"Let’s get out of here. Let’s go for a walk."

Carmen sighs and smiles again. She knows I’m exploiting my small power over her for the time being. She’s too polite to bring up that little detail, however, and gives in to my demands.

A few minutes later we’re out the door. It’s a nice night, a little breezy, but comfortable. I look up at the sky, watching as intersecting airplanes soar above me, slicing the thin clouds in half. Carmen slips her arm around mine, faltering a little when I involuntarily tense up. "You okay?"

No. Of course I’m not okay. Why must you tease me this way? "Yeah, I’m fine. It’s nice out."

She agrees with me and we walk in silence for a while. My arm (and other places) tingles at her contact. I can smell the bittersweet scent of her ginger-mango shampoo. The intoxicating aroma surrounds my head and invades my nose, taking over my senses, leaving me nearly dizzy. I hear her sigh again and know that my time and consequently the power I have over her is done.

"She’s not seeing anyone else." Out of the corner of my eye I can see her turn her head to look at me. I look at her. Our noses almost touch. I elaborate further to clear up any confusion. "At least, she hasn’t brought anyone home with her. I haven’t seen her with anyone else."

I can almost see the relief wash over her. It saddens me to think about her feeling so insecure. I can picture her sitting by the phone, biting the thumbnail of her left hand, mentally arguing with herself, thinking about how she was either going to lay into Shane for not calling or beg Shane to come over for the night. I can feel every anxious heartbeat and every nervous breath she took as she reached for the ringing telephone. I can hear the disappointment in her voice when she says "Oh hey" to the person on the other end…the person who isn’t Shane.

"Don’t worry; she’ll come around."

"You think?" She looks at me and I can see the moon reflected in her eyes. I smile at her and turn away. If I don’t, I know I won’t be able to control my actions.