3 - Meeting The Neighbours

The bell rang at around 5p.m on Sunday. Lauren was sitting on the couch, behind her laptop. She'd been observing the Perez household all day. There seemed to be some kind of party going on and loads of known criminals were walking around the house.

"Zayn!" She called out. "Can you open the-" "Yeah, yeah!" Her fake boyfriend called back. She could already hear him on the stairs. He'd been locked in his office again, secretly glancing out of the windows, observing their neighbours party.

"Hey." Lauren heard him say after he'd opened the door. She could then hear a familiar voice, high and raspy at the same time. "H-hi, Hola, I'm Camila, one of the neighbours. You must be Zayn."

Lauren got up from the couch, a smile on her face. She knew the cake had been a good idea. She bet they were now about to get invited to whatever party it was that was taking place on the other side of the fence. "Hey Camila." She smiled as she entered the hallway and snaked an arm around Zayn's waist. "How are you?" "Good, thanks!" Camila smiled. "I was just wondering, we're having a barbecue today with a bunch of- well mostly Armando's friends. Maybe you'd like to come? If you have time of course."

Zayn and Lauren smiled at one another before nodding. "Yes. Sure, that sounds really nice." Zayn said. "We'll be there in a few minutes."

A big smile took over Camila's face then as she nodded. "Alright." She said right before turning around. She's wearing a red skirt and a black top with some black sandals. Lauren scanned the young woman's outfit before tearing her eyes away.

Zayn closed the door and pretty much did a happy dance. "Finally some action."

———

Lauren and Zayn arrived at the barbecue about fifteen minutes later. "Hey there." Zayn greeted Camila as they neared the swimming pool terrace, where a bunch of people were sitting on chairs, beers in their hands. Lauren looked around to see that there were mostly men. She knew most of them from the files she's had to read before the operation started. Almost all of them were Armando's work-partners, who seemed to be friends as well. There were also two women, who were sitting together. Lauren knew they were wives of some of the men.

"Hi, nice to see you guys here. Beer? Wine? Cocktails? Shots?" Camila smiled wiggeling her eyebrows and then reaching forward to hug us both. Lauren frowned internally but then smiled. Okay Camila was a touchy person, noted.

"A beer for me would be nice." Zayn said, an arm around my waist as he talked. Camila looked at Lauren then.

"What are you having?" Lauren asked her, uncertain of what she should drink. Of course she'd go for a simple beer normally, but she needed to fit in here and she doesn't suppose that these women drink beer. "Mojito." She replied, smiling as always.

Lauren nodded. "Same for me then."

She fetched the drinks and Zayn and Lauren just kinda stood there. Some men were giving the new couple some looks, possibly checking out who the hell they were and how they dared to be on this barbecue together with them. "Their garden is so nice." Lauren said, not wanting to come off as some suspicious, silent couple. Her eyes were actually trained on no one other than Armando Perez, who was stood behind the barbecue, preparing some burgers, his bald head shining with sweat.

"Here you go!" Camila said loudly, startling me slightly. I took a step back and smiled at her, taking the drink from her hands. "So nice that you are here. Wait, let me introduce you to Armando!" She turned around and shouted for her husbands name loudly. Leo, her dog, was sitting on the ground, near her feet. Armando looked around, a beer in one hand and a spatula in the other. "What?!" He shouted, taking a sip from his drink after. "Come here baby, I want you to meet our new neighbours." Camila said, smiling at her husband while she stood near Lauren and Zayn, who were smiling as well. Zayn was sipping from his drink and Lauren found hers incredibly sweet, so she had a hard time drinking it. It was a hot day though and so any kind of refreshment was nice. Armando put his spatula down then, and walked over to his wife, a small smile on his face. "Neighbours huh?" He mumbled. "Well, you guys can't be worse than the last ones we had." He said, smiling before shaking Lauren's and Zayn's hands gladly.

"Hope you like the neighbourhood?"

"Yeah we do." Zayn replied. "We're a little jealous of the pool you guys have though. Maybe we should let one build as well, love." He said, turning to me.

Armando laughed, looking pleased with himself as he stared around the garden. "You a fan of cars, Zayn?"

Zayn nodded eagerly before Armando led him around the corner, towards the garage. "Men and their cars." Camila giggled. "I mean good for them, but I prefer to spent my money elsewhere." "Oh yeah?" Lauren said as Camila and her sat down on one of the cosy couches near the pool. She felt multiple eyes on her, as a few men were staring at the pair. "What do you spent your money on then, Mrs Cabello."

Camila frowned, her eyes searching for Lauren's immediately. "How do you know my last name?"

Fuck. Lauren thought. I fucked up. "Oh, it's not like I haven't read about Armando and you. He owns the biggest car company in Miami. I'm not stupida, Camila." She smiled widely, taking a sip from her drink after.

Camila observed her reaction, it seemed before smiling as well and taking a deep breath. "Well I don't want you to think I'm not wanting to take his name, you know." She says.

"Then why didn't you?" Lauren asked lightly, her eyes boring into Camila's before she looked down.

"Well, I'm- I don't wanna be associated with-" She started, before shaking her head. "I'm proud of my own last name. My father he- didn't have any sons and so I chose to keep it in order to let our family name go on, you know. He and my family passed away a few years ago."

Lauren nodded. "I understand. M-my ehmm. My dad died too. It's a beautiful name anyway, Camila Cabello." She smiled, laying a hand on her knee before removing it again.

"Thanks." The brunette mumbled, looking down at her mojito quite shyly. "What about you?" "What about me?" Camila smiled, pushing Lauren's shoulder playfully. "Tell me about you. Your name, age, story." Lauren chuckled. "That's a lot of things you wanna know."

"I'm a curious person."

It's silent for a while and Lauren stared at Camila's face for some time before shrugging. "I'm Lauren Green, 24 years old." She's aware she's not giving her a lot of information, but Camila seemed to like the game.

"And?" "And what?"

A giggle left Camila's mouth and she shakes her head. "What do you do? What do you like to do?" "I used to work for my dad's company and I sat behind a desk all day. It sucked." She told the brown eyed brunette. "But then I met Zayn and well.. he's been earning enough for me to quit the job. Now I just run around the house, cleaning up the mess he leaves behind everywhere he goes." "Hey this sounds like it's about me!" Zayn said, laying a hand on Lauren's shoulder and smiling widely. "Are you two gossiping about me already?" The two women chuckled. "No." Lauren lied. "I was just telling Camila how we met."

"Oh," Zayn said. Armando was standing next to him. Lauren looked him up and down. He wore a simple white shirt in which his beer-belly was quite clearly visible and some baggy jeans underneath. He didn't exactly look like he earned over a million dollars a month. And he really didn't look like he deserved to be with Camila. "Well, best vacation of my life. We should actually go back there once, love."

"You should have seen it. It was this great resort on Mallorca, Spain." Lauren elaborated, looking at Camila for a second before her eyes averted back to her fake boyfriend. "Yes, I'd like to go there again. Maybe next month, with our anniversary."

"Your anniversary is next month? Ours too!" Camila beamed.

Lauren smiled widely. "August 3rd, and yours?" "August 29th." Armando said, his voice deep. His hairless head was shining in the sun, blinding Lauren slightly when she looked at it. "I should go and check on the burgers if we ever wanna eat." He said then before bending down and kissing Camila's head. "Another beer please, Mila."

"Si, Coming up." She said, smiling half a smile at us before getting up and fetching a beer for her husband.

———

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, I swear, they told me they weren't running anymore and then I saw them go again like two days after. They ditched me." Lauren scoffed. "Bitches."

Lauren and Camila had moved to the other side of the garden. It had gotten dark and the barbecue had pretty much ended. Armando and Zayn were drinking a beer at the poolside and Camila and Lauren were sitting in this lovely flower garden near the fence, that Camila had created. "They went running without you, even though they told you they wouldn't go anymore?" The two women were talking about the other women that had been at the barbecue. It turned out Lauren had been right and they were the wives of Samuel and Panchito, two of Armando's friends. Or as Lauren knew them, his closest colleagues.

Camila nodded. "Yep. I mean I know I'm clumsy and that I can be- you know, a lot, I guess. But it did kinda sting a bit."

"Awhhh.." Lauren said, a glass of red wine in her hand. "I get that. Hey but we can go for a run sometime."

"Are you sure?" Camila chuckled nervously. "I mean I'm-" Lauren reached out and put a hand on Camila's shoulder. "I'm sure, no worries."

Camila reached her hand upwards and grabbed Lauren's before giving it a little squeeze and letting it go. The two women smiled at one another before Lauren sat back in the comfortable chair she was in and looked up through the leafs, at the stars. "Besides, we have to stay fit. Midlife crisis is on it's way."

Loud laughter filled Lauren's ears and in the corner of her eye, she noticed how Camila had laid back in the chair as well. "Yeah, I know right? I'm turning 24 next year and I'm terrified."

"It's alright. You'll survive. Nothing much changes really."

"Well Armando always teases me about it. He always jokes about finding 'a new young thing'."

Lauren sat up again and frowned. "Seriously?" Camila nodded, she looked a little drunk to Lauren. And she probably was, after about five mojito's. "Well, with all due respect but isn't he like 40 or something?"

"37!" Camila said, defending both herself and her husband.

"Right." Lauren replied, finishing her drink and putting it down on the small, glass table next to her. "So he doesn't have to right to age-shame you. He should be happy someone like you wants to be with him." Camila giggled and then shrugged. "True."

"Love?" Zayn called at me from the other side of the garden. "Shall we go home?"

"His accent is amazing." Camila said underneath her breath. Lauren chuckled. "I know right?"

"Did you know almost all British people sound American when they sing? It's because you stretch out the- the vowels when you sing."

Lauren laughed at the piece of random information she had just been provided with and looked over at Zayn. "Thanks for that." She said to Camila, who smiled and shrugged. "Yeah, let's go home babe" She told her fake boyfriend then, who smiled and nodded. Lauren got up, feeling a little unsteady as she did so. "So when will we be going for a run together?" She asked Camila, who still laid on the bed, eyes half-closed.

She waved her hand. "Somewhere next week?"

"Let's do tomorrow."

Camila's eyes opened completely then and she shook her head. "Do you realise what state I'm in right now?" She asks Lauren, who rolls her eyes.

"It'll be good for your hangover. 11 a.m." She replies before walking over to the two men, who seemed to be waiting for her. She walked over the grass, feeling the moist through her sandals.

"Your wife has had a little too many." She said to Armando, who smiled and shook his head.

"Nothing new, nothing new." He said. "Well it was nice to meet you both. At first I was sceptical of new neighbours, but you two seem quite alright." "Well thanks for the acceptance mate, appreciated." Zayn joked. Armando slapped his arm in a way that powerful men often seemed to do. Lauren cringed internally but smiled on the outside, fidgeting with her fingers as a way to distract herself.

Camila was suddenly there then, standing by her husbands' side, holding onto his arm in order to stand up straight. "Mojitos get me every time." She said. "Sorry 'bout that."

"Come on, let's get you inside." Armando said then, smacking her ass quite roughly before guiding her towards the house. "Good night you two." He waved over his shoulder. Lauren and Camila shared a short moment of eye-contact before the brunette disappeared in the huge mansion, followed by a small, white dog.

———

A headache is something that Lauren had indeed expected the next day. What she hadn't thought of though, is that she'd fallen asleep in her colleagues bed the night before. She stirred awake, eyes wide open as the sunlight hit her face. "Shit." She cursed, throwing the covers off her body and looking over at her fake boyfriend, who was still fast asleep, his black hair looking even darker in contrast with the white sheets. "Shit, shit, shit."

She flung her legs over the bed and put her feet onto soft rug before getting up and leaving the room in silence. She looked down at her watch, which she was indeed still wearing from the night before, just like her jumpsuit, which she now quickly got out of after having stepped into her own room, on the other side of the hallway. It was 11:15 and she and Camila would be going for a run at 11. She quickly got into some leggings, a sports bra and a simple tank top before rushing over to the bathroom to see what state her face would be in. After removing last nights' make-up and hurrying down the stairs, she poured herself a glass of water, drank all of it at once and ran out of the door.

"I'm really sorry. We totally overslept." She said as soon as a tired looking Camila Cabello opened her front door. She was wearing a bright pink legging and a white shirt. "I figured." She said. "Your bedroom curtains were still closed. It's no problem."

Lauren blinked at that piece of information. Apparently Camila first of all knew which one of the upstairs rooms would be their bedroom, and second of all knew, kept an eye on them. "Yeah. Stupid me, forgot to turn on my alarm last night."

"Mine gave me a headache." Camila replied, smiling nevertheless. The young woman always seemed cheery, no matter what seemed to bug her. It caught Lauren's attention.

"Well let's just go for a short run and maybe we'll feel better after."

And run they did. It turned out Camila could keep up quite well, better than Lauren had expected. Sure, she was clumsy and bumped into her a few times, she also almost fell off a bridge and stepped onto her shoelaces a couple of times, but the woman could run.

"I'm impressed, Camila." Lauren breathed out when the were back home. Camila laughed. "I work out every day, I'm not that bad. I'm just clumsy."

"Well I run a lot too and this was a long one. Well done." Lauren said, giving the girl a high-five. They walked through the neighbourhood then, on their way back home. Lauren looked around and saw that there were only a few large villa's left, the rest of the homes seemed to be apartments. "Panchito lives over there. You know, Armando's friend."

"Ah okay." Lauren said. She actually already knew this. Smalltalk filled the rest of their walk home though, and she didn't mind.

"Wanna come on in for a drink?" She asked, soon as they stood in her driveway. Lauren noticed right away that Armando's big BMW SUV wasn't parked out front, which meant that he would be gone. She looked up at the huge villa but shook her head. "I think I'll wake up Zayn and make him some breakfast. I know he has to do a ton of work today and I don't think he's woken up yet."

Camila nodded, looking slightly disappointed. Lauren knew the young woman must feel lonely in the huge castle she lived in, especially with Armando being gone all the time and the other women in the neighbourhood not liking her. "Let's do drinks later?" She said then, as Camila pushed the key into the lock. "I mean it's hot out today and I could use a dive in that pool of yours."

"Yes." She said. "Yes, that would be good."

Lauren waved at her shortly, before turning around and making her way to her own house, where Zayn would still be fast asleep.

"Wake up, lazy boy." She said, walking into his room with a glass of water in her hands. Zayn opened his eyes lazily and looked a little disorientated at first. "Piss off." He muttered.

Lauren put a hand in her side and took a deep breath after having taken a gulp of water. "Zayn, did we fuck last night?"

Silence rang through the room before a loud laugh echoed down the halls. "What?!" The dark haired guy asked. "No." He stated. "I mean, if you're gonna be dressing like that I migh-"

"Fuck you." Lauren said, throwing her sweaty tank top that she'd taken off a minute before, in his direction. "I just wasn't sure, okay?" She said, shaking her head while she walked over to the shower. How could she think she'd ever sleep with that guy? ———

Two weeks passed. Two weeks with not enough information for the Miami Police Department to actually be able to do anything. Anything at all. "It's not enough yet, folks." Tom said, looking a little more stressed than he had at the beginning of the operation.

"Well what do you want us to do?" Zayn asked, throwing his hands up in annoyance. "We can't just straight up ask him if he sells drugs, can we?" "No." Tom sighed, his blue eyes looking tired. "But the people above me stress me the hell out and I- I need more than what you guys are giving me. Are you absolutely positive you're reporting everything?"

"Yes Tom. If we were their real life neighbours, we never would have found out about this drug-business he was running. He doesn't break. Not yet." "We should push a little harder." Carter said from his spot on the couch in the corner of the room. "You should try to work with him. Tell him you need the money and try to become part of the little drug family he has down there."

Zayn pointed at his own chest. "You're talking to me?" He scoffed. "You think that's possible?

Lauren was just sat there, listening to the information that was provided to her. Carter nodded. "You could try."

"In the meantime Lauren could get closer to Camila, become great friends so that the whole drug thing will be revealed." Jesy said, her eyes on her laptop as she spoke. "Do you think she knows about it all?"

Lauren shrugged. "I don't know." She said honestly, her hands around a paper cup filled with coffee. "I really don't know. She's only told me that he's always busy working. She never really talks about his work." "Well what the heck do you girls talk about all day then? You've been hanging out with her almost every single day for two weeks straight." Tom asked, irritation laced in his voice.

Lauren raised an eyebrow and looked over at him. "Well Tom, what do you talk about with your friends all day? Your wives' work-routines?"

Tom quickly shook his head and pushed his glasses back. "Sorry, it's just that-" "This costs a shit load of money and you're supposed to guide it all, we get it." Zayn said. Lauren looked over at him, content with her work-partner. "I'll try to ask him for work. But you need to give us time. You can't expect them to give all of their secrets away to a bunch of strangers."

"Fine."

———