Hidden Truths

Excruciating Headache

Carlos, 5:30 P.M.

Today was not going well. Carlos had woken up with an awful headache and he was missing Karmen a lot. Especially after he and Carly had stopped at the Yarn and Milk café, and he'd seen Ryan Goodman with his adoptive daughter Milly and his girlfriend Camryn. Well, he assumed she was Ryan's girlfriend, they'd adopted Milly together and they looked really close when he'd come in. Besides Carlos saw the way Ryan looked at her. If they weren't dating, then they were both blind. And then Adam called and said he needed the day off but there was no one to take over his shift, which meant either they'd be short staffed, or Carlos could do it. The only problem with that was that he promised to spend the day with Carly. I should put up help wanted signs he sighed; this would be so much easier if Karmen were here. His heart ached at the thought of his wife. Carlos was sitting in his office trying to figure things out for the Pato Rey, but all his thinking brought him back to that one stupid thought; This would be so much easier if Karmen were here. He hated that he couldn't stop thinking that because it was so obvious, he didn't need to remind himself that Karmen was much better at this type of thing, or that she was gone, or how much he missed her. Carlos hid his face in his hands and willed himself not to cry, he couldn't cry; crying shows weakness and he wasn't weak. He looked at the picture on his desk. It was him Nate, and Kat. He picked it up, he'd heard Nate was unemployed recently, maybe...He glanced at the phone. Screw it. Carlos needed help, both at work and more personal reasons. He sighed again and picked it up, typing in Nate's number. He held it to his ear as it rang. "Hello" Nate's cheerful voice was enough to make Carlos want to cry all over again "hi Nate" his voice was little more than a breath. There was a short silence and then "Carlos?" Nate asked softly. Carlos swallowed around the lump in his throat "yes, uh" he cleared his throat "I need some help at the hotel, and I heard you needed work so..." he let his sentence trail off. Another short silence "are you asking if I could work at the hotel?" he asked curiously. Carlos' heart was beating way too fast "y-yes, I really need the help, and-" he stopped himself. He couldn't tell Nate that he missed him, he needed to be professional "and I'm really overwhelmed" he offered finally. More silence "alright," he sighed "but if I ever need anything you owe me" Carlos could hear the laughter in his voice. Relief melted Carlos' worry, he half laughed "thank you so much, and yes, I'll help you with anything" he promised. Nate laughed a little as well "no problem, Carlos, it was nice to hear your voice" his voice was soft. Carlos smiled and he choked a little "yours too, Nate, I'll text you the schedule, bye" he sighed. "Okay, bye" Nate hung up and Carlos put the phone down. Just then Carly skipped into his office "daaaaddy!" she chirped jumping onto his lap. Carlos smiled "hey, amor" he ruffled her hair "whatcha up to?" he asked cheerfully. Carly held up a cat collar "look what I found!" she said excitedly "it's a sign" her blue-gray eyes sparkled happily. He pushed some hair out of her face, admiring just how much she looked like her mother, her eyes, her nose, even her hair had the same goldish sheen even if it was darker than Karmen's. Carlos took the collar "you really want a kitty, huh?" he asked examining the color, it was small and green with white stripes. Carly nodded enthusiastically "yes, pleeeaaase can we get one?" she begged, sticking her bottom lip out in a pout. Carlos sighed "yes, we can" he promised with a smile. Carly squealed and wrapped her arms around his neck "I love you daddy!" she exclaimed before bouncing away saying something about milk and corners. Carlos sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. He was so thankful for his daughter, he doubted he would have been able to get through Karmen's death without her. Carlos had been hurt by so many different people. It was always the same; he trusted someone and let them in and then they betray him, because in the end everyone only cared about themselves. First it was Kat. Oh god, Kat. He loved Kat like a sister, they grew up together, did everything together. Carlos spent more time with her than his own family. And right when he needed her most, she shut him out, and of course Nate chose Kat over him. He wasn't mad at Nate, honestly, he'd always been closer to Kat then Carlos and Carlos had Carly. Kat only had Nate. But that didn't make it hurt any less. Karmen died, not that that was her choice, but it still left Carlos alone. And Reagan, well Reagan was complicated. Carlos never had the best relationship with him but in the end, it still hurt when he double-crossed him. Carlos expected it but that didn't make it easier. He wasn't getting any work done so there was no point in staying in his office, so he turned the light off and left.

Carlos is one of my favorite characters to write because he's just so broken. You'll get to see more of that later on. I hope you're enjoying the story so far!!