She gave him a few minutes before she approached with the envelope. As she walked the short distance from the living room to the kitchen, she pulled the dinner certificate from the envelope and laid it on the table beside him.

“What’s this?” he asked, barely looking up from the paper.

“I won the raffle at work yesterday, and thought we could have date night tonight.” Carmen smiled as she waited for him to pay her some real attention. “Dinner at Carlito’s, followed by a movie at the Cineplex.”

“I can’t.” David folded the paper, laid it on the table, and then focused his attention to her. “I’m covering for another guy at work tonight.”

Carmen frowned. “David you work all the time. When do we get to have a night together?”

“We have every night together.” He patted her hand as she reached to pick up the gift certificate from the table.

Carmen let a frustrated sigh escape her lips. “Yeah, we get to sleep in the same bed, but I mean when do we actually get to spend some time together like a real couple?”

“Carmen, we’ve been over this.” David ran a hand through his hair. “A few more months and things will get back to normal.” He took her hand in his. “If you can just be a little less selfish right now, the end result will be something worth waiting for.”

“I’m being selfish.” Carmen laughed with sarcasm in her voice. “Wow, you are such an ass.” She pulled her hand from his grasp and walk to the coat rack where she grabbed her jacket. She needed time away from the apartment, and away from David and his ego, before she said something she might regret.

Later in the evening, Carmen sat alone in her kitchen frowning into a bowl of chicken noodle soup. It was a far cry from the full buffet at Carlito’s, but David’s job and his attitude had prevented them once again from sharing a night out together, and there was no way she was going to dinner alone. She tossed her spoon hard into the bowl out of frustration and groaned as liquid splashed onto the table. She shoved her chair back away from the table and got up to pace by the window.

She was restless, and in dire need of a night out with real food that didn’t come from a box or can and some adult conversation. She looked down at her watch and frowned. It was almost seven on a Saturday night and most of her friends waited tables or tended bar until much later in the evening. David had left hours before and with nothing better to do, Carmen pulled her school bag from the closet and sat on the sofa to leaf through her notes from the first week of classes. If she couldn’t have fun, at least she could get ahead in her assignments. Though she was failing in her relationship with David, school was one area she excelled in.

A piece of paper fell into her lap when she opened her math book, and Carmen remembered the friendly girl who sat in front of her. She picked up the small square and ran it between her fingers, toying with the idea of calling her. Although she’d spent most of her life on the shy side, Carmen thought Dani seemed like a generally friendly woman and it was never too late to break a trend. With David’s ambivalent attitude about putting her first in his life anymore, it was time she found other ways to spend her free time.

She picked up the phone and dialed the number quickly, not giving herself the chance to lose the nerve. “Here goes nothing,” she said aloud to herself as she hit the green talk button. The shrill sound of ringing came through the earpiece and she’d almost given up on getting an answer when a perky voice answered.

“Hello.”

Carmen took a deep breath. “Dani?”