Listening to Helena talk about her relationship with Dylan had touched her, saddened her, and surprised her.  When she described the flutter she felt inside the moment she saw Dylan, Carmen remembered the similar feeling she had gotten when she first met Shane.   Of course, Carmen and Shane had wasted no time in becoming better acquainted and Shane had fucked her right there on the sound board only an hour after they met.  But Carmen had always figured “when you know, you know” and didn’t see any sense delaying the inevitable.  When Shane had slighted her after that first encounter, she had found herself in a mismatched relationship with Jenny.   She couldn’t explain why she had been attracted to Jenny but the old familiar tune by Crosby, Stills, and Nash “Love the One You’re With” seemed a logical explanation.  If she couldn’t have Shane, she’d settle for Shane’s roommate. 

She actually viewed her own odd pairing with Jenny in much the same way she saw Helena’s former relationship with Tina.  She didn’t know either woman very well at the time they were dating, but she could never figure how these two had ever gotten together.  Of course Helena was breathtakingly beautiful, but at the time, Carmen had viewed her as a cold fish and a snob.  Of course she knew better now.  Helena was one of the kindest, most generous people she’d ever known, which is perhaps what attracted Tina to her.  But what did Helena see in Tina?  Tina was attractive, and very sweet, but undeniably pregnant with another woman’s child!  Maybe it was that motherly glow she had.  But knowing what she knew now about Tina, Carmen still couldn’t wrap her head around Helena’s pursuit of her.  Tina had become impatient, condescending, indecisive, and…straight!  Could it be that Helena had followed the same philosophy she herself had and truly wanted Bette?

“Carmen?  Did you hear me? I asked if you wanted another drink.”  Helena interrupted her train of thought.  She looked down at her full glass and shook her head. 

“Actually,” she said, “I think we should probably go.”  She looked at her watched and realized she’d better get back to her sister’s for dinner.

“Oh, ok…” Helena said with disappointment.  She was reluctant to leave but she knew not to be so selfish as to monopolize Carmen’s time.  “I’m sorry I rambled for so long.”

Carmen looked up into Helena’s beautiful green eyes that were so full of sorrow and longing.  Her heart immediately went out to her.  When she had met Dylan and had seen her with Helena for the first and only time at the basketball game for Dana, she hadn’t thought much of the relationship.  She figured, like everyone else, that it was just a fling and it would fade out.  After all, Dylan was supposedly straight and had a boyfriend.  But if anyone knew about falling for unobtainable women, it was Carmen.  Even knowing that she could end up drowning, she still dove in head first.  At first she thought it was mere lust and the thrill of the chase.  But she soon knew that it was so much more.  It was love.  And she felt that despite all their differences, she and Shane were soul mates.   These were the exact words Helena had used to describe her feelings for Dylan. 

Carmen couldn’t bear to leave Helena alone and insisted on driving her home.  Helena accepted and they left the lounge to head up to Broad Beach.