CARMENDave and I had not spoken to each other in private for a week.These days, he seemed to be more occupied with Kate. Kate’s little sister, Nova, was back from her trip to Paris and was being introduced to us soon as we would all be having dinner together with their family, along with Jasper and Frank.My mom was going around the house, making sure everything was in order as we had been informed that Nova did not hesitate to comment on something she didn’t like.“I just don’t understand why we’re doing this whole thing,” Dave spoke up, gesturing at the entire table which was filled with every food I could think of from different countries. “Don’t you think it’s a little overboard?”“Nonsense!” Steve argued. “It’s the first time we’re all going to be together, complete. There’s no such thing as overboard here.”Dave had been annoyed about something for the past few days, but I was not going to ask him. It would only put more pressure on him, especially if he didn’t want to talk to

CARMENI couldn’t breathe. I had to claw at my throat to draw up air in short gasps and pants.“No, no, no, this… this isn’t right,” I muttered to myself, scrolling down on the news piece, hoping to see grainy pictures from a prom that wasn’t ours so that we would deflect those rumours immediately, but my fingers stopped scrolling at one of the many pictures attached to the article. It was obviously me and Dave, and even we couldn’t deny that.How did they get a hold of those pictures?I had avoided Dave for long enough; we had to talk about it.Before I could stand up and head to Dave’s room, there were three rapid knocks on my door.I rushed to open it, knowing it could be one person.“Have you seen this—”“Get in!” I pulled him into the room, slamming the door and he shoved his phone in my face, making me stare at the same article I had just read.“Someone sent a link of this to me. It’s not a big broadcasting company, so it hasn’t spread like wildfire, but I know it will. How did

CARMENI had never wanted to run away from a place as much as I felt the need to run away from the restaurant I had just stepped into.I could see Jasper and Dave sitting in the corner of the restaurant, having a heated conversation. The first person to look up in the direction of the door and see me was Jasper.He beckoned me over with a serious look on his face, and I walked towards them as slowly as possible, breathing deeply.“What’s going on here?” I asked with as much casual air as I could give off, hoping that they wouldn’t sense my nervousness like a shark would sense blood in the ocean, especially Jasper.“That is what we’re both trying to figure out, Carmen. What is going on?” Jasper repeated the question, staring at me as if expecting an answer.I glanced at Dave, trying to gauge if Jasper was talking about what I thought he was talking about, but Dave gave off nothing. He only stared at me the same way that Jasper was, almost having me believe that they were both toying wi

CARMENI gasped when I was given the chance as he wrapped his arms around my waist, and I managed to pull away to get a chance to speak.“Dave,” I breathed, looking around in fear and suspicion. “Dave, what are you doing?”He sighed, stepping back and away from me. He shook his head, and I could see the regret on his face.“I’m sorry, Carmen. I didn’t know what else to do. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that.”“Maybe?” I scoffed. “How’s this for a maybe, Dave; maybe you shouldn’t have ignored me for weeks just to drag me into a room and kiss me after we just got married?!”“I know,” he agreed with an apologetic tone. “I was lost, Carmen. I thought that maybe if I pretended that this was the life I wanted, I would come to terms with it. I thought that I could find something to give Kate while you find something to give Jasper, and that would be it, but I can’t do it. This is hard for me, Carmen. I want you, and I can’t help it.”My heart pumped and popped like a balloon, and I placed my h

CARMENI took slow steps towards Jasper’s mother, a faint smile on my face as I bent in front of her and placed my hands on hers.“Can you see me?” I questioned, but her eyes were no longer focused on me as they had been when I was standing a few feet away. They were focused on the spot where I was standing earlier.“I don’t know if you can hear me, but if you can, I’m sure you already know who I am by now. I’m Carmen, your daughter-in-law. I don’t really know what Jasper’s like – we didn’t exactly fall in love the way people normally do,” I laughed.I looked around, not sure why I was about to say what I wanted to say next.“If you can hear me, respond by squeezing my hands if you can,” I whispered.It wasn’t fair to suspect that she was pretending to be disabled, but it could be if she had something to be afraid of or someone to spy on. Frank, perhaps.I waited in silence, my eyes filled with expectation and curiosity as I waited for her to squeeze my hand