#gingersidcarmyff

Needless to say, he wasn’t expecting company when in the middle of his third set of Russian twists he had to let go of his beloved kettlebell, get up, and jogg to the door.

His sweaty face and messy hair framing it, his labored breathing that made his voice sound different, sexier, his old football jersey that he had cut shorter because he had partially burnt it trying to put out a fire a few years prior and now showed his perfect V-lines and sometimes even his bellybutton, his dick printed grey sweatpants that also showcased his perfect V-lines, his incredibly blue eyes showing surprise and also satisfaction, all of it was what Sydney saw as soon as he opened the door. And she had to remind herself to breathe after taking it all in.

"Hey there!"

"Hi, hello!"

"Come on in… What’s going on?"

"You forgot these."

She handed him a manila envelope that contained forms he had to fill out, sign, and submit the next day, well in a few hours actually, first thing in the morning.

"Natalie was furious so I thou-"

"So you saved the day, as usual…"

"Well, when you put it that way…"

"Sorry for the mess, Syd… I wasn’t expecting…"

"Oh, no no, don’t be. I gotta go now anyway, it’s almost midnight so…"

"Oh that’s not what I meant, please stay, give me a sec, and I’ll take a quick shower and drive you home. K?"

"No, it’s OK. I’ll catch a cab if I miss the train. Don’t sweat it. Well, too late for that, but, it’s fine. No worries. I mean. It’s cool, it’s fine, it’s-"

She was ranting, her speech rate had skyrocketed.

"This late? Good luck with that… No way! Lemme give you a ride, it’s the least I can do. Just… just help yourself in the kitchen and I’ll be right back. OK? Make yourself at home. Give me 5 minutes!"

"Um… OK. OK…"

Before jumping in the shower he speedily picked up his “toys” and put the kettlebell, the dumbells, the push-up bars, and the cast iron disc away as he casually tried to make conversation:

"So.. who… who let you in?"

"Your neighbor, the one with the little brown dog that looks like a squirrel."

"Oh, Mr. Washington! Yeah, he told me once you reminded him of his daughter."

"Yeah! He just told me that too. Shouted that at me, actually."

"He’s hard of hearing…"

"Yup. I’ll just wait here. OK?"

Syd sat down in the living room and texted his dad to let him know why she was running late and to reassure him that Carmy was going to drive her home soon.

"K, as you wish, I’ll be right back."

The more she went through his books the more she found herself wanting to ask him about what he had learned from each of them.

She wanted to know it all, what recipes had he already tried, which ones he didn’t like, where had he purchased that other book that was so hard to get, etc.

The pile of books by the window also served as an impromptu coffee table on top of which a little black ashtray was on display. She found that so endearing, so very “Carmy.”

She ran her index finger along the edge of that ashtray and could see him standing there by the window, smoking a cigarette, thinking about the restaurant, about Michael, about a recipe maybe… Did he ever think about her? She wondered. Her finger was still on the edge of the ashtray, tracing circle after circle, then venturing inside the receptacle to play with the ashes, drawing more circles in there. Sydney was deep in thought by then and had completely forgotten about the books, she was now only thinking about Carmy. 

In a state of semi-trance, she unknowingly got to the shelves on the wall and started inspecting each of the items there. Her curious mind was having a field day.

This red hard-cover sketchbook caught her attention and she couldn't help it, she had to know what kind of Sistine Chapel-level drawings with shading and all Carmy had come up with, so she opened it. 

If she momentarily forgot how to breathe earlier when her EC opened the door looking like a Greek God of testosterone, stamina, and cross-fit, covered in sweat, what she saw in that sketchbook straight out made her forget how to maintain a proper brain function altogether.

Each page, dozens of them, showed a different expression of her face, a different hairstyle of her braids, and a different design of her headscarves. A flawless variation of her. She was all over those pages. The resemblance was uncanny. She was beautiful on that paper, she was like enhanced but not to the point of not looking like herself, her essence was captured perfectly and she couldn’t help but be mesmerized by her own features.

That’s when Carmy showed up behind her.

She didn’t even have to ask. 

He started explaining himself immediately. He stuttered his way through that explanation as his cheeks started to burn and his mouth began to feel dry.

Her surprise didn’t allow her to close her mouth. She kept it open all along, while Carmy tried to talk his way out of that predicament.

He kinda did by saying that he always drew portraits of people and that he didn’t think they were any good so that’s why he hadn’t shown her those yet, but that if she liked them she could keep them.

After a few more moments of silent blinking, Syd, while still flabbergasted, finally managed to shut her mouth, compose herself, swallow, and then form a short sentence:

"Um… thanks."

Carmy tried to fake calm. He wanted to sound as if he had everything under control and nonchalantly said:

"So you like them?"

"Sure."

"Wanna keep them?"

"I wanna frame them."

"Oh well… OK, thanks, I guess…"

"You are sooo talented, Carmy. These are… great, I’m—I’m in awe! I don’t know what to say, really…"

"Thank you."

"How did you-"

"I see you every day Syd."

"So… you didn’t take any pics or anything like that? I mean, I never posed for these…"

"Nope, just… I thought of you… that’s all."

"Wow!"

"You wanted my full focus, didn’t you? Well, there you have it."

He smiled sheepishly.

"I’d say…"

They both laughed on the way to the car.

That ride was awkward. The tension in the car was palpable. They couldn’t hold each other’s gazes. They would just steal a look at each other now and then, at a red light mostly… Then the tension continued to build up and they kept trying to ignore it and act as if nothing happened. Syd was holding on to that red sketchbook for dear life, she held it firmly against her chest like a shield.

When he pulled to the curve in front of her house, he looked at her intendedly, but couldn’t say a word. He was still too nervous and too embarrassed. His cover had been blown.

He had been caught red-handed, loving her.

His cover was up in the air like a fucking zeppelin.

Loving the memory of her.

His cover was now a satellite orbiting around Earth.

Loving the very thought of her.

He was sure she knew that by now. She was too smart to not have figured it out.

Syd looked at him and this time she was able to hold his eyes for a moment, then she stuttered something along the lines of: “Thanks for the ride” and got out of that car as fast as she could.

The walk to her door felt endless. Torturous even.

She wanted to go back in her tracks and kiss the genius out of him but she kept walking.

When she heard him drive away Sydney felt equally sad and relieved.

As soon as she got in bed she started going over the drawings again, and she was still so blown away by them that she couldn’t get any sleep that night.

She twisted and turned and her mind kept playing tricks on her. She pictured him alone, at his place, smoking a cigarette by the window, maybe wearing sweatpants, perhaps *only* those grey sweatpants that looked so hot on him, surrounded by his amazing books and thinking of her, drawing her perfectly by heart.

Her heart was all of a sudden a wild horse.

She wanted to call him up, wake him up, listen to his voice, and ask him about each drawing. She wanted him to walk her through each of those masterpieces. She wanted him to tell her why he did that, the truth this time around, not the PR version. She wanted... him.

6:00 AM Sydney was on her way to The Bear, still wired up, with the image of her own charcoal face firebranded on her brain and her every thought circling back to Carmy.

6:40 AM She was already at work, going through her to-do list, which included a lot of things that Carm usually did because he had to run that errand downtown, that morning.

9:07 AM Carmy walked through the front door of the restaurant and went straight to the office trying to avoid Sydney.

9:08 AM Syd was in the office telling him they needed to talk and do it elsewhere because Natalie was on the way.

9:08 AM Carmy was kicking himself on the inside.

9:10 AM They were outside, in the back alley, trying to sound like 2 adults having a serious yet friendly conversation about art.

9:11 AM They were making out. No, they were obscenely sucking face. Syd’s tongue was deep in his mouth and his hands were on her back pulling her closer.

9:20 AM They were still making out in the back alley, now her back was pressed against the wall, her hands were in his hair and his mouth was exploring hers as if his life depended on it, they were running out of oxygen, but that didn’t stop them, they continued locking mouths for a moment longer.

9:21 AM They finally broke the kiss to catch a breath, now their eyes were locked, they were panting, and they were nowhere finished. He went for her neck. Then back to her lips, she did the same. His hands on her waist, keeping her pinned to the wall, pressing himself against her. Her hands all over his back, trying to learn it by touch, like blind people learn to recognize faces with their hands.

9:22 AM Tina went out the back door carrying a huge trashbag, quickly made her way to the container, and dropped it there. She only saw them when she turned around and headed back to the restaurant. At that point, her spidey senses told her *something* was up, but Carm and Syd tried their best to look like 2 innocent people who happened to just be chit-chatting about the weather. Tina decided to play it cool and shot: “Morning!” Then promptly left them to it.

9:23 AM Syd and Carmy were back in the kitchen, pretending to fully focus on the tasks at hand. Not looking at each other. Still feeling their lips on one another. Still trying to control their respective heart rates.

11:08 PM Syd was on his couch, he was on top of her, he was all over her, inside her. She was grabbing his ass and urging him deeper as she sank her teeth into his shoulder and commanded him to fuck her.

11:29 PM Carmy was smoking a cigarette by the window, in his white boxers, using the ashtray he kept on top of his pile of books and looking at her, basking in her naked beauty, memorizing it. Syd was still on the sofa, lying on her side and resting her head on her hand, looking at him, enjoying the view as well. Their full focus: On each other, only this time around none of them were trying to hide it.

:The 💋 end:

You can find more fics like this one by me on AO3.

Thanks for reading!

She was watching closely as a crowd exited the airplane and from the gate. The Lufthansa flight 1721 was delayed 2 and a half hours and she knew Luca was exhausted and couldn’t wait to get off the plane because they had been in constant communication since before he boarded his first Scandinavian Airlines flight 14 hours earlier in Copenhagen and all throughout his route, that included a connection in Frankfurt.

They locked eyes among the multitude of strangers. They mirrored each other’s smiles. He moved forward to meet her. They hugged very tight. She kissed him. They continued smiling as they kissed.

He told her he missed her. She sincerely uttered: "Me too, Luca" as she tightened her grip even more.

Luca and Syd met about a year ago at his sister’s wedding who happened to have tied the knot with Martin, Sydney’s childhood friend.

Sydney didn’t have many friends, but the ones she had had been in her life for decades. They were super close. Martin lived in London for years, where Melissa, Luca’s baby sister, and he met.

After half a decade of love, they decided to call it quits, and shortly after Martin returned to America, to Chicago specifically.

About three months later, Missie showed up in Chicago and six months after that they were planning their wedding. Syd and Missie became really good friends because Melissa didn’t have any friends in America and Syd was happy to help her out with the wedding arrangements.

One thing led to the other and before she knew it, Syd was being assigned the Bride’s maid role. A role she never played before in any other wedding. She was usually the cousin who sat by the open bar and maybe danced a little before leaving the premises with her shoes in her hands, or the caterer, but never the bride’s maid.

“There’s a first time for everything”, Syd thought.

What never crossed her mind was that Luca was going to be Martin’s best man when the original best man missed the wedding altogether because he had been arrested under road rage charges and was not expected to be bailed out in time to make it to the wedding. So Luca put his cape on and played the best man part at the eleventh hour.

Syd and Luca hit it off at the wedding right away. He was smitten, she was taken aback by how well they just clicked. And by how hot he was, as well. But mostly by how well they seemed to get along right off the bat.

A year later he was leaving his position at Noma to move to Chicago with her.

They were going strong. They found a way to make the long-distance thing work for them and that only cemented their bond, so it felt totally organic when they revised the living arrangements and she suggested they moved in together after he confessed he was determined to quit Noma for her. They loved each other, they were happy together, they missed each other, and they had been going out -exclusively- for almost a year by then, traveling back and forth every few months and constantly in touch online, they made each other laugh and understood each other. It just felt right to take it to the next level, so they did.

Once Luca hired and trained his replacement he booked the tickets and Syd promised him a position at The Bear. She previously ran this by her EC, of course, and he was on board with the idea. What she never mentioned was that she and Luca were involved.

When Carmy found out about it, weeks later, he felt led on. Betrayed. Crazy jealous. And also delusional. He knew he had no right to feel any of those things, but his heart had a different take. He was brokenhearted.

Richie’s birthday party was a total success, according to the birthday guy. Once everyone was gone and after having witnessed Syd and Luca smooching all night long, Carmy and Richie were cleaning up, and Carmy, who had drunk copious amounts of beer, almost as much as Cousin, got chatty. Richie knew something was up and inquired about it, Carmy had no problem venting. A couple of hours later they were talking about Carmy’s feelings for Syd and about how Luca and her seemed perfect together, which drove Carmy mental. Richie drunkenly tried to talk some sense into him but he failed.

Carmy crashed on Richie’s couch that night and the next day showed up at The Bear as if nothing had happened. Not knowing exactly how much of the truth he had told Cousin about or how much Richie remembered.

Richie only remembered one thing: “I wanna kill him.” But he wasn’t exactly sure about the rest of the conversation. Did Carmy really tell him he loved Syd? Did he admit he had been having feelings for her for years? No, it couldn’t be. Cousin dismissed the whole thing completely. He must have been totally wasted and Carmy would have never said that, he figured.

The next day at the restaurant Richie started seeing Syd and Carmy's interactions through different lenses.

He started to pick up on things he had been missing or disregarding in the past.

A few days later it was painfully obvious to him that that conversation he vaguely remembered had been real and what he thought Carmy had said was indeed what he said.

Later that same day he was taking his usual cigarette break in the back alley and overheard Syd and Luca on the other side of the back door arguing about what they were going to do the next day when they both had the day off.

Cousin got back in and shot: “Trouble in Paradise?”

Sydney went rigid and Luca was also visibly upset.

Richie walked past them with an evil smirk on his face and went straight to the office where he found Carmy popping Tylenol. “Yo, Bear! The love birds gave you a headache?”.

Cindy Chase was a renowned and extremely attractive Aussie critic who had recently arrived in Chicago, very recently. In fact, her suitcase was not even fully unpacked yet.

Her second stop in the Windy City, right after checking in at The Peninsula, was The Bear.

Richie thought her name sounded familiar and quickly googled her.

He was right on the money, she was what he sensed she was so he gave her the special critic treatment.

She ordered a Michael Cannoli as an entree, a Lamb ragú as a main course, and a Sydney donut for dessert, but Richie made sure she also tasted a bunch of other dishes he knew that were going to get them brownie points.

Cindy was delighted.

As any respectable critic, no matter how amazing the food was, it never occurred to her to ask to speak with the Chef. She was about to leave when the couple at the table next to hers did ask to speak with the chef so she decided to stick around a little longer to hear what they had to say.

What she overheard was that the CDC was not available at the time but the EC was going to join them shortly.

When Carmy walked into the FOH he was met by Richie who elegantly guided him to the table where this couple was over the moon and wanted to tell him all about it. They congratulated him and praised his food with a passion. They told him it was their third time there and that every time the dishes tasted better than the time before. They had already tried everything on the menu and had already picked their favorite dishes they couldn't live without. Carmy was pleased to hear that and very grateful for the compliments. He told them he was going to make sure to let Chef Sydney know about it and thanked them for trusting The Bear.

Then he turned around to go back to his natural habitat, the BOH, but he was rendered motionless when he got a glimpse of this stunning redhead that looked like a supermodel at the table to the left. They both clocked each other, he smiled at her, almost imperceptibly, and then off he went.

A week had gone by since Carmy and Cindy met at The Bear and only 3 days since her first review about The Bear had been posted on her own personal blog, one of the most popular ones in the tourist niche. It was a 4 out of 5 stars review.

Carmy sent her flowers to her room with a card that thanked her for her valuable feedback and asked her to meet up soon to talk about how to go about getting her fifth star. This was utterly unprofessional, Carmy knew. He had never done it before but she had previously left Richie her card and room number, specifically asking him to tell Carmy to reach out. So Carmy did reach out in hopes of forgetting all about the kiss he had shared that morning with Syd in the office when they read the review together and celebrated, maybe too effusively, that Cindy had referred to The Bear as the best spot in Chicago.

Sydney was mortified. Carm regretted it.

“Carmy! What was that?!”

“I’m sorry, Syd! Sorry, I-I-”

“It’s OK. Forget it. Let’s just-”

“No, I’m really sorry, Syd.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry. It was nothing.”

“You know what they say…”

“What?”

“No tongue. It-it doesn’t count…”

“What are you, eight?! And-and it felt wet-”

“What?!!?”

“I mean, open-mouthed, no tongue but it felt- doesn’t matter, forget it!”

“I am truly sorry, Sydney. I dunno where that came from. I never-”

“You taste like cigarette and sherry vinegar. Have you tried my new dressing, the one I’m still calibrating?”

“Um… Yeah, actually. It’s fire, chef.”

“Thanks. Um…I’m still trying to find the exact— Doesn’t matter… Let’s not make a big deal about it, k? Nothing happened here. Now, move, I gotta go to finish the inventory and you have to stay here and wait for Nat, she’s on the way with the numbers for the new budget. I’ll join you as soon as I can.”

“Sure thing.”

“And one more thing that goes without saying but I’m gonna say it anyway: No one can know about this because it never happened. Are we clear on that, Carmy?”

“Crystal.”

Sydney hid in the walk-in and was hoping that the shocking change of temperature shook her enough to get over the tantalizing taste he had left on her lips and the tingling sensation that she still felt all over.

It did not work. The cold air surrounding her didn’t do anything for her. If anything, it worsened her situation. She knew all too well that those chills she was having had nothing to do with the fridge and that warm arousal that was creeping up on her making her wish that 3-second kiss had never ended, was not going to go away any time soon, no matter how cold the temperature was in there.

Two days later Carmy was balls deep in Cindy. And about 10 minutes after that, she was slapping him.

Before things escalated quickly and ended with Carmy being physically assaulted by this Aussie critic who looked like a slightly shorter version of Jessica Chastain, she was the one who invited him to her room and as soon as she closed the door, jumped him. For a fleeting moment, Carmy’s brain was able to register that he had a massive crush on Jessica Chastain for years before his taste became a lot "darker" once Syd walked into his life.

That train of thought was short-lived.

In no time Carmy reacted like any red-blooded man would and kissed her like a released prisoner would kiss freedom on their first day out of jail. This little voice inside his head - the upper one - was plotting against Sydney and convincing him that this bombshell from down under was going to “fix him” and maybe kissing her and screwing her against that wall was going to free him from what he felt for his business partner who was getting hot and heavy with his Pâtissier and demanding him to act if their kiss never happened.

Cindy had protection, she hid it in her red bra and showed it to him with a mischievous smile that invited him to commit the sexiest sins. He put the rubber on faster than lighting and then feasted on her perky tits feeling any restrain leave his body shortly after. Carmy gave in completely to the white-hot perception of being inside her and sensing her walls gripping around his throbbing cock, making him forget his own name for an agonizing moment that he wanted to prolong as much as possible, although he was sure it all was going to be over very soon. He didn’t care, he kept nailing her to that wall and she kept moaning his name and biting any patch of skin she could get her teeth into.

She breathlessly whispered in his ear after biting his earlobe: “Kiss me, Carmy, kiss me!”

Her silken lips tasted like cigarette and coffee, which he loved and he could feel the soft tickle of her breath beneath his nose as he did as he was told and devoured her mouth. Her tongue was hot and playful, her fingers digging in his back and carding through his sweaty skin as they breathed each other in, drove him wild. And he lost any track of thought as soon as she pulled his hair. After that not-so-little tug, it all became a blur of sordid lust in his head and then he felt this orgasm building up in his groin. He was going to burst any moment now. When she clenched her muscles once again Carm just couldn’t take it anymore and buried his face in the curve of her neck emptying himself in that lubricated condom for what felt like forever.

He wasn’t sure about her orgasm, so he asked her, willing to go down on her if she just said the words, but she didn’t reply at all. Cindy seemed quite upset. Carmy was convinced he had come too fast and was getting on his knees when she finally barked: “Sydney?!!? It’s Cindy, you bloody fucking wanker!” The slap on his face was what followed.

“What the fuck! Sorry, what?!?!”

“You called me Sydney, drongo!”

“Wait, what?!”

“Get the fuck outta here!”

“I-I- didn’t, Cindy, you must have misunderstood, I-”

“Oh, now I’m the idiot?! Right, charming, really… Get outta here, now!”

Carmy started to get dressed but kept swearing he hadn’t done that. He felt accused of a crime he hadn’t committed.

And then Cindy disappeared into the bathroom. He could hear her crying on the other side of the door.

So Carmy leaned his head against the door and told her:

“Cindy, c’mon! I-I- called you Cindy, I’m sure!”

He really didn’t know if he was lying. He had no recollection of the words that got out of his mouth since he set foot in that room, he barely remembered what she said but truth be told, it sounded like him. He did know that Sydney had crossed his mind at some point and he also knew it wasn’t the first time, but it certainly was the first time someone actually told him her name had escaped his lips during sex. And he hoped it was the last time.

“I’m sorry, Cindy.”

He was about to leave when she stormed out of the washroom and spewed her venom:

“I’m gonna fucking bury you! You and your pretentious little restaurant, I’m gonna fuck you up so hard you will remember my name till the day you die!”

“Cindy, c’mon! You can’t do that! I’m not even sure you heard me correctly, I was calling your name, Cin, c’mon!”

“Stop lying to my face, asshole! You called her name like three times, drongo! The first time I wasn’t sure, so I let it go, maybe I misunderstood because your mouth wasn't necessarily free to articulate, fine, the second time your face was buried in my tits and I was almost certain I heard her name, but not completely so I let it slide and then you fucking called her name as you climaxed and I fucking heard you perfectly! Your face was right here, you fucker, right by my bloody ear! I know exactly what I heard! At least have the balls to admit it, shitcunt!”

“Cindy, I-”

“GET THE FUCK OUT OR I’LL CALL SECURITY RIGHT NOW!!! OUT! OUT!”

Carmy left, defeated. Frustrated. But most of all, he was humiliated, because not only Cindy was right about him calling Sydney’s name, he was sure she was by now, but she was also right about him not having the balls to admit it.

The next day he confided in Richie and told him everything. He told him about the sex, about the wrong name, about how things ended awfully with Cindy and about her threat that he was sure she was going to act on pretty soon, also about how it was all his fault, everything. Carmy spared him no details.

Richie’s eyes sparkled a brighter shade of blue when he learned about Cindy’s evil plans.

“I did some research on her. D’you know what I found out? She fled Australia because the Critics Association threatened her with ruining her career unless she got off their backs. Apparently, they had been receiving some complaints from the restaurant owners saying that she accepted bribes to post positive reviews in the major specialized news outlets and foody blogs, except her own, she kept her own squeaky clean. But turns out they couldn’t prove all that, it was just rumors, their word against hers. So they just agreed to take no actions against her as long as she quietly got off their hair. And there must have been some truth in those rumors because she packed her bags and left, no questions asked.”

“Oh, my fuck!… Wait! So you're suggesting we bribe her?”

“No, I’m suggesting we out her. I’m actually telling you that I will. So if she wants to play dirty, no one will believe her anyway. A critic without credibility has nothing on anyone, Bear. If we spread the rumor here before she makes a move, she’s powerless. And actually, a couple of guys in the biz have already beaten us to it, I’ve come to find out. All we have to do now is blow the whistle as well and make sure we make some noise to back them up. I heard the rumors about how her shenanigans have already spread in NYC. We gotta hurry up and make Chicago a hostile environment for her as well, pronto!”

“Yes, you’re right. Sounds like a plan.”

“Let me handle it. OK?”

“OK, let it rip!”

“Oh… I will believe me, I will…”

In less than 48 hours Cindy Chase’s case was “handled” and her credibility and popularity were nowhere to be found. She was radioactive in the entire restaurant scene of Chicago, New York, Washington D.C., and L.A. In other words, all major markets. Even Nantucket got the memo. She found out about this via The Chicago Tribune’s Editor and the editor-in-chief of Eater magazine. Both texted her and emailed the details and when she called them they happened to be otherwise engaged. They were not available for her ever again after that. Needless to say, they never returned her calls either. Her career was as dead as the smoked salmon she ate for dinner before she left the country to try and save the little face she had left.

Carmy thought he was fully out of the woods when he found out that Cindy had flown away to an unknown destination and his restaurant’s high reputation was going to remain intact. But he had another thing coming.

It had been a while since Sydney and he closed the restaurant together like back in the day.

She usually opened it, he arrived shortly after, and Luca and her left for the day about an hour before Carmy turned off the lights, set the alarm, and headed home every night. That was their new “normal” and even though Carmy ardently hated this new routine, he was resigned by now.

Syd and Luca lived literally around the corner and Carmy made sure to take the long way back home every night to avoid walking by their place whenever he wasn’t driving his car.

So this warm summer night he was about to close and take the long way back home again when he heard a bang on the front door and saw Luca’s face completely distorted by anger. He was fuming, cussing, he looked possessed.

Carmy approached the door and carefully opened it to be punched square in the jaw a second later.

He didn’t remember much after that. He did remember seeing stars for an instant and then this intense surge of pain coursing through his whole face as the words “You fucking son of a bitch, did you fuck her?!? Did you fuck her?!” sounded far away in his ears. But it all went black after that.

He woke up in the hospital.

Syd called 911 and stayed by Carmy’s unconscious languid body, knelt on the floor, screaming her lungs out at both: the 911 operator and her soon-to-be ex. She rode with her EC in the ambulance and as she did that she made a few calls. First, she called Richie and then she called Natalie to tell them where they were taking him. Carm was still unresponsive.

The diagnosis was: Concussion and a broken jaw.

The prognosis was: Complete recovery of the traumatic brain injury within the next 72 hours approximately and complete recovery of the mild jaw fracture in no less than 6 weeks because fortunately there were no signs of displacement.

The symptoms he was now experiencing were: confusion, severe headache, ringing in his ears, and mild nausea. No pain because the pain medication had started to kick in just fine. However, the mild nausea turned into vomits when Syd filled him in about what had transpired at The Bear.

And a few days later he got to see the footage in the security cameras, with sound.

Syd gave him the uncut version anyway, so he only got the confirmation he didn't need when he saw the images.

Luca had lost it when he thought Syd and him were having an affair and the rest was history, fully documented on film kind of history.

What Syd did not mention was why Luca suspected they were an item. He was positive he didn’t know about the little kiss they shared a few days prior, so how did that strange idea get into Luca’s head?

Well, Carmy was not the only one who could cry out the wrong name during sex.

Sydney felt so guilty about what happened that she took turns with Natalie, Richie, and Tina to take care of Carmy during his convalescence. Natalie, having a baby at home could barely juggle all of the responsibilities, Richie and Tina were crucial in The Bear enduring the blow of having none of its head chefs on site for a couple of days. When Syd got back to work she managed to be The Bear's CDC by day and Carmy's nurse by night because Carm needed a liquid diet and a lot of surveillance. He was not supposed to smoke or even get out of bed for a while, but there was no way he followed the medical advice, so she turned into this Rottweiler who scared him back to the couch or bed every time he wanted to put on the “I’m fine” show. Whenever she was not doing that, Richie filled in for her in the Rottweiler role and whenever neither Richie nor she could make sure Carmy behaved, Tina was the Rottweiler, which she enjoyed quite a lot. Sugar didn’t even try, she gave up after just one hour, all she did was make sure Syd had all she needed to tend to his brother and pay him daily visits to check on him. So for about 4 days that system worked but then Carmy wanted to get back to work, seeing as his hands were just fine and his concussion symptoms had subsided. But every time he went back to work, he forgot he had to keep his mouth shut and started talking and giving orders, etc., so that was not working for him. He was forced to take a longer sick leave and Syd was with him at his place every step of the way whenever she was not at the restaurant.

4 weeks went by like a shot and Carmy was by then almost fully recovered and back in the game. He still had a mild discomfort in his jaw depending on the movements he made but his pain meds were always in his pocket so he navigated the soreness pretty easily. Whenever it started to ache he popped a Tramadol and problem solved.

By that time Syd was literally living under his roof. Luca and she broke up right before she got in the ambulance with Carmy, she never saw him again. He got a job in Philadelphia a few weeks later and was happy about Carmy’s promise not to press charges as long as he resigned immediately and never showed up at The Bear again, so that’s exactly what he did, he was convinced Carmy had played with his toys and didn’t trust Syd anymore. Sydney was not so benevolent with him, she promised to press charges if he ever attempted to even call her again. She wanted him gone.

A couple of days later she took all her belongings back to her father’s apartment but this was merely a symbolic act, seeing as she always carried her overnight night bag to stay at Carmy’s.

One night as Carmy was on the couch watching a horror movie that didn’t scare him at all and she was in the shower, she screamed like the girl who was dying on the TV screen. About 2 seconds later Carmy saw how a soaking wet silloute wrapped in a white towel ran across the apartment freaking out about a flying cockroach that apparently had taken over the bathroom.

So the, to some degree, high-on Tramadol knight in shining armor took it upon himself to defend the damsel in distress and took care of the issue in under a minute.

But then he was the one with the issue. The image of Sydney wearing nothing but a towel and smelling like floral soap, covered in little shiny droplets that he thought looked like dew drops was now living rent-free in his brain.

Syd had decided to return to her father’s place till she could rent a new apartment of her own and Carmy had decided he could not let that happen.

So he tried to play it cool at first and casually suggested to her that she could stay as long as she wanted.

When Syd was still determined to leave he resorted to the emotional manipulation of telling her: “It’s the least I can do, I mean, you took such good care of me, Syd. Please, let me give back”.

That didn’t work either because Syd reminded him that her ex was the one who caused all of that shitstorm to begin with and it could have been worse. So, he owed her nothing because what she did for him was actually the least she could do, not the other way around.

That was when Carmy had an Eureka moment and remembered that he had been meaning to ask her what had gotten into Luca to overreact like that.

Sydney looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights when she heard the question.

Carmy patiently waited for a response that never came. He found that suspicious. Especially coming from Syd, she was never speechless. It was out of character for her to have absolutely nothing to say so he pushed for an answer and after a few awkward moments he got it.

“Luca and I had been going through some problems long before that happened, he had trust issues, that’s why we broke up, I mean… that and your brain injury and broken bones, and ruined furniture and you know…”

“Yeah, I was there.”

“So, that was it.”

“But why did he have trust issues? It doesn’t sound like him, and you two were practically Siamese twins, you worked together, lived together, I mean.. makes no sense…”

“I dunno, Carmen, why don’t you just call him and ask him?! I blocked him but I still have his number. Wanna ping him!?!?”

“Relax, Syd! I’m just-”

“Listen, it doesn’t matter, what matters is that it’s over and that you’re OK. I’m sorry I snapped, OK? Let’s just go to bed. I’ll sleep on the couch tonight because my bed is covered with all my clothes that I haven’t packed yet. So go to bed and I’ll crush on the couch.”

“No, no, you take my bed and I’ll stay here, I mean, I’m already here, so I might as well stay.”

“K. Good night.”

“Night, Syd.”

About 3 hours later Carmy started to feel mild pain in his jaw and realized that his new refill was in his nightstand so he tried to sneak into his room without waking Syd up and take his medication. When he was about to make it safely out the door he heard a soft whimpering sound that resembled his name. He stopped in his tracks, listened attentively and there it was again:

“Carm.”

So he went back thinking he had woken her up but when he took a closer look at her he realized she was sound asleep. And she did it again, only this time it sounded more clear and more… sultry.

The mere thought of Syd dreaming about him, whether it was that kind of dream or not, made him feel this funny warmth in his skin that he had gotten used to feeling every time she walked by smelling like her soap and leaving a trail of that intoxicating scent behind her.

She woke up to see this creepy guy who looked a lot like Carmy, at the foot of the bed, looking right back at her. Syd blinked a few times and then realized it was actually him as soon as he started apologizing for having woken her up.

“I just came here to get my meds and then I heard you calling my name and so…”

“What?!? I-I.”

“It’s OK, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“No, no, it’s fine. It’s OK.”

“OK, go back to sleep”.

“Yeah.”

Once back on his couch every time he closed his eyes to try and get some sleep her voice re-played in his ears. It was pointless to keep on trying to doze off, he knew. It was already 4:30 AM. He was a hopeless case at this point. So he gave up and decided to light a cigarette but before he could do that her voice startled him. This time it was real, she was truly there, awake, in the doorway of his room looking at him, wearing an oversized red Chicago Bulls jersey that left very little to the imagination because her erect nipples printed the fabric and her bare long legs were on display for his eyes to wander all over them as he pleased, calling his name.

Carm took a deep breath to try to keep it together and asked her what was up.

“I can’t sleep.”

“That makes two of us.”

She sat next to him on the sofa and asked him: “How come? I thought the painkillers would help you sleep”

“You would think that, but nope. I’m on a very low dose now, I’m starting to feel it… I miss my previous dose. Those were the days...”

“Oh! I see, right. But stick to this one, don’t fuck it up.”

“Yes, chef.”

They fell into this comfortable silence and in a little while his voice, lower and softer than usual, almost whispering, cut through the quietude and his words lingered in the air for a moment till she decided to answer his question:

“I don’t wanna stay because I’m afraid I’ll never leave if I don’t go now, Carm.”

“And what if you never leave?”

“Carmy…”

“Syd…”

Their eyes started to do the talking from then on, and then their lips gravitated towards each other and then everything was happening all at once. Their kisses became more greedy, their hands more daring, their breathing more shallow, and then she straddled him and he held on to her like the survivor of a shipwreck that's stranded at sea would hold on to whatever keeps them afloat. She was grinding against his hardness and her panties were soaking.

Once a desire takes root, it’s hard to sway in another direction, they were both widely aware of this.

They had been fighting this for the longest time now and it just didn’t seem possible, or right, to continue denying themselves this pleasure.

She rode him slowly at first, never breaking eye contact. He kissed her, this time like he truly had been wanting to kiss her all along. Then she picked up the rhythm and started plunging in deeply on his impossibly hard shaft and his groans filled the room, he sounded as if he was begging for his life, sending sharp shivers of pleasure through her. She could feel her climax building, but Syd didn’t want to get there alone, even with the way her clit was rubbing against his pubic bone, and when he filled her up so completely that she felt him all over and it felt soooo damn right!. Now it was her time to beg:

“Please! Cum with me, Carm, cum with me!”

And it only took less than 10 seconds for him to oblige.

Her cries could be heard all over his floor.

All the neighbors could testify to the fact that they had both said the right names and Carmy was certain about having moaned the correct 6-letter name this time around.

Sydney never left his apartment.

═════════•°• :The 💋 end: •°•═════════