Owen and Carmen exited the building, walking arm in arm towards Carmen's apartment, which was only a short walk away.

"They all seemed really nice," Owen said as they rounded the first corner. "It sounds like they really thought through their offer."

Carmen stayed silent as they walked, the sound of her shoes clicking on the pavement was the only sound that passed between them.

"So, you liked the show?" Owen was trying to save the conversation by giving it a sense of normalcy, and Carmen was grateful for it.

"Yeah, I think I said that before, but I was super impressed," she couldn't help but wonder what she should do about their offer.

Owen walked in silence, allowing Carmen to lead the conversation.

"I really liked Eva, though," Carmen smiled, "I wish I could work with her!"

"Yeah, she's a nice woman. Her husband's nice, too."

How did Owen know anything about Eva and her husband? He just met them this evening.

"Thanks for inviting me along with you," Owen attempted to get Carmen's attention again. "That was one of the coolest dates I've ever been on."

"One of?" Carmen turned her face towards him and raised an eyebrow, "Only one of the best dates? Well, we're going to have to fix that."

Owen smiled at her and offered her his hand to hold, which she gladly accepted as she walked home towards her apartment.

Less than ten minutes later, they stood at the door to Carmen's building, looking up at the door. Neither of them made a move to end their closeness, but Carmen knew they couldn't just stand there forever.

"Do you want to come up?" she asked him tentatively, not sure if she wanted him to say yes.

He breathed out before replying, "Yes, very much. But I think I should probably go home. We both have really early mornings and I don't think this is very good work attire."

He paused before continuing, "At least it's not good work attire for me."

"Okay, uh, yeah," Carmen tried to hide her sadness, "I guess I'll see you around then."

"Wait, Carmen!" he ran up the stairs after her, "I-"

He was cut off by the sound of the elevator as the door closed behind Carmen. That was humiliating.

* * *

Waking up the next morning was hard. In the end, Carmen had only slept for about four hours despite leaving as early as she could the night before. So by the time she got to work, she was extremely tired even after her pot of extra strong coffee. This is going to be a long day.

"How was it?" Amy whispered into her ear as soon as she entered the building. "Did you accept their offer?"

"Maybe not here, Amy," Carmen grabbed Amy by the arm and pulled her into the dressing rooms.

"So?" Amy pressed when Carmen sat down on a chair, "I've been dying to know."

"It was really good," Carmen began.

"Oh I know, right? I went last month and-" Amy interrupted herself, "I'm sorry. We're talking about you."

"Yeah, it was really good," Carmen continued without missing a beat, "And I met Evangeline who is super sweet and I want to be her best friend. No offence."

"None taken. I want to be her best friend, too," Amy shrugged, sipping her water, "Difference is, she invited you to the party and you aren't sure if you want to go or not."

"Well, I've maybe got a date during that party and I'm not sure I want to close that option yet," Carmen tried to continue Amy's metaphor, but Amy didn't seem to get it.

"What? You have another date?"

"No. What?" Carmen looked at Amy, both of them confused. "Oh, no. I don't have a date. I'm just saying I know she wants to hire me, but I'm still hoping for a job here."

"I would pay you to take that job," Amy folded her hands together and begged, "I hate what they do to you here and you're worth more than that."

"I'm fine," Carmen tried to smile at her friend, but Amy had a point. "Or maybe I'm not, but I'm so used to this place and these people that I don't know how to be without you."

"I could come with you," Amy pulled her feet up onto her chair. "So, you don't have another date? When are you calling him?"

Carmen pulled out her phone to avoid Amy's question. She was planning to say she got an important phone call or something, but then she saw the time.

"Amy! We're late!" Carmen stuffed her phone into her bag and took her sweater off as she took off running down the hall.

"It's not a big deal, Carm," Amy jogged after her, "It's just leads."

"And understudies," Carmen pointed out, "Which means me. Which means I'm late."

Amy said a word she wouldn't want Carmen to repeat as she picked up her pace towards the practice room.

To avoid making a scene, Carmen slowed to a normal pace as she approached the door and pushed it open as quietly as possible. She had hoped to sneak in unnoticed, but one look at everyone's faces told her she hadn't succeeded.

"Miss Morales Castillo," John drawled the last word with a nasty smirk on his face, knowing how it bothered Carmen. "So nice of you to finally join us."

"I'm sorry," Carmen spoke to the room, so she could avoid looking directly at John.

"Just know this does not look good for your interview," John made a note in his book, just to prove his point. "You'll need to work very hard to catch up to Miranda."

Carmen was stunned at how completely transparent his favouritism was, but the looks on everyone else's faces said Carmen was the only one who was even slightly surprised.