Second
"We know" One of the other men said. He was taller, but not scary tall, more like father tall, warm. Against all predictions, Camila managed to recover her sober and calm face, while Lauren looked at her worried, and then to the front again. "You two have been too obvious lately and we cannot take it anymore"
"What do you mean obvious?" Camila had crossed her legs and straightened up her back, trying to look tougher while internally screaming.
"You two are in a relationship, there is no point in denying that to us anymore. We know. However, even the cameras are starting to wonder and that is something that we cannot afford. I'm really sorry to tell you that we need to make a decision today and now, and it is not going to involve your opinion"
Lauren seemed to have recovered her breath while this point was being made and took Camilla's hand tightly while making her face look deadly. The three men in the room were looking at the ladies as if they knew what the world was and they didn't, which made Camila furious. She could not believe what she was living.
"I know it looks complicated but–" Lauren's voice was interrupted by the third man in the room, his was deep and not warm at all. "There is nothing to discuss. It is not complicated, it's simple. You will stop seeing each other romantically, you will stop sleeping in each other's beds and most importantly, you will behave as distant friends when the cameras are on. That is the way it is signed in our contract"
Both ladies tried to think of the best words to say, but they were unable to control themselves. Camilla bit her tongue in anger, while Lauren tried not to break in tears while feeling utterly powerless. This couldn't be the only way.
"Okay then we're leaving" Camila's words felt like a heavy lift leaving her mouth. She didn't know where those words had come from, she just knew she couldn't sacrifice what she felt for Lauren, it was impossible to let go. The whole room seemed to freeze. Everyone was looking at Camila, including Lauren, whose lips were now open and eyes tearing. Lauren maintained the eyes fixed in the three men alternating between the two tough ones and the manager, who was sitting with his hand in his chin. The three of them looked at each other, sighing. This moment Lauren took advantage of to squeeze Camilla's hand even harder and to look at her worried, did she really know what she was doing? "I will not" Camila continued "sacrifice one of the few things keeping me happy right now for the sake of the audience believing something that is not real. I cannot control my feelings and I love her more than anything I have ever loved. You've got no show without us, and we'll convince the other girls to leave too"
The two unfamiliar men laughed at the same time for at least a minute. Fifth Harmony's manager, however, looked worried about the situation, so he spoke. "There is no need to speak nonsense, girls. I know this is complicated, but it would be the end of the group if people found out about you two being... intimate, let alone the contract we signed. Are you two really ready to give up your dreams so easily just because you can't go public about this?"
The girls remained silent for a moment. Lauren tried to imagine a life without the newfound happiness that singing in front of thousands of people who knew their names gave her. Without the chance of seeing the faces of hundreds of people she had help get through rough situations every night. She could not give that up, her dreams. But then she looked at her girlfriend and the thought was clear: wherever Camila was going, Lauren would follow.
Lauren's eyes were wet with tears, but she still looked as if a thousand angels had created her face with their best materials. Camila could see her soul through those eyes, being able to truly understand everything going through Lauren's mind, almost as if she could hear her think. Something was wrong; her face had sobered in one second, the same second in which she opened her mouth while standing up. "I can't" she was suddenly crying and her voice produced a high pitch sound "I'm sorry, Camz, I can't". The look on her girlfriend's eyes broke her heart in a million pieces, but it still wasn't enough to make her follow Camilla's lead. The stage was the only thing keeping her life together, there was no way she could give it up.
She could hear the other people on the bus getting out of it and Camila calling her while approaching, but she kept running and looking for a place to hide. The pressure was too much and though she couldn't stand to ignore her girl, she needed to think.