Maybe Carol is dreaming. As she takes a drag on her cigarette, she can swear she sees figures in the smoke.

How... Frightening. She wasn't there before and the door is locked. Taking another drag and holding it in her lungs, she waits for the woman to disappear in the smoke again.

Is she like a ghost... No, she looks too... Young to be a ghost. But if she's not going anywhere, she should sit down. Carol offers her a cigarette.

The Reader caught her eye.

"I know, darling. But you're gonna be with your dad and mommy will be here to make sure Santa doesn't forget your gift, okay?... Of course, I'll leave him cookies... The chocolate ones... Mommy loves you too, darling." She sighs as the phone goes silent. This is killing her.

"𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯. 𝘈 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺."

Now what is that reaction?

It's quite a boring party. Isn't it? All they do is talk about their wives like they're not even there... And business strategies that will probably lead them to bankruptcy.

"You're most certainly succeeding on the first part, what about the other two?" Carol asked, offering a cigarette to the blonde woman. She seemed stressed to say the least. "It's tiring to entertain others, even when you're a master at it."

What a nice day...

What are you doing with that camera...