Patricia sits in her studio chiseling out a sculpture. Her cell rings with Tanya on the screen; she picks it up believing for sure that something bad happened.
The voice came crackling over the speaker phone, full of some rare energy that immediately caught Patricia's attention.
"You won't believe it!" Tanya exclaimed in a tone that blended with pride and elation, laughing like an excited breathless sheep.
"I got my grades back!" hehehehehe, Tanya said, her words tumbling out in quick succession. "Straight As—which means for the third time three Fs; straight As—again; FOR THE THREE!!!"
Patricia stopped; her focus was now fully upon Tanya. Her grades had always been so sound, but this was something else. Tanya wasn't exactly the type to make big deals out of things.
That's great, Patricia said dully, her voice a little dull, still waiting for Tanya to get to the point".
But Tanya did not even notice that she wasn't excited anymore in her voice; instead, her excitement grew and surged. "And that's not all! I made somethingwell, kind of. I mean, it's not much, but it's still a breakthrough, if you ask me." Pat raised an eyebrow intrigued by what she just said. "You made something?" she asked now, intrigued despite herself.
"Yeah!" Tanya's voice came barely above a whisper, as if sharing a secret. "Little invention-out of a carton box. I think it's gonna change everything."
Patricia rubbed the back of her neck. "A carton box?" she repeated, saying this slowly, as if disbelieving, but at the same time curious. "Okay, I'm listening."
"You have to come see it," Tanya pleaded, almost bouncing on the other end of the line. "I'm calling it 'The Carton Reformer.'"
Patricia's lips curled in a smile but she pushed the moment away. "The Carton Reformer?" she said, raising her eyebrow and repeating the words. "Get out of here. You're pulling my leg."
"You're not! You'll see. It's. it's going to blow your mind." Tanya's voice was full of infectious enthusiasm that nearly made Patricia believe her.
Pat let out a soft whisper. She hardly had free time to spare, but she was determined to pamper herself this time. "Okay. I'll be there soon. But you don't even think about wasting my time."
"I'll wait. Don't take too long!" Patricia hung up the phone with a shake of her head, the small, amused smile tugging at her lips. Tanya always had these random moments of genius, she thought, though she couldn't help but wonder just how much of this invention was really going to be as revolutionary as Tanya made it sound.
And then before her lay hours of toil, all of them spent sitting staring at her sculpture and tired hands. The brief interruption was not so bad after all.
Patricia put down the phone, shaking her head and smiling at the corners of her lips. Of course some of Tanya's flights of fantasy were maddening, but they were also, kind of sweet. Maybe—just maybe—this Carton Reformer could turn out to be more than just a cardboard box.
Patricia stepped out the front door, letting cold air sweep across her face as she gazed upward at the greyed sky. The mansion loomed above her, grand and immense as ever; this morning, however, she barely gave it a second glance. She wore a flapping black jacket and oversized jogging pants in black that swung with every step she took. Far removed from what people had expected: they were convinced that the Salgado name would be rewarded with a polished look, but Patricia preferred this untidy look when she wasn't caught up dealing with business or family obligations.
She needed but little for the day's activities-a sketchbook and some books. Everything she needed so that there remained only to call her driver.
She speed-dialed on her cell phone, pressed it to her ear as she adjusted the strap across her shoulder with one hand. Two rings later, her driver's voice responded immediately on the other end.
"Yes, Miss Salgado?"
"Outside," she said coolly, almost indifferently. "I'll be at the gate in a few. Be ready."
"Yes, Miss Salgado," he replied promptly.
Patricia let it go to voicemail and stood there, tapping the finger she'd used to answer against her thigh. She put the phone in her pocket and stood there a long time, looking out at the expanse before her: the perfect lawn, the trees edging the property. It was all so far away. Years went by behind such perfect walls, and such a mansion was no home. It was a prison in all its magnificence.
She shifted her bag a little higher up on her shoulder and walked to the wrought iron gate with a deep sigh. Yet the work of the day had not been nearly as heavy as it had grown to be. Always, comfort was in sculpting; then she always knew that her mind was clean, giving her freedom to concentrate purely on work. And that was what today promised to be too.
And in her head, she thinks back to Tanya. Patricia went smiling with a small almost fond smile while working out what wild notion she has been cooking up this time. The wilder inventions seem, the more life and zest they inject into Patricia's world.
She nodded and stepped out of the gate head shaking toward her car. Again came the rumble of the engine. He saw to remind her that no matter what, she could find some sort of order in the chaos. She had to just move on, step by step, day by day, sculpture by sculpture.
It flowed like water down the long drive. Patricia sat in the front, fingers lightly pressed on her temple, and the only noise in an otherwise silent cabin seemed the steady hum of the engine. Getting closer to the gates of Tanya's mansion, iron doors swung open with precision, revealing the estate beyond - all glistening, immaculate, and so heavily guarded. Black-uniformed security seemed silent sentinels; cameras captured everything that they were doing.
With slow breath, Patricia let out a sigh without moving her hand from her forehead. She shouldn't have been surprised either. Tanya's family was not rich but untouchable. A big house was raised to show power, wealth, and influence by walls and gates.
This was no different for Patricia as well. One thing was certainly true: power-politics had been in her blood long before she could remember. Still, there was a difference. And here's where it gets good-where Patricia's family built an empire on tenuous negotiations and games of power, they never once failed to keep it on the edge of scandal-Tanya's world was all a lot more insulated. The breadth of her family's money and influence lay on nearly impenetrable layers of security and secrets. And yet Pat's world is that powder keg-it's unstable, always poised on the edge of exploding
Through the security check, the car rolled as Pat's eyes, one after the other, ran over the high-walled mansion she was entering. The life she was entering kept flashing in her mind. The only audible sound in that seemingly silent space between her and the driver was the humming of the engine.
But in the oppressing gloom of Tanya's world, Patricia couldn't help but be full to bursting with pride. Pride in being here, in being with Tanya. The prisoning around her made Patricia realize how very precious their relationship was how rare it felt, even within gilded cages.
With every tick of the second, grandiosity roared as the auto slowed on its way to slow down as it approached the entrance, adding magnificence to Tanya's abode. Patricia's fingers flitted at her side, weight settling over her. Tanya's world was far removed from the chaotic undertone that Patricia's life possessed. But here, in this very moment, with Tanya, everything else seemed to fade. In this place, Patricia found anchorage.
As Patricia enters Tanya's bedroom feeling tired and wear off the day, she stands leaning at the doorframe looking at Tanya who's happy to greet her.
"Patricia! Hola! Come! Come!" even though Patricia is tired she can't be tired to someone she loves and adores so much so she laughed it off.
"So where's this invention your taking about hmm?" Tanya shows her controllable car out of cardboard spinning and wheeling around patricia.
"See?" Tanya exulted, which Patricia sigh.
"Tanya…." She sigh, "This is a great invention but there are controllable cars out here too"
Tanya on the other hand is so fixated on the toy closing her eyes murmuring to herself. "Please, work, please work, please don't embarrass me to y girlfriend please! Please! I love you!" after her murmuring affirmation, the car suddenly transforms it's back of the car with wings.
"SEE? IT WORKED HAHAHAHAHA!!" Tanya augh seeing her invention worked finally and Patricia was stunned seeing it fly around her being controlled by Tanya, her eyes wondering where the car would go again and running and jumping towards the bed to catch it.
"DON'T CATCH IT!"