Sorry for the entire century that has passed waiting for this chapter. I've been having a really hard time lately and writing this story hasn't really been my priority. That being said, I really appreciate all those who have stuck with this even though it hasn't been updated in 84 years. Thank you to all that have read, voted, commented, etc., and I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
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"How did you even pull this off?" Camila breathed out in awe, just as Lauren stepped down from behind the piano. The older girl walked back to the table, her fingers finding their way into the knots in her hair. Even in the pale lighting, Camila could see the way her eyes sparkled with some odd combination of pride and insecurity - something only Lauren could ever pull off.
"I just -" Lauren began, but the inevitable flood of questions Camila had obviously been holding back finally broke through the dam behind her teeth, and Lauren never had the chance to finish.
"And since when do you play the piano? How long have you been practicing that? How long have you - oh my god, Lauren, I thought this was spontaneous? How long have you been planning this? How did you even... who owns this place? How come it's so empty? How did you do this?"
Camila let the words tumble out of her, eyes darting around the quaint cafe instead of watching the girl in front of her. She didn't notice the way Lauren was looking at her like everything she'd ever loved was right there across the table.
Lauren ignored her questions for the time being though, averting her attention to a man walking towards the table in a suit too expensive for such a quaint cafe instead. He held a tray of of food in one hand and a bottle of wine that Camila knew both Lauren and the restaurant shouldn't have been able to afford in the other.
"Ladies," he nodded politely, as he placed the tray on the table and began to pour a generous amount of wine into each of the glasses.
Camila hated the way her heart sped up a little, knowing she was underage - she was a pop star, for Christ's sake, and she was offered drinks more often than most middle aged adults, but somehow, she still got nervous about breaking the rules.
Lauren was the only rule she ever liked breaking. It was ironic really, that Camila was the only rule Lauren never wanted to break.
"Thank you," Lauren smiled. The man just nodded again and disappeared back behind into the kitchen without another word.
"So," Camila urged, desperate for Lauren to answer her barrage of questions.
"Try the wine."
"Lauren," Camila whined, "how did you manage this?"
"I can't just give away all my secrets on the first date, now can I?" Lauren teased, "Gotta keep a little mystery to me."
"There's such thing as too much mystery, you know."
She sighed, giving in.
"I started learning the piano about two months ago, when I started practicing that song. And I started planning something out in my head around your birthday, but I didn't come up with this until this morning. The owner is a friend of my mom's, so she let me buy it out for the night even though it was last-minute."
"Wait," Camila paused, her mouth full of spaghetti, noodles hanging from her lips and all, "a friend of your mom's? Like, your mom, as in your mother?"
"Um," Lauren furrowed her eyebrows, "yeah?"
She swallowed.
"Your mom helped you with all of this? Willingly?"
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Gold Dust Woman
أدب الهواةThe toxicity of her past was tucked away in the time capsule of her teenage years - one that would never be opened again. It was all behind her - until she finally opened the door to guide her drunk neighbor back to the right apartment and suddenly...
