Love Me at a Distance

"If she's not your ex then who is she?"

Camila had gone out one afternoon. She needed to do some shopping, especially since Lauren was there. She had a few bags of groceries in her arms and made her way up to her apartment where her girlfriend was waiting for her. She smiled at the thought of Lauren waiting for her to return home; it made her heart flutter. Camila was glad that they had patched things up and were doing well. She made it up the steps of her apartment and walked through the door, setting the groceries on the counter. "Babe, I'm back."

Lauren was taking a nap when Camila came in to tell her she was running out to get some things from the store. After her girlfriend left, she couldn't fall back asleep, so she got up and took a quick shower. Lauren decided to finish up some school work, but found it troublesome once she realized she left her highlighters at home. She went through the drawers in Camila's kitchen and couldn't find anything, so she went over to the desk and art area. She pulled open one of the drawers and found a picture of Camila with another woman. Upon closer inspection she realized that she recognized the woman in the photo...it was her biology professor from her second year of college. As she was looking at the picture she heard Camila announce she was back. She quickly put the picture in the drawer and turned around. "Hey," she said, her tone rushed.

Camila looked up from her groceries and saw that Lauren was going through her desk drawers. The drawer the woman had open was the one she kept her old photos in, and Lauren didn't look innocent at all. She looked guilty, like she saw something she shouldn't have. And her voice gave it away too. She frowned and walked over to where her girlfriend was standing. "What are you doing over here?" She asked, her voice low. She wasn't ready to tell Lauren about it. Not yet. The thought of her sister still brought tears to her eyes. Camila rushed over there and pushed the drawer shut. She hated that drawer. The night it happened... she grabbed all the pictures of her sister, shoved them in that drawer and tried to forget about it, but it never worked.

Lauren didn't intend to invade Camila's privacy. She was honestly in the drawer for the purpose of finding highlighters, but she came across a picture of Camila with someone that she recognized. "I...I'm Sorry. I was looking for a highlighter." Lauren explained. She pointed over to her school work on the table. "I needed one and I left mine at home...I thought you would keep them in the desk drawers." Lauren stood up. She was kind of scared. Camila's demeanor was anything but friendly, which scared her. "I just...I saw the picture and I knew the other woman..." Lauren paused. "I didn't know that you and my biology professor dated."

Camila swallowed thickly. "... She's not my ex..." She said sadly before reaching into the jar above the table on the shelf and handed the whole thing to Lauren for her to pick and choose. "Don't go through that drawer again... It's off limits." She walked out and tried to keep her hands from shaking. She didn't want to think about her sister anymore. She had made the hardest decision she ever made and to this day she still regretted it. She walked over to the bags of groceries and started to take them out and put them away. She just wanted to be alone.

Lauren grabbed the jar of highlighters from Camila, thinking about how stupid she was to not see them sitting up there. "If she's not your ex then who is she?" Lauren asked before thinking. She could tell the topic upset Camila, but her mouth worked faster than her brain on this one. She just braced herself in case Camila decided to lash out at her. She knew that she was pushing buttons, but she wanted answers. Lauren stood up and walked over to the table where her stuff was, setting the jar down before walking into the kitchen. "I'm sorry." Lauren apologized again, weakly.

Camila tensed when Lauren asked who it was. She wasn't sure if she should tell Lauren or not. She clenched her jaw and put the last of the groceries away. "She's my sister," was all Camila said. She walked over to the counter and started to put the groceries away. She didn't want Lauren to pry. She really didn't. She had already grieved. But she knew that she wasn't done. She would never be done. She couldn't accept the fact that her sister was gone. She was just so young... "Don't be sorry," she said monotonously. "What do you want for dinner?"