Like Real People Do

Black Laundry Pile

The one with the unexpected visitor.

I was busy wading through a pile of shirts on the floor, so I barely heard Amy's question. "Cecily, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Now's not really a good time, Aimes," I called out, not bothering to look up from my quest for one specific article of black clothing among my pile of black clothing. "I've made zero progress in the packing department."

We were supposed to be hitting the road in a couple hours, heading to the next stop on the band's tour. Usually, I was completely ready to go by this point in the day, but Finn hadn't been feeling too well last night, so Jaxon and I had stayed up practically the entire night trying to soothe him to sleep. He'd finally shut his eyes at around three in the morning, at which point I was so exhausted, I decided to forgo packing until the next morning. A decision which was turning out to be a huge mistake on my part, because I couldn't seem to find anything I actually wanted to wear.

"That wasn't so much a request as a strong suggestion that we have a conversation."

My eyebrows lifted in surprise at the sharpness of her tone and I turned to face her, crossing my arms over my chest and preparing to listen. Amy was always blunt, but there was an urgency in her voice I'd never heard before, indicating something was severely distressing her. The fact that she looked as though she hadn't slept at all only served to support my assessment. "What's up?"

Her lips parted, and for a moment it was as though she couldn't speak, but then she inhaled deeply and spit it out. "I don't really know any way to soften this, so I guess I'll just say it: Lauren's here."

"Who's...," My initial response was to automatically assume I would have no idea who she was talking about, but as soon as the question began to form on my lips, I realized I actually did recognize the name. "Oh, Lauren. As in the twin's mother?"

It struck me that any time Lauren had ever been mentioned to me, it was done so casually, as though I already knew her. Of course, I was given a very brief history of her relationship with Jaxon, but that didn't mean I really knew anything about her. Despite the fact that Jaxon and I were much closer now, I'd never really gotten up the nerve to ask him about her and I was genuinely curious as to what type of woman captured Jaxon's heart and then broke it almost irreversibly.

"I mean, I'd use the term 'mother' loosely, but yes," Amy said tersely. "She is the one who gave birth to them."

I rolled my eyes, knowing she was intentionally missing the point of my question. "Thanks for the vocab lesson, Amy. What do you mean she's here? As in, she's in this hotel? Right now?"

All of the color drained from Amy's cheeks and her voice came out barely above a whisper when she responded. "She's waiting in the lobby."

"Why?" I gulped, feeling my heart rate spike and my throat go dry. As much as I was curious about Lauren, I always assumed that we'd never actually cross paths, so the fact that she was just a few floors below me was a little intimidating.

"Because she was really fucking persistent," Amy sighed in frustration. "Trust me, I said no so many times."

I blinked as I processed that information, realizing the implication. "So you've been in contact with her for a while?"

"A couple months, I guess?"

My eyes widened in horror. "Amy!"

"I know, I know," she averted her gaze sheepishly, "It's not like I initiated it. She and Jaxon haven't spoken in over a year, but I guess she's wanted to reach out, but she thought he might not pick up if she called, so she asked me to sort of bridge the gap. I said no at first, of course, but she just wouldn't stop calling, so I gave in and told her I'd arrange a face to face meeting."