Tempting Fate

Chapter 10

Camila could sense the sunlight streaming through the window as she pulled the blanket up over her head. She was exhausted and didn't feel like getting up at this moment. She reached over to feel for Lauren, but soon found that she was the only one in the bed. Her eyes were wide open now as she pulled the covers off of her and looked around. Lauren was nowhere to be found. She looked over towards the closet and noticed a suitcase on the floor. camila's heart sank. Something must have happened since last night. Camila was starting to think lauren must have changed her mind somehow and was planning on leaving again. She hastily got out of bed and began to look around the apartment. As she made her way through Lauren's place, she noticed the mess was still there from the night before. This brought back memories of what had happened and Camila, while still uneasy about lauren's sudden disappearance, couldn't help but smile. She glanced over at the front door and spotted a note taped up to it. She was almost paralyzed. She didn't want to move. She was afraid to find out what the letter said. She didn't think she could stand a rejection letter.
Not after all that had happened. Camila took a deep breath, walked over to the door and warily read the note.
"Good morning, camz! Make yourself at home. Help yourself to some breakfast. I had to run an errand, but I'll be back soon.
Love, Lauren.
Camila breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at the time. It was noon. She hadn't realized she had slept so late. She wasn't very hungry, so she decided to take a shower while waiting for Lauren. She turned on the water and found the right temperature. As she undressed, she felt a dull soreness in both of her arms. She looked up in the mirror and noticed a bruise on each arm where David had violently grabbed her.
She shuddered. She was completely confounded as to why she had stayed with him for so long. She couldn't figure out why she would stay with someone who would do this to her. She continued staring at herself until the mirror was completely fogged up by the steam coming from the hot water. She stepped into the shower and let the water drip down her back. The hot water began to soothe her skin. She began to feel cleansed; renewed. This wa a brand new day. And last night was the start of a brand new life. She smiled to herself as she thought of Lauren.
As camila emerged from the shower, she wrapped a towel around her and walked out to the living room while drying her hair with another towel. She was greeted by a smiling Lauren who was cleaning up the kitchen.
"Hey! Well look at that. It lives!"
Camila laughed. "Yeah. Sorry. I was just… exhausted. What time did you wake up?"
"I don't know…seven maybe?"
Camila watched Lauren as she continued to tidy up the kitchen. Lauren noticed camila watching her from the corner of her eye, so she stopped cleaning and turned around.
"What's up?" asked Lauren.
Camila shrugged.
"Everything okay?"
Camila shrugged again. "I don't know. I just…I thought you were leaving. I mean, when I woke up, you were gone and I saw the suitcase and-"
"The suitcase is for you," assured lauren. "I mean…if you want to use it. If you want to go get your stuff. You know…from your place."
Lauren started walking over to camila anticipating her response.
"Yeah. Yes. I do"
"Okay. Okay, good."
"I just…I guess I haven't really thought this through. I don't even know where I'm going to stay," said camila.
"Well…I could take you to your mom's. Or your dad's….or I could…bring you back here. You know…until you figure out what you want to do."
"Yeah. Well, maybe I should go to my mom's. Just for now, anyway. Until I get things squared away.".
Lauren wasn't too devastated by camila's response. She knew that staying with her mom was probably the best thing for camila right now. And besides, lauren had every intention of being around to see camila through this. She would just be a phone call and a car ride away.
"Good. It's settled then. We'll go get your stuff later today," said Lauren.
"Okay. I mean…I don't have much to go get. Just the essentials. Clothes. And your letter. I would grab my guitar, but…well…you know..."
Lauren nodded and wrapped her arms around camila and pulled her into a hug. She could feel camila's damp hair against her face. She could smell the fresh soap on her skin. Lauren couldn't resist and started slowly kissing Camila's neck.
"I missed this," she whispered.
Camila, who was enjoying every second of this, responded. "Me too."
Lauren  pulled back and looked at her. She was beaming. She had no idea how camila would react this morning after what had happened between them the night before, but now that she knew camila was okay with everything, her heart was soaring.
"What errand did you run?" asked camila.
"Oh…well…I was actually hoping you'd still be asleep by the time I got back, but I guess I took a little longer than I thought. I just picked up a few things. Groceries and stuff. Um…why don't you get changed. Then you can help me put everything away."
"Oh fun! Just what I want to do. Put stuff away," teased camila as she headed back into the room to change.
After she changed, camila emerged from the bedroom and she immediately stopped in the doorway when she spotted something she hadn't seen earlier. A brand new acoustic guitar was leaning against the chair. Camila was completely stunned. She looked over at lauren, who was leaning against the dining table, nervously awaiting camila's reaction. Camila was speechless. She walked over to the chair, picked up the guitar and started to softly strum the strings. She was breathless. She couldn't say a word. She just looked at lauren unable to believe that someone would go out of their way like that with such a beautiful gesture.
She managed to finally choke out a few words.
"Laur, I…a Gibson J-45? I don't even know what to say."
"I remembered you said you always wanted one. That every good musician needs a Gibson. I figured you were gonna need it for your show next week. It's your audition for Eli's band, right?"
"Yeah, but laur this is…this is too much. I mean, it's the most beautiful thing anyone has ever done for me, but it's too much. I can't accept it."
Lauren walked over toward camila. "Camz, if you could see your face right now. If you could only see what I'm looking at, then you'd know. You'd know how worth it everything is just to see that look on your face. That look when you're holding this guitar…it's priceless. You have to accept it. You have to because I absolutely need to see that look on your face every day. It just brings light into my heart. Please."
Lauren put her hand up to camila's face and leaned in to kiss her. The guitar was separating their bodies. Camila held onto it for dear life, as if she never wanted to let it go. But if any reason was good enough to put it down for a moment, this was it. She gently put the guitar down and closed the gap between their two bodies as they continued kissing. When they pulled apart, camila just smiled at lauren.
"So…this means you'll keep it?" asked lauren.
"Yeah. It's my dream guitar given to me by… well…I guess you're something of a dream yourself, aren't you?"
"You're being cheesy. Cheesiness works for you. I like it. It's endearing," said lauren, as she pulled camila in for another kiss.