Outside, Shane leaned against the wall and took a quick puff from her cigarette. For a moment, she had allowed herself to drown in Carmen’s eyes. Those wonderful eyes of hers. Huge, brown….full of tremulous warmth and a certain kind of wariness. Filled with knowledge but also doubt. She had been singing the song to her and she had meant every single word. She pressed her hand to her forehead. She remembered what she had said at the beach, that she would keep running from what she felt towards Carmen if it meant that Carmen would not get hurt in the end. And some part of her wondered just how long she could continue running from the feelings that had already come achingly and painfully to life inside her.

Chapter 24

Will was here today and the coffee table was full of various photos. Perhaps, it was better that Will came over. Shane had been trying to avoid her these past few days and she knew why. It was part of her attempt to keep her safe. It was as though she had pulled the mask on again, becoming unreachable to her. There was no sign of the vulnerability and wistful longing she had seen that night.

Shane was bent over the table, scrutinizing the photos. “Shane…why don’t you go for the meetings?” Shane looked straight at Will.

“Will, I can’t stand being around those coporate types….Carmen come here….” Carmen walked over with a slight sense of trepidation. Shane hadn’t said much to her these few days. “Look at these photos okay? They’re choosing the single cover for Broken Sonnet..” Carmen looked at the photos, she didn’t think she had much artistic taste regarding such things. Most of them were close-ups of Shane and one picture particularly caught her eye. It was a picture of Shane sitting in a corner, with the dim light illuminating the angular planes of her face.

“I like this one,” Carmen said.

“You can’t see Shane’s face clearly in this one, this one would be more appropriate,” Will said in a slightly resentful tone. There was a change in Will’s attitude towards her and Carmen couldn’t quite understand why. Shane shot Will an irritated look.