Slaughterhouse

Apology, Chalet, Fate

Carmen folds her arms and shifts her weight onto one leg, sticking her hip out to the side as Rhea allows Raquel to enter. Had it been Carmen's decision she would have slammed the door in her face. No, she never would have opened it actually.

Raquel looks at Carmen and ducks her head slightly in acknowledgment before looking at Rhea again.

"What are you doing here Raquel?" Rhea asks.

"Yeah haven't you caused enough d-"

"Enough Carmen." Rhea cuts her off.

Carmen rolls her eyes and a flash of anger shines in Rhea's eyes as she turns her attention back to Raquel.

"I wanted to apologize. There's nothing I can say that will make this better or change the way I've treated you two. But I thought an apology would be a start." She speaks softly.

Carmen raises an eyebrow. She wasn't expecting that. Why would she all of a sudden feel sorry for all the shit she's caused? The mess she's made. Rhea stopped talking to Carmen for a whole week because of the shit Raquel's done. No. She's not buying it.

"You're right. It won't fix things." Rhea says.

Carmen is happy with it until she adds, "But it's a start."

Raquel nods in understanding and they both look to Carmen. What, is she supposed to be hunky dory about it too? She opens her mouth for a snarky comment but sees the genuinely hopeful look on Rhea's face. She can't bear to crush that hope. She drops her shoulders that were raised with her guard and nods slightly.

"Yeah. It's a start." She says.

Raquel smiles just a little at them both.

"I um. I got you something too. I heard management wouldn't let you off to go with Buddy because of your storyline with me. So since there's a show in Florida this week and we'll be here for a bit..anyway I set up a stay for you two at the beach. Here's the info." She says and hands a small brochure packet to Rhea.

"Wow. Thanks Raquel." She says in surprise.

Carmen walks over to Rhea and peeks over her shoulder at the brochure. Raquel smiles softly and nods.

"It's no big deal. A friend of mine runs it. I just wanted to give a peace offering."

Raquel waves goodbye and leaves the house, leaving a confused Carmen and a beaming Rhea behind. Carmen laughs a little at Rhea's smile as she looks through the brochure.

"She booked a chalet for us. Check-in starts in about an hour. Wanna go pack?" Rhea smiles at her.

Carmen still isn't sure how she feels about Raquel gifting them a romantic getaway; but she's not willing to ruin the complete happiness on Rhea's face.

"Let's go." Carmen smiles.

She grabs Rhea's hand and leads her upstairs. They each pack a duffel bag with some clothes. Deciding they'll just go straight to the show from the beach, they pack a separate duffel with their gear.

Rhea is humming softly to herself and Carmen smiles, unable to stop herself from staring at her. She looks up and laughs a little.

"What?"

"Nothing. You're just cute when you're this happy. I just wish it was me that made you that way." Carmen smiles.

Rhea frowns a little and walks over to her. Carmen realizes what she said came off a little snarky. She starts to tell her she didn't mean it that way when Rhea grabs her cheeks and kisses her. She kisses back and melts into her touch until Rhea pulls away slightly, pressing her forehead to Carmen's.

"You make me the happiest girl on Earth, Carmen. You think it was Raquel that made me happy? Baby it's the thought of getting to spend time with you for a week out at the beach. The thought of the wind blowing that purple hair of yours. Your smile in the sun." She says.

Carmen smiles and goes to speak but Rhea presses a finger to her lips and adds in a whisper, "The thought of all the things I can do to you in the sand."

A blush creeps up on Carmen's face and she giggles. Rhea kisses her again before pulling away. They grab their bags, clean up their dinner mess and load them into the truck before hopping in. Rhea drives them to the beach and they check in at the chalet.

It's a small open floor plan style building. The only separated room being the bedroom that has its own double doorway that opens up to the beach. There's giant windows on either side of the door so they can fall asleep watching the water.

Carmen stares at the view in awe and Rhea walks up behind her, wrapping her arms around her from behind and planting small kisses on her neck. She sighs and presses her back into her, biting her lip as Rhea's hands find their way up to her boobs, squeezing them gently.

The moment is quickly interrupted by Carmen's stomach growling and Rhea stops, laughing a little in her ear as she kisses her cheek.

"We should go get you something to eat since we were interrupted." Rhea says.

"As if you were about to let me eat anyway." Carmen giggles.

"Oh yeah," Rhea replies and spins Carmen around to face her. "Thanks for reminding me about that. Now I can punish you on the beach."

Carmen laughs. "Not much of a punishment here."

Rhea raises an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge?"

Quickly shaking her head, Carmen smiles big.

"Not at all. Please let it wait? I want us to enjoy it out here. Not be tortured." She giggles.

Rhea thinks about it for a moment before nodding and kissing her.

"Tell you what. You call Buddy and tell him how bratty you were tonight. Ask him if you can enjoy the beach or if you need to be punished first. We'll take it from there." She whispers.

A chill sends down Carmen's spine. She knows how Buddy is about her being a brat. There's a reason Rhea told her to call him, after all. He's not one for letting punishments go.

Rhea steps back and hands Carmen's phone to her. She bites her lip and dials his number before putting the phone to her ear.

"Nice try baby. Speaker phone." Rhea says and sits on the bed, manspreading and leaning back on her hands to watch.

Carmen sighs and puts the phone on speaker. They listen to it ring, waiting for Buddy to answer so he can decide Carmen's fate for the night.