This is not Pretty Woman 2
"Okay, what the hell is wrong with you today?"
I looked up from my phone and saw the concerned face of my best friend. Normani was sitting next to me at the table while we were waiting for our possible new clients to arrive. I had to admit that I hadn't been very good at hiding my subdued mood although I wanted to. It was hard to do after the last two days of complete chaos. I wished to forget everything that had happened but it seemed impossible for now.
"Nothing," I mumbled unconvincingly.
"You barely said two words to me today and we have an important meeting right now," Normani reminded me.
"I'm focused," I said with a sigh and sat up straight. "I promise."
"Do you want to tell me what is going?" her voice softened.
"No," I shook my head.
"Is it about the girl who ran out of your apartment the other day?" Normani was on the right track.
"Doesn't matter," I replied quietly. "It's over so there's nothing to talk about."
"But-" my best friend wanted to continue but was interrupted by the two men approaching our table.
"Miss Cabello, it's always nice to see you," the first middle-aged man in a ridiculously expensive suit exclaimed and I got up from my seat to greet him. We exchanged pleasantries and as I had promised, I put on my business face and did what I was supposed to. It was a fine balance as a woman to be taken seriously yet remain likeable. I had seemingly perfected it over the years to be nice and charming enough but still hold my own when it came to negotiating.
Mr. Brooks and Mr. Hunter were CEO and CFO of a company we were trying to go in business with. We had worked together before but now it was time to expand that partnership for a new project. I liked to be prepared but sometimes that didn't work. You had to adjust to whatever the situation was and people could be unpredictable. As in this case because Mr. Brooks seemed particularly interested in Normani. He was complementing her several times while flipping through our menus which was fine by me. She could take the lead on this one.
"Welcome everyone. Can I take your order or are you still looking?" I heard a familiar voice behind me and turned around.
"Camila," Lauren gasped and dropped the notepad in her hand, obviously just as shocked to see me as the other way around. I almost didn't recognize her in her waitress outfit. Her hair was in a tight ponytail and she wore light makeup which was a completely different look to what I had seen before.
"You two know each other?" Mr. Hunter smiled at me.
"Uh...no. I mean...kind of," I stammered like an idiot.
"That's why I love New York," he continued. "It's such a big city but you still run into people all the time."
"Yeah...wonderful," I said with a forced smile and wanted to stab myself with something just to get out of the situation.
"Wonderful indeed," Lauren replied and I heard the sarcastic undertone whereas everyone else seemed oblivious.
"I'll have a sparkling water and the Halloumi with griddled vegetables," I decided to order and get it over with.
The others followed my lead and Lauren was insanely polite which was odd in so many ways. I couldn't ignore my heart pounding rapidly but saw Normani eyeing me intently. Rolling my eyes, I mouthed to her that I was fine. That was to be determined actually. Conversation was going nicely among everyone and I turned around subtly to see the dark-haired woman taking other people's orders. The radical difference in her whole appearance was throwing me for a loop. She suddenly looked up and caught me staring.
