Camila put her hand on the small of Lauren's back and guided her toward the door of the Alta Vista Civic Center. Normani and Dinah walked next to them hand in hand. They were attending the annual Alta Vista Holiday Giving Gala and the venue was already becoming crowded. When Lauren found out that there was an event dedicated to local childrens' charities she had purchased a table immediately. Troy, Ally, Mike and Imra were invited to join them. When Eliza had offered to watch Ruby and Lori overnight the plans were set. They walked inside and Lauren veered to an empty section of the lobby.
"Do you think we should check in with Eliza?" she asked Camila.
"Absolutely not," Camila said, chuckling, "The girls will be fine. Eliza has this whole baking thing planned for tonight then a big breakfast tomorrow. Other than a possible sugar high, they'll do great."
"Laur, they were all so excited," Normani added, "Relax, Eliza and Ruby both have all of our phone numbers if they need us."
"Come on, Lauren, she raised me and Mila," Dinah teased, "What could go wrong?"
At that, Camila reached down and discreetly grabbed Lauren's ass. Lauren yelped and slapped Camila's shoulder as Normani and Dinah broke into laughter.
"Let's go find our table," Lauren said, rolling her eyes at Camila and grinning.
"I couldn't help it," Camila said to Lauren, chuckling, "You look so damn sexy in that red dress."
"And you know I love you in a suit, but behave!" Lauren admonished, smiling.
They made their way inside and found the reserved table. Dinah looked at the line at the bar and glanced at Camila.
"We'd better get in line," Dinah sighed out.
"Oh, we get to use the patron's bar," Lauren said, reaching into her purse and pulling out red glittery wristbands. She looked around to see the specially marked bar with barely any line and pointing it out.
"Damn, how much did you donate?" Camila asked.
"It's a good cause," Lauren answered, smiling.
Normani and Lauren sat while Dinah and Camila headed to get drinks. The others arrived and grabbled their wristbands and everyone enjoyed cocktails and party foods and chatted happily. Ally and Troy were spending their first Christmas together and talked about leaving to visit her family for the week. Mike and Imra were excited about the twins being old enough to believe in Santa and being ready for the big day. They discussed the gifts for the kids with Lauren, enthusiastically exchanging ideas to make the day special.
The band started playing and the dance floor was filling up. Ally dragged Troy out and they all giggled watching him awkwardly try to keep up with her high energy moves. Mike and Imra followed soon after, clearly enjoying their night out without the kids. Normani and Lauren decided to head to the bar to grab a new round of drinks. As they walked back toward the table a woman in a tight, slinky silver dressed sat in Lauren's chair and draped her arm over Camila, leaning in and kissing her on the cheek.
"What the fuck?" Lauren said to Normani, pausing to watch.
Camila sprung away from the woman then realized who it was and greeted her warily. Even from a distance Lauren and Normani could tell the encounter was awkward. Lauren started walking toward the table again with Normani right behind her. As they approached Camila caught Lauren's eye and gave her a small grin and took her drink.
"Thanks, babe," Camila said.
The woman remained in the seat where Lauren had been sitting. Dinah looked irritated but moved over so that Lauren could sit next to Camila on the other side.
YOU ARE READING
By Sun and Candlelight / CAMREN
FanfictionLauren is raising her three-year-old daughter alone. She's moved them to Alta Vista where she'll teach at the community college to get a fresh start and get away from her family. Camila lives in Alta Vista with her sister Dinah. She's trying to reco...
