Are You There? ("Those Eyes" sequel, Camren Fan Fic)

Chapter 35: Back to Reality

Camila's POV:

The familiarity of the streets of L.A. floods my mind with memories. It's been a while since we were here, but it feels like yesterday when we lived here and recorded our album. Everything was so much easier, we got to live our dreams together. I had the support of four other girls when I needed a shoulder to cry on or a hand to hold. It's crazy to think that I'm about to start the same journey on my own. Never in a million years I would've thought a solo career would be possible. Even when I first audition for The X Factor, I never saw something like this as possible. But now I'm just a signature away from what many girls call their dreams. Of course I'm scared, just thinking about touring on my own and living here without the girls terrifies me. Especially considering Lauren will probably move to New York at the other side of the country. "Hey Camz, are you alright? You spaced out." Lauren suddenly says squeezing my hand. Taking a look into her beautiful green eyes brings me back to reality. "Yeah, I was just remembering things." I answer truthfully and keep on walking through the crowded streets. "I kinda miss the city." She says and sighs loudly. "Me too." I tell her and give her a quick kiss on the cheek. "But you're coming to live here really soon." Lauren replies. "I know, but it won't be the same without you." I say softly and see Lauren biting her lip. Luckily we get to the record label just a few steps later because I would've started to cry if we kept talking about our separation. We walk together to the elevator and I'm extremely nervous for some reason. "Hey, its going to be okay. Relax." Lauren says holding my face and kisses my lips softly. "Thanks." I answer when we pull apart and give her my best smile. I'm not sure if I'd be able to go through this alone, I'm a nervous mess even with Lauren by my side. When we finally get to the producer's floor, Lauren sits on the waiting area while I talk to the secretary. "Hi, I have an appointment at 11:30." I say politely. "Are you Camila Cabello?" She asks with her eyes set on the computer in front of her. "Yes, that's me." I answer and glance at Lauren, who gives me a supportive smile. "Mr. Jackson is ready to see you, please come with me." The lady says walking towards an office and I follow her. "Good luck!" I hear Lauren's voice before walking inside the room. "Mr. Jackson?" I say softly at the turned around leather chair. This seriously looks like the scene of a movie, making me even more nervous than before. When the chair turns around I do my best not to drop my chin. "Mr. Jackson's my father. I'm Josh." The guy, not many years older than me, says and shakes my hand. I can't deny he's really cute, especially considering I was expecting a 50 year old man. "Hi, are you the producer?" I ask and hear him chuckle, making my cheeks blush immediately. "That would be me. Please take a seat." He says smiling and points at a chair in front of his. "I'm sorry, but how old are you?" I ask even more embarrassed than before. "Twenty, is that a bad thing?" He says laughing softly and takes out a file of papers. "Not really, I just.." "You were expecting someone else, you're not the first." He adds with a charming smile and puts some documents on the table. "Listen Camila, I've been following you since The X Factor. I hadn't seen anyone as talented as you in a really long time and I would love to work with you." Josh says and scratches the back of his neck. "Well thank you, I don't really know what to say." I say with a smile. "So here's the deal. You sign these papers, next week you move to an apartment in the city with your mom or whoever you want, and before the month's over we start recording for your album. We have a couple of songs written for you so that'll speed up the process. Since you already have tons of fans, you can start with a few short performances and interviews around the area, and when the album is ready, I'm thinking world wide tour. What do you say?" He says excitedly, but the amount of information is really overwhelming. It takes me a couple of minutes to actually process everything he just said. I would start working right away and be really busy for a long time. Which means the possibility of going to New York to see Lauren seems really impossible. But I knew this was something I would have to accept when I considered taking the solo offer. But I'm already here, and I guess there isn't another choice. "Where do I sign?" I say after a couple of minutes and see an immediate smile on the young man's face.

Lauren greets me with a hug as soon as I walk out of the office. "Oh my God, how did it go?" She says with a nervous smile. "Great, I'm actually moving here next Monday." I answer as we start walking to the elevator. "That's amazing." Lauren says with half a smile. I can tell she really wants to be happy for me and support me no matter what, but I can't start to imagine how she's feeling right now. "Yeah, I guess this is actually happening." I say still a little overwhelmed from everything that happened a few minutes ago. When we finally get out of the building Lauren stands behind me and covers my eyes. "I actually have a surprise for you." She whispers in my ear and kisses my cheek before letting my go. "Chancho!" I hear a familiar voice and sprint towards Dinah when I see her face. "Dinah Jane, I missed you so much!" I say hugging her tight. I hadn't seen her since the group split up and I needed to see my friend.

Lauren's POV:

I'm so glad to see my surprise worked out. Camila seemed really nervous because of the producer's interview, and Dinah has always been able to bring the goofiest side of her, and considering she still lives in L.A. it was a great idea to call her. Of course I'm happy for her, she's going to live her dream again and I know this is what she's really passionate about. But its still hard as hell to accept that I have to let her go. I'm going to be in college at the other side of the country and we probably won't get to see each other in a pretty long time. Maybe not until Christmas break, and that's four months from now. I'm not sure if we'll be able to make this work and it scares me to death. "Are you coming with us or...?" Dinah suddenly says giggling. "Yeah, sorry." I say with a smile and do my best to come back to reality. "I'm starving and I miss the californian pizza." Camila says holding my hand. "I don't think there's such thing as Californian pizza babe, but lets go." I answer kissing her cheek and we start walking towards the pizza restaurant. "Ugh you guys are kinda cute." Dinah says laughing and Camila sticks her tongue out. "I missed hanging out with you guys." Dinah says pouting. "Well you won't miss this one anymore since she's moving to L.A. next week." I say pointing at Camila and reveal the surprise. "Oh my God! Are you serious?" Dinah says excitedly and Camila nods with a smile. It makes me feel a lot better to know that Camila won't be in L.A. by herself, but I still don't even want to think about my life without her. She changed my world completely, and I'm not really sure where I stand without her. It's just something I have to do if I want to go to college and actually do something with my life when I'm older, but it's still really hard to be apart from her. I guess we just have to cherish the last moments we have together and make the best of them while we can. When we finally her to the restaurant we find a table and start deciding what to order. Suddenly my phone buzzes and I realize my dad's calling me. I excuse myself and walk out of the pizza place to answer him. He usually never calls me, so this has to be something important. "Hey dad, what's up?" I say casually. "Hey baby, are you ready?" He asks me mysteriously. "Sure, I guess, what's up?" I answer confused. "We just got a letter from NYU and you're in! You start classes next week!" My dad says excitedly and I hear my mom squealing in the background. "Wow are you serious?!" I reply holding my head. I guess there's really no going back now, I'm going to New York.