cherished affliction

Here Were Are As In The Olden Days, Happy Golden Days of Yore

It took her Dad exactly eleven minutes to freak out.

This was following the limo ride, which was far from quiet, with Alejandro gossiping to Camila about all of the exciting and scandalous new developments in Miami and Leroy affectionately patting his thigh while keeping a close eye on the way Lauren and Camila interacted with one another.

Even as Alejandro began to notice that they were leaving the city, he managed to refrain from commenting.

And when the limousine pulled up to Lauren's large estate and parked right in the front, Camila thought he might actually implode at the sight, yet he kept his composure. Even as Lauren showed them around the beautiful main house and then into the guest house where they would be staying, Alejandro managed to remain mostly calm.

But he wasn't fooling Camila.

At some point, there was going to be some sort of freak out. She could see it in his eyes. Every time he noticed something gorgeous or expensive, he was one step closer to losing it all together.

And then, once Lauren had agreed to help Leroy with the luggage, effectively leaving Camila and Alejandro alone in the very large and crowded kitchen, things got very intense.

"So I was thinking about glazed salmon for Friday," Camila murmured, deciding to skip the formalities and jump right into the Christmas madness. With bated breath, she waited for his opinionated response, fully expecting him to pull out some pre-written stipulations that she had to follow in order to keep Christmas as traditional as possible.

She only received a raised eyebrow in response.

"Dad...are you-"

"So when are you going to explain?"

Camila paused, tilting her head much like a confused puppy.

"Explain...?"

And thus, the freak out began.

Alejandro sighed, "One minute you're working as a full time waitress, shacking up in some crappy little apartment with Shawn-"

"That's a mean thing to say about an apartment you put the deposit down for Dad, and shacking up is hardly-"

"And then the next minute you're flouncing about in designer clothes, living in Connecticut-"

"I'm not necessarily living in Connecticut Dad...Greenwich is like forty-five minutes outside of the city-"

"In a multi-million-dollar home with some rich gabacha that you just happened to meet four months ago!" He finished, loudly. Complete with flailing arms.

Camila sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Really? A gabacha?"

Alejandro rolled his eyes. "Oy, she's pale she's beautiful and she's not Mexican, what would you like for me to call her?"

Camila furrowed her eyebrows. "How about her name? You know she's much more than her features, Dad. She's the sole owner and CEO of a multi-billion-dollar diamond legacy."

Alejandro never wavered. "Oh I know that! I googled her, Camila. She's worth more money than the entire Cabello family could ever dream of making. That's why I need to better understand all of this...this...craziness!"

Camila chuckled at her father's expression, before taking a deep breath.

"Dad, please. Sit. We'll make lunch for Lauren and Dad and I'll explain, okay?"

Alejandro stared at her for a long moment before glancing down at the marble island. "You know I can't resist food and a well-designed kitchen," He gushed, before taking a seat and leaning forward on his hands. "So spill, I want to know everything about Lauren Jauregui, the girl who has it all...including my sweet little Camila!"

Camila rolled her eyes, "Dad..."

"Okay, okay, I'll stop!"

She turned to the refrigerator and began to pull items out for sandwiches, "I met Lauren while I was at my night job. You know, the one I picked up at that swanky restaurant?"

Alejandro nodded. "Yes. The one with the little schmuck of a manager...what was his name? Gary?"

Camila glanced up at her father, "George, Dad. He's technically the reason Lauren and I are where we are." She shrugged, opting to glance down as she spread mayonnaise over some bread.

Alejandro squinted at her in suspicion, "How so? Did he introduce the two of you? And why is there mayo on that bread? Your father hates mayo, you know that." Alejandro commented easily and Camila sighed.

"Lauren likes mayo, Dad."

"On a turkey sandwich?" He said with his eyebrows raised.

"No. On a BLT, which is what I'm making for her because she doesn't like turkey." Camila explained and Alejandro didn't respond for a moment, opting to stare at Camila in wonder.

"What?" She asked defensively, resting back on her heels with her hand on her hip.

Alejandro held his hands up in amusement.

"Nothing, nothing, finish your story!"

Camila shook her head, setting Lauren's now finished sandwich towards the side of the counter.

"So basically, I'm a klutz."

"Well, that's what happens when you slack up on your ballet training."

"Dad..."

He shrugged his shoulders, almost identical to what she had done only moments prior.

"I'm just saying, there's no such thing as Grace Kelly, she's a figment of imagination created by Hollywood to make girls think that gracefulness is bestowed on them at birth-"

"And I tripped over my own two feet and spilled wine all over her." Camila finished with a sigh and Alejandro made a face.

"This is beginning to sound less like a fairytale and more like a horror story." He observed, reaching for the slices of turkey that Camila was carefully applying towards their own sandwiches.

"Yeah well, that's what I thought at first too. Especially when I found out that Lauren had asked for my name and George had given it to her." Camila mentioned and Alejandro's eyes widened dramatically.

"Oh my God, I would have been terrified! And what was that manager of yours thinking! He isn't supposed to give out personal information like that!"

Camila waved her hand. "Oh Dad, he was just trying to save his own ass. Lauren threatened to get him fired if he didn't give it to her."

Alejandro raised his eyebrows. "Sounds like she was very taken with you..."

Camila narrowed her eyes at him, "To make a long story short, she contacted me to tell me that she wasn't upset about me ruining her dinner and her very expensive dress and we just....um..." Camila smiled upon the memory of Lauren Jauregui sitting in Sarah's diner staring at her with those heavy-lidded hazel eyes.

"We hit it off. And now here we are." She said simply, clearing her throat and shrugging away the feelings passing through her.

Alejandro hummed, cutting the sandwiches in two, just as he would do when she was a little girl.

"Hmm. Here you are, indeed. Shacked up in a mansion with a-"

"Dad!"

"-smart gringa." He finished with a grin and Camila rolled her eyes and huffed.

"If you and Dad are having concerns about me living with Lauren, then just tell me Dad."

Alejandro dropped the knife. "Camila. You're my only daughter, I always have concerns."

Camila deflated a bit. "You don't like Lauren?"

Alejandro smiled, reaching over to grab Camila's hand. "Of course I like her. I like her so much that I'm questioning if she really exists or if I made her up while watching Millionaire Matchmaker. She's perfect, Camila. She's rich, smart, polite, and she probably chews with her mouth closed."

Camila laughed and Alejandro continued, "But that doesn't refute the fact that this is all very sudden. I'm just trying to make sure you're okay and that you're making smart choices. I'm just being a Dad, Mila."

Camila felt her heart warm at her father's words. She'd be lying if she said she didn't miss the feeling of her parents taking care of her.

They were her parents, her family. And although she couldn't explain everything in detail, she owed them the right to be worried and ultimately to be reassured.

Camila walked around the counter and sat on his lap, wrapping her arm around his neck.

"Dad, I promise you...I'm okay. Lauren makes me happy, happier than I've been in a really long time. So you don't have to be concerned anymore, alright?" She said, laying her head on his shoulder.

Alejandro wrapped his arms around his daughter, rubbing her back. "If you say so, mijita. But you'd better be right. Especially after how expensive it was to create you." He joked.

"Dad!"

"I'm serious! No cheating me...I want all my money's worth!"

Of course, over in the guest house, there was a similar conversation going on, only much more serious.

After Lauren had successfully helped Leroy with her and Alejandro's luggage, she rummaged through the guest kitchen and found some tea bags, which she opted to make for them even if to help fill the awkward silence that had initially passed between the two of them.

But once the tea had been successfully dealt, there was just more awkward silence. Silence that left Lauren more than a little unnerved.

It was a weird feeling.

She sipped her tea and kept her eyes downward, much like she used to do when she was a young girl, attempting to please her father.

"What made you choose Connecticut?"

Lauren's eyes darted upward quickly, shaken by the sudden, direct way that Leroy addressed her. Some tea spilled over onto the saucer and Lauren realized that her hands had been shaking as she drank.

"I'm sorry?"

Leroy smiled in amusement, before leaning back into the cushion of the couch that he was occupying.

"Greenwich?" She gestured around them, and Lauren understood that he was referring to her home. "There are many beautiful homes closer to the city...or better yet, beautiful, luxurious brownstones on Park Avenue that I'm sure suit your taste as well."

Lauren sat her tea atop the coffee table between them. "Sounds like you're not a fan of my estate, Mr. Cabello." She joked, nervously and Leroy chuckled.

"Forgive me if it seems that way, Lauren. I think your home is absolutely stunning. The real estate agent in me is just a bit curious as to what made you choose to build this beautiful estate an hour outside of the city when there are plenty of other options that would allow you a shorter commute." She finished nonchalantly and Lauren realized that he was attempting to make small talk.

Lauren smiled. "Well, I went to school here. Not in Greenwich, obviously, but in Connecticut. I always thought it was a beautiful place. Something about how incredibly green everything was...I just fell in love with it."

Leroy shrugged. "Well, the golden triangle...it is one of the richest neighborhoods in America. It's pretty impressive. And exclusive. It must not have been easy to procure land here."

Lauren relaxed into her chair, bouncing the foot of her leg. "It was pure luck, honestly. My realtor was showing a completely different house, to a completely different client roughly two blocks over, and on her drive home she got curious about what lay beyond the trees towards the front of the property. So she kept driving and quite literally stumbled upon my five acres."

Leroy smiled, rubbing her fingers against the sides of the teacup as he sipped. "That sounds almost too good to be true."

Lauren shrugged. "I know. But as soon as I got out here, the minute I stepped foot onto this property, I just knew I wanted to build something here. Something grand and peaceful and...mine. So, here we are." Lauren finished lamely and Leroy nodded in silence, glancing around the room. Effectively ending their conversation.

"What made you go into the jewelry business?" Leroy commented and Lauren rubbed her hands against her legs.

"Well...at first I wasn't very interested in jewelry. Though, I did always know I'd end up heading my family's business. I was just fresh out of business school, on the tail end of my first couple of jobs - one of which was at a consolidation firm, which wasn't very exciting, or creative. So once I came to my family's business, I thought it'd be all paperwork, all signing off on checks and everything that I had previously experienced." Lauren murmured. And then she smiled.

"But then, on my very first day, one of my colleagues brought me a tray of diamonds that had been recently cut for distribution at our Manhattan location. They were...sparkling. I couldn't take my eyes off of them, they were so beautiful." Leroy noticed that her eyes began to twinkle, a sudden excitement filling her up at the memory. "They were perfect. I held every single one of them in my hand and I just...fell in love."

Leroy raised his eyebrows. "I'm sensing a pattern here."

Lauren laughed, feeling a bit less nervous, and Leroy leaned forward, settling her tea onto the coffee table.

"You see something, you fall in love, you get it. Maybe just a little too quickly." She spoke softly, tilting his head to the side much like Camila would do when she was studying something.

Lauren sobered up, immediately understanding where Leroy was going with this statement.

"You think that's what's going on with your daughter and I?" Lauren answered knowingly and Leroy attempted to smile calmly, but it seemed more like a grimace.

"Listen, Lauren. Camila is...special. She makes lists, and she plans, and she doesn't do spontaneity and I'm sorry but this," She gestured to the beautiful home they were sitting in, "she doesn't do this. This isn't Camila. So yes. I think...this is all a little weird, and fast, and my husband and I never even knew she was living with you until we tried to call the apartment and Shawn told us that she suddenly didn't live there, in the apartment that we bought for her, anymore."

Lauren bristled at the mention of Shawn, but shook it off. "Mr. Cabello, I understand that you're concerned-"

"Do you?" She asked, narrowing her eyes a bit, and Lauren was a little taken aback by the hostility. "Because my daughter is living with a stranger. A stranger, who to me seems like nothing more than a spoiled heiress hiding behind a mansion and a lot of money." She snapped and Lauren swallowed, lowering her head. It reminded her of when she was younger. A freshly developed teenager with a list of abnormalities and a father filled with anger and too much alcohol.

Though now she knew that her father's anger was unwarranted, while Mr. Cabello's frustration was real and understandable.

She still couldn't help but feel a bit reprimanded.

Old habits dying hard, and such.

There was a tense silence, now that her obvious discomfort was filling up the room.

Seeming to realize that he had probably offended Lauren in her own home, Leroy sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...be so harsh Lauren. I'm just-"

Lauren cleared her throat. "Don't apologize. You're just...you're worried about your daughter. And you have every right to be." She replied, looking up calmly, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

For a moment, Leroy couldn't meet her gaze and glanced down at her hands, now side by side in her lap. "I just...you and I don't know each other Lauren, and honestly I'm not sure if you and Camila really know each other either. I just don't want anyone to get hurt." She looked up at Lauren. "I don't want Camila to get hurt."

Lauren held Leroy's gaze.

"Mr. Cabello, please listen to me very carefully..." Her eyes seemed to shine, gold with honesty. "I will never hurt your daughter. I will never put her in a position where she feels even the slightest bit uncomfortable, and I would never do anything to endanger her, because I care very deeply about her." Lauren smiled and chuckled, leaning back against her chair. "You know, you're probably right. We did move very fast, and we probably don't know each other...at least not everything...not yet." She said softly, and Leroy wondered about the way Lauren's eyes began to change, twinkling again. Much like how they had been when she was speaking of the diamonds just moments before.

"But...I'd like to think we're learning. At least I am. And your daughter has taught me so much...about myself, about how good life could be if you just try..." She murmured, glancing downward and smiling.

"Maybe I do have a pattern. Maybe Greenwich, and diamonds and Camila all have something in common...maybe-"

"Maybe you've fallen in love, again." Leroy commented. Lauren snapped her eyes up to him, suddenly frozen.

"W-What..?"

"Are you in love with my daughter, Lauren?" Leroy asked, one eyebrow up. His eyes shining knowingly.

Lauren felt her chest tighten and suddenly she was hot all over, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end at the words that had emptied Leroy's mouth.

Love.

"I-I..." Lauren sputtered, her hands shaking again. Confidence just as stirred.

Leroy smiled, chuckling softly. "Lauren, you don't have to answer that."

Lauren stared him, eyes filled with panic, eyes that had already given him the answers he needed.

"But if you don't mind, I'd like to give you some advice."

Lauren, still unable to respond opted to just sit as still as possible, attempting to get a reign on both her trembling hands and her emotions.

Leroy seemed to empathize with her, gazing at her as if he knew the exact things rushing through her body at that very moment, as if he had felt the same feelings.

"If you're trying to keep from falling in love with Camila, I'd would suggest building up a better tolerance..." He commented easily, before smiling to himself, "Cabello's have a way of slipping into your bloodstream when you least expect it. Next thing you know, you're looking at yourself in the mirror and everything is brighter, clearer, and the only thing staring back at you is a person in love." He finished softly and Lauren swallowed, squinting back at him...filled with understanding.

Leroy reached over the table, pressing his hand to the top of Lauren's.

"I believe you, Lauren. I believe that you're taking care of my little girl."

She smiled at him, and he squeezed her hand softly.

"Look! They're embracing, Camila!" A voice came from the doorway, and both Lauren and Leroy glanced up to see the very people they had just been speaking of.

Alejandro, balancing a tray of sandwiches in his hands and Camila holding a pitcher of lemonade in hers.

Lauren walked up to Camila, staring at her with wide eyes. Camila glanced back at her, concerned. "Lauren is everything okay? Did he say something to you?" She immediately said, glancing over at her father defensively.

Lauren shook her head, and smiled quickly, reassuringly.

"No, no, Camila it's fine. I'm just...you, you look different..." She said softly. And Camila laughed.

"What, like bad? Is my hair frizzy or something?" She said, reaching upwards, but Lauren grabbed her hand. Pulling her close.

"You look...beautiful. Perfect, actually." She finished and Camila melted under her gaze.

"We thought you might be hungry, so we brought lunch! I'm glad you are both in one piece," Alejandro finished under his breath, smiling as he approached Leroy, who was standing and smiling fondly at his husband. "Anything worth sharing?"

Leroy glanced over at Lauren.

"Oh not at all," He hummed to himself and Alejandro turned just in time to see Lauren pull Camila close and press a soft kiss to her forehead first, then her lips.

"Everything's just perfect, babe."