‍ ‍  ﹡ׁ  🩰 ‍ ‍

[‍ ‍  ﹡ׁ  🩰 ‍ ‍ @imortalhrt]

perhaps⠀⠀⠀ 𝘀𝗵𝗲 ⠀⠀⠀ was⠀⠀ ⠀glass ⠀⠀ ⠀...⠀⠀ ⠀ ⎛𝒃ut⠀ ⠀⠀glass⠀⠀ ⠀ is ⠀⠀ ⠀ 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 ⠀ ⠀⠀brittle⠀⠀ ⠀ until⠀ ⠀⠀it⠀⠀ ⠀ breaks ◞ ⠀ ⠀⠀ 𝓽hen⠀ ⠀⠀it’s⠀⠀ ⠀ 𝓼harp.

[‍ ‍  ﹡ׁ  🩰 ‍ ‍ @imortalhrt]

📞 ﹕ i think you’re more than capable but 𝖎 don’t think i have self control right now ﹒ ﹒

⎛ the line went dead. graciela immediately tossing her phone out of reach ◞

[‍ ‍  ﹡ׁ  🩰 ‍ ‍ @imortalhrt]

⎛ silence filled both lines. she knew 𝑛𝑜𝑤 how wrong she was about carolina and she continues to regret those words—— just like she might regret these next ones ◞ ⠀⠀⤸

[༝ ⌖ ﾞ 𝓪𝑔͟𝑒͟𝑛𝑡 ‍𝐯𝚎𝚐𝚊 ꜝ @SAFEGU4RDS]

📞 : are you saying i’m incapable of doing my job , graciela ?̲

( the question comes out more defensive than she meant , reminding her of their first encounter )

[‍ ‍  ﹡ׁ  🩰 ‍ ‍ @imortalhrt]

⎛ exhaling softly , a pit forming in her stomach. she gripped the phone tighter. 𝑏𝑒𝘩𝑎𝑣𝑒 , 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑎 ◞

📞 ﹕ haz estado tomando ﹒ ﹒ no creo que sea buena idea ﹒ ﹒

[༝ ⌖ ﾞ 𝓪𝑔͟𝑒͟𝑛𝑡 ‍𝐯𝚎𝚐𝚊 ꜝ @SAFEGU4RDS]

( she tenses , jaw clenching as her fingers tap against the counter. god , she’s going to regret this )

📞 : i could come over right now. i’m sure eduardo wouldn’t mind being relieved early.

[‍ ‍  ﹡ׁ  🩰 ‍ ‍ @imortalhrt]

⎛ there’s a beat of silence , contemplating her next words. maybe carolina was drunk enough to forget the conversation. 𝑜𝘩 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 ◞

📞 ﹕ i want you to 𝓼tay

[‍ ‍  ﹡ׁ  🩰 ‍ ‍ @imortalhrt]

⎛ slim finger twirls a blonde tress around it , a light suck of her teeth ◞

📞 ﹕ debatable ⠀⠀⤸

[༝ ⌖ ﾞ 𝓪𝑔͟𝑒͟𝑛𝑡 ‍𝐯𝚎𝚐𝚊 ꜝ @SAFEGU4RDS]

( a soft laugh emits from her lips )

📞 : i have more than enough patience to handle you. and it’s standard policy , nothing personal. if it were up to me , i’d stay. i don’t like leaving things unfinished

[‍ ‍  ﹡ׁ  🩰 ‍ ‍ @imortalhrt]

⎛ her lips curled into a smile—— 𝓼eriously , she needed to hang up ◞

📞 ﹕ thought you were at your wits end with me because when i saw eduardo this morning i figured you couldn’t handle me anymore

[༝ ⌖ ﾞ 𝓪𝑔͟𝑒͟𝑛𝑡 ‍𝐯𝚎𝚐𝚊 ꜝ @SAFEGU4RDS]

📞 : what exactly do you want me to say , hm ?̲

( her hand lifts to her earpiece that isn’t there , the motion out of habit )

📞 : i missed being in your presence today. that’s all.

( she finishes what’s left in her glass )

[‍ ‍  ﹡ׁ  🩰 ‍ ‍ @imortalhrt]

neither are you.

[‍ ‍  ﹡ׁ  🩰 ‍ ‍ @imortalhrt]

⎛ a soft sigh could be heard on the other end of the line. 𝒘hat was she doing ? 𝒘hy did she care whether the other missed her ? ◞

📞 ﹕ it’s a simple question ﹒ ﹒ plus i’m not tired and clearly ⤸

[༝ ⌖ ﾞ 𝓪𝑔͟𝑒͟𝑛𝑡 ‍𝐯𝚎𝚐𝚊 ꜝ @SAFEGU4RDS]

( she’s pulling up the security camera feed on her phone )

📞 : i have to be professional. i told you i’d see you tomorrow , didn’t i ?̲

( she grows silent , fighting the urge to admit just how much she misses her )

[‍ ‍  ﹡ׁ  🩰 ‍ ‍ @imortalhrt]

⎛ two can play the ignoring game ◞

📞 ﹕ you didn’t answer my question , carolina

[༝ ⌖ ﾞ 𝓪𝑔͟𝑒͟𝑛𝑡 ‍𝐯𝚎𝚐𝚊 ꜝ @SAFEGU4RDS]

( she ignores her comment )

📞 : it’s almost midnight , you had me thinking something happened to you. you know you’re only supposed to call me if something’s wrong.

[‍ ‍  ﹡ׁ  🩰 ‍ ‍ @imortalhrt]

⎛ the soft rasp of her voice nearly made her forget why she had called in the first place ◞

📞 ﹕ enserio﹒ ﹒ me haz dejado en visto ?

[༝ ⌖ ﾞ 𝓪𝑔͟𝑒͟𝑛𝑡 ‍𝐯𝚎𝚐𝚊 ꜝ @SAFEGU4RDS]

﹝⠀looking at her phone , drink swirling in hand , she contemplates before answering ﹞

📞 : 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘 , 𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚊́𝚜 𝚋𝚒𝚎𝚗 ?̲ ( her raspy voice comes through , composed enough to give no indication she’d been drinking )

[‍ ‍  ﹡ׁ  🩰 ‍ ‍ @imortalhrt]

𝗕𝗭𝗭𝗧﹒ ﹒ 𝗕𝗭𝗭𝗧﹒ ﹒ 𝗕𝗭𝗭𝗧﹒ ﹒

⎛ graciela’s number lights up carolina’s screen with an incoming call ◞

𝗕𝗭𝗭𝗧﹒ ﹒ 𝗕𝗭𝗭𝗧﹒ ﹒ 𝗕𝗭𝗭𝗧﹒ ﹒

[༝ ⌖ ﾞ 𝓪𝑔͟𝑒͟𝑛𝑡 ‍𝐯𝚎𝚐𝚊 ꜝ @SAFEGU4RDS]

❨ ﹒ ﹒ 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 10:20 pm ❩

[‍ ‍  ﹡ׁ  🩰 ‍ ‍ @imortalhrt]

❨ * 🔗╱ text to : carolina

💬 ﹥ thought i get on your nerves ?
❨ ﹒ ﹒ 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 ❩
💬 ﹥ are you saying you miss me ?

[༝ ⌖ ﾞ 𝓪𝑔͟𝑒͟𝑛𝑡 ‍𝐯𝚎𝚐𝚊 ꜝ @SAFEGU4RDS]

💬 > un poco , but i had to check on you. fyi , this day off was forced. i’d rather be there with you. me da mas tranquilidad saber que estas bien

💬 > te veo mañana

[‍ ‍  ﹡ׁ  🩰 ‍ ‍ @imortalhrt]

❨ * 🔗╱ text to : carolina

💬 ﹥ brunettes with pretty eyes
💬 ﹥ estás tomada , no ? pq me habláis diferente

[༝ ⌖ ﾞ 𝓪𝑔͟𝑒͟𝑛𝑡 ‍𝐯𝚎𝚐𝚊 ꜝ @SAFEGU4RDS]

💬 > what’s your type ?̲

💬 > that’s crossing into questions i don’t answer , palomita.

[‍ ‍  ﹡ׁ  🩰 ‍ ‍ @imortalhrt]

“ creo que el de chocolate con pepitas le da mil vueltas al de menta con chocolate. ” her brow lifted slightly , almost daring carolina to disagree.

[‍ ‍  ﹡ׁ  🩰 ‍ ‍ @imortalhrt]

apparently , a handshake wasn’t enough for señora lourdes. she barely had time to register the older woman’s smile before frail fingers curled gently around her wrist and tugged her forward. ⠀⤸

[༝ ⌖ ﾞ 𝓪𝑔͟𝑒͟𝑛𝑡 ‍𝐯𝚎𝚐𝚊 ꜝ @SAFEGU4RDS]

carolina appeared equally surprised by the woman’s enthusiasm , though who could possibly find it in themselves to be cruel to someone like lourdes ?̲

she possessed a kind of warmth only a grandmother would have. ⤦

[‍ ‍  ﹡ׁ  🩰 ‍ ‍ @imortalhrt]

studying the choices with far more seriousness than selecting ice cream required.

graciela tilted her head , considering them. then she glanced sideways toward carolina. a hint of mischief crept into her expression. ⤸