Ch 16

Many months later…

Shane arrived just after mid-night at the usual spot. As usual, Alice was there before her with a beer in hand.  Her back was leaning against the wall, facing the ocean. 

“It’s about time you showed up.  You should get a watch!”  Alice gave her a wink.

“Good to see you too, Alice.”  Shane replied sarcastically

They did their usual ritual for Dana then Shane cracked open a bottle for herself and sat next to the blonde woman.   The waves were hitting the pier harder than usual tonight, they watched the waves came and gone for awhile before the ‘confessions’.

“So what’s up with you this month?”  Shane asked.

“I got a new job as a photographer assistant.  It’s good, I am learning a lot of new things.”  Alice replied casually.

 “What happened to your well paid office job?” 

“Boring and meaningless.”   The reply came without any hesitation.

“Uh-huh.”  Shane nodded.

“Sometimes change is a very good thing.  You know.”  Alice said knowingly, hoping to get a reaction from Shane.

“She left me.”  Shane merely stated.

“That was ages ago, anything new?”  Alice teased her slightly.

“I wasn’t referring to Carmen.  Cecil left me.” Shane starred into the darkness of the night.

“When?” Alice was shocked by her latest news.

“Last week.”

“Why?  I thought you two were working things out?”

“The irony is I refused Carmen because of Cecil at the beginning.  In the end, it was because of Carmen who caused us to drift apart.”  She laughed at herself.

“Carmen came back?” Alice asked in shock.

“No, but I cannot get her out of my mind.  I didn’t even realise this myself until Cecil pointed out.  Every time a Latina walked past I would check to see if it was her.  She couldn’t stand it anymore.  We never talked about what happened, she just assumed that I chose her.”   She paused for a moment, before adding . “She would rather be friends than to be in a relationship with only obligations and responsibility.”

Alice gave her a hug.  “Oh Shane… Are you ok with it? “