She waited.
At the same cafe, same seats.
Beaming to herself, radiating a whole sunshine in the area.
She checks her phone for anyone updating messages from Gray.
None.
She looks around within the radius, trying to eye an incoming Gray, but for every minute that passed by there was no signs of him.
Carmen sat there, eagerly patient for his arrival but where was he?
She came early this time, but Gray usually would turn up before the due time , sipping his hot cup of coffee while reading his book.
After a long wait, she gets notifies by Player.
A major V.I.L.E plan in Stockholm, Sweden.
She texts Gray.
'Sorry last minute emergency mission. We'll meet again soon.'
•••
The Stockholm Syndrome Caper
She got hit.
This agent was good.
Still she uses up all her strength to run up. Vision slowly fading, but she forces herself to keep her eyes wide open. Glider open, she flees.
Strong cold wind gushes against her, making her head dizzy. With all her remaining strength gone, she did not have any power left to manoeuvre her glider.
Shaky and unstable, she was going down. Crashing roughly into a forest on the icy cold snow. Soon, Carmen feels numb.
Powerless.
She was powerless.
To save herself, she reluctantly uses Jules' A.C.M.E pen, having it swiped earlier, as her last resort. She flicks it and activates it to call Chief for help. Before she could utter a word, lights out.
She laid there unconscious.
•
She is later found by both her team and A.C.M.E. She chooses to be given over back to her team and is admitted to a hospital to treat her frostbite.
It was a first for Carmen, to get so ill. She is moved to HQ and Shadowsan helped her complete her missions while she recovers.
Rest. All she did was rest. Physically, she's worn out and tired from everything but her mind is still active, wondering about Gray. She checks her phone to catch up with any new messages.
No new messages from Gray.
He has not seen her texts.
Disappointed and dejected, she tries not to worry much about Gray. Still,
has something happened to him?
As much as Carmen tries to ignore her constant thoughts about Gray, her mind floods with worries. It was unusual for him to not text her back.
It was unusual for him to suddenly ghost her.
...
What exactly happened?
Is she just overthinking things again?
•••
Living a normal life, doing just the usual things in his daily life.
The opera, Tosca , is being held in the Sydney Opera House this season.
Tosca,
Set in Rome at the time of Napoleon's invasion of Italy, Tosca is a roller coaster story of love, lust, murder and political intrigue. With Puccini's richly romantic score, it is one of the world's most loved operas.
A tragic story of passion and jealousy, it tells the story of the tempestuous opera singer Floria Tosca, as she fights to save her lover Cavaradossi from the sadistic police chief Scarpia.
( summary from https://eno.org/operas/tosca/ )
It is a very famous opera and people stream in to get tickets to watch the fantastic work of art. Gray is responsible for all the aspects of lighting for it. He has to install, point and shape the beam, and connect to power the stage lighting instruments.
While trying to position the lights and making sure that the lights are in tip-top condition, a sudden image of Carmen pops up in his mind. He hesitates in his work for a moment.
Guilt.
Shameless.
He tries shaking it off, pouring himself in work.
'You all right mate? You've been looking down recently,' a colleague checks in with him.
'No Wucka's, just a bit stuffed,' Gray replies back.
( No worries, just a bit tired. )
'Alright mate. You've been really doing a lot of hard yakka ( hard work ). Ya take a break or a good rest after today alright?'
'Will do mate.'
•
Still, he walked home in complete exhaustion and grief. He couldn't take Carmen off his mind and how he had treated her back then.
Why is Carmen still willing to talk to him?
His acts and choices were unforgivable.
It's better this way
to distance himself away from her.
He can't let Carmen get hurt because of him.
He can't face her.
Too ashamed and guilty of his past actions.
What was he even thinking back then?!
Carmen cares too much, but he won't let her care for him. It's unfair to her.
It's better to never see Carmen again.