Chapter 5

Serendipity:
Origin:
1754; Serendip + -ity; Horace Walpole so named a faculty possessed by the heroes of a fairy tale called The Three Princes of Serendip
–noun
1. The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.
2. The fact or occurrence of such discoveries.
3. An instance of making such a discovery.

That same night

Tiredly, Carmen climbed up the stairs that leaded to her house. She didn’t realize that Helena was there until she spoke.

“Where have you been?”.

Her voice didn’t sound accusatory, but Carmen blushed a little, anyway.

“Oh, shit”, she raked her fingers through her hair, “I totally forgot dinner. I’m sorry”.

Helena was staring at her, her arms folded, her back leaned against the unlocked front door. She followed Carmen inside the hallway.

“It’s okay…”, Helena said, softly, “Where have you been?”.

Carmen sighed, opening the fridge and uncapping a beer.

“With a woman I met. I bumped into her and we got something to eat”.

Then, she noticed the backpack in the corner of the room.

“Did you pack that?”, she asked, surprised.

“What else?”, Helena asked, ignoring her question.

Carmen arched her eyebrows.

“Huh… Nothing much. We talked… and then I got beeped and she disappeared. Why did you pack my backpack?”.

Right then, Earl – Carmen’s Golden Retriever – ran inside the kitchen, a towel in his mouth, his childish eyes laughing, and Carmen grinned.

“Hey Earl… what are you doing with that towel? Give it to me”, she exclaimed, kneeling down and scratching his hairy ears.

Helena took another beer from the fridge and uncapped it, taking a long sip.

“I thought we’d fly up to Tahoe, use your uncle’s cabin… maybe do a little hiking”.

Carmen was still focused on Earl’s thick fur, her fingers scratching and scraping his muscles. Then, she stopped and frowned.

“What?”, Helena asked, kneeling down by her side.

Carmen smoothed down Earl’s fur, revealing the pink skin beneath, and flipped a strand of hair behind her ear.

“God. Is it…?”, Helena whispered.

“Fuck…”, Carmen hissed, glancing around frantically, looking for something, anything to remove what she had just saw.

“Carm, it’s just a tick”, Helena chuckled, “Get a match”.

Carmen glared at her.

“We’re not going to burn him, Helena”.

“It’ll have to back out. Can’t leave the head in”, Helena replied, blinking, but Carmen looked unmovable.