Work Friends
Seventeen
It was miraculous that Carmen and Abel were able to get out of Arca City, but once they were gone, they were in the clear. Mrs. Lombardi's brother was a little confused at first, but Carmen handed him a hand written letter from Mrs. Lombardi that explained everything without leaving traces of phone records. He let them stay while Abel got some real medical help, and after a week or so he was able to walk and function again.
Carmen carried the wriggling puppy around everywhere she went, who she had named Bear. As much as she wished Abel could have carried out his plan to give her Bear on a romantic date, maybe this was a blessing in diguise. Once Abel was healed enough to move around, Mrs. Lombardi's brother helped them find a little cabin out west in one of the massive nature domes. While they were mostly used for camping, there were small residential communities that they were lucky to find a place in.
It was a world of difference from how Arca City was. It took a little bit of getting used to small town life and living in a place where everyone knew their names and all their business, but everyone was surprisingly accepting of them. Abel was hired in a small local restaurant and while it wasn't anything fancy, he seemed happy where he was. Carmen finally broke out her paint and canvas again to get back to her artwork, and she was surprised when some of the campers that passed through town would stop and buy them from her as a souvenir.
She was sitting in the grass behind their cabin and working on details on her most recent painting while Bear ran in circles around her and chased butterflies. Carmen gasped in surprise when he suddenly ran through her paints and across the canvas, leaving little white paw prints across it.
"Oh, Bear," she sighed, picking the puppy up so he didn't cause more damage.
"I think it kind of works."
Carmen turned around to see Abel was home from work and had been watching her paint. He watched with an amused grin as Carmen tried to wipe the paint off Bear's paws while he wriggled to get free.
"I'll have to make it work," Carmen said. "It's too late to start over now."
"It kind of looks like weird stars in the sky," Abel noted. "No one knows what stars look like, anyways. It might as well be that."
"Sure, I can turn them into stars."
She handed Bear off to Abel and the energetic pup began flailing wildly with excitement, licking Abel all over his face. While being puppy parents wasn't easy, Carmen wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Their little family was perfect.
Carmen had some errands to run around town once Abel was home to keep an eye on Bear, and it felt nice being able to walk down a street in sneakers and jeans, waving to their friendly neighbors and not worrying about someone catcalling or attacking her at every corner. It was starting to get dark by the time she was run, but she still felt perfectly safe.
When she got home, she noticed soft music playing over the speakers. She curiously followed the music and found Abel setting the dining table with their nice plates and silverware, along with candles and a bouquet of roses. Abel had made some incredible looking pasta, and he stood up straight when he saw Carmen standing there.
"What's all this?" she asked with a light laugh.
"We survived six months together," Abel told her. "Literally survived, since people have been out to kill us more times than most couples experience in a lifetime."
"I guess that is a pretty impressive feat," Carmen said. "This is perfect, thank you."
He pulled out the chair for her and poured out a couple glasses of wine for them.
"My life has been perfect with you," he said. "Even more so now that we got out of the city. So cheers to Aeris, Uncle Reggie, and Markus. I hope they all get over themselves eventually."
Carmen rolled her eyes as they clinked their glasses together. "We agreed their names wouldn't be spoken in this house."
"You're right, I'm sorry," he chuckled. "There is one more thing, though."
He whistled and Bear came bounding over from the other room, trying to climb up onto Carmen's lap. There was a red ribbon tied in a bow around his neck, between all the fluff.
"He's supposed to be in his crate when we're eating," Carmen said.
"I made an exception tonight."
When Carmen picked Bear up, she noticed a glint of something sparkly tied to his ribbon. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that it was a beautiful princess cut diamond ring. She looked back up at Abel with teary eyes as he took her hand.
"We've been through hell and back," he said. "Now I feel like we've made it to heaven, and I want to stay here with you forever. Will you marry me?"
Carmen nearly dropped Bear when she jumped up to pounce on Abel and kiss him fiercely. Bear excitedly licked tears off her cheeks when she pulled away and gave a cross between a sob and a laugh.
"Yes, yes of course," she said.
"Thank goodness for shitty broken elevators, right?"
"And mutant bugs."
Carmen carried the wriggling puppy around everywhere she went, who she had named Bear. As much as she wished Abel could have carried out his plan to give her Bear on a romantic date, maybe this was a blessing in diguise. Once Abel was healed enough to move around, Mrs. Lombardi's brother helped them find a little cabin out west in one of the massive nature domes. While they were mostly used for camping, there were small residential communities that they were lucky to find a place in.
It was a world of difference from how Arca City was. It took a little bit of getting used to small town life and living in a place where everyone knew their names and all their business, but everyone was surprisingly accepting of them. Abel was hired in a small local restaurant and while it wasn't anything fancy, he seemed happy where he was. Carmen finally broke out her paint and canvas again to get back to her artwork, and she was surprised when some of the campers that passed through town would stop and buy them from her as a souvenir.
She was sitting in the grass behind their cabin and working on details on her most recent painting while Bear ran in circles around her and chased butterflies. Carmen gasped in surprise when he suddenly ran through her paints and across the canvas, leaving little white paw prints across it.
"Oh, Bear," she sighed, picking the puppy up so he didn't cause more damage.
"I think it kind of works."
Carmen turned around to see Abel was home from work and had been watching her paint. He watched with an amused grin as Carmen tried to wipe the paint off Bear's paws while he wriggled to get free.
"I'll have to make it work," Carmen said. "It's too late to start over now."
"It kind of looks like weird stars in the sky," Abel noted. "No one knows what stars look like, anyways. It might as well be that."
"Sure, I can turn them into stars."
She handed Bear off to Abel and the energetic pup began flailing wildly with excitement, licking Abel all over his face. While being puppy parents wasn't easy, Carmen wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Their little family was perfect.
Carmen had some errands to run around town once Abel was home to keep an eye on Bear, and it felt nice being able to walk down a street in sneakers and jeans, waving to their friendly neighbors and not worrying about someone catcalling or attacking her at every corner. It was starting to get dark by the time she was run, but she still felt perfectly safe.
When she got home, she noticed soft music playing over the speakers. She curiously followed the music and found Abel setting the dining table with their nice plates and silverware, along with candles and a bouquet of roses. Abel had made some incredible looking pasta, and he stood up straight when he saw Carmen standing there.
"What's all this?" she asked with a light laugh.
"We survived six months together," Abel told her. "Literally survived, since people have been out to kill us more times than most couples experience in a lifetime."
"I guess that is a pretty impressive feat," Carmen said. "This is perfect, thank you."
He pulled out the chair for her and poured out a couple glasses of wine for them.
"My life has been perfect with you," he said. "Even more so now that we got out of the city. So cheers to Aeris, Uncle Reggie, and Markus. I hope they all get over themselves eventually."
Carmen rolled her eyes as they clinked their glasses together. "We agreed their names wouldn't be spoken in this house."
"You're right, I'm sorry," he chuckled. "There is one more thing, though."
He whistled and Bear came bounding over from the other room, trying to climb up onto Carmen's lap. There was a red ribbon tied in a bow around his neck, between all the fluff.
"He's supposed to be in his crate when we're eating," Carmen said.
"I made an exception tonight."
When Carmen picked Bear up, she noticed a glint of something sparkly tied to his ribbon. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that it was a beautiful princess cut diamond ring. She looked back up at Abel with teary eyes as he took her hand.
"We've been through hell and back," he said. "Now I feel like we've made it to heaven, and I want to stay here with you forever. Will you marry me?"
Carmen nearly dropped Bear when she jumped up to pounce on Abel and kiss him fiercely. Bear excitedly licked tears off her cheeks when she pulled away and gave a cross between a sob and a laugh.
"Yes, yes of course," she said.
"Thank goodness for shitty broken elevators, right?"
"And mutant bugs."