When Carmen woke up she felt as if she hadn't slept at all. She looked at the window and saw that the sun was already out, but that meant nothing, she had arrived home late from her shift at the hospital, so she could have actually slept less than three hours. She shifted in bed and turned to Ricardo's side, to see if he was still sleeping. However, there was no one. Half asleep, she thought that maybe he had gone to the bathroom, and she fell back to sleep immediately.
She woke up some hours later, feeling that something was amiss. At first, she couldn't identify what was it, but when she was fully awake it struck her, the house was eerie quiet. At that hour Lucas should have cried, and Ricardo would be making his famous breakfasts. But there was only silence. She looked around, at the painted bare walls. Bare walls! Where were all her pictures? She climbed out of bed and started seeing signs that Ricardo was not around. In fact, it was as if he had never been. She ran around the house into Lucas room, but there was no Lucas room, it was a painting studio, full of abstract paintings. What was going on? When did Ricardo leave her? When did he take their son with him? When did she take up painting? She was standing on the doorway, confused, when the phone rang. She went back to her room and fumbled through a purse must have been her own, although she didn't remember buying it. She answered without looking at the caller ID.
-Hi! How are you sweetie? How's the hangover?- a high-pitched woman's voice asked her from the other side of the line.
-Sorry, who are you?
-Silvia, dear. It's me, Silvia. Oh, you really are terribly hungover, aren't you? I told you a thousand times, you shouldn't drink so much. Anyway, do you remember you have the art exhibit today, right? I'll see you at the gallery.
Carmen didn't even have time to say another word. Who was that woman and what did she want from her? Was she a victim of some kind of amnesia? What was going on?
In the meantime, a terribly hungover Carmen was having breakfast with Lucas and Ricardo, as clueless as she was.
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