Wait For Me To Come Home

Chapter 50

It was two days before Christmas, and Lauren was sat in her office, trying to avoid doing her work when Ally opened the office door.

"Lauren, Mani is here," Ally informed her, giving her a smile. "Shall I send her in?"

"Ugh, yes, please. I need a distraction," Lauren said, sighing as she closed her laptop and pushed it away from her. A moment later, Normani walked in and raised an eyebrow as she looked around the office.

"Not too bad, Jauregui," she said with approval. "I never thought you'd go into the family business though."

"Well, I never did what was expected of me, Mani, you know that," Lauren said, half rolling her eyes. "So is this for business or a social visit?"

"Social. Do you want to grab lunch?" Normani asked.

"Sure," Lauren agreed, "let me get my things."

Ally declined their invitation to join them for lunch, choosing to stay at the office and finish some work, despite Lauren's best efforts to convince her. Giving in, the two of them made their way downstairs - with Normani getting a quick promise out of Ally that she would be there at the next game night – and they headed towards this raw food café that Lauren had been dying to go to. She'd considered going with Maggie – the only other person who would probably enjoy the food – but she'd been avoiding Sofi. Well, not avoiding her, but she hadn't seen her since the fight. Both of them were giving each other time to cool off, and Maggie popped in every day to check up on Lauren.

Lauren and Normani sat in the café eating their kale and quinoa salads and Normani eyed Lauren's smoothie skeptically. "Jesus, Jauregui, I knew you were into all that healthy shit at school, but seriously, at what cost," she said, looking at the thick green liquid. Lauren shrugged indifferently - maybe she should've waited for Maggie after all.

"So, when did you say you were heading out?" Normani asked.

"Tomorrow morning," Lauren explained. "We're catching the early train so we can spend most of the day at Sofi's moms. We're only staying a few days."

"So, New Year's Eve. Any plans?" Normani asked, elaborating when Lauren shook her head. "Right. So it's Gatsby night at my casino here. You should bring the girls. Drinks will be on the house for my friends."

"Sounds good. I'll run it by them and let you know, but I can't see them disagreeing," Lauren told her, smiling at her. She was about to add something else when her phone started ringing, and she smiled brightly as Camila's name popped up on the screen. "Sorry, it's Camila. Do you mind?"

"By all means. I'm interested to know more about her," Normani said, raising her eyebrows slightly. "She must be quite special to have managed to make your heart melt."

Lauren laughed, shaking her head as she answered. "Hey," she said when the video connected, and Camila smiled widely back at her.

"Hey yourself. Looks like you finally got out of the office, huh?" Camila said.

"I'm having lunch with Normani," Lauren explained, quickly holding the phone out at an angle so that Normani came into view.

"Nice to meet you, Camila," Normani said, waving slightly. "Lauren's told me all about you."

"Yeah, hi. It's nice to meet you too, and likewise. I've heard a lot of stories about you – I'm surprised you two are still allowed in the same room together," Camila laughed.