(Sound of tablet screen scrolling, followed by Chase’s sudden, raspy sigh)
Chase: Mon Dieu! Carmen, look at this! Weird Julia’s fans have made more... what’s it called? Fan art? They drew you... kissing her! And I’m standing behind you like an idiot with my face all twisted! C’est ridicule! I look like a wet cat that’s been kicked!
Carmen: (gently takes the tablet, eyes narrowing) Chéri, it’s just someone’s fantasy. Julia... she built her own world long ago, one where I’m her trophy. But these pictures... (finger traces the screen) ...they’re like needles. They remind me how she tried to drive us apart even at our wedding. Remember her "toast"?
Chase: (jumps up, slams fist on the table) Pah! She worms her way in everywhere! Even through a screen! How dare she draw you with her when she knows—you’re my wife! Fifteen years, four daughters, and... (suddenly quiet) ...and she’s still like a shadow! The other day Clara asked: "Why does Aunt Julia write that Mama should live in her castle?" Her castle!
Carmen: (places hand on his shoulder, voice icy) She won’t touch our children. Not with words, not with pictures. These fantasies... let them stay in her head. We know the truth: I chose you, Chase. Chose our family, this agency, even your eternal battles with the coffee maker... (soft chuckle) Her world is a cage of mirrors where she’s both god and prisoner.
Chase: (sighs, but no longer angry) Fine... let them draw. But if she sends you those "gifts" with hints again... (grabs phone) I’ll write a review of her latest book! One star! "Author confuses reality with fantasy. Not recommended. Especially for detectives."
Carmen: (takes phone, smiling) Non, mon amour. Let it go. Better check if our little "agents" ate the cookies from the secret cabinet.
(Chase mutters something about "tiny saboteurs," but is laughing now. Carmen closes the fan-art tab with one precise movement.)
romaincrisis
tangentwithtanner
jbbartram-illu
dededos
