Carmen just stares in awe at this woman.  “Wow, you are amazing.  You are running this place all by yourself and …you are pregnant.”

“I guess I’m doing my best.  That’s what you do when you have a dream, right?  You just don’t give up, and well I have to continue for my two dreams… It doesn’t matter if your heart is broken.  It doesn’t matter if the person you trusted runs away like a coward.  You just have to carry on.”

Carmen feels her eyes watering.  “Yeah… a broken heart… a coward…”

“You seem to know what I’m talking about, huh?”

Carmen just nods biting her lip not wanting the tears to flow.

“I guess this is destiny,” offers Nicole excited.  “Can’t you see?  That’s why we should work together Carmen.  I need someone to help me out here; you need to be busy doing what you really love.  We need to work hard and forget about them… Fuck them…” she states with her voice cracking at the end.

“Yes.”  Carmen looks at Nicole straight to her eyes, no doubt in her face.

“Yes?  Oh Carmen you won’t regret it.”  Nicole hugs Carmen.

“This is good… It feels good.” Carmen says more to herself than to Nicole.

“Yeah, I know.  We’ll be okay.”

It’s weird how connected they feel to each other.  It’s like they’ve known each other forever.  After pulling apart, they stare at each other for a moment holding hands til Carmen realizes it’s getting too private, too intimate.

“Hey …um.”  Carmen lets go of Nicole’s hands, “…So we have to start soon if we want this place to rock, huh?”

“Um, yeah, of course.” Nicole gets back to reality.

“So, what’s first?” asks Carmen trying to lighten the mood.

“I guess you should bring your music and check the sound.”

“Right, you’re totally right.  Okay, um… you just wait for me here.  It won’t take long for me to bring my stuff and…”

“Hey, wait.  Wait.” Nicole stops her.  “You don’t have to do this right now.  I mean I’m ok with the fact that you want to start as soon as you can but… I guess it’s been a long day and emotionally draining…”

Carmen giggles and lowers her head in embarrassment.

“…But how about tomorrow?”

“That sounds like a plan.”

Both women remain in silence for some time until Nicole speaks.

“I want to know about you Carmen.  How about if we take a cup of coffee, and we share our stories?”

“All right.”

They walk slowly talking all the way to the nearest diner.  She doesn’t know what it is, but she feels incredibly comfortable with Carmen.  “Not another Latina…not again…”