Facade (Laurmani)

five

"Taylor!" "Laury!" Taylor ran into her sister's arms when she crouched down to hold her and pick her up. "Where's Daddy? When can we go home?" Lauren teared up at her words. "I don't know Taylor, soon I hope." "Ooh! Laury I saw Mommy today, she picked me up and took me for ice cream, we talked about my new room." Lauren took a deep breath and smiled slightly. "Yeah? What flavour did you have?" "Chocolate of course." The younger girl said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Right. Of course." "Jauregui?" Someone called out to the two. Thankfully, this new person actually looked genuinely friendly. "That's us." "Come on in, take a seat." "Taylor look, there's some toys over there. Why don't you go play while I talk to the nice lady." "Okay Lauren." She smiled, going straight over to the building blocks. "What's happening? When can we go home?" Lauren asked immediately. "You two will hopefully have a short stay here. But the way this case looks, it does seem unlikely." Lauren bit her lip as tears came to her already puffy red eyes. "What about school?" "You'll still go to school Lauren, we can't harm your education, not at this stage. You have some big exams coming up." "Okay. So when can we see my Dad?" "I'll let you know when I know. Any other questions?" "Will I get roomed with my little sister?" "Yes, I can arrange that." "Thank you.." "Angela." The woman smiled. "Right, so..what about our stuff?" "The police officers have dropped your things off already." Lauren sighed. "Well I think that covers everything, let me show you two to your room." Lauren stood up and held our her hand to Taylor. "Come on Tay. Let's go see our new room." "Is it like what Mommy said?" Lauren clenched her jaw at the mention of her mother before gently shaking her head at the question. "No, but I'm sure it'll be nice. We'll be roomies." "Yay! Will you tell me bedtime stories?" Lauren smiled adoringly. "Of course I will." "Here's your room. I'll leave you two to settle in." "Thanks Angela." Lauren gave a small polite smile. She may hate the situation, but this woman was clearly intending to do her best for them. "Taylor you can pick your bed first." Taylor opted for the bed on the left and snuggled up to her teddy that Lauren handed her. "Get some sleep alright? It's been a long day. Do you want a story?" Taylor shook her head, her eyes already closing. She was too tired for a story, which admittedly surprised Lauren. "G'night monkey." Taylor fell asleep before she could respond. Lauren on the other hand sat on her new bed and rummaged through her school bag for her phone, she had 30 missed calls and 76 missed messages from Camila alone. But the one person she wanted to talk to was her father. She started to dial the number before there was a knock on the door. "Lights out." A woman said stiffly, she didn't recognise them, but she immediately didn't like her. "Oh, okay." Lauren muttered as now pitch black covered the previously lit room. Lauren set her phone down on the table beside her. I'll call him tomorrow.