Week 30: Honeymooners
Carla squinted in the intense sunlight that was beating down upon her and felt blindly for her phone, beeping somewhere by her side, until her hand happened upon it and she drew it to her, a technological safety blanket in this unfamiliar setting.
"Ugh," she moaned as she opened her eyes and read the newly received message.
Where are you?
"Who's that?" Kylie asked lazily as she stretched out, adjusting her body to catch the sun in all the right spots, wanting nothing more from the day than to obtain an all-over even tan.
"Nick," Carla answered in clipped tones. "He wants to know where I am."
"You still haven't told him?"
"It's none of his business where I choose to go," Carla declared haughtily. "Thanks, by the way," she added in a softer tone. "For coming with me."
"You're kidding me, right?" Kylie laughed. "Seven nights in a luxury resort in the Maldives with me best mate? As if I was gonna turn that down."
"I guess when you put it like that."
"So, are you gonna put him out of his misery?"
"Since he paid for the trip…" Carla burst into laughter at the thought, with Kylie happily joining in on the joke.
Not to be distracted from the task at hand, Carla quickly typed out a reply...
I'm on our honeymoon
…adding for optimum effect…
With Kylie
...before sending the message and then placing the phone face down on the small drinks table that was positioned within easy reaching distance next to her sun lounger. And then, determined to enjoy her day, she waved to the drinks waiter who was loitering nearby, on the lookout for any hotel guest that needed his attention.
"Madam," he greeted her with a smile as he approached the pair. "What can I get you?"
"Kylie?"
"Ahhh... strawberry daiquiri, ta. Make it a large one."
"And I'll have another one of those surprise virgin mocktails that the barman's been making me. What was in that last one? I could taste the passion fruit, but there was something else..."
"That would have been the lychee, madam. Did you like it?"
"It was delicious."
Their drinks order placed, Carla gazed lazily out over the sparkling waters of the resort's swimming pool and beyond to the crystal-clear turquoise of the Indian Ocean and felt at peace for the first time in what seemed like forever. She did, that is, until she heard the beep of her phone as another new message was received. With a deep sigh, she lay back on the sun lounger and closed her eyes, resolutely ignoring the phone as it continued to beep.
"Carla," Kylie gently nudged Carla's shoulder. "Carla."
"Mmm..." Carla moaned softly as she slowly opened her eyes. "I think I drifted off for a minute," she murmured as she stared up at Kylie, blinking as she tried to focus her gaze, her mind still in that blissful state of half-sleep, half-wakefulness.
"No kidding," Kylie chuckled. "You've been sparko for a good hour."
"Why did you wake me?"
"You're starting to burn," Kylie nodded to Carla's legs and belly that were starting to turn from a healthy shade of tan to an angry reddish hue. "Don't wanna bake junior now, do ya?"
"Ta," Carla said, reaching for the sunscreen and lathering it over her body.
"Your phones been buzzing non-stop," Kylie informed her. "Somehow I don't think Nick's too pleased with our little getaway."
"As if I care what he thinks," Carla stated, wholly unconcerned. Nonetheless, she reached for her phone and began to read the messages.
"Well?" Kylie asked impatiently. "What's he got to say for himself?"
With a sigh, Carla now read Nick's messages aloud to her almost sister-in-law.
"Why didn't you tell me?
I would've come with you
We could've talked
Carla?
Can I call you?
Stop ignoring me
I miss you
I love you"
"Pity he didn't remember he loved you when he was banging that Battersby cow," Kylie sneered, adding a quick "sorry" when she caught the look on Carla's face.
"Talking of that Battersby cow, as you so bluntly put it."
"She hasn't?" Kylie gasped.
"She has," Carla nodded, before reading the message from Leanne. "Can we talk? I'd like to explain what happened."
"The cheek of her," Kylie cried, watching Carla intently as she continued to stare at the phone's screen. "What are you gonna say? Carla?"
"I dunno," Carla shook her head. "Nothing?"
"Nothing? You just gonna ignore her?"
"No," Carla smiled with satisfaction at her solution. "I'm gonna do more than ignore her, I'm gonna block her as well."
"Nice," Kylie nodded her approval.
"Gail's left a voice message," Carla noted as she continued to scroll through her messages.
"Ugh," Kylie moaned. "What does she want?"
"Let's have a listen."
"Carla, it's Gail," the simpering voice of the Platt matriarch emanated from the phone's speaker. "I don't want to interfere–" a snort of derision from Kylie "–but I can't stand seeing my son so upset. He made a mistake. I know that, he knows that. He really does. And he regrets it. Please, please, Carla, give him another chance. Think of that beautiful baby boy of yours. He's going to need his daddy. Don't deny your son his father. Please, Carla."
"Nothing unexpected," Carla shrugged. "All about how Nick feels, what Nick wants. She never could stand any criticism of her golden boy. Everything he does is perfect in her eyes."
"Are you gonna call her back?"
"Am I?" Carla laughed. "What do you think?"
"Is that it then? No more messages?"
"There's a voice message from Nick."
"Well?"
"It can wait."
Carla submerged her body into the cool water of the resort's pool with a little gasp, counting down the seconds until she acclimatised to the temperature change. And then, when she did, she relaxed onto her back with a contented sigh and floated out into the middle of the pool, luxuriating in the feel of the water gently lapping against her limbs, and against her torso, her bump rising up like an island in the middle of the ocean, while her hair streamed out from her head underneath the water.
"Ahhh!" Kylie squealed as she repeated Carla's ritual, before pushing out from the side of the pool with a strong breast stroke towards where Carla was floating.
"Can I ask you a personal question?" Carla asked as Kylie approached, swinging her body upright and beating her legs gently as she treaded water.
"Oh, gosh," Kylie baulked before agreeing with a nervous smile. "I guess so."
"What was it like being a single mum? When Max was a baby."
"Honestly?"
"Please."
"It was hard," she admitted candidly. "It was too hard for me, at the time. I did the best I could but it wasn't good enough. Nowhere near. And when they took him away…"
"Yes?"
"It nearly killed me. Not just cause he was gone, but the way they were judging me, looking at me, making out I was some sort of failure as a mother. It was brutal."
"I couldn't do it," Carla confessed. "I couldn't be a single mum."
"You can do anything, babe," Kylie reassured her. "You are the strongest person I know."
"I'm not. Not really. It's all a front. And when it comes to something so alien like raising this one," she rubbed her belly fondly. "I know I can't do it without Nick."
"Is that why you haven't dumped him yet?"
"It's not that simple," Carla contended. "It's hard to let go, ya know, that idea of being married, of us being a family. Because the alternative… frankly, the alternative terrifies me."
"If you do end up being a single mum, you've got nothing to worry about," Kylie insisted. "Trust me on that. You ain't like me, Carla. We're like night and day. Seriously, babe, you didn't know me back then. I was a complete and utter mess. I didn't have nowhere to live, no job, no family, I was constantly thieving, boozing it up every chance I could. And worse. You are not like that. And it's not like you're gonna be on your own, not really. Nick will always be there for you and laddo. He's not a waster like Max's dad was. You've got a nice home, a job, friends. You'll be fine."
"The thing is…"
"What is it?"
"I'm scared."
"Oh, babe, come here."
Kylie paddled close to Carla and wrapped her arms around her, kissing her softly on the cheek.
"It's okay to be scared," she whispered comfortingly. "I know I was bricking it. And it's okay to mess up. I did plenty of that as well. It's not about messing up, cause we all do it, it's about what you do next."
"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Carla lamented. "What to do next."
Kylie pulled away from Carla and, looking her straight in the eye, repeated back her earlier request. "Can I ask you a personal question?"
"Sure."
"When you found out Paul had cheated on you, what did you do?"
"Dumped him," Carla admitted, straight to the point. "Told him I was gonna divorce him and take him for everything he had."
"That sounds like something the Carla I know would do," Kylie said. "Which makes me wonder… Why are you giving Nick a free pass?"
"Because..." Carla faltered, unsure of how to answer, unsure if she knew the answer.
"Because of the baby. That's what you were gonna say, right?"
Carla merely shrugged her answer, she wasn't ready to admit it out loud, not yet.
"That kid is not gonna thank you for staying in a broken relationship for his sake."
"It's not a broken relationship."
"Are you sure about that?"
"You don't understand, Kylie," Carla pleaded with her. "I don't wanna do it on my own."
"You won't be on your own."
"Oh, that felt so good," Carla murmured as she stepped out of the pool, the water streaming off her body, and wandered back to her sun lounger, Kylie following closely behind. "What d'ya reckon, we order food here? I don't fancy getting dressed and going to the restaurant."
"Works for me, I'll grab us some menus."
Carla wrapped her towel around her and plonked herself down, rather ungracefully she thought, thanks to the size of her bump, and reached for her phone. One new message. For a moment, her heart sunk, and she started to brace herself for more accusations and recriminations from Nick. Until she saw his name. And then a smile spread across her face and she eagerly opened the message.
How are you doing? Haven't seen you round for a few days
Carla immediately texted back.
Had to get away. Took Kylie on honeymoon
Congratulations. I hope you'll be very happy together
Haha!
Where'd you go?
Maldives
Currently lazing by the pool
Jealous!
Kylie sauntered towards the pair of sun loungers that her and Carla were occupying for the day, a couple of menus in her hand, when she caught sight of Carla furiously texting, her entire focus on the phone in her hands. She stood still for a moment and watched her, curious to witness the obvious changes in her friend's countenance.
"I take it that's not Nick you're texting?" she rightly observed when she finally approached Carla, handing over one of the menus she was carrying.
"No, thank goodness."
"Well, whoever it is, that's who you should be marrying."
"What?" Carla stared up at Kylie with a mixture of shock and confusion, silently cursing the heat she could feel in her cheeks that had nothing to do with the strength of the tropical sun.
"Because, just then, while I was watching you text this mysterious person, it was the first time I've seen you smile, like properly smile like you're properly happy in... honestly, forever. Even before the wedding that never was."
"Really?" Carla muttered, almost to herself, pondering the truth behind Kylie's words.
"So..." Kylie pressed her. "Who was it?"
"It was no one," Carla instinctively deflected Kylie's question.
"Liar!" Kylie accused her, a smile twitching on her lips. "Well? I'm not gonna let up, so you may as well tell me."
"Fine," Carla rolled her eyes with mock umbrage. "It was Peter."
"Peter Barlow?" Kylie couldn't help but grin. "Hmm... I guess he does have a certain brooding quality about him. Cute kid as well. You'll make a nice little family, the four of ya."
"Kylie!" Carla protested. "Stop it! Peter's a mate."
"Look," Kylie pointed at her gleefully. "You're doing it again."
"What am I doing?"
"Smiling like... like you're in luuurrve."
"I can't talk to you when you're like this."
"You are so in denial."
"Shut up!" Carla cried in exasperation. "I can't be in love with Peter. Technically, I'm still engaged to Nick."
"Technically," Kylie scoffed. "Says it all, don't it?"
"Whatever."
Carla pointedly ignored Kylie's teasing and returned her focus to her phone and her ongoing text conversation with Peter. But, as her fingers hovered over the letters, she wondered about Kylie's words. If Kylie could see it, she thought, even when he's thousands of miles away, maybe… just maybe…
"Thanks," Carla spoke unexpectedly.
"For what?" Kylie looked up from the menu she was perusing and stared at her in confusion.
"I dunno if it was something you said, or if it's just being here, away from everything, perspective, ya know, but…"
"What?"
"I feel like something's lifted. I feel lighter somehow."
"You've made a decision, haven't you?"
"I have."