Funny seeing you here- A Carulia Fanfiction

I came

Julia's feet pounded into the pavement, her footsteps almost drowned out by her heavy breathing. She stopped to catch her breath, wiping sweat off her brow.

Julia hadn'trun for a while. She'd done it every day in college, she'd been part of track before, but every since she'd been assigned with catching Carmen sanidgeo only two weeks into her job at Interpol, she'd barely been able to sit down, let alone keep up her hobbies.

But now, it was just nice to clear her head, even if the early winter chill bit into her legs and her lungs burned.

She thought, again, about Sonia. Was she telling the truth? Or was she really just a thief, VILE or otherwise, stealing the painting?

And she thought about Carmen. Did Carmen miss her? It was a stupid question. But still, she wondered.

Julia's mind drifted back to the week before. The college after Sonia broke in had been... chaotic. The college was closed and police were called in. She'd spent the first few days nervously glancing at her phone, expecting a call about helping Sonia, but nothing came. She hadn't even been questioned. She didn' know what had happened to the art professor, and to be quite frank, she didn't care.

There had been more art thefts, too, closer to where she lived. Too close. It bothered her, similar to when, she was seven, her mom had installed a new security system after a break-in down the street.

At least it was the weekend. Plenty of time to sit down and think.

Julia turned a corner, towards her apartment building. When she opened the door and punched in her code, something caught her eyes in the glass of the door.

A white van.

Julia rolled her eyes. She'd never gotten used to the insistence of news stations to use white vans, despite the stigma surrounding them. She'd seen at least ten in the past week, all trying to cover one of the thefts that had occurred.

The blast of air conditioning hit Julia as she got on the stairs, and she shivered. Even though it was mid fall and the temperature was already dipping into the sixties, maybe fifties, her apartment building insisted on keeping the hallways cold enough to see your breath.

Julia took off her glasses and wiped them down as she walked through her hallway. This was the only reason she didn't see the woman sitting against her door until she practically stepped on her.

Julia let out a small gasp. It was Carmen, in a red hoodie and black tights. She looked up at Julia and smiled.

"Hey, Jules." The sound of Carmen's voice, after six months, made Julia's stomach flutter. The lady in red's eyes went from her sweat-soaked shirt, worn sneakers and semi-tight sweatpants before resting back to her face. "You look nice."

Julia swallowed. She'd always thought about what she'd say to Carmen if she saw her. She'd thought about it in Mumbai, in Stockholm, in the airport, even in Vera Cruz.

But she'd never seen Carmen like this. Unplanned, as if Carmen had just dropped in for a chat. And the nickname... it still had a bit of power over her, long as it had been.
Realizing carmen was waiting for her to reply, Julia choked out, "You look good too."

Carmen gave a half smile. They were silent for a moment.

"How long were you waiting?" Julia asked.

Carmen shrugged. "Twenty minutes or so. I didn't want to barge in..." She paused like she was remembering something and cringed.

"So, college, huh? Always thought you were a bit of a teacher... working with Devinaux must be a full-time job."
Julia allowed herself a small smile. "How'd you know?"