked as she and Camila went over every detail of the wedding with the event staff. "I mean, I know she's been skipping out on some minor things because of work, but this is big. You're actually setting things up for the wedding... that's in two days. You know, the day after tomorrow."

"I know." Camila mumbled under her breath, frustrated with the brunette already.

"And you two won't even see each other tomorrow. This was, like, her one chance to be with you."

"I know."

"That one final thing you two could do before the biggest day of-"

"Dinah!" The Polynesian woman jumped and Camila closed her eyes to ease her temper. "I'm sorry, but I know all of this already. Hearing about it isn't making me any less annoyed."

"Well, good. You should be annoyed."

The diva looked over to the woman as she looked over the last centerpiece, inspecting it for any flaws. "What?" Camila wasn't expecting Dinah, one of their biggest supporters, to be happy that Camila was angry with Lauren two days before the wedding.

"I mean, this is huge, and she's thirty miles away in another state, doing what exactly?"

Camila shook her head slightly. She had been so frustrated with Lauren for bailing on this day that she didn't even bother listening to her excuse, she just grabbed her keys and walked out. She didn't even bother waiting for the elevator to arrive and took the stairs. "You're right."

"I know I am." Dinah announced, her voice getting angrier, causing Camila to be sucked into her emotions as well. "What did she possibly think was so much more important than spending time with you?"

"I don't know."

"You should know! If Scott pulled this on me when we were getting married... oh." She shook her head. "Na-uh. Nope. He wouldn't have even dared."

Camila shook her head, falling further into Dinah's rage. "No, he wouldn't have."

"But Lauren did. This is almost as bad as leaving you at the altar. I mean, this is your wedding!"

"You're right!"

"Yeah!"

"I'm going to call her right now and tell her exactly how I feel and demand that she gets here now."

"No." Camila paused, holding her phone in her hand. "That won't work for Lauren. She'll just say she sorry and give you these puppy dog eyes and kiss it better." Dinah explained with animated body language as she slowly approached the in-tune diva. "Then she'll turn around and do it again the next time something big comes up."

Camila nodded her head. This was proof of that. "So, what do I do?"

"Make her feel guilty about it. Don't call. Do all the work yourself so she can't be a part of it. Wait until you get home and then let her have a piece of your mind."

"Yeah. I can do that." The diva nodded, imagining it all in her head. "I can do that."

And that's exactly what she did. The closer she got to the apartment, the angrier she got. When she arrived, she slammed the car door shut and pounded the elevator button with a closed fist. She couldn't let Lauren keep doing this. Not if they were going to get married. Her foot tapped with the pent-up energy she was holding back and she stormed out of the elevator and headed straight for the stairs but only got a single step of the way before she froze.

The dining room table was set for a dinner for two with a candelabra in the center, already burning. The plates and dinner ware were twinkling with the flicker of the flames as the rest of the apartment was dark except for the dim accent lights in the kitchen that were illuminating Lauren's brunette hair from behind.