Shane sighed heavily, pouting meditatively. She had never told anybody what exactly had happened with Jenny, not even to Alice. It was like a rock heaving over her shoulders and it was suffocating her and a part of her screamed to let go, to let it all out. But she wasn’t ready. Not yet.

So, she just shook her head, slowly.

Carmen’s tiny hand – no varnished nails this time, no pale skin to remind Shane of Jenny – went to her cheek and cupped it slightly. It was brief, but so warm that Shane closed her eyes.

“It’s okay”, Carmen whispered, simply, and then her hand disappeared, breaking the contact, and Shane felt empty, “Let’s get busy and turn this house into a home, what do you say?”.

”I walk without you
but I need to believe
I’ve got my own eyes now
And I want you to see
There’s no discretion in my voice
And you need to stand clear
I’ve been falling out of time
But I want you to hear…”

***

Carmen ran to her own apartment to change her clothes and, five minutes later, she came back sporting an old, baggy red tracksuit that enveloped her completely. Her hair – thick and dark, and smooth and soft, Shane suspected, and very long, but she had never seen it down on Carmen’s shoulders – was tied in a tight bun. As usual, her big specs covered half of her face.

Shane saw her and chuckled.

“What?”, Carmen asked, arching an eyebrow.

Shane hid her mouth behind the back of her hand, shaking her head. Then, she started covering the few pieces of furniture with several wide plastic sheets.

“Am I really that funny?”, Carmen insisted, repressing a confused smile.

“No… Not at all, you’re just…”, Shane stuttered, trying to regain her composure. The crackling sound of the plastic sheets covered her new set of giggles.

“Hey, McCutcheon, don’t fuck around with me”, Carmen threatened, her proverbial shyness forgotten for a second.

“I wouldn’t dare!”, Shane exclaimed, arching her eyebrows.

Carmen seemed satisfied and nodded.

“Umph. Okay then, hand me the paint roller”, she ordered.

They spent the whole day painting the interior walls of Shane’s apartment. Carmen demonstrated her ability in terms of picking colors for every different room and, more in general, in terms of interior decorating and redecorating.