7 - The Softer Side

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The next day at work, I arrived super early. I made sure to get up before Jay did and make it out the house before he could even notice that I had been home. When I had arrived home the day before, Jay wasn't there and there was a note saying he was out with his mother. I was in bed when he finally did return.

I wanted to explain the crack in the mirror to Carmen while still being a good employee. I made sure to stop by the nearest Starbucks and pick up her favorite coffee drink. I had it waiting for her when she arrived...thirty minutes late.

I stood in front of her with my hands on my hips silently demanding an explanation. She only sighed dreamily and moved passed me barely noticing the world around her.

"Carmen!" I called out to her and it shook her slightly out of her trance. She turned to face me still with a blissful smile on her face.

"If I didn't know he was your son, I would say that you were falling in love."

"Oh Evie," she cooed as if I was a naïve little child. "I am in love! I'm in love with my beautiful baby boy only he's not a baby anymore."

I groaned aloud and she began to twirl around with her coffee and hum on her way to the dressing room. I followed her and stood with my arms crossed as she got into her work clothes.

"You didn't spend the night here." It wasn't a question. I noticed it right away that the extra bed had not been touched since the night before. I also noticed when Carmen was nowhere to be found this morning.

"No," Carmen agreed. "I have even more good news! My renovations are moving along faster than expected! The master bedroom is done but the guest room isn't quite there yet."

I ground my teeth together in irritation. "Your life is just so peachy right now huh?"

"You have no idea," Carmen stated. I sighed running both of my hands through my hair. I needed to push all my personal feelings aside about Carmen and her life.

"Carmen, I need to talk to you for a moment." I tried to turn this into a serious note. I had to tell Carmen about the mirror since she hadn't noticed it on the way in. I didn't know why she hadn't fallen to the ground in horror at the sight of the large crack. This studio was Carmen's baby or at least it was until she found her actual baby.

"Anything Eves," Carmen said as she pulled on her shoes. Her back was toward me and she seemed not to have a care in the world.

"It's a serious matter." Carmen still didn't turn toward me. She didn't seem to have the slightest interest in what I had to say. "I broke on of the middle mirrors on the right wall."

"That's nice," she mumbled to herself.

My jaw dropped as I gaped at the back of her head. I would have bet my life that Carmen would've chewed my head off for even thinking about breaking one of her mirrors. This studio was her life and after two days with her son she was ready to forget about all of that? What the heck was that boy doing to her?

"That's nice?" I asked walking over to make eye contact with her. "I break a mirror and that's nice? What is wrong with you?"

Carmen set her foot down and gave me a frustrated sigh as if she was blaming me for not understanding her reasoning. "We've needed new mirrors for quite a while now. I can't think of a better reason to get some now."

"New mirrors?" I wondered aloud. This was the first I had ever heard of that. "Just last week you made me stay after work to polish all the mirrors because, and I quote, 'there is nothing wrong with the old structure of things'."

"Well now there is something wrong with the structure of the mirror, isn't there?"

I bit my lip. I had never had a serious argument with Carmen before. I felt like I was seeing a new side of her.

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