Old friend
I'm hoping we might get a scene similar to this but if not...
She had spotted her immediately.
Leanne Battersby was sat alone on a street bench, opposite the pub. To say she appeared downcast would be an understatement as she continued to stare blankly at, what Carla guessed was, her fish and chips remainders. She looked lost, broken, all the clichés. Her breathing seemed heavy as she slightly slumped further back to her seat. Carla had learned over the past few years to avoid her former friend, to ignore whatever she had spinning around her head which she may or may not want to scream out and that the only option was to look away. To act like a grown up because there was too much collective bile between them to speak more than politely. But it wasn't the same feeling any longer. She didn't pity the woman, she understood her. Carla knew too clearly how self loathing can eat you up like a parasite. She was finally trying to pick herself up from the gutter yet, until now, hadn't realised that Leanne was sinking further down.
She folded her arms to protect herself from the September wind as she still looked across. Carla had two options. Turn away once more because the water under the bridge seemed more like a tsunami, or go and speak to her. The worst that could happen? They would continue to not be friends, so she had nothing to lose.
But the idea still filled her with a gut wrenching dread. Had she momentarily forgotten how much this woman once despised Carla? It was a hatred that ran through her veins. And it was a feeling that, at one stage, Carla very almost reciprocated; it was Paul, Peter, Nick and Kal each infesting their souls. She took a step closer towards the bench across the road. Leanne was also one of the few friends she had made in her life; someone that had laughed with her, listened to her and cried with her.
Carla found herself steadily walking to her. Possibly it wasn't a good decision but there was no turning back now.
The other woman looked up as she heard her heels clatter against the cobbles, quickly wiping her face with her hand. As Carla got nearer she noticed the colour had completely drained from her face. This had to be more than grief. "Yeah?" Leanne asked abruptly, as she kept her attention on a hangnail.
"Are you alright?"
"What's it to you?" She snapped as she finally looked to Carla, her face then seeming to soften just for a moment, like a thought had suddenly jumped into her mind. "Listen, I didn't get round to it but... I'm sorry, you know, for blaming you,"
It didn't sound entirely sincere but it was enough. Carla knew the simple fact was that she had been dodging a confrontation of any kind, the truth had been public knowledge for a couple days now. Sure, she could be angry that she had left it, knowing how much the guilt had tortured Carla for several months. Knowing the extreme lengths she dragged herself through just to escape the voices circling her head. Though she could somehow understand Leanne's actions, Kal was still gone. Sitting down beside her so they were roughly half a metre apart, Carla focused on the leaves dancing in the breeze by her feet to help gather her thinking.
"What were you supposed to do, defend me?" She asked rhetorically, "All logic pointed to me and you'd just lost your fiance, you don't need to apologise. I believed it too."
"Even so-"
"I should be thanking you for saving my life,"
The two women made eye contact before they gave each other a quick nod, recognizing the fact that they had been in each others company for the past minute or so and hell hadn't broken loose, for the first time in a long time.
Leanne looked away as she screwed her chip tea papers into a ball, the rustling sound was a welcome interference to the rather unsettling feeling between them. "How are you these days?" She asked, her face still sullen.
"I'm working on it," Carla answered in her own attempt to ease the mood.
"You and Nick seem very..."
Carla interrupted, her back straightening out, "You don't mind, do you?"
"You both seem good together," Leanne finished as she half smiled at her, almost reaching her eyes. "Why would I mind?"
This wasn't how Carla had expected her response to be, looking visibly confused. This was the woman that, perhaps understandably, had tried to single handedly sabotage the first year of Carla's relationship with Peter, just as she had done previously. It all turned out to be pointless efforts but how could she really not care?
"I'm happy to see him happy, he deserves it." Leanne determined hastily, looking down the street towards the bistro. There were couples, young families and friends all going for a Friday night meal. All looking so content with life, a feeling that seemed so distant to the two women.
She chose to believe her; as often as she had been vindictive in the past, Leanne had moved on from Nick some while ago. She never really loved him as much as he loved her. Carla leant forward, cautious of the rain drops sprinkled on the back rest.
"I still don't get why you keep going for my ex husbands though," she added with a smirk as she turned back around to Carla.
"Neither do I," They laughed together; it wasn't bellowing and uncontrollable, it was quiet, forced and even a little apologetic between them. Carla breathed deeply, she could see that Leanne's mind was racing with something entirely different; her eyes were glassy and she seemed like a ghost of her true, outspoken self. This exchange could be irritating her or it could be some sort of refreshing relief from whatever it was that seemed to be troubling her.
"If you need anything, Leanne,"
Carla was unsure how she might react to her suggestion. What advice could she give exactly? Drink another bottle of red and gamble away your whole life purely to forget the agony? She could hardly manage her own problems and Leanne knew it.
She brushed her tongue against her front teeth before she spoke, "Thanks, you might regret that offer though,"
"Of course not, we owe it to each other," Carla replied as she lightly patted her shoulder, noticing her tense posture. She stood from the bench and proceeded to walk away before Leanne stopped her once again.
"Carla," she approached her, "I am sorry."
"Me too,"
It wasn't an apology for one single event but a mutual agreement to let bygones be bygones. They both had behaved badly in the past and they both had been kicked to the ground. Carla reached her right arm out before they shook hands with smiles between them. Neither knew if they could be friends again but one thing was certain; the resentment had at last been buried.
Sorry if it was a bit crap, I wrote it on the train...