“That’s Earl”.

“Yeah”, Shane giggled, “Yeah, he told me”.

Carmen ducked her head to a side, amused.

“What else does he tell you?”.

Shane shrugged and shoved her hands into the pockets of her coat.

“He worries that you never sleep. And he loves to see you smile…”.

Carmen scoffed and bent over Earl, kissing him on the top of his head.

“Sometimes I think Earl is the only one who understands me…”, she mumbled.

“What about your girlfriend?”, Shane asked, quietly, “Do you love her?”.

Carmen looked up, briefly.

“Love? I don’t know. What does that mean?”.

Shane smiled softly.

“I was hoping you could tell me”.

Carmen straightened up, running her hand through her hair and frowned.

“Well… It’s a word… that describes a chemical react…”, she sighed heavily, “…Oh, it’s just crap. I’m full of crap”.

Shane stared at her, and Carmen stared back.

“I wait all day, just hoping for one more minute with you…”, she whispered, moving a step forward Shane, “…and I don’t even know you”.

Shane mirrored her action and now they were closer.

“What do you want to know?”, she asked, softly.

“Why you wear the same clothes all the time. Why won’t you give me your phone number? Are you married?”.

“No”, Shane smiled.

“Are you homeless?”.

“No”, she shook her head, her smile still firmly placed on her lips.

“Are you… a drummer?”, Carmen frowned.

Shane shook her head, scoffing.

“Why don’t you ever touch me?”.

Shane’s eyes looking up, straight into her soul.

“I don’t want to hurt you”, she replied in a whisper.

Carmen moved closer, swallowing. She cupped Shane’s face with both of her hands and leaned forward her.

“You won’t hurt me”, she breathed out, a few inches away from her lips.

Then, she kissed her.

They both closed their eyes.

Carmen breathed in Shane’s scent, she tasted her lips, slowly. It was a chaste kiss, and yet so powerful that she felt like exploding, disintegrating, shaking from head to toe.

She pulled back a little and her eyes searched Shane’s.

“Did you feel that?”, she whispered.

Shane’s eyes looked sad and gentle. She shook her head slowly and Carmen stepped back as if she had been just burned.

“If I could make you understand…”, Shane tried to stop her, to take her hand, but Carmen just shook her head and started walked away.

“Don’t worry. I understand. I’ll see you around”, she said, bitterly.

Shane just let her go.

”…Dressed in black again.”*

TBC

*******

SOUNDTRACK:
* “Dressed In Black” (Depeche Mode)