Memories of Flight 727 (Camren)

Chapter 4

For the better part of an hour, the two women strolled down the famous Las Vegas Strip, taking in the sights and sounds of all the famous hotels. The temperature was in the low nineties, but the lack of humidity made it bearable. Even so, both women were glad they had changed into more comfortable attire before dinner.

They passed the MGM Grand and the Aladdin, moving up along Caesar's Palace until they turned around once they reached Circus Circus. All the while, they continued the conversation they'd started over dinner, learning to enjoy each other's company more and more.

"Look at how well we get along," Lauren said as she admired the lighting display at Bally's. "Isn't it a little silly for you to move out of your room instead of sharing it with me?"

"Well, I have my reasons," Camila  said.

"Such as?"

"Such as they're mine and not open to discussion," Camila grinned.

"Well I'll tell you what," Lauren  said as she came to a stop in the middle of the block. "Unless you can give me one really good reason, I'm not going to take that room. I don't care if I have to sleep in the lobby."

Camila sighed and looked at the green eyed woman. Her heart was in the right place, but the brunette was sure that the minute she answered that question, their new found friendship was going to go right down the tubes.

"Well?" Lauren repeated in a semi-serious tone as she crossed her arms in a show of forced impatience.

"I'm a lesbian," Camila  said, unable to think of anything better than the truth to say.

"And why would you think that would make a difference if we shared a room?" Lauren  asked. "Unless you were planning on trying to seduce me or something?"

"No, nothing like that," Camila  quickly replied. "I just thought it might make you uncomfortable, that's all."

"Good, cause as seductions go, this one was rather lame," the green eyed brunette laughed, trying to make light of it all.

"I guess I'm a little out of practice," Camila  rejoined with an equally large smile on her face.

"So do we have all of this out of the way now?" Lauren  asked.

It would've been so easy for Camila to say yes, to hold anything else back and hope that her previous knowledge of the young woman walking with her never came up. But that wasn't the person she was. Even if it cost her a lot, and many times in the past it had, she had always been totally honest with people.

"There is something else," she said, "something that you might not like."

"I'm a big girl, I can handle a lot," came her reply.

"Okay, but let's keep walking," Camila  said, gaining herself a few more moments to phrase what she wanted to say. "I'd rather people not listen in on our conversation."

Now more curious than anything else, Lauren  began to again walk down the wide boulevard.

"I'm really not sure how to say this," Camila  confessed. "I'm usually not at a loss for words."

"Straight up is usually best," Lauren suggested.

"Okay," Camila  said, taking a deep breath. "First off, we're not exactly perfect strangers. We have met before, not that we were actually introduced or anything like that."

"Really?" Lauren  said in surprise. "When was that?"

"About five years ago."

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, I'm quite serious."

"Wow, I must've been twenty or twenty-one."

"Actually, I remember it being pointed out to me that you were nineteen at the time."

"Pointed out to you by who?" Lauren  asked, thinking that might help her remember what Camila  was referring to.

"I'll get to that in a minute."

"Okay, all I can say is that I must've made one hell of an impression."

"That's funny, those were almost my exact thoughts when I remembered you."

"But where did I meet you?"

"Okay, but remember you asked."

"I'll remember."

"Does the name, Lucy Vives, ring any bells?"

"Lucy Vi... oh my God!"

"My reaction exactly!"

Lauren was stunned beyond belief, the words just wouldn't come. She took a few steps in the opposite direction, trying to come to grips with what Camila  had just told her.

"How... how did you know about me and Lucy?" she finally managed to say.

"Flight 727, Newark to LA, remember?" Camila  added. "I was the senior attendant on that flight."

"You saw us?"

"Not saw exactly, but I was right outside the bathroom," she confessed. "I didn't have to be gay to know what was going on inside."

"How do you know Lucy?"

"We sort of had dinner after the flight," Camila  admitted.

"Dinner?"

"Well, dinner and then, well we kind of spent the weekend together," Camila added, the admission needing no further embellishment as to what the admission entailed.

"I can't believe it," Lauren said, concentrating on the main point of her confession. "Do you know I can't even get on an airplane without thinking about that time in the bathroom."

"Well if nothing else, it does seem to have cured you of your fear of flying."

"You could say that," Lauren grinned.

"And you're not mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad?"

"Well I just thought if ... well just that ... I guess I just thought you wouldn't believe that I was really just trying to help a girl in need and not just trying to get you into my bed. I didn't want you to think that, especially after I got to know you a little better.

"I might've thought that before," Lauren  admitted, "but not now."

Camila  smiled at that news, then reached into her purse and took out her cell phone. She asked Lauren to excuse her for a minute. Hitting a number on speed dial, she was quickly connected with the party she wanted.

"Troye, hi, it's Camila Cabello," she said into the small receiver.

The green eyed girl tried to pay more attention to the people passing around them rather then the conversation. Without much success.

"Did the desk clerk give you my message?" she asked, pausing as Troye answered that he had. "Good, and I appreciate the fact that you're willing to help me out," she added, taking his acquiesce as a given.

There was a gap as Troye confirmed what she had taken for granted.

"Well I have some good news for you," Camila  beamed, "I'm not going to need that spare bed after all. So you can call back whatever lovely gentleman you were going to bless with your company this evening and tell him the coast is clear."

Whatever the flight attendant's reply was, it made Camila laugh.

"Oh, one other thing," she said before bringing the call to a close. "I still owe you one, even though it turned out I didn't need the favor. Have a good night dear."

"That was nice of you," Lauren  said as Camila  put away the phone.

"Just doing the right thing," Camila  replied. "It comes from having worked your way up the ranks. You remember what it was like to be on a lower rung."