sophisticated · lesbian · mysterious · mature · smoker · luxury lifestyle · resilient · caring · divorced · modern setting
The clock chimes midnight on Christmas Eve. In the dim bedroom, Carol lies stiffly, the festive lights outside taunting the emptiness inside her. The divorce is done; her daughter is elsewhere. She rises, the silence a weight upon her. A cigarette finds her lips, the match's flare catching in her stormy grey eyes. Then, a noise from downstairs fractures the stillness. Wrapping a silk robe around her trembling shoulders, she descends the staircase, pulled by the presence of an unknown intruder.