Chapter 17

Carmen stood at the door of Shane’s bedroom. She could still feel the little shivers coursing through her body when she thought of Shane’s mouth on hers. What happened today had upset the perfect balance that had been between them. Still, she was Shane’s assistant and she knocked on the door, wanting to tell Shane about tomorrow’s schedule for the recording studio. She went in and the room was only illuminated by the light of the bedside lamp. She saw Shane propped up against the pillows, with a bottle of pills in her hand.

“Shane..where are you doing?” she strode over and snatched the bottle of pills away from her. There was wariness in Shane’s eyes and her face was shadowed with exhaustion. Shane looked at Carmen, tonight she just wanted oblivion. From this insane want for Carmen, the demands of Will and the voices of people whispering about her.

“Give me the pills Carmen…..stay out of this,” Shane’s voice was shaky and despite her expressionless face, her voice had betrayed her uneasiness and discomfort. She clearly did not want a confrontation but Carmen was not going to give in. Not this time.

Shane pressed her hand to her forehead and looked up at Carmen. She didn’t back down and Shane started to feel a grudging respect for Carmen. She had more courage than she had initially given her credit for. This also meant she was going to be a tough adversary and Shane wasn’t up for a fight. She just wanted a reprieve, a deep, dreamless sleep with no disjointed fragments of her past coming back to haunt her like a broken roll of film. She extended her hand out in a silent plea and Carmen looked down at her palm. One part of her wanted to give Shane what she wanted, another part of her told her it was time Shane learnt to deal with her past on her own. The two sides were warring with each other and Carmen took a deep breath. She could indulge Shane now and she knew she would come to regret it. She gripped the bottle of pills in her hand so hard that her knuckles had turned white. She needed to be tough and firm, because evidently Shane got away with so much because people around her were willing to condone and overlook her actions.