Shane disappeared halfway through the banquet, only reemerging near the end. Carmen, bogged down with work, couldn't find the time to look for Shane. After that speech Shane gave, which she knew was targeted specifically at her, Carmen wanted very much to talk to her. But the streams of people refused to let her go, and she was bounced from one group to another. In the end, she had to call for a debriefing meeting, which was the right thing to do.
Shane would have to wait.
Shane walked towards the banquet hall from the lobby, hoping to run into Carmen. She wanted to see the reaction of her girlfriend in regards to her speech. It definitely affected Carmen, because she stared after her the entire time she walked towards the kitchen. As much as Shane didn't want to admit, her heart was pounding out of her chest; she hoped her speech wasn't too obvious, she didn't want to get anyone - specifically Carmen - in trouble, and yet, she wanted to let Carmen know how she felt.
Before she made it to the banquet hall though, she saw Tera and the butch sound engineer walk out of it. She spent a good part of the banquet talking to Tera – she didn't remember anything said, because it was just to pissed Carmen off – and now it would be rude if she ignored the girl. She gave Tera a faint smile, and a super fake smile as Tera introduced Max to her. Max was flirting openly with Carmen, and Shane regarded her as competition and therefore the enemy.
"So… Shane… We are going to head out for drinks after Max and gang finish loading their equipment. Do you want to come along?" Tera winked at Shane. "It would be really fun with you around." She said, in that low sultry voice that would have drove many crazy. But it didn't work with Shane, being very much pre-occupied by Carmen.
She shook her head, "I'm joining my crew for drinks."
Tera, not getting the hint at all, replied, "Oh, in that case, why don't we all go together."
Shane grimaced inwardly, she wasn't getting good vibes from Tera Benovici. Reluctantly, she gave Max and Tera the address to the bar they were going to before excusing herself, to continue in her search for Carmen.
Shane walked into the banquet hall, when she didn't see Carmen around, she made her way into the kitchen, her crew were cleaning up, and changing out of their work attire, so she headed to her locker to get rid of her uniform too.
"Yo boss, where have you been?" Alice nudged Shane on the arm.
"Just took a breather." Shane shrugged as she threw her uniform into her duffle bag.
"Ah… You okay right? The cow's not bothering you anymore right?"
"Alice. Quit calling Miss Morales a cow… If you say it one more time, I swear I'll smack you." Shane warned, holding a finger between Alice's eyes, making sure her message was loud and clear. "And thank you, I am fine."
"Okay… geez… you suck when you are irritable." Alice pouted, pissed that for some reason, the subject of Carmen Morales always managed to cause a rift between her best friend and her.
"Whatever. You ready to leave yet?" Shane asked, her other crew members had all gathered together and left, leaving only Jenny, Alice and her. Jenny looked expectantly at Shane and Alice, and knowing she wasn't wanted at the moment, excused herself to join the earlier group heading over to the bar.
"I'm gonna go look for Dana, and see if she wants to join us." Alice said coyly.
"Ah, okay." Shane said with a raised eyebrow. She was partially amused, but she didn't want to make Alice too shy or anything. And the fact that Alice was parting ways with her temporarily meant that she could go look for Carmen again.
"I'll meet you there then." Shane said as Alice made her way out of the locker room.
As soon as Alice made her way out of the kitchen, she saw Dana and the rest coming out of a small separate room in the banquet hall. Dana saw her immediately and waved, a faint blush on her face matching the one on Alice's exactly.
"Hey…" Alice said as she came up to Dana.
"Hey."
"Erm… what's up?"
"Oh… we just finished debriefing… and erm…" Dana flustered, shifting her heels from one side to the other. Before she could think of what to say though, Alice came out and said something that caused her to look up.
"Would you like to go out with me?" Immediately, Alice blushed a bright red and continued, "I mean… we're going for drinks and erm… I was wondering if you would like to join us."
Dana's face lit up, she really would love to spend time with Alice, knowing that every time she was near the chef, her day just felt so much brighter.
"Sure… I er…. I'm gonna ask Carmen to join us okay?" Dana said as she saw Carmen still in that small room, talking to a couple of the newer staff members.
"Geez, that cow?" Alice rolled her eyes. She really couldn't stand Carmen Morales.
"Hey, I really hope you don't call her names. I respect her a lot." Dana frowned. Alice caught the look of disapproval from Dana and stuck out her tongue. She made a mental note to stop calling the cow… oops, the assistant manager names; giving Dana a bad impression was the last thing she wanted to do.
"Sorry… Erm… okay… So…"
"So…."
"So…"
" I'll go ask Carmen, and then I gotta go get my stuff…" Dana said.
"Er… okay…" The two stared at each other awkwardly, knowing that they had to move, but both reluctant to leave. In the end, it was Carmen who emerged from the room that broke their awkward silence.
"Dana? Miss Piezsecki?" Carmen walked over.
Alice managed a small smile at the assistant manager and excused herself, "Miss Morales… Erm… so I'll wait for you at the lobby okay? See you, Miss Morales."
As Alice made her way towards the lobby, Carmen looked on with a sigh. She knew Alice Piezsecki hates her, but she didn't really understand why. She didn't have time to dwell on it though, because Dana caught her attention.
"Hey Carm, we are going for drinks. You wanna join us?"
"Er… no, I don't think so… Don't think Alice would like that." Carmen shook her head.
"… she don't know you, that's all…" Dana tried to pacify Carmen.
"It's okay Dane, I have stuff to do anyway." What Carmen wanted to do desperately was to find Shane and tell her how much she loved her. But she couldn't tell Dana that.
Dana shrugged, "Okay… see you on Monday then."
Carmen came out into the lobby and saw Alice pacing the lobby. She knew the assistant chef was waiting for Dana and decided to try to talk to the woman.
"Hey Miss Piezsecki." Carmen tapped Alice on her shoulder, causing Alice to turn with a start. "Sorry 'bout that, I was wondering if you have seen Miss McCutheon around?"
Alice hadn't really had much contact with Carmen, but she knew she didn't like the assistant manager much. Because her boss and best friend, Shane always seemed unhappy whenever Carmen was around or was mentioned. Right now though, Carmen was very nicely asking for Shane, and Alice had to decide what to tell Carmen.
"Erm… I think she left…" Alice said.
"Left?" Carmen frowned, Shane leaving without telling her, that was very uncalled for.
"Er yeah… She had a lot of things on her mind today, so she left right after the banquet." Alice lied, she was certain that Carmen wanted to talk to Shane about work, and Shane would not want to join them for drinks by the end of the day; So, by telling Carmen that Shane left, she would be spared of the wrath of this feisty Assistant Manager.
"Oh… okay…"
Alice could have swore she saw disappointment on Carmen's face, and suddenly a thought ran through her. 'Maybe Carmen Morales is hitting on Shane, causing Shane to feel pressured every time she is around. That would explain why Carmen is always hanging around the kitchen and trying to show her superiority.'
"Shane had some problems with her girlfriend," Alice lied again, not knowing that it was closer to the truth then she think. "So she went home to sort things out." She had no idea that Carmen was Shane's girlfriend, and wanted to inform Carmen that Shane had a girlfriend; just in case the assistant manager had an ulterior motive. She expected a different reaction from Carmen though, because Carmen's face lit up and broke into a slight grin.
"Really, I see… Thank you Miss Piezsecki." Carmen said as she walked off.
'Oh my god! She is happy because Shane has problems with her girlfriend. She is so goddamn evil!' Alice scowled as she watched the Latina walk off.
Carmen was jumping for joy – inwardly anyway – because Alice just told that Shane had rushed home. For her… just for her. The part about 'problems with her girlfriend' part was troubling, but at least it meant that they were going to be able to talk tonight, and maybe everything would turn out just fine.
She hurried towards the elevators, eager to get her stuff from the office and head home. She wanted to be there as soon as possible. And fall into her lover's safe arms as soon as she could.
The elevator door opened, and before Carmen could get in, a pair of hands grabbed her from inside and pushed her out.
"You are walking me out." Larry said.
At first shocked, Carmen slung an arm around her old friend when she realized it was Larry. "You are leaving already?" Carmen asked when she saw the suitcase Larry was carrying.
"Yeap, meeting at Continental remember?" Larry informed, striding towards the lobby with Carmen in hand.
"I wish you are staying…"
"Me too… I'll try to meet you for lunch before I leave L.A." Larry said as he gathered Carmen in his arms. Carmen hugged him back tightly, genuinely sad that Larry was leaving. She walked hand in hand with him towards the entrance of the hotel, passed a very curious Alice.
Alice stared after them, watching shamelessly as Carmen laughed and giggled with the tall dashing man; until Dana came up behind her and tapped her shoulder.
"Hey, watcha look'in at?" Dana asked, her eyes following to where Alice was staring.
"Looking at Miss Morales flirting with that guy." Alice said, her eyes never lifted away from Carmen. "Is that her boyfriend?"
"That's not her boyfriend…" Dana answered, she tapped Alice again, to get her attention, "Come on with me Alice, I gotta use the restroom."
They turned away and walked towards the restroom, near the banquet hall, and they both stopped abruptly as they saw Shane standing right at the exit. They could tell Shane was fuming mad, the murderous look she had in the morning had returned.
"Shane? Are you okay?" Alice asked concerned.
"I'm fine." Shane said through gritted teeth, completely unconvincing. As Dana did before, Alice followed Shane's gaze towards the entrance of the hotel, and saw Carmen planting a kiss on the tall man's face, holding his hand 'lovingly' as he boarded a cab.
"What's wrong?" Alice asked again, unsure of why Shane was so mad. "Why are you so obsessed with Carmen Morales anyway?"
Without answering Alice, Shane directed her question to Dana, "Who's that guy with Car… Miss Morales?"
Dana waved it off, "Oh, he's Carmen's old college buddy, he's hot, isn't he… Carmen should totally go for him."
"IF she's not fucking him already." Alice rolled her eyes, "Maybe if she gets with him, she wouldn't be so uptight."
"Alice!" Dana said.
Alice looked apologetically at Dana, knowing that that was one more point down for her. She tried to change the topic instead, "Erm… so you… like hot guys huh?"
"I… no… I'm…" Dana flustered, not really sure what to say… she turned to Shane, hoping Shane would give her some help, but Shane just turned around and walked back into the banquet hall.
After seeing Larry off, Carmen turned back towards the lobby… feeling quite joyful; the more she thought about Shane and working out their problems, the more she felt confident that nothing was going to get in the way of their relationship.
Except the fact that Shane just walked out of the banquet hall with Tera Benovici.
Shane was carrying a couple of amplifiers walking – and laughing – beside Tera Benovici who was pushing a cart of sound equipment. Carmen immediately hid beside an artificial palm tree, watching and fuming as Shane seemed to be enjoying the company of that slutty host. Alice's words rang in her head,
Shane had some problems with her girlfriend, and she went home to sort things out.
"Bullshit." Carmen murmured under her breath, scooting behind the shadows as the two women passed her. Tera Benovici placed her arm around Shane, and Shane did not reject the slut. That made her mad… very mad… hopping mad…
"Well… You are going to get it from me at home." Carmen turned angrily and headed towards the office.
"Thanks for helping us Shane." Max flung the last of the sand bags into the van. "Do you wanna ride to the bar?"
Shane had stomped into the banquet hall, angry at the affections that Carmen was showering on… on… this guy. Shane was so jealous that she had to avoid the tables for fear that she would overturn anything that was in her way. Max came up to her and chatted with her a little, and Shane, to get her mind off her problems, offered to help Max with her equipment. She didn't expect Tera to be helping as well.
"No… it's okay… I've got my own car." Shane declined. "You guys go ahead."
"Okay… your call." Max shrugged.
Tera grabbed onto Max's arm, clearly moving onto her next target. "Okay then Shane. We'll see you at the bar."
With that, Tera, Max and the other members of the sound crew got into the van and drove off.
Shane sighed as she turned back towards the staff parking garage to grab her car.
Carmen had spent the last few hours staring at the television. She sat through a hare-brain movie, "Just your Luck" to a crappy re-run of a daytime soap, Carmen didn't care. Heck, she wasn't even watching. Instead, her ears were keenly seeking the sound of any car coming into the driveway, or footsteps coming up the stairs, or even the keys clanging around on the doorknob. She was trying to hear some signs… any signs at all… for Shane coming home.
But Shane never came home. From a brightly lit sky, to an orange-hued overcast, to pitch-blackness, Carmen waited… and waited.
And every minute she waited, her over-zealous imagination continued to feed itself, her anger growing. She kept on replaying that moment that Shane was walking out with Tera. That bitch. Even those moments during the banquet looked more and more suspicious after Carmen went into overdrive with her analysis. And like a movie, her mind started playing scenes that were not seen: Shane and the bitch kissing, Shane and the slut making out, Shane and the whore in bed…. Shane and the cunt… threesome!
Carmen started tearing a little. Screw Shane… screw her for all these feelings. And Carmen cried herself to sleep.
Carmen woke up with a start.
The door creaked open and the shuffling of feet on the parquet floor woke her. She was having a bad dream about Shane and Tera, and now that Shane was back, she was more than ready for war.
But Shane, who saw Carmen sitting at the couch, broke into a huge drunken grin and stumbled over. "Hi baby…" Shane tripped on the edge of the couch and fell forward, pinning her very pissed off girlfriend underneath her.
Carmen tried to push her away, but Shane grabbed onto her hard and kissed her cheeks. "I missed you so much… *hick* Miss you… I love you Carmen…" Carmen wanted to stay angry at the chef, but Shane was making it hard with her sweet little confessions.
"I love you so much, you have… *hick* no… no idea… *hick* Baby… I love… love…" Shane said as she scooted to a more comfortable position, still pinning Carmen.
Carmen couldn't help but wonder if Shane was actually saying what she was saying because she was drunk. Or if she had done something wrong during that few hours of absence. She knew it was pointless to confront Shane now… Because Shane was dead to the world. She stopped resisting as Shane continued to place kisses onto her face.
"I love you… I love you so much… *hick* I want nothing more than you being happy. If you are happy Baby… I am *hick* happy…"
Right now, Carmen wasn't very happy, and as she stroked her drunken lover's hair who was lying on her chest, she drifted off to sleep not knowing if she would be happy in the morning.