Carmen eyed Shane from the DJ booth. She seemed uncharacteristically oblivious. Shane was doing what she always did when Carmen spun. Laugh and talk with her friends, steal glances at Carmen, and turn down one girl after another. Carmen sighed, she couldn’t count the number of girls she’d personally witnessed Shane ‘discourage’ in the last month. ‘That has to mean something, doesn’t it?’ Ever since she let the G-word slip and Shane hadn’t freaked out, Carmen had decided to stop assuming the worst. Besides, if anything Shane had become even more generous and attentive towards her. But then there was this Amy girl, obviously giving Shane the ‘I can’t wait to fuck you look’ and Shane, acting like it was nothing. Carmen was startled out of her thoughts by a tap on her shoulder. She turned to find bright green eyes smiling at her.

"What are you daydreaming about?" Shane leaned over to plant a kiss by Carmen’s ear, "Hope it’s me."

Carmen couldn’t help but chuckle at that, "You caught me." Shane’s smile was so genuine, her look so sincere, that Carmen found herself even more confused than she was a minute ago. She shook her head and smiled back at Shane, "So did you just come over to check up on my fantasy life, or were you going to ask me to dance?"

Shane smiled back, ", tempting. Actually I just came over to tell you I’m heading out. I have a ridiculously early appointment tomorrow."

Carmen’s eyes narrowed with suspicion, "You’re leaving?"

Shane seemed to sense the sudden mood shift, "Yeah, but you’re welcome to come over and wake me up later." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Carmen took a deep breath, "No, you should get some sleep. I have to get back to work."

Shane ran her fingers through her hair, and awkwardly shifted from one foot to the other, "Alright, well I’ll see you tomorrow then?"

Carmen just nodded as she put her headphones back on and switched tracks.

——————————————-

The next afternoon Carmen sat in the Planet sipping her coffee and trying to read the newspaper. After a sleepless night and a long talk with Tony, she realized that she needed to actually talk to Shane before she jumped to conclusions. Who would believe Tony of all people, would be the one to talk some sense in to her? It had taken a while, but Tony had finally warmed up to Shane. So, Carmen had screwed up her courage, and asked Shane to meet her here for coffee. Carmen looked at the door for the upteenth time, ‘Damn it, maybe this wasn’t the best place to meet.’ Alice and Dana waved enthusiastically and came over to join her.