Chapter 10

“God I feel like an animal in a fucking zoo enclosure,” Shane raked her hands through her hair and paced in front of Carmen. The girls were still outside, some of them had pressed their faces against the glass panel and even inside the shop Carmen could hear the high-pitched shrieks.

“I called Dave, he should be here soon,” Shane cast a look at the increasing crowd that had gathered in front of the shop. This was the price of fame, Carmen thought and Shane didn’t look comfortable with it at all. She received a text message on her phone.

“Let’s go Shane, Dave’s outside waiting,” she grasped Shane’s hand in hers and dragged a reluctant Shane to the door. “I’ll go out first. You stay here, count to three seconds and then you make your way out, OK?” There was an apprehensive look on Shane’s face and for a moment, she just looked like a lost child.

“Wait….are you sure you’re gonna be okay?” Shane held onto her arm for a second. She turned back and smiled at Shane.

“You just hafta hold onto my hand, I’m not gonna let them squash you or anything,” Shane looked at Carmen’s back. Clearly she misunderstood her, because she wasn’t worried about her capability to get her out of this mess. She was more worried about Carmen’s safety since it was her own bloody fault that they were stuck in the store unable to get out. Damn, her protective instincts were still there and having Carmen charging out into the crowd first didn’t seem to be right.

Carmen opened the shop door, hugging the two paper bags in front of her with one hand and despite one police officer clearing the way for her, she felt people jostling and pushing her. She barged her way through and she reached back for Shane’s hand. She felt the slender outstretched wrist and without looking back, she somehow knew that was Shane’s hand. She held onto it tightly. She continued to push forward, then she banged her head against something hard. Carmen gritted her teeth and finally got to the car.

She heaved a sigh of relief as she slumped back into the leather seat. The car started to speed away and she noticed Shane looking at her forehead with a peculiar expression. “What?” Carmen pressed her own fingers to her forehead and she grimaced in pain. “You banged your head….”