Stumped (Norminah)

Four

Lauren smiled happily as she watched the interaction between Normani and Dinah. It was rare to see her best friend so invested in a conversation that had nothing to do with business or music. They had been here for a good hour or so, "Um." Dinah starts with a slight laugh, "You know, um... I have a friend who completely adores you." She starts catching Normani's attention, "It doesn't happen to be the Cuban that gasped when I walked through the door, does it?" She asks. Dinah laughs and nods, "Yes. Although you don't have to, it would really make her entire year, maybe even life, if you maybe gave her an autograph or just talk to her." She says softly. Normani furrows her eyebrows. It was weird meeting people who liked her as everyone disliked her attitude.

But, seeing the hope on Dinah's face and the happiness on Lauren's, she couldn't just say no, "Bring her over." Normani says with a slight smirk making Dinah beam brightly and rush to get her coworker. Normani looks at Lauren who had a shit eating grin on her face. Normani sighed, "Don't you even." She says sternly. Lauren nods but the grin still remained as a short Cuban stood in front of her with a red face. Normani extends her hand with a slight smirk, "I heard from a little birdie that someone is a huge fan of me." The girl nodded rapidly and shook Normani's hand, "I-I'm Camila, I'm a h-huge fan! You're amazing!" She exclaims making Normani laugh slightly. This shocked Lauren to the core.

Pretty soon, a few people were recording the interaction between Camila and Normani, some even went live, "That's what's up. You want an autograph or something?" She asks, never having signed an autograph before. Camila shook her head, "I w-want a picture, if you don't mind." She stutters out. Normani tilts her head. This Camila girl was too innocent a pure to ice out. It would bother her if she did, "Sure." Normani says with a shrug. Camila squeals softly before sitting next to Normani in the booth, pulling out her phone and taking a picture with the woman whom smiled slightly, "Thank you! I will never forget this!"

Normani felt her heart swell slightly. She liked how it felt to be nice. Not be known as arrogant or mean, "I-I also have a question." Camila says to Normani whom was still oblivious to the cameras. Normani hums, "Shoot." She says. Camila let's out a shaky breath, "What motivated you? To... be an entrepreneur? To make something of your self and to become the amazing music influencer for young women you are today?"

This question made Normani place her chin on her hand, "Well, it all really started with me getting better and successful enough to make my mother proud, truth be told." She answers, "I had someone I wanted to work hard for, someone I wanted to make proud no matter the cost. I got on my grind, buried myself in books and notes. Before I knew it, I went from elementary school to high school in the snap of a finger, college even quicker." By now, everyone was tuned in to Normani's story time, "So, I say find someone who you want to get better for or want to become something big for, but don't rush like I did. I grew up so serious and... I guess closed off. As you probably know, if you're a true fan of me, my father left my mom to raise me and my siblings by herself. Everyone else in my family grieved differently from what I did. I pushed myself and pushed myself, everyday to the brink of exhaustion, wanting to forget those horrible moments. And, seeing my mom struggle only made it worse." Normani says softly.

A short pause followed, "Success has no time limit. Follow your heart, follow your dreams. Don't let anything or anyone stop you from achieving what God has in store for you. Go for it." Normani finishes, freezing slightly when she heard the applause from everyone in the diner, even the customers that just walked in. Lauren teared up slightly, silently thanking the waitress for making her best friend open up more in just a span of a week, not even that. Camila nods with a determined face as she hugs Normani, "Even if we are around the same age, you're my idol." Those words floated around Normani's head as soon as the young Cuban said them.

Normani's shook wore off slightly as she noticed Lauren signaling for her to hug back, which she did. This made the crowd cheer more for what ever reason. Dinah smiles slightly, happy just to make her best friend happy, "Thank you." She says softly to Normani whom nodded with a slight smile.

The next day, Normani woke up to Lauren yelling at her, "Bitchh! Someone recorded your whole interaction with that Camila girl and you gained a new fan base!" She exclaims making Normani groan, "Get awayyyy!" She whined as Lauren shoved a phone in her face,

"24 year old Normani Hamilton, the worlds youngest college graduate, has grew an exceptional fan base after an interaction with a fan of hers in a local California diner. In said video you could see Hamilton talking to said girl and giving her advice on following your dreams, followed by a short hug from said fan to which Hamilton responded with a smile."

Normani groaned, "Fuckin fuck ass news people and their fuck ass commentary on what the fuck I was fuckin doin." She cussed aggressively making Lauren giggle,

"The interaction came with a lot of shock throughout California and anywhere whom has heard of Normani as the young entrepreneur was known for being rather rude and unpleasant. A lot of people agreed that seeing Normani in this light was a real eye opener for them. This goes to show, never judge a book by its cover. California Daily's Jessica, logging out."

"Normani, think about this. What you did yesterday at the diner, may have single handily boosted business. Think about it, people know you as rude, self-centered, arrogant, mean, uptight, stale, aggressive—" Normani cuts her off, "What the actual FUCK is your point, Lauren?" She cuts off. Lauren shrugs, "Cut back on looking down on people with minimum wage jobs and most of all, stop being so closed off and mean." She says softly, "Look, I know you grew up like this and I know it's hard to trust people, but Mani, your life would probably be so much easier if you weren't so angry at the world." Lauren says, cutting Normani off before she even had a chance to say something,

"I want to see you happy, Normani. Genuinely happy. Starting with that Dinah girl." Lauren says making Normani look down, "I hate how you act, but damn, I love you. You were the first person to ever be my friend and didn't tease me about my eyes when we were little. Stop letting your bitch ass dad affect your life now. Mama Andrea, God rest her soul, wouldn't want you to be like this, man." Normani kept silent, her eyes tearing up slightly, "It's sad because this mentality you have never allowed you to grieve when she passed five years ago. I have not once seen you shed a tear or stop to breath ever since, if anything, you've gotten worse." Lauren says, noticing Normani's tears were falling.

This hurt Lauren's heart, it hurt seeing her friend so broken. This was the first time she had ever seen Normani even so much as shed a tear, "It's ok to cry, Normani." That one sentence completely destroyed Normani's walls as she let out the most heartbreaking cry. All those years of pain, sadness and frustration built up all came crashing down at this one moment as Lauren held her, whispering nothing but encouraging words in her ear.

Crying isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of someone being strong for too long.