As Mina grew more emotional, her eyes reddened and her voice
trembled. “If something really happened to you, what would Mom do? What would I do?”
When Carman’s father passed away, Mina was still in elementary school, and their mother’s health had never been good. Overnight, all the family’s burdens fell on Carman’s shoulders. He became the pir of the
household–the only support Mina and their mother had.
That’s why she reacted so strongly.
Noreen pulled Mina into a hug,forting her. “It’s alright. I’ll keep an eye on him, I promise. Don’t worry.”
Once Mina had calmed down, Noreen finally had a chance to get to the bottom of things.
“Mina tells me you’re doing the work of ten people all by yourself. What’s that about?” Noreen’s tone was stern, her expression enough to make
anyone nervous.
“It’s not that dramatic,” Carman tried to brush it off, even now.
But Mina called him out right away. “Why else? He’s trying to save money! Cutting costs everywhere!”
Noreen felt a pang of guilt.
Even though Mina hadn’t spelled it out, she could more or less guess what was going on. Carman must have realized her funds were running low and, with no new investmentsing in, decided to tighten the belt–working himself to the bone to save her money.
Noreen’s expression darkened. Sensing the shift, Carman fell silent, then finally exined himself.
“Sries for engineers are sky–high these days. Even a junior starts at six figures. The project hasn’t attracted new investment yet. I just figured, if I can do more myself, I should.”
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“That’s not ‘a bit more‘–you’re practically handling every technical position yourself,” Mina shot back.
“Don’t exaggerate,” Carman muttered, not wanting to make Noreen worry.
He’d kept the studio’s troubles from her, never mentioning how bad things had gotten. He never expected to end up sick from overwork–exposing everything in the process.
But Noreen saw right through it.
Finally, sheid down thew. “Focus on getting better. If we need to hire people, we’ll hire them. Your job is the technical stuff; leave the finances to me. Stop stressing about money that isn’t yours to worry about.”
<i>“</i>See? Noreen’s the only one who can keep my brother in line!” Mina grinned, linking arms with Noreen and shooting Carman a smug look. “Behaving yourself now, aren’t you? Noreen, if only you were my sister–inw already.”
“Mina!” Carman protested, embarrassed.
Noreen justughed it off and asked Mina if she’d taken time off school toe to the hospital.
Mina nodded quickly, exining she’d only gotten a few hours off and would have to head back soon. She urged Noreen to take care of Carman while she was gone.
Noreen promised she would.
As she left, Mina gave Carman a series of exaggerated winks, making it clear he shouldn’t waste this opportunity.
Carman knew full well Mina had taken more than a few hours off–she was just trying to give him a chance.
Noreen stayed with Carman until his IV finished. He knew she’d been running around for days and was exhausted herself.
So, the moment she went to the restroom, he subtly sped up the IV drip, hoping it would finish faster so he could send her home to rest. He kept
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insisting he’d be fine on his own, and that it wasn’t right for a woman to have to look after him.
When Noreen finally left the hospital, the rain was stilling down.
Night had fallen, bringing a chill that seeped into her bones. Sitting in her car, she hesitated for a long while before finally opening WhatsApp.
She’d deleted every trace of her conversations with Seth. The contact that had been pinned to the top of her chats for seven years was now gone
from her recents.
To message him now, she had to search his name in her phonebook. The years of messages she’d once preserved so carefully were wiped clean–just a nk screen where memories used to be.
A reflection of what their rtionship had be.
She typed out a message to Seth: Are you there, Mr. Harcourt?
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