Carmen stood in her mother’s kitchen, chopping up carrots and cabbages absentmindedly. Mercedes and her sister Carla were chattering the sun down, updating on the gossips in the neighborhood.

 “…and Carmen is not listening at all.” Both Mercedes and Carla stared intently at Carmen, but she was still in her own world, oblivious to the fact that her mother and her sister had stopped talking.

 “Carmen? Are you okay?” Carla touched Carmen’s forearm lightly, and she jumped.

 “Huh? What? Oh yeah… Uncle Norm is really sweet.”

Mercedes put down the ladle she was holding and placed her hands on her hips. “We stopped talking about Uncle Norm ten minutes ago.” Mercedes mused. “Okay. What’s wrong, Carmen. Are you feeling ill?” Mercedes frowned as she asked with concern.

“Nothing, momma.”

“You appear in my house at 6am in the morning, and had been in a daze the entire time. What’s wrong?”

“Really nothing, mamita… I just miss you, that’s all.”

“You fight with Shane?” Mercedes asked knowingly.

“No momma, we didn’t fight.”

Carmen looked at Mercedes, tears unknowingly started welling in her eyes. She didn’t know what they were for, she only knew that there was something weighing down in her heart. About Shane, about her mother. And now Mercedes seemed to be able to see through her.

Carla put her arms comfortingly around Carmen. Carmen just stayed silent, concentrating on making sure every piece of carrot she chopped was of equal size.

After the intensive loving, Carmen still felt empty inside. She was hungry for Shane and the whole night through she made Shane come. She knew the way Shane screamed her name was proof that Shane was hers and only hers. But she wanted more. What might that be, she hadn’t a clue. As she laid in bed with Shane dozing by her side, she found herself unable to think, still full of lust every time her hands came in contact with skin of her lover. So she got out of bed and went out into the hall.

Carmen figured that she wanted Shane to be upfront with her about everything. The mystery caller was weighing heavy in her mind and she wanted to prove to Shane and to herself that Shane was hers alone. But it still wasn’t enough. Carmen love Shane, and she knew Shane love her deeply as well. So what was wrong then?