Where Valentina Went

Part 7-Tango

Part Seven- Tango

Summers in New York City were lovely.

They also burned hotter than hell.

The past months had gone by easily, with performances every day except for Mondays. It was August in New York and I was living with Carter in a new apartment.

I had decided not to go back to the apartment Kyle and I shared. There were too many memories. Instead, Carter was struggling with his rent and we decided to go halfsies on a new slightly bigger apartment. It was still small but it was gorgeous, with hardwood floors and French windows and a view of a park under us.

It was a strange mix of furniture, with Carter's "guy-ish" articles and my homier, pretty things. For example, we had my mother's Korean antique vases sitting on top of Carter's Xbox game console.

It was odd, but it worked.

Since we had performances nearly every day, we were practically together 24/7. I sat on a ledge back stage, tying up my shoelaces, and waiting for the ques. Every Wednesday and Friday, we did shows twice a day and almost every day, the theater was practically full.

"So," Kara sits next to me, lacing up her shoes as well, "How are you doing? Douche bag Carl is gone and you're on the rebound."

"Actually, pretty well." I smile at her.

"Yeah, I saw you do the walk of shame this morning," she laughs and I roll my eyes.

"It was totally worth it, remember the cute guy from that weird bar last week?" I raise my eyebrows at her and she chuckles.

"I was sure he was gay, I owe Kasey some money," she explains and I shake my head.

"Lemme tell you... definitely not gay." I giggle and then tape my toes together to avoid blisters.

"I'm surprised Carter hasn't said anything," Kara mutters and stands up.

"Why would he say anything?" I ask her.

"Seriously?" she looks at me in surprise, "You don't see it?"

"See what?" I ask, stretching down to touch my toes en pointe.

"Tina..." she trails off, "he likes you."

"Carter?" I laugh, "Carter Stone? He doesn't like people, he hooks up with them."

"Nah, you've been living together for a new months, has he brought a girl home?" Kara asks me.

"I assume that he's been going to her place," I shrug. "He doesn't like me."

"He likes you," she insists, "He's even nicer to you then everyone else."

"No he doesn't!" I deny.

"Really? Fine, I'm going to go up to Carter and ask him if I can take an early lunch, and then you will. Let's see what happens." She suggests and I shrug. She walks up to Carter and taps his shoulder. "Can I take an early lunch today, please?"

"No. We have too much work to do," he tells her and she sighs, walking to me.

"Your turn," she says and I roll my eyes.

"Carter, can I take off right after the performance? I've got a ton of laundry to do and I thought I'd pick up dinner from Leela's." I suggest and he nods.

"Yeah sure, make sure to get the empanadas. They're my favorite," he grins at me and I smile uneasily back. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, what?" I look at him with wide eyes, "I'm fine."