It’s the faintest trace, an undercurrent in her own unique scent but some part of his mind that isn’t fully awakened in the daytime recognizes it. The smell is a dream he can’t quite remember, a face he can’t quite put a name to. The woman curses loudly, flips the phone closed and jams it into her pocket. She probably feels his eyes on her, he can’t help but stare, and she looks down at him. A tense moment passes, he looks away but not nearly quick enough and he can’t help but glance back. The look on her face is one of amusement, or perhaps bemusement,  but as seconds pass by something in her eyes changes.

It’s an awkward moment that passes between Shay and Carmen. The brother and the abandoned fiancée respectively  one woman rises unbidden and seemingly at random to both their minds. The mutual recognition and the memories that stir makes their minds mirrors of each other. For him it’s just confusion and a vague sense of déjà vu and he‘s not quite sure why he instinctively equates this woman with his sister. For her it’s pain and broken promises and a life that should have been but wasn’t and she can swear to God for the briefest of seconds she can feel a cool ring of metal on her finger and a familiar deep voice whispering vows that should have been said but weren’t.

For a moment she considers introducing herself, or asking him where his parents are. She probably should, he’s got bags of what she assumes is clothes and he has that look of someone who is new to the city. He wouldn’t be the first kid who ran away to the city to start a new life, though he’s younger than most. A boy that young won’t last long alone in this city, though Carmen doesn’t know that this boy has a few tricks up his sleeve. That moment passes, and she walks away, retreating from the memory of what Shane did and all the should have beens and could have beens.

Shay watches her leave, scratching his head in confusion as she walks away. In the end he forgets about it. He still has to find his sister, and it’s a big city he has to cross to get to her.