Where the Streets Have No Name
Chapter 64
Carmen was making her way from the kitchen toward the living-cum-dining space carrying a casserole. There was no clutter; there was no mess. The place looked impeccably clean with light music playing in the background adding to the ambiance. Scented candles were lit and placed strategically to illuminate the place just right.
The table was laid with their best china and silver. Smell of freshly made fajita reached his nose, reminding him how hungry he was.
But it was Carmen who surprised Edward the most. Or her appearance to be more precise.
Carmen looked... perfectly alright.
In fact, she looked normal.
Instead of the bathrobe that usually hung around her frame, she had an elegantly stylish cocktail dress on. The sickly palor that her skin had begun to take was skillfully veiled under makeup. Her eyes were bright with spirit and anticipation.
Noticing his presence, Carmen turned and flashed him a smile.
"Edward, you're home!" she said with enthusiasm as if she had been looking forward to his arrival.
She sounded lucid and alert. She looked nothing like the woman he had left home that morning. Quite the opposite in fact.
The woman standing before him with her coy smile and inviting eyes reminded Edward of the Carmen he had met over a year ago.
"Carmen?" he said, questioning more than acknowledging her presence. "What's going on?"
Carmen gave him a perplexed look, as if it was an everyday event for Edward to come home to a warm meal and a loving wife.
"What? It's just dinner. Come on, don't look so shocked. You know I can cook," Carmen said with clever nonchalance.
Edward kept staring with his jaw agape. This was too good to be true. Had Carmen started her meds again? What did she take? A new cocktail? What made her come back from the brink? Had she really?
Her eyes didn't hold the tell-tale euphoric restlessness of a hyper state. Though he hadn't witnessed Carmen go through too many of those in the past year; her symptoms manifesting mostly toward the down end of the spectrum.
Yet there she stood, seemingly whole and all put together.
God, please let this be true.
Thank you Lulabelle98, HeidiJoVT, and Dinx.