Camping With Travis

E1 - I TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN!!

Sophie

"Where are we?" I ask my half-comatose friend for the third time since parking the car. Lacey has been in a love bubble ever since getting back from that camping trip. At least I can still carry on a conversation.

"LACEY!" I finally shout.

"Oh, huh? What did you say?" She's basically a drugged zombie at this point, walking around with that dreamy look on her face all the time.

"Where.are.we? You dragged me here this afternoon and I'm still waiting to find out what's going on?"

"Right. It's a surprise."

Crap. I hate fricken surprises. They are never good. I follow her up to the door of a nondescript building in downtown L.A. There is chipped black paint on the cinderblock walls, looking like a long forgotten club from the early eighties punk era. It's dirty, and gross, and not the place I want to spend my Saturday afternoon. Even with the Vente Starbucks Lacey bought me.

Lacey knocks twice on the locked metal door, then taps her foot. It's like a little nervous dance, the excited type of nervous. I can tell she can hardly wait for that door to open. Which must mean...

Crap! I don't have any make up on! I'm in my sweats! I didn't even brush my hair today!

"Lacey! You told me not to dress up!"

"Right. It's casual. I'm not dressed up." She gestures to her tee shirt and jeans.

"But you have make-up on," I mumble just as the door opens and Travis is standing there. His eyes sparkle and a giant smile takes over his scruffy face. He has the same zombie look that Lacey's had all week. Since both of them are distracted by staring into each other's eyes, I take the opportunity to peer behind Travis to see if Luc is there. It's just a dark hallway so my panic is still strong.

I'm not ready for him to see the real me yet. It's basically a nightmare at the moment, to be honest. Part of me wants to jump in the car and bolt, but then Luc would realize how shallow I am.

Not that I'm actually shallow, but we hardly know each other, this thing caught us both by surprise. How tragic would it be if all of the fantastic attraction ended today?

"Hey, come on in! I can hardly wait to show you what we've got going for the second episode," Travis says as he grabs Lacey by the hand and pulls her inside. I trail behind them a bit still shaking with nerves. I know I could end my misery by just asking if Luc is even there, but then I'd seem...desperate or something.

"Lacey," I whisper.

She turns her head towards me, still being pulled down the hallway by Travis. Her eyebrows go up, silently asking What?

I just indicate my attire with a quick sweeping gesture, she in turn shakes her head and shrugs telling me Don't worry about it.

Camping for two days certainly has changed her perspective on cleanliness.

After a couple of turns we get to an open door to what is obviously an editing studio. Two guys are leaned over an array of knobs and switches, watching several monitors of video playing. All showcase Lacey and Travis from different angles while attempting to climb a rock.

And by attempting, I mean not climbing it at all. In fact, the video of Lacey is pretty funny.

"Is that your ass?" I sputter while covering my laughter with my hand. Lacey glares at me then turns to Travis.

"Don't use that!"

He wraps his arms around her and gives her a quick kiss. "It's a blooper reel, babe. And don't worry, this will make me look much worse than you. Trust me?" he asks with raised eyebrows.

She nods her head, then leans it on his shoulder.

Holy fudge, she's whipped harder than he is. Luc was so right about them! I glance around, remembering that I'm not exactly dressed to impress, more like repulse, but don't see him anywhere. Just as I breathe a sigh of relief, I feel an arm snake around my waist and warm breath on my neck.

"It's about time you got here," Luc whispers in my ear.

Great. Perfect. This is an awesome surprise.

"Hi," I whisper back, seriously considering crawling into a corner to hide.

"Hey," he says. "Look at me."

I do and then stifle a laugh. His hair is sticking up in every direction possible, stubble covers his cheeks and half of his lunch seems to have landed on his shirt. He looks worse than I do.

"We make quite the pair." I tell him as I refer to our appearance.

Luc doesn't break eye contact as he replies, "That we do." Then leans in to kiss me.

The real me.

^^^^^

Awww, aren't they cute!! ❤️ I hope you liked this little peek at Sophie and Luc! The epilogues will continue with the other three, so there's more coming your way 😊

If you like fantasy, I would love for you to check out my other story now beginning to post, The Ferlands. I have a great cast of characters, some sarcastic humor, and a fantastic adventure planned!

Thanks for the reads and votes! I love your comments too!! 💋⛺️