The Fall (Camren)

Perfectly Imperfect

‘So, whaddya think?’ Normani asked, turning to look at Lauren expectedly.

‘Yeah, it’s good.’ Lauren replied noncommittally. Her concentration was elsewhere, specifically on the upturned snapback cap on the floor of the hotel room. She sat on the floor with her back pressed against the foot of the bed. Her hands cradling a now half empty can of macadamia nuts.

‘You’re not even listening.’ Normani Pouted. The other girl was laying on the bed that Lauren was propped up against, Normani’s head was at the foot of the bed next to Lauren’s, but she was on her back holding her phone at arm’s length in the air.

‘I am!’ Lauren protested. Although technically she wasn’t fully participating in the listening aspect of their conversation. Picking another nut out of the can, she threw it in a high arch in the air towards the cap. It bounced off the wall and landed right in the snapback. ‘Off the backboard!’ Lauren cheered smugly with a tiny fist pump in celebration. She turned to Normani with a smirk, pleased with her achievement. Her last ten shots had ended up strewn around the hotel room carpet. Beige carpet, she amended no puke green in sight thankfully.

Normani turned her head to face Lauren, her phone still held high above her head. ‘What did I just say then?’ Quirking an eyebrow at Lauren in question.

Shit! Quick, make something up! ‘Erm, something about shoes and…Beyoncé.’

Normani turned back to her phone. ‘Lucky guess, Jauregui.’

Smiling with relief, Lauren went back to her game. She had been thinking about Camila non-stop for the past few days. Her avoidance technique hadn’t been working and she feared that she was losing her friends in the process. The last thing she wanted was to piss off the people she cared most about, so she made the decision to go back to the Lauren she was six months ago.

They were waiting to get back on the tour bus, after two nights in a hotel in San Francisco she wasn’t exactly looking forward to the bus’s cocoon beds.

Throwing two nuts at one towards the cap, she frowned as both missed by a large margin. She hadn’t seen much of Camila since the last time they were on the bus and they did the accidental bed swap.  Well, technically they’d seen each other constantly, with shows and radio interviews in the city, but not alone and not without a camera in their faces.

Lauren and Normani had packed and we’re waiting for a call from management to say the bus was ready, the driver had gotten lost apparently.

She had run out of nuts. Standing up and throwing away the macadamia mess she created, Lauren walked over to the large hotel room windows. It was sunset outside and the view from their floor was amazing. She found herself constantly wishing for more time, time to look around, go sightseeing. It seemed like torture to have this incredible opportunity to see all these fantastic places filled with culture and art, architecture and music yet have no time to truly take any of it in. these fleeting visits only offered views of hotel room walls and boring highways.

Conversely, she always felt so lucky to just be in these places, to even travel out of Florida was a privilege to Lauren. Before Fifth Harmony, her travelling was limited to different worlds through her literature. It felt surreal to see places she had only ever read about, to be immersed in it but not able to reach out and truly touch anything.

Her phone ringing snapped her out of her reverie. She turned to reach it off the bed but Normani took it upon herself to answer the call.

‘Lauren Jauregui’s secretary.’ She chirped, in a terrible British accent. Something was said on the other end, then ‘Roger that,’ Normani said, ending the call.