Carmen

Devra followed me out of the room and just before we stepped through the front door, she turned to address Brittany and her friend.

"We'll be back later for the rest of her stuff. I can't fucking believe you ended it like this. Have fun with...her." Devra scolded them.

"It's not like that." Brittany's friend replied.

"Yeah? Go fuck yourself anyway." Devra spat, then slammed the door shut behind her.

I didn't say anything on the ride to Devra's place. I just stared out the window, feeling lost as to what was going to happen now.

I didn't have much of a chance to think about things though, as Devra lived close to my...er, Brittany's house. Devra's husband, Brian, was in the garage as soon as we pulled in and got all of my bags out of her car. After setting my stuff in their spare bedroom, Brian joined us in the kitchen and gave me a warm hug.

"Sorry to hear about your troubles, Gracie." He said, hugging me a bit tighter while rubbing my back.

"Thanks, B. Sorry to invade your happy space." I replied.

"You're never an inconvenience, baby." Devra assured me.

"That's for damn sure. You're welcome here for as long as you need to be." Brian added.

"C'mon, dear. Let's get you settled in." I followed Devra into the room that I would be occupying for the foreseeable future. It was a fairly spacious room. While the closet wasn't a walk-in, it was still big and would easily store all of my stuff. It even had an attached bathroom, so I didn't have to worry about being in the way in the mornings.

Devra and I got my belongings put away and chatted a little, which helped calm me down. After we were done in my room, we found Brian out on the back patio. I filled him in on the story of tonight as well as all of the other drama that had been going on with Brit and I. He had heard most of it from Devra, but there were some parts he hadn't. After talking for a while, he suggested that we should probably eat some dinner. Unfortunately, all of my drama had happened right as they were thinking about food, so they were getting hungry. I was surprisingly hungry as well. We took the easy route and ordered pizza.

Devra took me by Brittany's house the next morning so I could get my car and I followed her to work. I had thought about taking the day off, but I decided that I wasn't going to waste a day feeling sad about a woman that no longer cared about me.

To keep my mind off of my breakup, I put in my headphones and focused on work. My "work" currently consisted of searching for apartments for rent. I was scrolling through pics of a cute little place when out of nowhere I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders. I about jumped out of my seat and quickly yanked my earbuds out. I turned my chair quickly to see Carmen standing there with a shocked look on her face.

"I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have done that! I thought you noticed me as I walked in." She apologized.

"It's ok. I'm sorry. I was just zoning out." I explained.

"I just wanted to check up on you and make sure you were ok?" She said.

Wait? Had she heard about Brit and me already? I know Devra wouldn't have said anything and I hadn't talked about it to anyone else in the office. The confused look on my face must have said it all.

"Your headache yesterday? Are you feeling better today?" She reminded me.

"Oh! Yes, yes, I'm feeling much better. Your back rub helped." I said.

"Great! Happy I could help." She replied.

An awkward silence fell between us. I was surprised but happy to see her. Knowing that she made a trip out of her way to check on me made me feel happy. I was always happy when I saw Carmen, so why was I having so much trouble finding something to say?

"So...uhm... are you and your fiancée looking for a new place?" She asked.

"Huh?" I questioned.

"I'm sorry, I happened to notice you were looking at apartments." She replied, motioning to my monitor. She probably thought I was an idiot by the way I was acting.

"Oh..., ah, no. No, I'm, uhm, I'm looking for myself.

I glanced over at Devra and could see the smirk on her face. Carmen caught my glance and she looked at Devra and then back to me.

"Oh. Well... cool. I...I should probably get back to work, you know. Lots of things to purchase." She laughed nervously.

Carmen spun around and quickly walked out of the department. I looked over at Devra, who was still grinning, and furrowed my brow like "WTF?"

"What?" She asked with a guilty tone.

"What are you smiling about?" I asked.

"Nothing. Just watching you fumble over yourself like a young teen with her first crush." She said quietly.

"Oh please! It's not like that at all. She's way out of my league, and besides, she plays for the wrong team." I argued, trying to keep my voice down.

"Ok." She replied sarcastically while rolling her eyes.

So what if I found Carmen attractive? I was free to look but it didn't mean I was interested in her. I mean, Devra was a pretty woman herself and there was no way in hell I wanted her like that.

I put my earbuds back in and went back to looking at apartments. I had found a few I was interested in and saved the numbers to a note on my phone. I'd call about them later.

About 2:00 pm that afternoon, I went to the break room and made a few phone calls about the apartments I had found. I was hoping I could at least see one of them after work, but the first one I called about was being shown to a few people that night. I was talking to the landlord of the second place when Carmen walked into the break room followed by an engineer. I recognized him, but I wasn't sure of his name. I was pretty sure I didn't like him though. I was picking up parts of their conversation while the person on the phone with me was talking.

"Nope. It'll just be me." I replied to his question about me having a roommate. I glanced over at Carmen as I said it and saw her look away from the engineer and look at me as he babbled on and on to her.

I tried listening to the gentleman on my phone call but I totally blocked him out when I heard the engineer ask Carmen out for drinks after work. I quickly glanced at her before turning my back to them and asking my prospective landlord to please repeat himself.

Luck was on my side as I was able to set up a time to see the apartment that evening! I ended the call and when I turned back around, Carmen was standing there alone.

"Hi." I said softly.

"Hey." She replied. The awkward silence had returned.

"So...I'm sorry, but I overheard your phone call. Were you able to get an apartment?" She asked.

"I'm going to look at one tonight." I told her.

"Cool." She answered. She was leaning back against the counter, staring into her coffee cup.

"I hope it works out for you." She said. She started to head towards the door.

"My girlfriend broke up with me." I spoke, causing her to stop.

"Last night. We've been having problems. For a while actually." I explained.

"I'm so sorry, Grace." She offered.

Carmen turned and stepped over to where I was standing.

"Do you need to talk?" She asked.

"Not right now. I'm trying to stay positive and get back on my feet." I answered as I fought back tears. "I'm staying with Devra and her husband for now. I'm in their spare bedroom." I explained.

"That's very nice of them. You have a good friend." Carmen said.

"I know, but I don't want to be a burden for any longer than I have to." I told her.

"Hopefully you get this place you're looking at tonight. Is it cute?" She asked.

"Yeah! At least in the pictures. It's small, but it's perfect for me. Plus it's not too far from Devra." I said.

"Do you want someone to look at it with you?" Carmen asked. Did she really mean that?!

"Uhm, sure. Yeah! That would be great." I said.

"I'm sorry. I just invited myself." She apologized.

"Don't be silly. I'd love it if you came with me." I assured her.

"Great! I'd much rather spend time with you, and now I won't be lying to Carson." She explained.

"Oh. Not falling for his charms?" I joked.

"Eh, no. He's a little too full of himself. He knows I'm not interested, but...persistence I guess. I'm not sure there would be room at the table for me anyway, between him and his ego!" Carmen laughed.

We both had a good laugh at that! Wow, what a turn of events. I tried to remain calm and relaxed on the outside, but inside I was giddy at the idea of spending time with Carmen.

======X*X======

Carmen met the landlord and I in front of the building. He explained that the current tenants were still living here, but their lease was up in a few months, and they weren't renewing it. He took us up and unlocked the door for us. He told us to look around and he'd wait outside for us.

The place was cute and it was in really good condition. It had been remodeled 3 years ago but still looked fresh. There weren't any funky odors or stains, which was almost unbelievable. As we walked from room to room, I realized that Carmen had quite the sense of humor. In the bathroom, she stood in the shower with me.

"Oh yeah. Plenty of room for two people to... move around in here." She said, with an emphasis on move.

When she stood in front of the vanity, she pressed on it to see how sturdy it was. She jokingly pretended like she was going to set one leg up on the vanity top and leaned forward, looking over her shoulder at me. My god, the view she gave me made my heart race. I knew she was just being silly and I laughed it off. In the bedroom, she kept the jokes going.

"Look at that bed. I bet it's seen some crazy shit." She probably wasn't wrong. The bed had a dip in the center and the comforter looked a little worse for wear. I had just gotten over seeing Carmen bent over the bathroom counter when she grabbed a hold of me and pulled me back onto the bed. When she landed, her breasts bounced and strained against her top. They looked incredible and I wondered if they were real. My head landed next to hers and I caught the scent of her shampoo. She smelled incredible.

"Oh my god! I can't believe you pulled me onto this bed! Can you imagine the forensics report on this thing?!" I joked.

"Don't lie. You know you like it." She laughed.

I jumped off the bed and offered my hand to her. Hers was as soft and warm as I remembered, with a firm grip. No wonder she gave such good massages. As I helped her up, she stumbled and fell against me. Her face was within inches of mine and our eyes locked for a brief moment. A playful smile formed on her face before she stepped away from me.

"I wonder how thin the walls are?" She questioned. I just shook my head.

We finished the tour of the apartment without too many more innuendos and joined the landlord out in front. He discussed the price with me and what was and wasn't included as far as utilities and amenities. There was laundry access in the basement and one side of the 2-car garage would be mine with the lease. I knew that there weren't many decent apartments for rent at the moment and I didn't want to inconvenience Devra and Brian longer than absolutely necessary. I told him I'd take it and I signed the papers that night.

After I finished up with my new landlord, Carmen and I stopped at my car.

"Thank you for coming and walking through with me. It was nice to have the extra set of eyes." I told her.

"I'm not sure how much help I was, but you're welcome. I think you made a good choice." She replied. There was another moment of silence.

"So, what have you got going on now?" I asked.

"Probably heading home." She said after a slight pause.

"Oh. Ok. Uhm, Devra and her husband should have dinner ready. I could let them know you're coming...If you want to, that is?" I offered.

"Thank you for the offer, but I don't want to impose. I should get home anyway. Maybe some other time?" Carmen suggested.

"Yeah, that would be nice." I replied.

We both fidgeted with our keys before she leaned in and hugged me. It was just a simple, friendly hug, but the gesture made me happy. We said our goodbyes, and she turned to walk to her car. I sat in my car, mentally berating myself for being such an awkward dumbass. Carmen was just being a friend and here I was making it weird. I waved to her as she drove past and watched her turn the corner and out of my sight. I sighed, put my car in gear, and made my way to Devra's.

"Hey! How did it go?" Devra asked when I walked into the house.

"It was really nice! So nice that I signed a lease for a year!" I announced.

"Yay! But you know you didn't have to be in a rush. It's no problem if you have to stay here for a while." Devra told me, with Brian nodding in agreement.

"I know, but I really need to do this for myself. I need to move on and put all of this behind me. Don't think that I don't appreciate your hospitality though. I owe you big time for all your help." I replied.

"You don't owe us anything. You're basically family and we're happy we could help you. So, tell us about the new place." Brian added.

"It's really cute. It was updated about three years ago and has everything I would need. It's not far away either. I was afraid it was going to be too small, but after we walked through it, and talked about some decorating and furniture ideas, I think it will be great." I explained.

"We? Does the landlord have an eye for decor?" Devra joked.

"Oh, I didn't talk to him about that. Carmen went through it with me." I replied.

"Interesting." Devra responded, with a smirk.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing...nothing at all." Devra feigned innocence.

"Oh, you think...no, uh uh, it's nothing like that." I knew exactly what she was alluding to, but she was wrong. Way wrong.

"Who's Carmen?" Brian asked.

"A woman from work." Devra told him.

"Ok. So what am I missing then?" He asked.

"Nothing, B. There is nothing. Your wife seems to think I have something going on with her though." I argued.

"So this Carmen, does she have Gracie's little heart all a flutter?" Brian asked Devra.

"Absolutely not. Grace vehemently denies it. You should see how Grace looks at her though." Devra commented.

"What?! I don't look at her like... like...inappropriately or like anything." I tried defending myself.

"Is she interested?" Brian asked.

"She went out on a date with Brecklin, so I assume not. I'm sure you've heard about him?" I asked Brian.

"Yeah, I've heard his name a few times. Sounds like a real douche." He replied.

"She's just a friend. That's all." I assured them.

"She'd better not replace me!" Devra exclaimed.

"Oh please!" I replied, which caused the three of us to laugh. Thankfully the conversation switched topics and I wasn't hounded about Carmen for the rest of the night.

======X*X======

The rest of the week was pretty quiet. My mood swings were not fun to deal with though. At times I was in a good mood and was excited about moving into my new apartment soon. Other times I was a wreck thinking about the end of my relationship with Brit. I'd managed to keep it together for the most part, but I did have to escape to the ladies' room a few times to cry.

Thankfully, things were moving along really smoothly at work. At least part of my life was going well. The best part was that today was Friday! The weekend was in sight and I had some shopping planned with Devra. I needed things for my apartment and the list was considerable. I had decided that I wasn't going to argue with Brittany about the stuff I had left behind. She had boxed up most of my things and left them in the garage. It was actually better that way. I didn't have to see her, and I didn't have to waste my time dealing with any drama.

It was 10:30 am, which was my usual break time. I grabbed my change purse and made my way to the break room. There were a few employees in there and I waved and said hello to the ones I knew. I bought a snack and a cup of coffee and found a table. While it wasn't a planned event, it wasn't unusual for Carmen and I to take a break at similar times. We'd join each other and chat for 10-15 minutes then head back to work. Devra usually brought in snacks from home and rarely joined me on break, so it was nice to have Carmen to talk to. It gave her an excuse to brush off advances from some of the more persistent male employees, and I, well, I got to talk to Carmen! Mutually beneficial.

I had been waiting for about 8 minutes and there was no sign of her though. Maybe she was held up with something and was running late. I waited for a few more minutes but there was still no sign of her. I was a little disappointed, but I couldn't be too upset since it wasn't like she stood me up. I threw my cup and wrapper in the garbage and went back to my desk.

I usually took an afternoon break around 2 pm, and as you can guess, so did Carmen. I was excited to talk to her so I hurried to the break room and found that it was empty. I bought a soda and waited, but as time passed, there was no sign of Carmen. Damn.

Devra and I walked out to the parking lot together as usual. I thought I was acting fine, but she commented on my mopey attitude. She was concerned if I was ok and I assured her I was. I guess maybe I was a little bummed that I didn't get to see Carmen and now I'd have to wait until Monday. I wasn't going to tell Devra though. She'd just think that her suspicions were proven correct regarding Carmen and I. In an attempt to cheer me up, she told me that Brian was grilling chicken kabobs tonight for dinner and that he had also picked up something for me. I loved his chicken kabobs! They were always so good and he had a secret recipe that made them so spectacular. I had to admit that the news did improve my outlook.

When we arrived back at Devra and Brian's house, I had just stepped foot in the kitchen when B handed me my surprise. It was a can of my absolute favorite beer and two 6-packs were chilling in the fridge. I gave him a huge hug and poured the contents of the can into a pub glass. Brian poured Devra a glass of her favorite wine and suggested we join him out on the back patio while he grilled the food. Devra and I changed into more comfortable clothes and joined B outside.

Dinner was so delicious and the beer was the perfect compliment. I was on my third glass, while Devra was pacing herself a bit more responsibly on her wine. The sun was starting to go down and Brian had set a fire in the fire pit. I was starting to feel a buzz from the alcohol, but one more sounded too good to resist. Brian had run inside to grab himself another and brought one for me as well.

"I'm glad to see you in a better mood than you were earlier." Devra said.

"I was fine earlier. I'm just...more fine now!" I exclaimed with a little too much enthusiasm.

"If you say so. You looked awfully forlorn while sitting at your desk. I thought maybe Brit had started some shit or something." Devra explained.

"Nope. I don't care what she says. I've got better things to worry about." I replied.

"Exactly. I have to say, I'm impressed with how well you've handled everything. I'm proud of you." Devra acknowledged, with Brian adding his agreement.

"It helps to be here with you two. I'd probably be a mes..." I was interrupted by my phone vibrating with a notification. When I checked to see what it was, I immediately felt butterflies in my tummy. Carmen had sent me a friend request on messenger. I tapped on the notification and it sent me to the app where I couldn't tap accept fast enough. I typed out a quick message that said "yay! Now I can bother you away from work too," and sent it.

"Earth to Gracie?" I heard Devra say.

"Oh! Sorry. I uh...I just..." I began to explain when my phone vibrated again. It was a new message from Carmen.

"You are never a bother. I hope you're having a great night." The message read.

"She's smiling like you do when I send you a titty pic." I heard Devra say to Brian.