darkness and death would have been preferable to the dream carmen awoke from. she was shivering in a cold sweat when the bright light of her alarm clock brought her back to where she actually was safe in her apartment. she pressed her hand against the scar on her chest, breathing hard.
inhale for four seconds, pause for four seconds, exhale for four seconds.
she was safe. it was okay to calm down, it had been just a dream. her limbs felt shaky, twitching and too big. she could barely feel her fingertips.
carmen thanked her lucky stars that she didn't have to go into one of her many jobs the rest of the day. too wired to fall asleep, she thought of other activities she could do instead. she couldn't be here in bed. swinging her bare legs over the edge of her bed, she headed for the balcony. not bothering with lights, she reached her hand out in front of her, groping walls and sofas until she came to the living room, finally able to see the doorway from the city lights. she opened the balcony door open, inhaling crisp night air, forcing herself to see the sky and breathe.
she was safe. it was just a nightmare.
the night before her was quiet, calm. the streetlights glowed like lamps while radio and cell phone towers sent comforting red reminders of their existence. one neighbor's light was flickering out on carmen's right.
feeling the faint chill of the night she walked back inside, falling onto the sofa. mindlessly she turned on the TV, blankly watching when suddenly her phone rumbled beside her. she picked it up to look at the message.
the text was from luke.
luke hemmings had sent her a message.
at three in the morning.
carmen raised an eyebrow but opened the message anyway. "can't wait to see you again," she read aloud. "we can start this thursday. ever been on a red carpet?"
she found herself smiling and a little confused as she texted back.
carmen: no? never been. u woke me up from a really bad nightmare. i'll have sweet dreams now ;)
usually, carmen wasn't really flirty at three in the morning. most of the time she was grumpy and vulnerable.
luke sent her back a text immediately.
luke: those are the worst. luckily i'm still dreaming of u and me in that bathroom.
a blush rose up carmen's neck and she became too flustered to type anything back. she read the text again and something settled inside her chest. maybe she read it more than once.
she was in the middle of reading the text again and watching TV when joslyn came out with a carton of half eaten ice cream. she could tell by her sister's sudden stop that her eyes were narrowing. she flicked on the light.
"nightmare." carmen informed, holding her hands up in surrender.
joslyn's gaze dropped from suspicious to understanding at once. "sorry to hear it." she put the ice cream back in the freezer and moved to the sofa. "i was up all night reading the gossip about luke hemmings and his new mystery girl."
