The two of them exited the car and Carmen fell behind Ethan and followed him to an apartment number that was on the third floor. Ethan knocked on the door and it was opened by a woman that hugged Ethan when she saw him. She then let him pass into the room and when Carmen tried to follow, she offered her hand out for a handshake and Ethan turned around introducing Carmen to her as his partner. The woman introduced herself as the partner of Kevin, the theorist who rented the apartment. Suddenly, Carmen froze, and she quickly looked around the very large living room for this Kevin. When she saw that he wasn’t in the living room, she asked his partner where he was.

            “So, where is Kevin?” Carmen asked trying to hold back her anger.

            “Uh, I don’t know he was here a second ago,” Kevin’s partner replied.

            “I guess he ran from his scary little sister as soon as he saw her at the door. Could you find him and tell him that I promise not to hurt him in front of all his friends? Thank you.”

            Ethan was in a state of shock. He had never seen Carmen so emphatic about anything before. He remembered that her brother skipped out on helping her move, which was probably why she was so mad. But now he worried about how Kevin would feel about her potentially liking him and also using Kevin as the friend that was interested in her to ask her to come out here.

            Kevin’s partner returned explaining, “Kevin’s holed up in his bedroom. He says he’s sorry about not helping you move and wants to see Ethan before coming out.”

            “Fine. What’s your name by the way?”

            “I’m Marla. I have to be honest I’ve never seen Kevin act like this before. You’re something else to be able to spook him like this.”

            “Ethan, could you tell Kevin that I forgive him since you came and helped me out? But that if he skips out on me again, he’s going to get it.”

            “Sure, I’ll be right back,” Ethan replied feeling the awkwardness continue to build.

            “Okay.”

            Carmen worked her way around the room introducing herself to Kevin and Ethan’s friends and their partners. She was anxious going in because she wasn’t sure about who Ethan would have as friends but knowing that they are also her brother’s friends made the worry disappear. Her brother always surrounded himself with good people because he was a nice guy. He was so nice that he forgot about helping Carmen move, to work on all of his friend’s other projects. Carmen knew that it wasn’t his fault he was that way, but she wished he would keep a decent schedule to see her from time to time. She had not seen him since he left home two years ago. During that time when she couldn’t take the absence of her brother, she decided to write him a postcard, detailing how angry she was at him. That was why the address seemed familiar.

            Ethan slipped into Kevin’s room. They both spoke up at the same time and about the same thing.

            “You’re partner is Carmen!” Kevin exclaimed while Ethan quietly said, “My partner is Carmen.”

            “She might be interested in you! Dude,” Kevin exclaimed again.

            “Shh, she might hear us.”

            “Well, I’m not against it. When I think about it you two might be a good fit.”

            “That’s a small relief. By the way, I ended up helping her move into her apartment, so she forgives you for skipping out on her.”

            Kevin didn’t seem to believe that Carmen wasn’t angry anymore. (That’s because she wasn’t and only Kevin and Carmen knew that.)

            “I also told her that you were my friend that was interested in her. You know to get her to come to the party so you and Ray could figure out if she liked me.”

            “Well, what did she say about my being interested in her? She said to tell you she wasn’t interested. Oh … well if I was a good brother, I would already be able to tell you if she liked you. If I asked, her about it she’d get all suspicious now.”

            “Yeah, that’s true. Uhm, I think I like her too.”

            “Huh!? But you don’t want to do anything until you know that she likes you.”

            “Yep.”

            “I’m terrible at personal stuff. Just like you, you know. But I’ll see what I can do without making anything worse.”

            “Okay. Let’s go back out there.”