ʙʀᴏᴋᴇɴ ᴘʀᴏᴍɪsᴇs { ʟᴊ x ᴄᴄ }

Chapter 4

Camila paused as she looked around. And tried as she might, she couldn’t find traces of Lauren. She just wasn’t there. Maybe she wasn’t there in the first place. Lauren’s set was earlier that hers and maybe she already left. Maybe Camila just imagined it all.

She then felt a hand on her shoulder and for a second, her heart beat a little faster. But then she turned around and saw it was one of her dancers. Covering her disappointment, she grinned widely and proceeded with their after show routine. They took lots of pictures and she made the rounds to greet the other artists on site. It was probably more than an hour when Camila got back to her dressing room.

The first thing she noticed was that no one followed her inside, not even her mother. The second thing was the girl sitting inside who the moment Camila entered the room had turned off her phone and stood up in attention.

“Sinu told me that I can wait here,” Lauren said in one breath, her voice shaky and low.

Camila didn’t know how to react. She had thought about this moment for the past six months. Sometimes, she’d imagine that they’d just immediately ran into each other arms, all things forgotten and forgiven in an instant. Other times, they’d get into this big confrontation. There’ll be shouting and fine china flying and breaking. But faced with this moment, all she wanted to do was make Lauren feel how she felt. Stepping forward, she slapped Lauren, hard.

For an instant, a look of surprised appeared in Lauren’s face before it was replaced with remorse. “I guess I deserved that,” Lauren said as she rubbed her reddened cheek.

Camila stared intently at Lauren before she slowly lifted her hands. Lauren flinched but then Camila gently touched her face as if trying to assure herself that Lauren was really there. Then without warning, she slapped her again.

“Okay, I understand you’re angry but that’s one slap too many,” Lauren said as she took a step backwards, now rubbing her other cheek.

“You deserve far more than that,” Camila said as she glared at Lauren. “How could you just leave me hanging? How could you do that to me? Do you know what I went through because of you?”

“You’ve obviously haven’t been suffering based on what I’ve seen online. You seem to be living the dream. Opening shows for Taylor, headlining your own, gracing the covers of different magazines, endorser for multiple brands, one hit after another. What more can you ask for?”

“You of all people know that you just because you don’t see it online, doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

“Of course, you’re right.” Lauren quietly said as she looked down. Silence descended upon the room, making it constricting and suffocating. Camila looking angrier by the second. Lauren looking like she’d rather in any place other than this.

“What are you doing here?” Camila asked breaking the silence.

“I saw you out there performing and I thought… I thought maybe it’s time we talk. You know? Time to have that freaking closure.”

Camila turned her back on Lauren. She didn’t want her to see those tears that have began forming in her eyes. Closure. You only talk about closure when something had ended.

“I know what I did was wrong,” Lauren continued. “It’s just that I didn’t know how to say it without… without hurting you.”

“Say it now.” Camila said without moving. She then heard the sound of paper rustling. Slightly turning her head, she saw Lauren pulling out a worn out paper from her back pocket and straightening it out.

“I wrote it all down because I’m sure I’d forget something.” Lauren explained. “I’ve started writing this the last day we talked and I just kept on rewriting it over and over again.” Lauren paused as she looked at Camila’s back. “Aren’t you going to face me atleast?”

“You don’t have any right to ask anything of me.” Camila’s voice emotionless and stoic.

“Right.” Lauren cleared her throat after running her hands nervously through her hair. “I guess I’ll begin.

Camila, for the past two years, we’ve only seen each other once every few months. I know that we talked over the phone everyday but it’s not enough, never enough. You know it was. We kept fighting over it. And it was extremely difficult especially when you’re trying to keep a relationship alive. Over that time, I felt like it had evolved into a friendship or maybe regressed is a better word, I don’t know. It was… is still something special but it’s not a relationship. I missed holding hands, hugging, kissing. I missed just being with someone. And ---”

“And Ty was there?” Camila turned around and didn’t let Lauren finish. “You fell in love with him because he was there?” This time, Camila wasn’t able to hide the accusation and pain in her voice.  

“It’s not as simple as that,” Lauren explained. “I tried, I really did. But ---.”

“Just get out.” Camila said.

“Camila…”

“Out,” Camila repeated evenly. “Don’t make me say it one more time because I’m going to start screaming,” she added when Lauren did not move.

Lauren ran her fingers through her eyes roughly before forcing a smile on her face. Nodding at Camila, she walked towards the door and placed her hand lightly on the door knob. She paused for a second before opening the door and leaving.

The noise of the venue permeated inside the room. However it was only for a second and then it was quiet. The only sound that Camila could hear was the sound of her fractured heart breaking into a million pieces once again.