In the silence of the night and in the secretiveness of her own universe, Carmen spoke softly in Spanish, pretending to have Shane by her side.

“Tengo miedo a perder la maravilla… de tus ojos de estatua y el acento, que de noche me pone en la mejilla la solitaria rosa de tu aliento…”.

[“Never let me lose the marvel… of your statue-like eyes, or the accent, the solitary rose of your breath places on my cheek at night…”]

“…Tengo pena de ser en esta orilla tronco sin ramas; y lo que más siento es no tener la flor, pulpa o arcilla, para el gusano de mi sufrimiento…”.

[“I am afraid of being, on this shore, a branchless trunk, and what I most regret is having no flower, pulp, or clay for the worm of my despair…”]

“…Si tú eres el tesoro oculto mío, si eres mi cruz y mi dolor mojado, si soy el perro de tu señorío, no me dejes perder lo que he ganado y decora las aguas de tu río con hojas de mi otoño enajenado”.

[“…If you are my hidden treasure, if you are my cross, my dampened pain, if I am a dog, and you alone my master, never let me lose what I have gained, and adorn the branches of your river with leaves of my estranged Autumn”]*.

Carmen smiled to herself, satisfied to remember one of the greatest poems Federico Garcia Lorca had ever written about love and loss, and to have someone to dedicate those words to. For the very first time in years, Carmen felt like those words really belonged to her. She had always felt their fascination, but it was something so far away from what she was, from what her life was, that sometimes she had cried.

That night, instead, she smiled, and thought that maybe tomorrow wouldn’t be that bad.

”…A friend in need’s a friend indeed
A friend who’ll tease is better
Our thoughts compressed
Which makes us blessed
And makes for stormy weather…”

***

The phone rang and Shane gave an apologetic look to her customer, a rich woman around forty that reminded her of Cherie, in a itching and slightly pestering way.

“I’ll be right back”, she stated, politely, and the woman nodded and gave her a flirtatious look through the mirror.