Wait For Me To Come Home

Chapter 54

Lauren was on her best behavior for the next two weeks, trying not to get herself in any more trouble so she didn't add to Camila's worry. She'd also gave Sofi and Maggie a stern warning about getting into trouble – or rather, a stern warning about letting Camila find out they had gotten into trouble. Clara had left the day after they'd found themselves getting arrested, and Lauren had waited until the next day to get back to work. Not taking Clara's punishment seriously, Lauren had shown up at the office at her normal time and had made it all the way up to her office before she was cut off by Ally, who stood her ground as she refused to let Lauren into her office. After a standoff that lasted a few minutes, Lauren groaned in frustration and had left the office in a bad mood and hadn't been back since.

Clara showed up twice for therapy, and Lauren was slightly pissed that her mom had actually taken her company away from her for two weeks, which made for interesting post-therapy dinners. Lauren couldn't argue with her mom's logic though – both of them had half-expected to find photos of Lauren being handcuffed or leaving the police station in the news the following day, and Clara was intent on keeping Lauren out of the spotlight if that happened. When nothing came of it though, Lauren became grouchy about being away from Jauregui Corp, and spent most of her days secretly doing work from home that Ally unwillingly slipped her when they met up for the game night.

When Lauren walked into Jauregui Corp two weeks later, she was met by a guilty-looking Ally, who held out a coffee and newspaper with an apologetic look on her face. Lauren swapped her coat for the coffee, rolling her eyes at a nervous-looking Ally. "Relax, Ally, I know you were just doing what my mother told you," Lauren said, accepting the newspaper, "and I don't blame you. I think I'm the only person who never listened to her, purely because I knew it pissed her off."

"I'm really sorry though," Ally apologized, stowing Lauren's coat away and picking up the tablet. "I hope it wasn't too bad, being away from work. I know how much you hate it."

Lauren laughed. "That sounds backward, doesn't it? It was completely boring and I'm sick of shopping – although my wardrobe is probably thanking me. So, how much paperwork have I missed out on?"

"I gave you as much as I could sneak out without your mom's spies finding out, so there's not as much as there could've been, but still a lot. It's all waiting on your desk for you. I put the ones I think you'll be most interested in at the top of the pile," Ally told her. Lauren was actually looking forward to the prospect of sitting behind her desk all day, reading pages of statistics, or schematics for new devices. Setting her coffee down, Lauren smiled as she sat down and quickly picked up the first file, opening it to reveal plans for a new water filtration system that Lauren was hoping to build to help countries in need.

"Thanks, Ally," Lauren said as an afterthought, already lost in the plans. Completely absorbed in her work, it was ten o'clock before she so much as moved, and only then because of the sound of her phone ringing shocked her out of her reading. Reaching to pull her phone out of her bag, Lauren groaned slightly, feeling stiff from hours on minimum movements.

"Hello," Clara said as soon as Lauren answered.

"Mom," Lauren replied.

"Enjoying being back at work?" Clara asked, sounding slightly amused.

Lauren rolled her eyes. "Yes, very much so. Thanks for asking."

"Oh come on, Lauren. I was doing you a favor. You spend far too much time at that place, and you needed to be taught a lesson. Privilege isn't something you can use to shake off responsibilities," Clara told her.